After violent storms slammed three mid-western states and claimed 14 lives yesterday, President Obama announced he would be returning from his long-planned European trip to visit Missouri on Sunday. But that wasn’t good enough for Michael Brown, the FEMA director during Hurricane Katrina who is widely blamed for the Bush administration’s incompetent handling of the crisis that left tens of thousands of New Orleans residents stranded and helpless.
***BROWN: In this situation, they’re almost tone-deaf. I mean, you stop and think about it, your press office should be recognizing that the visuals that Americans are seeing is of this devastation. Don’t put a visual of the president up playing ping-pong. It’s awful.
CAVUTO: So you don’t have a problem with the president being abroad with the Queen and the Irish prime minster just doing fun stuff?
BROWN: No, I do have a problem with that. It’s not like he’s at a G8 summit. This is not a diplomatic trip of any sort. This is just a — he went to Ireland for God’s sake to visit relatives! It’s time to come home…in this case, the perception is that the president is detached. He’s more concerned about raising a toast to the Queen. People have died.
He’s just in Ireland doing fun stuff, drinking 40’s and the like.
As I am lily white, I feel comfortable saying that it sure feels like the majority of white people have completely lost their shit since the 2008 election. I’m embarrassed, really. I need to start seriously tanning so I look less white.
Han's Solo
Did you notice that the immediate, most pressing concern, is that this is a bad photo op?
That tells you a lot about the Bushies.
To them how you handle the crisis isn’t nearly as important as how you LOOK while handling the crisis.
Misplaced priorities much?
The Populist
I see, Bush KNEW Katrina was happening yet wanted to serenade McCain at a party. Uh huh. Brownie wanted to host some event and acted like the flood was no big deal. Uh huh.
Until somebody tells me that FEMA is sleeping on the job, I will demand the President come home. The cool thing about this President is his ability to hire COMPETENT staffers and not a bunch of good ol boys from various industries.
Idiots.
The Populist
I could care less if Obama is out there shaking hands. I want FEMA doing it’s job and apparently it is (as long as the House GOP doesn’t derail the funds needed for clean up).
Stooleo
I’m looking forward/dreading the epic freak out when B.O. wins the 2012 election in a landslide.
dollared
How is this not “news” to CNN: Bush’s FEMA director getting on TV and complaining about Obama’s handling of a disaster?
Wouldn’t they cover it if John Edwards got on the TV to complain about Ahnuld’s infidelity?
How does CNN think it has some sort of guild-brother ban on pointing out pure insanity on its brother news network?
dmsilev
Since Brown is best known as being the one person incompetent enough to get fired from the Bush administration for being incompetent, I’m really not sure why we should do anything except point and laugh at Fox’s ham-handed attempts at blatant propaganda.
General Stuck
@Han’s Solo:
I think the pic of Curious George peering out the Air force One window, like some kid looking down at New Orleans in a fly over, haunts these fools still. Talk about failing Presnit Optics 101/
geg6
Heckofajob should just shut his piehole. I don’t hear anyone in MO or OK bitching about FEMA not doing their job. Who the fuck needs a presidential entourage mucking things up while you’re still looking for the missing, the roads are impassable, and the storms are still coming?
What a dick.
Just Some Fuckhead
How long has Obama been sitting there reading “My Pet Goat” since the tornadoes? Because it’s high time for him to take Air Force One and fly around for about a day to make sure he isn’t under personal attack.
After that, maybe he can go clear some brush at the ranch or play guitar out west somewhere, take a look at Missouri from 40000 feet.
Keith
Did bush hire anyone who is not a pure partisan hack? Other than the early ones he fired…
HG Hay
That’s what happens when you hire competent people to manage FEMA. You get to have a pint now and then.
Chris
@Stooleo:
Somebody here told me that the Goopers were saving the impeachment card in the event that he won a second term.
I don’t put it past them, though the memory of how badly they got slapped the last time they tried that might give them pause. But it might not.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
They’ll never live down “My Pet Goat” and “Heckuva job,” and they know it. They also know that both 9/11 and the horrifying aftermath of Katrina are directly traceable to Bush’s obtuseness, while the tornado was a non-equivalent, natural disaster that can’t be blamed on Obama. I can’t even be bothered to point and laugh at this pitiful flailing.
R-Jud
I don’t expect Brown to know shit about shit, but the Prez did spend time speaking to CallMeDave about the whole Libya thing.
The Raven
I think they lost it a lot further back than that…
Nikki
True dat! Personally, I believe we haven’t come close to approaching peak wingnut. November 2012 will bring about the mother of all wingnut peaking.
we can be heroes
Check the comments on JC’s link to “40 oz”: funny as hell.
The Dangerman
I read someplace that this asshole took credit for how well FEMA is being run under Obama because of the lessons learned from Katrina. Now, THAT takes some balls.
Maybe this dude can be the VP candidate for Palin; Whitey and Brownie take on the…
Han's Solo
Next up: Fox News will have someone dressed as Hitler’s ghost complaining about how Obama is mean to the Jews.
I know, Godwin’s Law. But still, how silly is this?
Omnes Omnibus
Brownie is opening his pie hole about how a disaster is being handled? Really?
par4
Why are you watching Cavuto? Who is calling whom an asshole?
PeakVT
@HG Hay: Win.
ppcli
@dmsilev:
Since Brown is best known as being the one person incompetent enough to get fired from the Bush administration for being incompetent.
Alex S.
@Han’s Solo:
As long as you look good you don’t have to actually do anything.
Bulworth
Unfortunately I am incompletely aware of all Internets traditions regarding “40’s”.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@par4:
Hey! He watches Cavuto so you don’t have to.
Now STFU and bring the man his beer.
legion
Hey, while Obama’s out sippin’ juice with Queenie, courageous guys like the heroic Eric Cantor are telling the victims to go screw themselves. _That’s_ where Obama should be.
Lolis
I spray tan and love it. However, I still look white. Sorry to break that to you.
Bulworth
@legion: The math demands it!
rootless_e
You’ve got to wonder why Cavuto had to go to Brown. Are they trying to rehabilitate him or is there an unexpected shortage of scumballs willing to slam Obama ?
John Puma
I bet his horsies have bigger balls than Brownie!
legion
And in his defense, Brown just assumes FEMA still only functions if some Big Daddy comes by the Director’s office and holds his hand through all the photo ops…
Fred
Any other country and he would be immediately fired. But not in the good ole US of A. He is applauded and his ratings go up and his salary goes up.
Sadly this is considered status quo now. Americans should be ashamed. It makes them all look bad to the outside world for their complacency.
Shana
Isn’t he going to a G8 meeting later in the week? Pretty funny stuff from old “Heckuva job Brownie” who was on the phone with an aide being so concerned about looking rugged on TV instead of, oh I don’t know, actually HELPING PEOPLE.
...now I try to be amused
Frank Zappa said it in the Mothers’ “Trouble Every Day”:
Hey you know something people
I’m not black
But there’s a whole lotsa times
I wish I could say I’m not white
I’m so white, tanning won’t help me.
Geez, you’d think the white people who have lost their shit would prefer that Obama be overseas where he can’t plot against them so easily.
JohnR
“I need to start seriously tanning so I look less white.”
Don’t forget the obligatory GOPebonics training. I understand Michael Steele is between jobs at the moment, so you could have private tutoring straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were. Between that and the tanning, even ABL might have trouble picking up on your whiteness. Or maybe not.
Oh, and to pre-empt any accusations of insensitivity or racism, I freely admit that I’m both extraordinarily insensitive (even David Duke once told me “Dude – seriously…”), and racist (I firmly believe that Asians are fundamentally superior to anybody else. Especially the women. Especially my wife.)
trollhattan
In Brown’s defense, Obama knows very little about Arabian horses.
Hill Dweller
Craig Fugate’s stool is more competent than heckuva-job-Brownie.
JD Rhoades
@The Populist:
The cool thing about this President is his ability to hire COMPETENT staffers and not a bunch of good ol boys from various industries.
This. I was saying just last night that I wish Obama would go on TV and say “You know why I don’t have to rush back? Because I put people in charge of FEMA who know what the fuck they’re doing, not some dimwit who used to run horse shows.”
Martin
@rootless_e:
Rehabilitate? The right things Brownie did a great job. It was that black mayor that killed all those people in New Orleans.
geg6
@JohnR:
Too late. He was just recently hired as an “analyst” for MSNBC.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20110523/pl_dailycaller/michaelsteeleinksdealwithmsnbc
emrventures
Did I just miss something here, or is he not aware that the G8 summit starts tomorrow?
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Hill Dweller:
Did you just pull out the current, non-controversial FEMA director’s name? If so, color me impressed.
Bobby D
You can stay white and embarassed, or get tan and look like Boehner…can’t really win there.
Mojotron
but what does captain Hazlewood think of the job Obama’s doing?
Fred
You know who else ‘chugs 40’s’?
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/C22273-10.jpg
http://www.tdbimg.com/files/2009/07/28/img-mg—politicians-beer—regan_152739211023.jpg
http://gawker.com/assets/resources/2008/05/bush-beer-thumb.jpg
trollhattan
@geg6:
Steele? Analyst? That’s gotta leave a hundred hours a week free to use the other 98% of his mad skilz.
Norwonk
When crisis strikes, you have to ask yourself: “What would Brownie do?”
Based on past experience, I suspect he would bombard people on the scene with questions about the best restaurants in the area. ‘Cause you need to reserve a table, you know.
Fred
@emrventures: I was wondering about that myself. But I have grown numb to these blatant falsehoods I guess.
Martin
@emrventures:
Hmm. That’s a tough one. What do you think?
SenyorDave
Can someone take Brown to New Orleans, dump him right downtown and identify him as the FEMA director when Katrina hit. Bet he would be welcomed with open arms.
ChrisNYC
Come on, this is fantastic that the GOP is so bizarre that they do things like this. I mean, this guy and “heckuva job” are things everybody knows. All this does is remind people about what a massive screw up Katrina was. There is not going to be a solid week of tv coverage of people in Joplin screaming, “Where is the government? We’re trapped and no one is helping us! We have no food, no water!”
Even the “this is Obama’s Katrina” or “this is Obama’s Iraq” thing. Their freaking strategy is to say, “This Obama, he’s as bad as the disaster we brought you!”? It’s nuts.
Brian S
@rootless_e: Maybe Brownie is contemplating a run for the Presidency?
geg6
@Martin:
Seriously. I mean, we ARE talking about Michael Brown here. We certainly can’t expect him to actually KNOW anything.
ETA: I am sure I have forgotten to mention that I once asked my cousin Barbara, who is a bigshot in Arabian horse circles, about Michael Brown. She said that he knew as much about Arabians as he did about disasters.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@ChrisNYC:
Not if their goal is to kill government.
Jewish Steel
Some balls are held for charity
And some for fancy dress
But when they’re held for pleasure
They’re the balls that I like bes
Han's Solo
@geg6: I actually love that MSNBC hired Steele.
He’s nicer than most right wing pundits and he tends to gaffe it up and tell the truth from time to time.
He was on Maddow’s show the other night and when asked if Republicans saying the Republican field is week is an insult to those that are already running he answered honestly: yes, it is an insult.
MikeJ
@Bulworth:
A 40 is a 40 ounce bottle of beer, popular in rap songs and among the working class since it’s about the cheapest way to have a bit of alcohol ($2-$3 for more than half a six pack’s worth of beer.)
Basically is was just a way to say “blackblackblackityblack” when Obama drank a pint a Guinness.
Brian S
@Han’s Solo: Hell, if MSNBC gives Ed Schultz the boot for calling Laura Ingraham a slut, maybe Steele will luck into his own show?
Fred
@MikeJ: a 40 is a cheap drunk. Full stop. Commonly associated with ghetto blacks. Full stop.
MonkeyBoy
In my urban area I’ve only seen inner city black men drink 40s and it is usually the higher alcohol malt liquor than rather than beer. (Such drinkage may happen in white trailer parks or college but I have no current experience of such).
Likewise every black I’ve known to smoke smokes mentholated cigarettes, often Kools, so I wondered if Obama was also being cast into that stereotype. This google search seems to confirm it though if you look at the individual hits there is a lot of racists saying what he really smokes is blunts or crack.
trollhattan
@Han’s Solo:
He certainly was a sport on TDS when facing Wyatt Cenac and the Steele muppet.
geg6
@Han’s Solo:
Well, he ought to know. Heaven knows, they said the same thing about his stint running the GOP.
MikeJ
@Fred: No shit sherlock. Did you read what I wrote?
ChrisNYC
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): How does this advance a goal of killing government?
What it does it remind people of what happens (Katrina/FEMA disaster) when you elect government haters/grifters as opposed to what happens when you elect people who actually want to do the work and take it seriously. (See also, Bin Laden, and a little thing called Medicare). I’m perfectly happy with Dems embracing that comparison. The more they want to cry about how Bush screwed up Katrina the better.
PurpleGirl
Haven’t read all the comments yet, BUT
President Obama is going to the G8 meeting this weekend. That’s why he’s staying in Europe!
iriedc
Guess Brownie is doing a rehabilitation tour just in time to get appointed as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under the Palin Administration.
geg6
@MonkeyBoy:
Nope. I don’t think college students would have a clue as to what a 40 is. They generally don’t need to. Mom and Dad often pop for a kegger around here. (And yes, we have a lot of spoiled students here at the second most expensive public university in the nation. Thankfully, they seem okay despite it.)
Han's Solo
@Brian S: God no, he is alright when you need a conservative opinion, but a full hour of him? No thanks.
I kind of hope MSNBC cans Schultz and Scarborough. Schultz I don’t like because he is less intelligent than the average progressive IMO and Scarborough is a straight up moron that spouts wingnut talking points. Scarborough is also a know-nothing prick. Replace Schultz with, I don’t know, Smirconish? Maybe Bill Press? Replace Scarborough with Barnacle?
BGinCHI
Heckuva job, you horsefucker douchebag.
He should be doing an infinity of community service hours in NOLA.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
In Brownie’s defense, our media culture does demand that Presidents and other politicians make empty gestures of this sort. I personally don’t need to see Obama or Bush feigning concern about this or that, but talking heads do and it looks like Brownie is speaking to that bizarre compulsion. The real question during Katrina or tornado outbreaks is, is the government working to its fullest capability? If the government is investing in early warning systems and other sensible measures that’s good enough for me and I don’t need to see pictures of Obama strolling through the rubble.
Brian S
@geg6: I think if I made a comment in one of my classes about “one for my homies,” 90% of them would get it, and they would know it came from a forty.
Han's Solo
@trollhattan: He did! And he seems like he is a really nice guy. He doesn’t always come off as all that bright, but he used to work for the GOP, I doubt he could have gotten the job if he were smart, and if he did mouthing wingnut talking points for a living is certain to dumb down anyone.
eemom
wait a minute. You are seriously telling me that someone — anyone, even Fox — chose Michael Fucking Arabian Horse Breeder Brown to appear on television to opine about proper disaster management?
No way. Not possible. Surely you jest.
BGinCHI
@eemom: The captain of the Titanic was unavailable.
Brian S
It could be worse. They could have gotten Chertoff to be the special guest.
kdaug
@eemom: He was a breeder? I thought he was a lawyer representing the breeders.
Either way, good to know his opinion on things. I was wondering “What would Brownie think?”.
Yevgraf (fka Michael)
@PurpleGirl:
How dare him not cut short a state visit with our most important strategic and economic ally just prior to a critical economic conference in order to go make annoying and disruptive disaster optics in Missouri.
You know what I really love? Obama met with asshole for just a short time last week, then bolted, leaving asshole to spin in the wind. Frankly, I’d be happy if there were no Chief Executive level contacts with Tel Aviv until they deal humanely with the little Bantuland that they’ve determined the Palestinians should be stuck with.
Imagine the thunderous nothing that would come from the no-good Likudniks in the event they’re given pariah status from about the last Western power that doesn’t despise them.
A couple of months ago, somebody reflected on Freak Republic their brilliant prediction that the very first think that President Palin would do would be to have a strategic meeting with the Israeli PM. Why would that be so great? Can anybody name me a single thing that the Israeli government does for the United States that doesn’t centrally involve Israeli interests? At what point do the Israelis have any diplomatic goals which legitimately benefit the US?
Omnes Omnibus
@geg6: None of your students have ever listened to rap? Seen a film with an “urban” theme? Come on.
scav
Scariest thing in the Repub’s toolkit is someone behaving exactly as they do. Telling, isn’t it?
Ash Can
OT, but according to TPM, the Senate is voting on Paulie Ryan’s Excellent Budget at this very moment.
kdaug
Oh, and sorry Cole – the fat, blonde white guy still looks like a fat, blonde white guy, Bohner-orange or not.
opal
@Bulworth:
Google lawdy + 40.
Yevgraf (fka Michael)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Or played PimpWar?
http://www.pimpwar.com/
It is important that a pimp acquire adequate 40s to keep his thugs happy.
And yes, I used to play. Don’t judge me….
kdaug
@JohnR:
He’s signed on to MSNBC.
burnspbesq
OT, but there doesn’t seem to be any logical place to put it.
Apparently Kucinich is looking into the possibility of running for Congress next year … In a newly-created district in Washington, since his current district in Ohio is going to disappear.
http://nyti.ms/kCp1O2
What should I think about this?
Brian S
@burnspbesq:
It’s not my district, so I’m full of meh about it. You?
fasteddie9318
Does it seem to anyone else that it’s the very people who bitch the most about Obama doing, well, anything, who are the most butthurt when he doesn’t do everything? Obama was a failure for saving the automobile industry because according to First Principles government cannot rescue private enterprise, but a tornado blows through and they all start whining about why Obama isn’t personally blowing his super-breath into the center of the tornado to destroy it, or flying at FTL speed so he can go backward in time and personally pick up and move the town of Joplin out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, their party is the one that doesn’t want to fucking pay for the cleanup unless they get to kick some old people down a flight of stairs or punch a few kittens or whatever gets them off.
Or maybe it’s just more of the GOP’s “Dance, monkey!” dog-whistle/jumping through hoops crap. I don’t know and frankly I don’t care anymore. I’m looking for work somewhere far away from this dying empire as soon as I can. Someday, if things don’t change but quick, even the non-wanna be slaveowners will remember Lincoln as History’s Greatest Monster for not letting those idiot pig-fuckers go form their own country and leave the rest of us alone.
Fred
@MikeJ: no shit +1. And your point is?
Martin
@burnspbesq:
Democracy in action, laced with carpetbagging. Pretty typical, overall. Not sure Kucinich will find any takers in WA, though. Voters are usually pretty tolerant of people moving around the state to run for office, but not jumping several time zones. What does Kucinich know of the issues affecting Washington? Probably not much.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: I worked with the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus on their opposition to tort reform while I was in law school. Kucinich was a state senator at the time. He was fantastic during hearings. Absolutely made witnesses for the proponents look like fools. Unfortunately, the legislation passed despite our best efforts. I will always have a bit a soft spot for him from that time.
Fred
@Yevgraf (fka Michael): You are trying to use logic and freepers in the same paragraph. It will only give you a headache.
kdaug
@Han’s Solo:
He fills a niche – talk radio listeners who’s bulbs are slightly dim. He’s not my fave, but in terms of strategic outreach, he’s got a purpose.
burnspbesq
@Brian S:
My current Congressman is Ed Royce, so Kucinich would actually be an upgrade. And the debates would be hysterically funny. Maybe we should invite him to OC.
Fred
@kdaug: He’s too much of a blow hard for me and he flys off the handle waaaay too often. His knee jerk criticisms of Obama are almost…almost as bad as some of the stuff coming from the right. And I don’t buy any of it anyways. It’s obvious he is only in it for the ratings.
Nobody is a bigger fan of Unions than Obama and you cannot convince me someone like Shultz has a problem with that!
arguingwithsignposts
@MonkeyBoy: A long time ago, i used to work at a convenience store in the part of town where we sold a lot of “40s.” and menthols, kools to be specific. Colt 45s were popular. And it wouldn’t be hard to hear that dog whistle.
gex
It’s weird. Katrina was a tropical storm then a hurricane, with a trajectory that told us AHEAD OF TIME that it was coming. Kind of different than tornadoes which pop up when they pop up.
Although, if Jindal got his way, the hurricanes can be a surprise too.
bemused
It is damned embarrassing but they are not embarrassed at all. Brownie looking like an idiot is no surprise but these asshole incidents are happening multiple times daily now. They seem to feel quite free to show their inner warped souls more and more and I think that’s a good thing. I didn’t see any analysis as to why O’Reilly, Hannity, Beck & Limbaugh viewership has really dropped since last fall but maybe it is disillusionment.
Failure, Inc.
HOLY SHIT. The King of New Atlantis dares to criticize ANYONE on how they handle a disaster?
The mind truly, truly boggles.
Omnes Omnibus
@gex: I thought Jindal’s bugbear was volcano monitoring.
lamh34
Seems to me it’s just jealousy. I read a poll this week that said that Michelle Obama has a 67% or 76% approval rating. People like her and the President personally.
When you look this good, jealously is understandable.
I’m gonna use this thread to post some pretty pics of FLOTUS! Michelle O-bot signing in!
Michelle Obama at UK State Dinner
Michelle Obama at Dinner for Queen at American Embassy
VOR
How in the world is a State Visit to Ireland and the UK, meeting with both the Queen and the Prime Minister, not considered a diplomatic trip? Explain that one.
I realize it is not as important as having birthday cake with John McCain or clearing brush on the ranch, but…
Howlin Wolfe
“I’m not black, but there’s a whole lotta times I wish I could say I wasn’t white.”
– Frank Zappa.
bemused
@lamh34:
Oooh, she looks fantastic in that black number.
Omnes Omnibus
@VOR:
Simple. Obama is doing it.
danimal
@burnspbesq:
You shouldn’t give a damn and let the voters of WA decide if they want Dennis K to represent them in the Dem primary. If he wins the primary, support him, because the GOP will ruin the country if they retain power for very much longer.
BTW, Hochul, the winner of yesterday’s special election, is not a resident of her district. Let the voters decide.
Han's Solo
@kdaug: My first experience with Schultz was Air America Radio. He was going on and on about how his dog’s face was all puffy and blown up and he didn’t know why. Then he bragged about how much his dog loved chocolate and how he’d been feeding his dog chocolates all day…
Dogs are allergic to chocolate. I get that not everyone is a dog person, but if you own dogs there are certain things you should know IMO. You should learn about heart worms for instance, and you should learn THAT DOGS ARE ALLERGIC TO CHOCOLATE!
Martin
@burnspbesq: Ooh, that could be fun. Campbell is 12 pounds of idiot in a 3 pound bag. Not like we’re getting very far with Democrats here in 48. Kucinich v Rorhabacher or Issa would be pretty entertaining as well.
arguingwithsignposts
@danimal: At first i read that as “Dennis G” and i was down with that. Cheers.
AxelFoley
SMH
American white people done lost their minds. Foreign white people know what’s up.
nancydarling
@lamh34: She was gorgeous last night. I love that our first lady can get out and dig in the WH organic garden with kids to promote healthy eating, put on her sneakers and dance with students to promote exercise, and then wow the world like she did last night. I also love that she has broken out of the Chanel suit uniform in how she dresses. Nothing wrong with Chanel suits, but they do get boring!
opal
Maybe it’s just me, but Michael Steele seemed to be unusually happy dishing with Rachel Maddow.
Omnes Omnibus
@AxelFoley: You are assuming that some of us had our minds in the first place. This is a dangerous and unwarranted assumption.
Martin
@Han’s Solo: Never liked Ed Shultz, for much of the reason I never much liked KO. Politics doesn’t need the dramatic overtones.
burnspbesq
Woo-hoo! Marty Lederman is back at Balkinization.
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2011/05/us-perspective-on-legal-basis-for-bin.html
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh34:
@bemused:
I love the necklace she’s wearing with the black dress. Eat your heart out, Callista Gingrich!
Our FLOTUS is magic and beautiful. She really seems to be enjoying the “job” and she does it awesomely.
bemused
@nancydarling:
I can’t think of a first lady since Jackie Kennedy or Nancy Reagan that didn’t dress frumpy. Michelle is very refreshing to see and she looks gorgeous in whatever she wears.
gex
@Chris: Good. They can hurt their 2016 chances with that BS.
SiubhanDuinne
@Han’s Solo:
The man should have both his MSNBC program AND his dog taken away from him. What a fool.
Han's Solo
@Martin: I agree. I remember the very first time KO did a Special Comment. I loved it. Nobody had vented at the stupidity of Team Dubya on TV before and it was about time.
Then he kept doing it, and doing it and doing it. To me it seemed like the same fake outrage the wingnuts on Fox spout, only more inline with my politics. Maybe that works for some people, but the very format is distasteful to me.
bemused
Ditto on Ed Schultz. I only watch his show for his guests. Schultz is so obvious about his ambition being his top priority. Cenk Uygur gives me a headache.
polyorchnid octopunch
@Chris: They might figure it’s a lock this time; after all, he’s black.
harlana
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh so know you got me going, thinking about the wives of republican presidential hopefuls (including Calista, of course). I’m seeing a row of white frozen faces dressed in blue or red.
Prometheus Shrugged
@geg6: Ask any college student about “Edward 40-hands” and I bet that most will smile knowingly.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: Seconded.
Han's Solo
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m not impressed with his intellect or his temperament. While I don’t want to see anyone lose their job I do wish someone else had his time slot. Someone with Rachel Maddow’s smarts and Chris Matthews love of politics (not the other way around!)
El Cid
It’s quite possible that many viewers watching have forgotten who Brownie is.
Montysano
At some point in the past, I have eaten both watermelon and fried chicken, ergo I cannot be a racist.
Kthxbai,
The GOP
harlana
I enjoy Schultz. I don’t watch or listen to him regularly and I know he goes over the top a lot and can have a big ego, but a lot of the time I like to hear him bellow about an authentic injustice since I am done with being angry myself but I know people should be angry so I like a little fire sometimes. And I like that he travels the country and does the town halls where I get to hear ordinary Americans speak. And I don’t care about his ambition.
Martin
@Han’s Solo: I will add that I appreciate his efforts reaching out to the demographic he was trying to reach – it’s a demographic that is pretty much neglected, other than to be manipulated by Fox. I would certainly like to see someone step into that role, but with a more effective approach. Credit for intentions, but not for execution.
gex
@Omnes Omnibus: Natural disaster monitoring in general, I think. If not, hurricane monitoring wouldn’t exactly be praised by these guys.
dollared
@Han’s Solo: Gotta speak up for Ed Schultz and Keith Olbermann. Emotion has a legitimate role in politics, and Schultz in particular brings a Midwestern farm state view of “Democrat” that is really, really missing from the national party. As for Olbermann, nothing he has ever said about Republicans is too much for me. And he has the historical sense of right and wrong that too many people lack.
Yup, they are both self-promoters and blowhards. Might I remind you that, well, is exactly their job description?
There are plenty of very dignified liberals and progressives. Most of them either lost their most recent election or their most recent television show.
Han's Solo
@Martin: That seems more than fair to me.
harlana
And I agree that Cenk can be an annoying drip. Again, don’t watch the channel but a little here and there but I used to be forced to listen to the Young Turks in the morning once for a while when I first had XM.
polyorchnid octopunch
@Fred: That’s not a forty Reagan’s drinking, dude. That’s a pint. It’s 20 oz., in countries with real pints of beer.
His little call out on the malt liquor thing is actually pretty clever; in the Rest Of The English Speaking World, a forty refers to a 40 oz bottle of liquor, not malt “liquor”, so they won’t get the dog-whistle.
harlana
@dollared: Excellent point, we need more of them on our side and more Tim Pawlentys on the other side
PurpleGirl
Michelle Obama’s white dress was beautiful, but the black on was gorgeous. The necklace and bracelet she wore with it were outrageously stunning. I wonder whose work it was? (I’m lover of sparkly jewelry and beaded things.)
Ash Can
Aaaand 42 of the 47 Republicans in the Senate are now on record as being Fans of Destroying Medicare. Heckuva job, Paulie. The gift that keeps on giving…
ETA: And seriously, kudos to Harry Reid. He said he was going to do it, and by gum, he did.
Comrade Mary
Aaaaaand …. all but 5 Senate Republicans voted to kill Medicare. The budget failed, they knew it would fail, and they just walked into this anyway.
Comrade Mary
Ha! I posted later, but I used more extraneous vowels.
DFH no.6
@The Raven:
Regarding white folk and “losing their shit in 2008”, my sense is that electing the blackity-black Kenyan terrorist B-Rock “The Islamic Shock” Hussien X Superallah Obama“ really did bring out something not seen to such an extent since the Civil Rights days.
It was always there, certainly. As a long-time white dude myself I believe that just about every conservative white person in America (certainly every single one I have ever known, and that’s a lot) is a racist.
And more than a few on the left, too, sad to say, though for conservatives it’s a key part of their tribal identity, more so than even religious nuttery, and at least equal to the required simple-minded economic quackery (their “tax cuts solve everything” nonsense always reminds me of that old SNL skit with Steve Martin as Theodoric of York where every one who needed medical treatment was bled, even if what they were suffering from was bleeding).
But a lot of that racism had been pushed under the surface for a generation, or at least hidden from public view (a great deal of it was not, obviously).
Obama’s campaign and then election, I think, caused the almost-entirely-white modern conservative movement to just let their racist freak flag fly. Thus, the Tea Party.
Martin
@dollared:
No, because to me, once you start laying on the icing then you’ve lost me as a credible source of information. Hyperbole is merely a lesser form of lying when comedy isn’t your goal.
Further, once you go over the top, you’ve just given your opposition something to attack other than the facts. And that’s just counterproductive. I like Maddow. I think she walks the line very well. I appreciate the midwestern farm state viewpoint, but hyperbole is exactly the opposite of a midwestern farm state temperament.
IMO, more Mike Rowe, less Ed Shultz.
Comrade Mary
A little something for non-fans of Ed Schulz.
Han's Solo
@dollared: Well, each to their own. I don’t want anyone to lose their job. But I won’t watch them.
I find watching someone who, in theory, thinks like me acting like Sean Hannity difficult. Just because the other side acts like Aholes doesn’t mean I have to.
But I see your point and realize sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. It just isn’t something I’d watch.
Ash Can
@Comrade Mary: Great minds, etc. :)
martha
@PurpleGirl: Love, love love both dresses but I think I like the black one better too. I’d like the Tom Ford dress better (the white one) if it had been a color of some sort and not pale white. But that’s just me. I just went over the mrs-o.org thinking they’d have already posted info about the necklace, but no such luck. I love it that’s she’s glam!
Martin
@Comrade Mary: Hah! Poor Republicans, caught between old people and a bunch of lunatics, and gambling that the old people die first.
Studly Pantload, a full-service troll
@Ash Can: @Comrade Mary:
Gotta love how TPM opens the story:
dollared
@Martin: Yup. And I liked Walter Mondale better than Ronald Reagan.
Hunter Gathers
OT But the Senate just defeated Ryan’s Coupon Care plan 57-40.
Every GOPer except for Brown, Snowe, Collins, Murkowski and Paul(’cause it wasn’t Randian enough) voted for it. I feel sorry for the Mark Kirk staffer I’m about to give an earful to. Mark Kirk just voted to fuck with my 7 month old son’s health care. Bad idea.
Valdivia
@lamh34:
what a winner! loved the dress yesterday but I think tonight she tops it. Last night was classic tonight she looks hawt!
dollared
@Han’s Solo: The part you’re missing is that Ed Schultz isn’t lying or splicing tape to misrepresent reality. And he’s not blowing racist dog whistles. He really was an important supporter of the Wisconsin folks when the national Dems were conspicuously absent.
End to end, and particularly on substance, your comparison to Hannity in nonsensical and unfair.
harlana
@DFH no.6: That is the best explanation I can think of. As I have said many times, I continue to be shocked and disgusted (well, sometimes have outrage fatigue at this point) at all the overt racism that has surfaced since Obama came on the scene.
I was listening to Mark Thompson and he had a guy from TPM on entertaining the idea that birtherism is an attempt to eradicate the black president from history, they have to wipe him out because America just can’t have a black president.
kdaug
@Han’s Solo: Ain’t saying the guy’s brilliant.
But neither is his target audience.
And to build a winning coalition we’ll need the sub-Epsilons.
That’s his role. Off-the-cuff, from-the-gut, overly-bombastic. It has its place.
Ash Can
@Studly Pantload, a full-service troll: LOL! A fitting fate for a group of sociopaths — turning their own sociopathy upon themselves. I’m envisioning Harry Ried with a few yellow feathers sticking to his smiling face right now.
harlana
Is it possible some of you are suggesting that Michelle Obama’s jewels outshine Callista’s!
dollared
@kdaug: Exactly. Progressives/liberals/even conservadems aren’t going to win without white high school grads voting for them. Schultz delivers a message (Dems work for working people) that all us college nerds forget is incredibly important – oh, and true.
dollared
TPM server cratered. They should talk to that Andressen guy – maybe he knows somebody with a server farm.
Ash Can
@Hunter Gathers: I remember so many people, including the Chicago Tribune’s editorial staff, supporting Kirk because he was supposedly so independent, and wouldn’t just mindlessly toe the GOP line. This is the clearest evidence yet that Kirk’s “independence” is a load of bullshit.
EconWatcher
I really thought a bunch of GOP senators would balk at the Ryan plan after NY-26, but the only dissenters were the usual suspects, plus Murkowski.
Alrighty, then. It’s on.
Admiral_Komack
@geg6:
…and that means Pat Buchanan will be telling him to “shut up” nightly.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
@Hunter Gathers:
Murkowski has been casting a not insignificant number of votes against her party line ever since Palin pissed her off.
Rihilism
@kdaug:
Personally, the “slut” thing was a bit too off-the-cuff for me…
Scamp Dog
@Omnes Omnibus:
Simple.
ObamaA Democrat is doing it.FTFY.
EconWatcher
@Comrade Mary:
I think Ingraham is pretty much the devil incarnate (my sister knew her back when she was outing gay students at Dartmouth, and can’t speak of her without expletives).
But Schultz should lose his job. You just don’t say things like that. If nothing else, the gender specificity of the insult is misogynistic.
shortstop
In Obama’s defense, McCain’s birthday isn’t until August, or he’d be right here serving up the buttercream frosting with his shirtsleeves rolled up.
Admiral_Komack
@Comrade Mary:
Thank you.
I hope they shitcan the fuck
(yes, yes, I know they won’t…but a guy can hope).
Ash Can
@EconWatcher: They really are this stupid and/or delusional, evidently.
kdaug
@dollared: Precisely.
He’s the rejoinder to Palin’s “Ivory Tower Elites”.
And as for the “slut” comment, how does that compare to “feminazi”, “Hillary killed Vince Foster”, or “Clinton was dealing drugs in AK”?
MSNBC best not back down on this. Talk radio ain’t TV. Shultz didn’t make the sandbox, but he’s got to play in it.
Admiral_Komack
@dollared:
Fuck both of them.
Don’t watch them, and I am the better for it.
Hunter Gathers
@Ash Can: I swear that if Mark Kirk ever comes down to my little corner of Illinois, I’m going to give his a verbal ass kicking that will bring that little punk bitch to tears.
bemused
@Ash Can:
Rand Paul voted no because Ryan’s bill wasn’t extreme enough. He doesn’t disappoint.
This is wild. The GOP reek of hubris yet walk straight into the Medicare buzzsaw and overreach on crushing the middle/lower class every way they can think of pissing off swatches of conservative americans that don’t want to go back to pre-FDR America.
shortstop
@dollared: And Olbermann lost his, and Schultz is about to lose his.
EconWatcher
@Ash Can:
Either that, or they’re adopting the strategy of white-collar defendants in joint criminal trials: “If we all stick together and act like nothing bad happened, maybe we can all walk. But the second any of us tries to distance himself, we’re all going down.”
danimal
Just want to say that its pretty easy to shut up conservative whites when they whine about being accused of racism. All I do is state that I’ve been within earshot when white
racistsconservatives let down their guard and speak their mind.“I know what white conservatives say when there are no minorities in the room” is usually sufficient to shut them up. I know in 2008 I got pulled aside many times from conservatives (and some moderates) and asked “You don’t really think the country will elect a black man, do you?” They really didn’t think it could possibly happen once whites were alone in the precinct completing their ballots. They counted on the Bradley effect and were stunned when Obama came through.
Don’t buy the pious-sounding bullshit meant for public relations.
dollared
@Admiral_Komack: Yeah, fuck them, they use vulgar language.
shortstop
@EconWatcher: I think that’s exactly their thinking. Presumably they’re also gabbling, “We’ll think of a way to spin this later!”
dollared
@shortstop: And that makes you happy because….?
harlana
I’ll have to go borrow some $975 pearls from Callista to clutch
nancydarling
Being called a slut is mild compared to the crap Ingraham was peddling in “Obama Diaries”. That said, Schultz was out of line and should apologize. I think. We are better than the Limbaughs, the Hannitys, the O’Reillys.
shortstop
@dollared: What made you make that leap?
bemused
Hmm, I wonder if someone else will be filling in for Schultz tonight. I hope it’s smart and very cute Chris Hayes.
shortstop
@bemused: I kind of have a crush on him. Does that make me a nasty old cougar? Not that I care; I’m just asking.
Rihilism
@bemused: I’d second that emotion…
shortstop
Wait, Chris Hayes is 32 (but doesn’t look it). In my admittedly biased estimation, I’ve now escaped Dirty Old Woman status.
BO_Bill
I think he was drinking $1000 bottles of wine, not forties.
birthmarker
@Martin: Actually I am pretty sure the black mayor went into cahoots with the Bushies to throw the female dem gov under the bus.
Rihilism
@shortstop: No, that makes you a nasty old cougar with impeccable taste…
jane from hell
I remember them (fox, presumably ) dragging out Mr Heckuva after…the BP oil spill? It was insane and laughable then, too…
shortstop
@jane from hell: It’s Fox’s MO. Pull out the biggest Bush criminals (war, disaster response, civil rights) and put them on to project cluckingly at the Obama administration. They know the strategy works with their base because Rove perfected it.
shortstop
@Rihilism: Thanks, toots–I owe ya.
Rihilism
@shortstop: the dirty old man in me says you’re welcome…
gex
@Ash Can: He’ll keep complaining about Democrat’s “demagoguery” on this. And the fact that they cultivate a hatred for book lernin’ will mean his constituents will have no idea what the fuck he’s talking about.
shortstop
@Rihilism: I sensed a kindred spirit (high fiving you with grave dignity).
shortstop
@gex: But it sounds kind of like “demon,” which they associate with liberality, so he may get some mileage.
Jenny
When Schultz called Ingraham “slut”, I think he was referring to the suggestive and slutty way they dress over at fixxed news
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sW65ilskOC8/TFnATFxZ7eI/AAAAAAAAgnc/eKUDqrTw-Vs/s1600/LauraIngrahamStephenColbert.jpg
There’s nothing wrong in wearing stilettos and a cocktail dress with a plunging neck line when you’re going to a club, but it’s completely inappropriate for the office. But that’s what Fox does, they hire spokesmodels, not newscasters, and then they literally make the women dress like strippers (as you can see in this video)
So as a female who would be fired if I showed up to work half naked, I don’t have a problem in Ed calling a spade, a spade.
gex
@kdaug: So, we need to match their misogyny? They are all about hatred and othering. We don’t need to match them.
burnspbesq
It pains me to say it, but Rand Paul is right and Harry Reid is wrong. At least where the Patriot Act is concerned. I’d like to see the entire thing sunset, disappear, and never be seen again.
DFH no.6
@bemused:
I wish the Republican congressional (and presidential candidate) “overreach” on Medicare really was a big problem for them, but I don’t think so.
As I commented (on what was a dead thread by then) on the Rep. Woodall post earlier in this regard:
Yeah, the overreach on Medicare will cause some damage in 2012, but really not much and nothing like the pasting Democrats took all across the nation (from state level offices to the Congress) in 2010. It’s a long game for the fascists, and they will never, ever stop.
And this is very important – those already retired and receiving Medicare and their SS payments won’t miss out on one dime (and thus will happily continue to largely vote Republican, cuz, you know, they got theirs).
Those 55 and under are the ones who will likely get fucked, not because we can’t afford it (we most certainly can), but because Republicans will find ways in our current economic and political order to at least seriously chip away at future Medicare and SS benefits, along with other aspects of the modern welfare state social compact in general (as their compatriots are doing, to a lesser degree, in western Europe).
That’s why the current Medicare overreach looks to many like a defeat for Republicans (and it will be, in small and temporary ways mostly, like Hochul’s win in NY) but will likely end up as a strategic victory for them (advancing that “chip away”). Someone called the Medicare overreach something like “the biggest political blunder in a generation”. I wish it were so, but I’m afraid not.
Goddamn I hope I’m wrong.
Litlebritdifrnt
OT but will someone please front page this hypocrit, he accepts his government health care “because it’s free”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUtKrApIH8c&feature=player_embedded
opal
@DFH no.6:
Your concern is troubling to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
harlana
In a country where Harold Camping raises $80 mil and gets to keep it, anything’s possible.
Mike in NC
It’s a shame that FOX can no longer turn to their favorite commentator Newt Gingrich for his views on things like the sanctity of marriage.
ABL
“Between you and ABL, I’m really sick of hearing about all this race shit.”
–paraphrased
Martin
@harlana:
When we asked those who donated to Family Radio to comment about this story: “All I know is I’m broke because my taxes are too high.”
DFH no.6
@danimal:
That’s why I wrote that I believe pretty much every white conservative in America is racist.
I’ve worked from offices in Maricopa County, AZ (white conservative central) for over thirty years with mostly white conservative people, and lived among mostly white conservative neighbors.
Some (many, in fact) of these people are very personable, friendly, smart, educated, successful, helpful, hard-working, etc., etc..
But when they believe themselves to be among their own (I pass pretty easily, looking a lot anymore like McCain’s better-preserved brother) the racism comes out so easily, even automatically. To a man (and woman).
Just the other day the sweet old widow across the street (who we often have over for dinner) mentioned the new neighbors moving in to the cul-de-sac. The new folks are from India. The sweet (white Republican) lady’s comment? “Well, he’s a radiologist, not a terrorist, thank God.” And that’s a really mild one.
I’ve overheard worse, sometimes much worse, thousands of times.
bemused
@DFH no.6:
Me too, hope you’re wrong, that is.
Sigh, not in the mood to worry about idiots still not figuring out they are being conned and I just accidently spilled paint down a stairway. The only thing that will cheer me up is to see Chris Hayes subbing for Schultz tonight.
bemused
@shortstop:
Doesn’t everyone think he is adorable? Smart and cute are a killer combo in my book.
opal
@DFH no.6:
What is your point?
nancydarling
@DFH no.6: I hear it too. Some is subtle, some not. I heard it in SoCal as well as here in NW Arkansas. Also pretty over anti-semitism among some of them.
May I second or third how cute and smart Chris Hayes is? He’s the same age as my son. There is nothing wrong with window shopping at any age.
fasteddie9318
@burnspbesq:
Rand Paul is practically the personification of the blind squirrel who finds a nut. First of all, his hair hat or whatever it is, I get a serious squirrel hit off of that thing. Second, he’s literally right on the Patriot Act and batshit off the charts insane on everything else. He can’t even cobble together 3 or 4 coherent decent positions like his old man, he’s too loco.
Mart
A bet (being a white guy who only recently learned this) that not too many white people know that King Cobra is a malt liquor that comes in 40 ounce bottles and has been primarily marketed in distressed black neighborhoods by that small regional brewer – Anheuser-Busch and now InBev.
Also too, Netflix should have instant access to a (I found) very funny blaxploitation action comedy on the very subject of blacks and 40 malts called, “Black Dynamite”.
opal
@Mart:
That didn’t take long.
DFH no.6
@opal:
Umm… my point is addressing JC’s concluding paragraph in his post (as well as his link about the “drinking 40s” dog-whistle just prior).
Which I first did by responding (back at comment 141) to The Raven’s comment (at 15) about white people “losing their shit” a lot further back than 2008.
danimal (at 175) made a similar observation to mine.
I took that to be the main theme of JC’s post, though the commentary here didn’t go that way (a lot more OT discussion of Ed Schultz, of all things, for instance)
I guess my succinct point is that the white racism that’s been so obvious against Obama is not a new thing at all with conservatives, his election just allowed it free rein (well, that’s about as succinct as I get).
opal
@DFH no.6:
(whatever)
Mart
@opal: No fair – out of context. I wrote blacks AND 40 malts. The movie spoofs the 1970’s black action films. The plot involves blacks AND 40 malts.
Believe “Black Dynamite” was an all black production made in 2009. i.e.”Scott Sanders is an African American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his work with the films “Black Dynamite”…”
In the movie our hero must stop the evil villain behind the plot to destroy black neighborhoods with heroin laced 40 oz malt liquors. The climax involves our hero duking it out with the ultimate evil villains, President and First lady – well I don’t want to spoil the ending.
opal
@Mart:
Thanks for clearing that up.
The Man and the Black Guy make a deal? Sounds just like real life.
burnspbesq
@Mart:
King Cobra has its uses, but I prefer T’Bird.
And for the record, I am approximately the color of Elmer’s Glue.
Lysana
@Jenny:
How a woman dresses is NOT related to her sexual conduct nor should it be so linked. You are an embarrassment to our gender.
Brachiator
Schultz was over the top, but I find it hard to care. No one on Faux News is deserving of respect. They are all a bunch of Kochsuckers, male and female.
MonkeyBoy
@Lysana:
OK. I get it. Rather than directly saying Ingram is a right-wing slut, if he had only said she “dresses like a whore” then that would be ok. Yes?
Villago Delenda Est
@burnspbesq:
Stopped clock, twice a day, etc.
That’s Rand Paul.
Rihilism
FYI, Schultz has apologized profusely for his remark and has been suspended for a week by MSNBC (sounds as if the week suspension was Ed’s idea).
IMO, good on him for taking the high road. Oh, and Ingraham can DIAF…
bob h
The Obama years have been an eye-opening experience for me, and one of the great lessons is that the broad mass of white people are stupid and mean-spirited. With the Bush years, and the present exhibition of white stupidity, it seems we are seeing a great deflation of white prestige.
iLarynx
Uh, John. You’re confusing “big balls” with “small brain.” Brownie is afflicted with the latter, not the former.
A person jumping off the top of a skyscraper with the intention of gliding safely to the ground with a parachute has big balls. A person doing the same thing without a parachute is an idiot (i.e. has a small brain).
There is a difference. Don’t confuse the two.
grandpajohn
@Rihilism: So when has Ingraham ever been suspended or even reprimanded for any of her far more hateful slurs?
Rihilism
@grandpajohn: Never, as far as I know. Hence the DIAF…
DFH no.6
@opal:
Apparent reading comprehension FAIL on your part.
You asked a (stupid) question, you got an answer.
Fuck you, you’re an asshole.
Dead thread, no doubt.