IOKIYAR
by John Cole| 56 Comments
IOKIYAR
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.
Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.
Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.
Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!
People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.
It’s the corruption, stupid.
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.
“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”
“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”
Innocent people do not delay justice.
A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.
An almost top 10,000 blog!
Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.
The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.
No one could have predicted…
The lights are all blinking red.
Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.
We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.
Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.
Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.
… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop
The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.
These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.
Daddy-O
“…a five year old story”? Really?
In five years, we’ll all be dead. To paraphrase the Worst President Ever…
Alex S.
I don’t know… the most similar case to Weiner is Chris Lee, and he resigned. The most similar case to David Vitter is probably Eliot Spitzer. He resigned as well, but he’s back on television. The media doesn’t have much of a double standard, the republicans are just more united. Charlie Rangel is still in office, as is John Ensign…
cleek
good to see them using Vitter as a way to slap back, tho.
Pococurante
Not only do they keep their jobs, sometimes they even get awarded medals…
Villago Delenda Est
You can bet your last dollar that the snivelling little shitstain Dancin’ Dave would never have asked Priebus a followup, and without DWS there to make the point, it never would have been made.
Fred
This is what I have been saying all along.
DAVID VITTER…DAVID VITTER…DAVID VITTER. I guess Debbie finally got the message!
PurpleGirl
@Alex S.: Chris Lee probably resigned because there was other sides to his story that the didn’t want to come out (rumors that he was trolling for cross dressers on the net). John Ensign resigned from Congress to shut down moves to investigate him and the scandal and he resigned TWO YEARS after the story came out.
MattF
Being moral and being a member of the Party of Morality are two very different things. Very, very different.
PurpleGirl
@MattF: That is so true. It’s also sad.
kdaug
@MattF:
Mutually exclusive, I’d say.
Alex S.
@PurpleGirl:
Heh, I actually forgot that Ensign resigned. I thought he just decided not to run for re-election. Ah well, that makes the possible double standard even smaller.
Also, TPM compares Weiner and Jefferson. Weiner’s problem is his political isolation. Jefferson and Rangel always had the backing of the black caucus.
El Cid
This is my favorite line.
On the show Priebus dismissed the questions about how Republicans didn’t demand Vitter resign while demanding Weiner resign by saying, Pffft, it’s a ‘five year old story’.
Time only has healing powers for Republicans.
tamied
@MattF: Do as I say, not as I do.
Villago Delenda Est
@Alex S.:
Ensign only resigned when it became obvious that he’d be called before a panel and forced to squirm under klieg lights and be questioned about his behavior.
Before that became inevitable, he was stonewalling like mad, and resignation was clearly the last resort to avoid that grilling.
NonyNony
@Alex S.:
Except that the point of the discussion was the RNC’s double standard, not anyone else’s.
DWS was asking why Priebus’s organization was so all-gol-danged hot under the collar about Weiner’s weiner but was strangely silent about Diaper Dan Vitter. The correct answer is “because we’re a partisan group and it’s our job to gin up outrage and anger against Democratic politicians – we don’t actually give a flying rat’s ass about Weiner’s weiner, we just like using it to make Democrats look bad”.
But of course if he says that the game is over, so he has to find something else to say. Because for him it really is IOKIYAR and he knows it and DWS knows it and, fuck, even David Gregory knows it. Could you imagine if David Gregory turned to him at that point and said “so basically, what you’re saying is, as far as your concerned whatever you do It’s OK If You Are A Republican?” and watch Priebus squirm?
But, of course, David Gregory would never do that. That’s specifically WHY he’s the host of Meet the Press.
El Cid
For a different type of fun, go see the comments made under the Yahoo/AP article “Blacks’ Role in Confederacy Remains Touchy Subject,” about attempts to overplay the tiny numbers of African Americans who worked for the Confederacy.
Turns out the Civil War was indeed all about stopping an oppressive federal government, and also blacks were often worse off after the War. So, um, maybe, er, the other way was better?
Zifnab
And now the question that every
Republican talking-point stenographerpundit will be asking: Why is Debbie Wasserman Schultz so shrill?She can only be good news for John McCain.
sixers
Weiner is just like David Vitter! Thats the party I want to belong to.
jwb
I was shocked that Priebus seemed unprepared for this particular pushback, which was an obvious line of attack, especially when he decided to make it an issue of leadership rather than about Weiner himself.
Villago Delenda Est
@NonyNony:
Which is precisely the reason that I’d put Gregory on a tumbrel ahead of Priebus.
Alex S.
Well then check the TPM link to see Pelosi’s double standard.
cleek
@sixers:
beat that strawman. beat it good.
jwb
@NonyNony: That would make a great skit for the Stewart, Colbert or SNL, however, and they might do it.
bill
“Time only has healing powers for Republicans.”
And they will never let go of Clinton’s dick.
J.
Thanks for linking to that article. Hadn’t seen it. And dead on.
Now, at the risk of being bludgeoned by my fellow commentors for my ignorance, what does IOKIYAR stand for?
NonyNony
@Alex S.:
OK? So Pelosi’s a hypocrite? What’s your point?
Tonybrown74
@sixers:
Except that Democratic Leadership is calling for Weiner to resign.
But, of course, you missed the point of that in order to be an asshole.
Lawnguylander
Wasn’t there a Democratic governor in LA when the Vitter story broke? If Jindal had been in office they might have pushed him out so they didn’t have to defend him but they didn’t want to lose the seat. That’s probably a better explanation than IOKIYARinism for his not resigning. I can’t imagine they’re anymore thrilled about being asked questions about him than Jay Carney was about being asked about Weiner today.
Culture of Truth
Priebus instantly pivoted from “Weiner is preventing us from addressing the debt!” to “why talk about Vitter when we have to address the debt!”
NonyNony
@J.:
It’s Okay If You’re A Republican
Villago Delenda Est
@J.:
It’s OK If You’re A Republican
Tonybrown74
IOKIYAR = Its Okay If You’re A Republican
Alex S.
@NonyNony:
In this case yes, but to be honest, I like Pelosi because she can play dirty sometimes. I was disappointed when she called for Weiner to resign. So I suspect that this isn’t about ethics, but about power, as always…
Yutsano
@J.: It’s OK If You Are Republican. I’m not going to bludgeon you though. I don’t want to get blood on my clothes and I still gotta go to work yet today.
Villago Delenda Est
@bill:
AKA The Clenis, the most powerful organ in the known universe.
cmorenc
Don’t lose sight of the most important GOP objective in the Weiner affair: keeping it in the media spotlight as long as possible, to drain oxygen from all the much more important and less GOP-favorable issues that were doing significant damage to them before the Weiner matter broke. At worst (even with DWS spanking Priebus on MTP), for the GOP it produces a “both sides do it” impression with the public, leaving feelings of disgust mixed with bored “meh” with politicians; foibles generally. AND, as has been repeatedly noted, it completely distracts attention from Clarence Thomas’s conflicts of interest and disclosure failures.
Villago Delenda Est
@Alex S.:
Well, from what I have gathered, Weiner has not made a whole lot of friends in the House to form a support structure to aid him in his personal time of crisis.
So, this is a natural result of not cultivating that support structure over the years.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
You get enough blood on your clothes from snatching crusts of bread out of the mouths of starving children to satisfy their parents’ outstanding tax liabilities. ;-)
sixers
@Tonybrown74:
Nope. I agree with the leaderships decision. Too much Weiner distraction is taking away from the winning narrative of the GOP trying to murder old people by taking away Medicare. I was just mocking the people who are pointing to Vitter not resigning as the a reason Weiner shouldn’t.
Zifnab
@cleek: Well, assuming you judge your politicians exclusively by their sexual deviancy, the two are carbon copies. Assuming you care how they vote… :-p
Villago Delenda Est
@sixers:
The difference of course being that Vitter’s problems have, amazingly, not been the full blown media circus that Weiner’s have been.
Because the media is in the pocket of the GOP.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: Heh. One of my favorite work whines. To which I respond, “I am not the one who put you in this situation. But I will help you try to get out of it.” Look at it this way: at least I don’t work for the Franchise Tax Board.
NonyNony
@Alex S.:
Ah, then, I understand where you’re coming from a bit better.
My guess here is that Peolsi isn’t jumping to defend Weiner because he’s apparently a huge asshole. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a big of “seriously – you’re a grown man and you’re e-mailing dickshots of yourself to 20-something kids? What the FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU ASSHOLE?” going on there as well.
In the Jefferson case she didn’t exactly jump to his defense either, and did eventually call for his resignation. There’s also the fact that Jefferson continued to insist that he was innocent and that he was being framed by the FBI and never admitted to his own guilt. Weiner, OTOH, has admitted that he did it. So it’s much easier for folks in leadership positions to come out and demand Weiner resign.
sixers
@Villago Delenda Est:
It was a story 5 years ago but not like this. I’m pretty sure its less the media being in the GOP’s pocket and more about the half naked pictures that continually come out. This is Weiners fault not the media.
jrg
@sixers:
Are you high, or just illiterate?
Pro tip: see the text in Cole’s original post? That’s called a “hyperlink”. You can click on this “link”, and read the quote from Wasserman Schultz… Where you will NOT find an assertion that “Weiner is just like David Vitter”.
I hope this helped.
Hal
@jwb
He’s actually been doing this for two weeks now. The guy goes on a show, gets all pompous and righteous about Wiener, and then completely stumbles over any questions about Vitter, Ensigh et al.
Ben H.
“Thomas would turn the conversation to… acts that he had seen in pornographic films… women having sex with animals… group sex or rape scenes… individuals with large penises, or large breasts involved in various sex acts.” http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/senate/judiciary/sh102-1084pt4/36-40.pdf
“Hill was not the only former subordinate of Thomas’s with complaints. Angela Wright described how Thomas showed up uninvited at her apartment and asked her breast size. “[He] would say to me, ‘You know you need to be dating me… You’re one of the finest women I have on my staff,” Wright told Senate investigators.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/02/AR2007100201822.html
Clarence Thomas’s Ex-Girlfriend: Anita Hill got it right.
http://www.newser.com/story/103384/clarence-thomass-ex-lillian-mcewen-says-anita-hill-got-it-right.html
I know DWS couldn’t bring Pubes-On-My-Coke-Can-Clarence up… but somebody ought to.
Villago Delenda Est
@sixers:
Yet the entire discussion on MTP was about the leadership’s respective reactions to the two incidents, not about the incidents themselves, but you are utterly obsessed with Weiner’s wiener.
slag
@Villago Delenda Est:
This statement is less a condemnation of the Wenis and more a condemnation of our politics, overall. It’s a far better world when actions are not judged primarily on how many of the right friends the actor has made.
Villago Delenda Est
@slag:
I agree, but we as social animals fall back on social support structures in times of need.
Weiner’s current predicament is reflected by this truism.
sixers
@Villago Delenda Est:
Wait so they discussed leaderships reaction with the leaders of each party on the show? Wow that is biased.
J.
@NonyNony: Thank you!
Villago Delenda Est
@sixers:
Again, you conflate ideas that are clearly separate.
The media coverage of the two incidents has been different. The leadership reactions have been different. Those are two totally separate sentences, and ideas. But you insist on melding them together to obfuscate.
Ruckus
@Yutsano:
Look at it this way: at least I don’t work for the Franchise Tax Board.
Yea you don’t want to cross those guys. They’ll pull out your eyeballs with a rusty fork just to show you what they look like. IOW they make La Famiglia look like harmless choirboys.
mclaren
But as I pointed out (and the kooks and crank and crackpots on Balloon Juice proved with their bizarre rationalizations and sophistries), it’s also true that IOKIYO.
It’s OK If You’re Obama.
When Dubya orders American citizens kidnapped without a trial or charges, Democrats explode with outrage…but when Barack Obama orders American citizens kidnapped without a trial or charges, hey! IOKIYO.
When Ashcroft herded innocent kids and sick old men who had nothing more than drive cabs into Gitmo and tortured ’em mercilessly, Democrats dressed up like detainees and protested on the steps of the supreme court…but when Barack Obama keeps the same innocent people in Gitmo, hey! IOKIYO.
When Bush rammed through tax cuts for billionaires, Democrats turned purple with rage…but when Barack Obama cut a deal to extend the very same tax cuts for billionaires, no problem! IOKIYO.
AxelFoley
@mclaren: LOL, just STFU.