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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  August 7, 20118:29 pm| 167 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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As a follow-up to DougJ’s post earlier, please tell me what you think of Terry McAuliffe as Secretary of State?

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Previous Post: « Geithner’s Going Nowhere
Next Post: Not here for your entertainment »

Reader Interactions

167Comments

  1. 1.

    jwb

    August 7, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    I thought you’d abandoned us for Twitter.

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    August 7, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Yeah, not enough yet.

    ETA, I’m still a ways away.

  3. 3.

    John Cole

    August 7, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    @jwb: I’m so hot I can only think in 140 characters or less.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    Who is Terry McAuliffe? Sorry just had to go there.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    August 7, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    @jwb: Ha! I don’t usually follow people on Twitter, but that’s before I learned that they post while in a state of awesome drunkedness. I’m re-thinking my policy.

  6. 6.

    Yutsano

    August 7, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    @John Cole:

    I’m so hot I can only think in 140 characters or less.

    Oh man. Another beautiful ripe mango sitting right there just BEGGING to be picked…

    I shall refrain for now though. I’m certain someone will pick up the slack.

  7. 7.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    @Corner Stone: It’s his blog and he tag if he wants to.

  8. 8.

    M. Bouffant

    August 7, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    Makes as much sense as that boated toad Huckabee suggesting

    “Ask Donald Trump to be Treasury secretary,” Mike Huckabee said on Fox News Channel.

    The former Arkansas governor elaborated: “Have Donald Trump take the job for 90 days. It’s a game changer.”
    “Right now, the president needs something that is truly a game changer, and he doesn’t have that in Geithner,” Huckabee said.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    August 7, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    I think Obama should replace Biden with Zell Miller.

  10. 10.

    Anya

    August 7, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    Nice try, John but everyone knows that Holbrooke was slated to be SOS for a Clinton 2.0 presidency.

    I think McAuliffe was slated for either Commerce or chief of Staff

  11. 11.

    Ron

    August 7, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    John is worth following on twitter for amusement value at times.

    P.S. John, get yer AC fixed.

  12. 12.

    Jenny

    August 7, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    Terry McAuliffe would have been Treasury Secretary.

    Liebermann would have been Secretary of State.

    Evan Bayh would have been Veep.

  13. 13.

    General Stuck

    August 7, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    LOL, well, if i was a foreign government and got visited by SoS MCcauliffe, I’d nail down anything of value, just to be on the safe side.

  14. 14.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    @M. Bouffant: Yeah nothing like appointing a someone who declared bankruptcy four times. That will assure the markets. It’s time to have some fried squirrel with that.

  15. 15.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    since we don’t really know where christa mcauliffe’s head is at, next mcauliffe up.

  16. 16.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    since we don’t really know where christa mcauliffe’s head is at, next mcauliffe up.

  17. 17.

    Svensker

    August 7, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    @M. Bouffant:

    I’d agree on a game changer but the fact that these baboons think that Trump is an expert businessman and economics maven just emphasizes the fact that they know bupkis.

  18. 18.

    jwb

    August 7, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    @John Cole: You’ve got some great stuff going on there (I don’t tweet myself, but I’ve been monitoring your feed). It would be nice if some of that material got bounced back here.

  19. 19.

    lamh34

    August 7, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    @John Cole: seriously, your white boy swag on twitter the other night was hilarious. I laughed at you, I cried for u and I ridiculed you. It was amazing.

  20. 20.

    Josie

    August 7, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    @Jenny: I was thinking of Terry McAuliffe more for press secretary, given his talent for putting a pretty bow on any turd he is selling.

  21. 21.

    Comrade Mary

    August 7, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    Terry McAuliffe would have been Captain Morgan of State. Arrr!

  22. 22.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    I read John’s tweet thing that someone linked to and he could spell and he could type. IMO.. he was at the head ache stage not the total falling over stage so on a drunk scale maybe a 7 out of ten. Some of us have been there so enough with the seven stage.. Personally the eight stage should be real fun to read though.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    August 7, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    @M. Bouffant: Why go halfway? Obama should create a reality show competition for the next Treasury Secretary.

  24. 24.

    PeakVT

    August 7, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    I didn’t see a link to this post on the drought during yesterday’s Perrypalooza. It turns out Texas isn’t the only state with a governor exhorting people to pray for rain.

  25. 25.

    Comrade Mary

    August 7, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    @Yutsano: I think John is trying to tell us he’s actually Paris Hilton.

  26. 26.

    jwb

    August 7, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    @Svensker: Hey, he plays an expert businessman on TV, so that must make him one, right? Right?

  27. 27.

    Comrade Mary

    August 7, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    HEY GUYS I FOUND EXCLUSIVE VIDEO OF JOHN’S LAST PARTY!! Click here. (You don’t need the autotune, John. You really don’t.)

  28. 28.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: sick, sick, sick, sick..and I hope John sees what you did here and you are banned forever…sick sick sick,

  29. 29.

    General Stuck

    August 7, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    A little Hummingbird action to soothe the savage beast

  30. 30.

    Jenny

    August 7, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    Her Baroness Lady Lynn Forester de Rothchild as Attorney General.

  31. 31.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: I’m still pissed… I had to meet little kids outside of school who were waiting for a film to see the teacher in space..
    who are you…sick

  32. 32.

    Mustang Bobby

    August 7, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    I’m still wondering why the hell Matt Santos picked Arnold Vinnick to be Secretary of State.

  33. 33.

    stevie314

    August 7, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    Attorney General Lanny Davis?

    Press Secretary Mark Penn?

    Secretary of Treasury Ron Burkle?

    Boy this is fun.

  34. 34.

    Jenny

    August 7, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    @Josie: No, Howard Wolfson would have been Press Secretary.

  35. 35.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    @JPL:

    too soon?

  36. 36.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 8:48 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: asshole

  37. 37.

    Josie

    August 7, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    @Jenny: You’re right. I had mercifully forgotten about him.

  38. 38.

    burnspbesq

    August 7, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    McAuliffe as SecState?

    The muscles in my face have informed me that they refuse to assume the positions needed to form those words.

  39. 39.

    Bruce S

    August 7, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    Not Clever, Not Sexy, Not Cynical, Not Outrage or Frustration Run Amok – just an idea for pragmatic coalition building and grass-roots organizing:

    http://titanicsailsatdawn.blogspot.com/2011/08/national-infrastructure-movement.html

  40. 40.

    Svensker

    August 7, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Are their legs really that long and noodly?

    Fantastic photo.

  41. 41.

    NobodySpecial

    August 7, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    As long as that State isn’t the US, fine.

  42. 42.

    Anya

    August 7, 2011 at 8:56 pm

    @M. Bouffant: No one should trust the judgement of anyone who lives in a place with such a tacky furniture.

  43. 43.

    General Stuck

    August 7, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    @Svensker:

    It does look like he’s on stilts, or something like that.

  44. 44.

    burnspbesq

    August 7, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Unfortunately, another night of riots in London.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8687177/Tottenham-riot-live.html

  45. 45.

    PanAmerican

    August 7, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Harold Ford Sec DOT sounds about right….

  46. 46.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:00 pm

    @efgoldman: congress is in session according to the house so no recess appts for you or for me..

  47. 47.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:03 pm

    @General Stuck: I have hummingbirds buzzing all over but no pics. Your pictures have been great. I recently received a note from a friend but also ex-step-sister-in-law who is retired and just spent time a few hours of nyc. She saw a hummingbird and had never seen one before.

  48. 48.

    Anya

    August 7, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    What, not cabinet post for Jane Hamsher?

  49. 49.

    cathyx

    August 7, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    I’m hugely into recycling, but not with politicians.

  50. 50.

    Erin

    August 7, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    @john cole

    So how is that new Balloon Juice facebook page coming along?

  51. 51.

    burnspbesq

    August 7, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    @JPL:

    Well, fine. But there is some obscure Constitutional provision, that I don’t think has ever come into play, that says that in case of a disagreement between the two houses of Congress as to the time of adjournment, the President decides. If Obama had the stones to do it, he could work with Reid to gin up just such a disagreement, and ram through every recess appointment your little heart could desire.

    What are the odds?

    ETA: More to the point, who the fuck cares whether the House is in recess or not? It’s not the House that has to power to advise and consent.

  52. 52.

    kansi

    August 7, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    Terry? A spittle-flecked crazy face who never takes a breath should be just the ticket to reassure all our friends round the world that we know just WTF we are doing!

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 7, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: That was really not necessary. Out of bounds, in fact. Really tasteless.

  54. 54.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    @burnspbesq: I like it. I wonder what the supremes would say.. hmmmm..
    I’m still waiting for magic pixie dust to just freeze these folks or turn them into stone.

    EDIT they already stone

  55. 55.

    pablo

    August 7, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    Terry, Terry, come quick! My toilet is clogged, and I have no plunger!

  56. 56.

    lamh34

    August 7, 2011 at 9:10 pm

    New pic of my newest Godchild baby Madison…I got to see her when I went home for 4th of July. Sooo much cuteness!!!

    Madison Beulah

  57. 57.

    BombIranForChrist

    August 7, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    I think we should make Terry King Jesus in order to appeal to independents, who are trending christian monarch.

  58. 58.

    andy

    August 7, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    With all the drama in DC I have this urge to shoot myself. Instead, I made a pork chop with a funny cucumber salad.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/40964542@N08/6020116628/in/photostream

  59. 59.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    @lamh34: cuteness overload. You are fortunate. I’m still smiling clicking onto that picture.

  60. 60.

    burnspbesq

    August 7, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    @JPL:

    Fuck tha Supremes. No District Court judge is going to say he or she has jurisdiction, and the D.C. Circuit is going to affirm that decision. By the time the Supremes have a chance to fuck with 200 years of settled law about what is or isn’t a non-justiciable political question, it’ll be next spring, and the only relief they will be able to grant is to vacate the district court’s order dismissing the case. So then discovery starts. And at the end of discovery, this Congress will be gone, and Obama moves for summary judgment on the ground that the case is now moot. Obama can run out the clock. Dean Smith, whose only redeeming characteristic was that he was a liberal Democrat at a time when there was real risk involved in being a liberal Democrat in North Carolina, would approve.

  61. 61.

    cathyx

    August 7, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    @andy: Are you related to jeffreyw?

  62. 62.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:15 pm

    @burnspbesq: Cool, I like the idea. BTW.. what clock is the President going to run out?

  63. 63.

    General Stuck

    August 7, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    @lamh34:

    LOL, love that adorable Mischievous grin.

  64. 64.

    burnspbesq

    August 7, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @JPL:

    Recess appointments are only good until the end of the seesion of Congress following the session in which they are made (i.e., a recess appointment now ends in December 2012). Can’t very well revoke an appointment that has already terminated by its terms.

  65. 65.

    Violet

    August 7, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @efgoldman:
    Have they renounced broccoli yet?

  66. 66.

    Corner Stone

    August 7, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @Jenny: And your mom as Commerce Secretary.
    Drumming up business nightly on tha cornah.

  67. 67.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    yawn.

  68. 68.

    lamh34

    August 7, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    @General Stuck:

    I know right. I have two other God-children, both boys. They are 14 and 10, and I love ’em to dead, but damn if this new one is just the cutest…I’m a pretty good and loving godmomma, but I’m not what you’d call “motherly”. This newest one though, kinda makes my ovaries hurt…and then I get over it.

    Still…soooo cute!!!

  69. 69.

    chopper

    August 7, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    @JPL:

    i think he was a teacher that blew up on the way to space.

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    @General Stuck: Is that really what their little legs look like? I guess I have never noticed a hummingbird standing before.

    Edit: sorry, where are my manners? I forgot to say that it’s a gorgeous photo!

  71. 71.

    Southern Beale

    August 7, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    If God had a blog … Hilarious!

  72. 72.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    @chopper: don’t go there. My point had to do with the fact that he disappeared after the Clinton era.
    @burnspbesq: fun.. recess appointments can only be made when congress is in recess..

  73. 73.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    What is with all these jerks posting what I assume they think are funny statements about a shuttle blowing up? What type of dark side do they live on?

  74. 74.

    PeakVT

    August 7, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    @WaterGirl: It looks like the hummingbird landed on top of a broken chain link fence.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    @PeakVT: You’re right! Did you see the little twisty part where the leg meets the body? Wow.

  76. 76.

    chopper

    August 7, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    shit, i missed the first joke about it. sonofabitch.

  77. 77.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    @JPL:

    what is with the people faking the outrage at ironic references to very old jokes?

  78. 78.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    @JPL:

    what is with the people faking the outrage at ironic references to very old jokes?

  79. 79.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    @Southern Beale: I don’t have cable and the only 24/7 news I have is al jazeera . When my son was over today he was watching and they covered Perry’s event. He was shocked that it was a protestant only event. Pretty much it’s my god and not yours.

  80. 80.

    RoonieRoo

    August 7, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    Terry McAuliffe as Sec of State?!? That is not even remotely funny Cole. :p

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: I can’t speak for JPL, but I thought your comment was tasteless, too.

    Then to double down when it was clear that your comment had upset someone… what’s that about? That’s what makes me think you are behaving like an ass.

  82. 82.

    scav

    August 7, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    I’ve a feeling that’s a stuffed bird alas folks.

  83. 83.

    Lawnguylander

    August 7, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    One of the Walton heirs would have been Secretary of Labor but I’m not sure which one.

  84. 84.

    Keith G

    August 7, 2011 at 9:36 pm

    please tell me what you think of Terry McAuliffe as Secretary of State?

    So, how is this relevant to anything that is happening, or might have happened in the real world?

    To put it an other way, just how many brain cells did you kill last night?

  85. 85.

    Lawnguylander

    August 7, 2011 at 9:37 pm

    The worst thing about the explosion of the Columbia was the lack of funny jokes that came out of it. I can remember a bunch of jokes from the Challenger explosion but none from the Columbia. Sad.

  86. 86.

    jeffreyw

    August 7, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    Have they renounced broccoli yet?

    Nope!

  87. 87.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    @Keith G: I can see where he is coming from because terry mcauliffe was employed by the Clinton’s. It’s just an exercise in futility as what if Hillary was President and what would she do.

  88. 88.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    when the category is “obvious troll post” i think you have to loosen up your collar. i mean the threat posed by enforced civility and some people’s idea of poor taste, is that it becomes an allanocracy, and i don’t think anyone wants that.

  89. 89.

    scav

    August 7, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    Obvious Troll Post Obviously Posted as Obvious Troll Post brings out Obvious Trolls Posting.

    Or at least general confusion and misdirection because the usual mega-stars have yet to waft their way onstage.

  90. 90.

    Comrade PhysioProf

    August 7, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    HILLARY FOR PREXDENUIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  91. 91.

    jl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    I think John Cole should not post until he sobers up.

  92. 92.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 7, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    @jl: So you are saying he should shut down the blog?

  93. 93.

    Lojasmo

    August 7, 2011 at 9:44 pm

    Strolled past all the responses to say I hate terry Mac with the heat of a thousand suns.

  94. 94.

    Bill Arnold

    August 7, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    The little legs are little. Don’t know what the big tubular things are.
    Don’t know about Rufouses, but the Ruby Throats we have on the East Coast will periodically perch and rest for a few minutes. During this time, they don’t move, even if you touch them.
    Had a male confused and stuck in my garage a month ago. (It had seen some red-painted metal on the garage door mechanism.) Waited until it stopped to rest, then captured it in a jar/cardboard, then brought it outside for release. It shot up 100 feet then slowly moved off.

  95. 95.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 7, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    Secretary of State of Illinois! Anyone remember Paul Powell who had the job?

    Although he never made more than $30,000 a year, upon his death, shoeboxes, briefcases and strongboxes with more than $800,000 in cash were found in his hotel suite residence in Springfield, Illinois.[2] In his hotel room he also had 49 cases of whiskey, 14 transistor radios, and two cases of creamed corn. When settled in 1978 his estate was worth $4.6 million, of which $1 million was racetrack stock.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: I see what you’re saying. But it seems to me that there is a difference between JPL feeling personally upset by the reference and Alan (one L or two) trying to control how people behave on the blog. One seems based on emotion; the other seems based on a desire to control.

    I was not someone who was glued to the TV for the space mission, but there were a ton of people for whom that was a huge tragedy, one that they witnessed. I was kind of out of the loop on that one, but I felt a similar connection to the miners in Chile, so I can understand what that might have been like.

    Edit: re paragraph one – maybe that is a distinction without a difference, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case, to me.

  97. 97.

    Lojasmo

    August 7, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    @Lojasmo:

    Adding: ditto Rahm.

  98. 98.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    @Bill Arnold: They are beautiful whether flitting by or not.

  99. 99.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    49 cases of whiskey and 2 cases of creamed corn, at least he had his priorities in order.

  100. 100.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 7, 2011 at 9:48 pm

    Steve Goodman wrote this song about him:

    Paul Powell got laid to rest in a casket lined with gold,
    But his ghost lives on in other thieves, or so I’ve been told.
    And there’s crooks in every walk of life, and that I know is true.
    But the biggest bums are some of the ones we give our power to.

    And in the history of Illinois there were a lot of mighty men.
    I remember Altgeld and Lincoln, and Dillinger and Capone.
    And I know to slur a dead man is a terrible disgrace.
    So I wish that he was live, and we‘d tell him to his face

    You’re a thief, and a bum
    Where’s the money, how come.
    You lied to all those people Mr. Powell?
    You betrayed the public trust, and I sort of hope your coffin rusts,
    And you won’t come around to rob us any more.

  101. 101.

    jl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:48 pm

    @97 Omnes Omnibus

    Good point. I guess I should have said until sober, Cole should keep his posts to what are his strong points, like gadget blegs, announcements of household chores, and whining about how mean Tunch and Rosie are to him.

    And, of course, nude mopping and nude stepping into pet poop.

    Edit: I keep forgetting who Terry McAuliffe is. He lost an election in VA, right (general or primary?). Or a couple of elections. That’s all I know. Other than that, he is a total blank to me.

  102. 102.

    chopper

    August 7, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal:

    OBVIOUS TROLL POST!

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Wow. Really interesting. I have never seen hummingbirds perch anywhere near eye level, so I either see them fluttering while they eat or perching way up in a branch. How interesting!

  104. 104.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 7, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: He was a piece of work.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    @jl:

    I think John Cole should not post until he sobers up.

    Now that’s just wrong!

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    So you are saying he should shut down the blog?

    And that was funny!

  106. 106.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    @WaterGirl: @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal:

    when the category is “obvious troll post” i think you have to loosen up your collar. i mean the threat posed by enforced civility and some people’s idea of poor taste, is that it becomes an allanocracy, and i don’t think anyone wants that.

    so why not talk about more grisly deaths. We could talk about the Kennedy brothers who were assassinated or Charles Manson and his crew because it’s a troll post. Have at it and I’ll stand by my comment…asshole

  107. 107.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 7, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    @Svensker:

    just emphasizes the fact that they know bupkis.

    I do believe that you’re grossly overestimating what they know.

    By orders of magnitude.

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    @jl:

    I keep forgetting who Terry McAuliffe is. He lost an election in VA, right (general or primary?). Or a couple of elections. That’s all I know. Other than that, he is a total blank to me.

    Think total sleaze. I could barely stand to listen to him when he was head of the DNC. He seemed very republican to me, in style. Just sleazy and all spin.

    Editors note: who knew sleazy didn’t have two “E”s? spell check kept yelling at me until I googled it.

  109. 109.

    RossInDetroit

    August 7, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    @General Stuck:

    A little Hummingbird action to soothe the savage beast

    I talked to a friend today who was injured by a hummingbird. He was working in the woods with a chain saw. A HB approached at speed toward the left side of his face and he reflexively swatted not knowing what it was. He made contact and the beak went right into the palm of his hand, leaving a hole that became infected. It was probably attracted by his red hearing protectors.

    Add “I got a bad injury from a hummingbird” to phrases I thought I’d never hear but did.

  110. 110.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 9:57 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    i think most people have had to, at one point or another, overcome their particular sensitivities,in order to roll with the “saw dust joint” environment, as anne laurie referred to it, that brings us to this blog in the first place.

    it comes across as petty and and a bit passive aggressive when one chooses to wear their capacity to take offense on their sleeve, when all we are really talking about is something that happened over 25 years ago. a relatively minor loss of life, all things consider, and a risk everyone on board was prepared to take, and well aware of.

  111. 111.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    @RossInDetroit: ooh..how was the hummingbird?

  112. 112.

    CaliCat

    August 7, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    hell 2 the no

  113. 113.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    August 7, 2011 at 9:59 pm

    @JPL:

    and i would suggest the children in your care were far more traumatized by their exposure to you, than the events of that day.

  114. 114.

    jeffreyw

    August 7, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): He was in office when I got my driver’s license. Pretty sure I followed the instructions: Make the check payable to Paul Powell.

  115. 115.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: why go there? why is joking about death funny? It’s not a sensitivity issue as much as why..
    Justify all you want but your comment was stupid and unnecessary .. ‘Terry is still alive although seldom heard of… Let’s joke about other folks who were blown up..

  116. 116.

    mcd410x

    August 7, 2011 at 10:01 pm

    I have to admit I thought Christa McAuliffe when I saw the post. We’re in a state of War, people, “and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives.” What are you gonna do.

    (This really is a time for digging up HST; not literally, of course).

  117. 117.

    General Stuck

    August 7, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    @RossInDetroit:

    The first Hummingbird I saw, I was working for the Forest Service wearing one of those yellow hardhats, that the bird thought was a big flower, I guess. Kept buzzing around, and at first I thought it was a big bumble bee, or something like that. Till my partner told me it was a hummingbird.

  118. 118.

    RossInDetroit

    August 7, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    @JPL:

    ooh..how was the hummingbird?

    Good question. I was laughing too hard to ask. This is a large Navy/Biker/Logger guy and him laid up with an infected hand from a 0.5 OZ bird was hilarious.

  119. 119.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: now you are clairvoyant. whatever..

  120. 120.

    JS

    August 7, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    Did T-Mac ever make it back from Puerto Rico? I see him sitting on a beach there with his bottle of rum, trying to decide between the lobster or the cracked crab for lunch.

  121. 121.

    fasteddie9318

    August 7, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    I would have been more interested in Zombie Vince Foster acting as a kind of Saint of Killers, taking out her political enemies.

  122. 122.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    @RossInDetroit: I was surprised to receive a note from a friend who is 68 and just saw her first hummingbird. She had seen pictures but thought they were fairly large. Living in NYC does have a downside.

  123. 123.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: For me, the negative parts of Balloon Juice are the discussions with trolls and the mean and hateful arguing that goes on sometimes between eemon and cornerstone, for instance.

    I just walk on by when that happens, because it’s two people playing the same game, and I just don’t read the posts. But JPL seemed upset and that’s what I responded to. I thought you were being a bit of an ass by beating the dead horse. I wouldn’t want to hear a joke about september 11, either.

    And for what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s passive aggressive to say when something upsets you.

    Anyway, enough said. I understand the point you are making, and I hope you understand mine.

  124. 124.

    shortstop

    August 7, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    Haven’t read the comments yet but am crying with laughter at the post.

  125. 125.

    RossInDetroit

    August 7, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    My large friend lives on a lake that supports tons of wildlife. And mosquitoes. He reports that if he takes his hummingbird feeder down for cleaning the birds will return to its exact place and just *hover* there as if waiting.

  126. 126.

    pika

    August 7, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    @jwb: I am still grateful for this weekend’s Cole tweetstorm. It will get me through a lot.

  127. 127.

    jl

    August 7, 2011 at 10:09 pm

    @8 M. Bouffant

    ‘ The former Arkansas governor elaborated: “Have Donald Trump take the job for 90 days. It’s a game changer.” ‘

    That’s an idea.

    He could send out coupons to all the casinos and resorts with his name on them. No one would argue with that kind of stimulus policy.

    No more silly squabbles over the debt ceiling, since we could pay in casino chips or Trump bucks, whatever the customer prefers.

  128. 128.

    peej

    August 7, 2011 at 10:10 pm

    Back to the topic at hand: Although I would have voted for her if she had been the Democratic nominee, this is why I didn’t support Hillary to begin with….the people she had around her (including Bill, I might add).

  129. 129.

    Keith G

    August 7, 2011 at 10:10 pm

    @burnspbesq: There are some who are saying that a recess appointment fight might be a way for Obama to show that he is willing to put some skin in the game and thereby focus a restless base.

  130. 130.

    JPL

    August 7, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    @RossInDetroit: My previous abode had a feeder but now I have several butterfly bushes and just pots of flowers. It’s amazing how many hummingbirds are around. Heck with that sugar water stuff. lol

  131. 131.

    jl

    August 7, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    My brilliant comment in moderation. Where is the naughty word? Let’s try again.

    @8 M. Bouffant

    ’ The former Arkansas governor elaborated: “Have Donald

    Trump take the job for 90 days. It’s a game changer.” ’

    That’s an idea.

    He could send out coupons to all the c * s * n * s ( aka g * m * l * n g den) and resorts with his name on them. No one would argue with that kind of stimulus policy.

    No more silly squabbles over the debt ceiling, since we could pay in c * s * n * chips or Trump bucks, whatever the customer prefers.

    If it isn’t c * s * n *, the naughty word must be T r * m p. I wouldn’t open in email with that guy’s name on it.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    @RossInDetroit: My sister gets tons of hummingbirds at the feeder that hangs right outside the dining room window. She changes the sugar mixture virtually EVERY DAY, but one day she had brought the feeder inside and hadn’t had time to refill it. While we were eating dinner there was a hummingbird who just stared at us – glared at us, really – insisting that the feeder be put out. NOW. My sister got up from table, put out the feeder and all was well.

  133. 133.

    RossInDetroit

    August 7, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    Pair of mechanical clockwork ‘singing bird’ pistols from Geneva, ca 1820.

  134. 134.

    Yutsano

    August 7, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    @Keith G:

    There are some who are saying that a recess appointment fight might be a way for Obama to show that he is willing to put some skin in the game and thereby focus a restless base.

    The fact that he might be able to get people into positions to get some shit done is a part of the calculus too no?

  135. 135.

    Keith G

    August 7, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    @WaterGirl: I think you do have thoughtful contributions. I few days ago after reading some of your comments about activities here, I did feel that you were being a bit “school marmish”. It is a free country, but do you understand the culture here?

  136. 136.

    Keith G

    August 7, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    @Yutsano: One would hope.

  137. 137.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 7, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    @RossInDetroit: Those are cool.

  138. 138.

    WaterGirl

    August 7, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    @Keith G: After years of lurking and a couple commenting, I believe I do understand the culture here. This has been a rough couple of weeks for most of us, and I’ve just found the place to be pretty whiny lately, so maybe that is testing my patience and it’s showing through.

    No one wants to be school marmish. At least I don’t! So if you start to see a pattern, feel free to let me know. I have felt like you have been particularly negative for the last week or so, so maybe we are all getting on one other’s nerves.

  139. 139.

    birthmarker

    August 7, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    @lamh34: What a beautiful expressive face. Such a cutie!!

  140. 140.

    RossInDetroit

    August 7, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    They’re astonishing. In the world of horology and mechanics this is moon shot level difficulty. And it was 190 years ago.

  141. 141.

    Keith G

    August 7, 2011 at 10:32 pm

    @WaterGirl: I am laughing out loud, quite.

  142. 142.

    andy

    August 7, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    @cathyx: Nope.

  143. 143.

    Southern Beale

    August 7, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    Krugman’s take on the S&P’s downgrade:

    Let’s start with S.& P.’s lack of credibility. If there’s a single word that best describes the rating agency’s decision to downgrade America, it’s chutzpah — traditionally defined by the example of the young man who kills his parents, then pleads for mercy because he’s an orphan.
    __
    America’s large budget deficit is, after all, primarily the result of the economic slump that followed the 2008 financial crisis. And S.& P., along with its sister rating agencies, played a major role in causing that crisis, by giving AAA ratings to mortgage-backed assets that have since turned into toxic waste.

    That’s the chootspa part.

    Wait, it gets better. Before downgrading U.S. debt, S.& P. sent a preliminary draft of its press release to the U.S. Treasury. Officials there quickly spotted a $2 trillion error in S.& P.’s calculations. And the error was the kind of thing any budget expert should have gotten right. After discussion, S.& P. conceded that it was wrong — and downgraded America anyway, after removing some of the economic analysis from its report.

    Oh, ow. I’d be inclined to write this off as more GOP monkeywrenching, knowing the Republicans are dead-set on destroying the economy. Do we know if there’s a connection?

  144. 144.

    birthmarker

    August 7, 2011 at 10:41 pm

    @JPL: Perennial salvia works well for attracting hummers. The bonus is you don’t have to do anything to it AT ALL. I don’t cut it down in winter, or prune it, water it only in passing if I am watering something else and think aobut hitting it a bit. Gets bigger and better every year. It is also good to dig bits up to share with friends. Tolerates a good bit of shade.

  145. 145.

    Bill Arnold

    August 7, 2011 at 11:09 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    …more GOP monkeywrenching, knowing the Republicans are dead-set on destroying the economy.

    Well, there is the part where the report calls out the Republican Party by name, saying (essentially) that it is not a party of adults because party members are unwilling to increase tax revenues. Other national governments that have tried to balance their budgets recently (not a good idea in a recession, but belief in the healing powers of austerity is ascendant) have used a mix of cuts and tax increases. The UK comes to mind.
    The report looks like a political analysis.

  146. 146.

    Judas Escargot

    August 7, 2011 at 11:26 pm

    @Bill Arnold:

    Well, there is the part where the report calls out the Republican Party by name, saying (essentially) that it is not a party of adults because party members are unwilling to increase tax revenues.

    IMO that’s just carefully-crafted cover.

    How many of the little turnips out there will bother to read the report? None. Will CBS or ABC news read those words on their non-cable dinnertime newscast? No. Did the S&P director read these words on This Week this morning? Nope. (He was too busy whining about “potential gridlock”, i.e. the both-sides-do-it-framing).

    Perhaps Mr. Limbaugh will explain the nuances to them?

    Judging from the chain emails my wife and I have already started to get, all blame will go to Obama.

    The Dems had better get a Village-penetrating narrative out by tomorrow afternoon, or it’s a long, painful sleigh ride down to hell come next November.

  147. 147.

    Yutsano

    August 7, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Five spice crispy quacker. I r very happy at the moment.

  148. 148.

    priscianusjr

    August 7, 2011 at 11:32 pm

    You’re joking right? I wouldn’t want Terry McAuliffe for dogcatcher.

  149. 149.

    priscianusjr

    August 7, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    This has been a rough couple of weeks for most of us, and I’ve just found the place to be pretty whiny lately, so maybe that is testing my patience and it’s showing through.

    You’re right. I’ve been reading and commenting here for years, and it’s way more than usually whiny right now. I don’t like it either.

  150. 150.

    Dollared

    August 7, 2011 at 11:38 pm

    @Bill Arnold: I’m an optimist. I think this S&P thing with the slap at the Tea party is the signal that the Big Banks (Geithner’s BFFs and the people who actually pay S&P to do whatever it is they do) are willing to let capital gains climb to 20% and to have a marginal rate of 39% above AGI of $250k. Chambers, the CEO of S&P said as much in his press conference where he said letting the Bush Cuts expire on the top 2% would raise $950B and that seemed like a good idea.

    So my conclusion is that S&P downrating is a coordinated move by the Big Banks to signal the size and shape of revenue that their tool Mr. Obama is permitted to raise. it also, conveniently, gives Boehner and Cantor the cover they need to go along.

    Of course, the Really Big Evil Money comes from the hedge fund guys, and while I bet the Big Banks are perfectly happy to give up the capital gains treatment on the carry tht the Hedgies enjoy, the Hedgies may not agree. And of course the Kochs and big oil, gas and coal are probably still hoping to abolish the EPA, so it will still be WWIII to get the revenue gain through, and with any luck at all, Obama will lose in November and we can all just kiss our retirements goodbye.

  151. 151.

    Dollared

    August 7, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    John Cole: pretty damn fine trolling your own blog with Terry McAuliffe. There is a bit of room for improvement, however:

    1. You left out Attorney General Lanny Davis.
    2. You fuckwads on Balloon Juice always think anybody who questions Obama is either a PUMA or a Firedoglake person.

    But the obvious fact is that Obama won the nomination because he was to the LEFT of Hilary up until he turned into The Whimpering Big Dog. Nobody rational thinks Hilary would have been any more successful, especially becuase her likeability is so much lower.

    My complaint is that Obama ran to the left of Hilary, and has governed from some point between Hilary and GWB, and for that reason is vulnerable to Godly Rick Perry. And we don’t deserve that.

  152. 152.

    Corner Stone

    August 7, 2011 at 11:47 pm

    @WaterGirl: Oh man. Why do you have to tag me with this BS?

  153. 153.

    Corner Stone

    August 7, 2011 at 11:49 pm

    @priscianusjr: Maybe you should go find a nice safe place where you can sit comfortably with your head between your legs.

  154. 154.

    rikyrah

    August 7, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    how much wine did you drink this evening, Mr. Cole?

    this post made me LOL

  155. 155.

    suzanne

    August 8, 2011 at 12:27 am

    @lamh34: The Cute is strong with that one.

    Here’s my cutes

    And that fucking “joke” about Christa McAuliffe offended even me..

  156. 156.

    Jay

    August 8, 2011 at 12:27 am

    For those of you sweating the fact that John hasn’t posted any Tunch pictures lately (I’m certainly bothered by it), click on my name to get to the Twitter feed I gave to my cat.

    Sorry guys. Should’ve done this when I started a year ago. Would it be nice to have more followers? Probably. But since I got blocked by John “Transpeople don’t matter” Aravosis, I think I’ve made it, in a way.

  157. 157.

    kwAwk

    August 8, 2011 at 1:13 am

    I sometimes think what gets missed in all of these troll threads is that FDR faced a much more serious economic challenge yet was able to get re-elected 3 times.

    Perhaps that is just 20/20 hindsight. Or the burnished image of history I didn’t live through.

  158. 158.

    Jay

    August 8, 2011 at 1:27 am

    @kwAwk: For starters, FDR had the South on lock, which made it that much easier to sell economic populism. Further, there was a draft, meaning, to put it bluntly, that a not insignificant number of people were working.

    I still like Obama against the field, though, because his huge cash – on – hand advantage will allow him to define the opposition with his own dough, and he’ll have the added benefit of being right.

    Romney: “True, unemployment numbers are not where they should be, but this man fired people for a living. Plus, he hates his own health care plan, and would gladly sell out the social liberals (see DADT repeal) he courted to win the MA governorship.”

    Perry: “Secessionist. We fought a war over this shit. Many people died. Next?”

    Bachmann: “Reparative Therapy, Census ‘Concentration camps.’ Buh bye.”

    POTUS has the money to say all this in every ad, and the political skill to do so with a smile on his face. Unemployment will make it close, but the GOP is going to need more than that to turn an election.

  159. 159.

    Anne Laurie

    August 8, 2011 at 1:32 am

    @RossInDetroit:

    Add “I got a bad injury from a hummingbird” to phrases I thought I’d never hear but did.

    I know it is wrong (she said piously) to laugh at another’s suffering, but since I keep having to explain the palm puncture that put me in the hospital overnight came from the wimpy submissive dog not the dangerous biting dog… I LOL’d.

  160. 160.

    MJ

    August 8, 2011 at 1:45 am

    @lamh34:
    So sweet! (I especially love the wee little bow in baby girl’s hair.)

  161. 161.

    TenguPhule

    August 8, 2011 at 3:56 am

    Asian markets crashing today.

    That’s what happens when we do not ritually sacrifice a Republican”s heart to the Sky Gods.

  162. 162.

    TenguPhule

    August 8, 2011 at 3:58 am

    I sometimes think what gets missed in all of these troll threads is that FDR faced a much more serious economic challenge yet was able to get re-elected 3 times.

    FDR could also have his opposition fed to angry masses if they got in his way, and they all knew that.

    Until heads start rolling on the right, the message is not going to get through.

  163. 163.

    bob h

    August 8, 2011 at 7:43 am

    Big John would presumably get filibustered in the Senate? And you can never be sure who the good people of Mass. would elect to replace him.

  164. 164.

    chopper

    August 8, 2011 at 7:52 am

    @JPL:

    why is joking about death funny?

    you’re kidding, right?

  165. 165.

    priscianusjr

    August 8, 2011 at 8:28 am

    @Jay:

    FDR had the South on lock, which made it that much easier to sell economic populism. Further, there was a draft, meaning, to put it bluntly, that a not insignificant number of people were working.

    The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was passed by Congress on September 16, 1940, establishing the first peacetime conscription in United States history.
    The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came a few months later.
    In other words, Roosevelt had been president through 8 years of the Great Depression before there was any draft. And when there was a draft, it was World War II. Kind of a different situation. But Roosevelt had Fifth Columnists to deal with too.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_column

  166. 166.

    priscianusjr

    August 8, 2011 at 8:35 am

    Terry McAuliffe as Secretary of State. OK John, now I get it.
    Well, just the possibility of that captures the sense of why I really, really did not want Hillary to be president.

  167. 167.

    priscianusjr

    August 8, 2011 at 8:41 am

    @JPL:

    why is joking about death funny?

    Stop — stop — you’re killin’ me!

    (fa-da-voom)

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