• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

It’s a doggy dog world.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

It’s a new day. Light all those Biden polls of young people on fire and throw away the ashes.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Not Lobbying- Just a Strange Coincidence

Not Lobbying- Just a Strange Coincidence

by John Cole|  December 1, 20114:32 pm| 69 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Republican Stupidity

FacebookTweetEmail

The shit that comes out of this guy’s mouth:

Newt Gingrich said on Wednesday night that his advocacy with state and federal legislators for policies that would help his paying clients was in keeping with his role as a citizen, and was not evidence that he ever acted as a lobbyist.

Speaking in an interview with the Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, Mr. Gingrich appeared to be referring to an article in The New York Times on Wednesday detailing how he has made millions of dollars while helping his corporate clients promote themselves to — and gain access to — state and federal officials.

He referred to a news briefing mentioned in the article in which he joined with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2005 to promote a bill co-sponsored by Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, and Representative Tim Murphy, Republican of Pennsylvania, that would have increased the use of electronic medical health records.

He’ll get away with it, too.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Your tax dollars at work
Next Post: I do this and you give me cash »

Reader Interactions

69Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    December 1, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Entirely consistent with his theory that excessive patriotism leads to adultery.

  2. 2.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 1, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    He’ll get away with it, too.

    That’s because The Newt doesn’t believe in Big Government you Commie. Pretty black and white, government gives your records to private industry so Big Brother is out of your life.

  3. 3.

    Comrade Dread

    December 1, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    his advocacy with state and federal legislators for policies that would help his paying clients was in keeping with his role as a citizen, and was not evidence that he ever acted as a lobbyist.

    Yes, just like when a person engages in sexual conduct with another person for money it is in keeping with their role as a generous, giving human being, and not evidence that they’re acting like a prostitute.

  4. 4.

    The Moar You Know

    December 1, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    In other news, it looks like Tom Coburn, of all people, has had a come-to-Jesus moment regarding how the rich are treated in this country.

    I wonder what his angle is.

  5. 5.

    scav

    December 1, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    It’s simply amazing how many people give up their free time to go door to door, delivering mail or stand over hot stoves, wearing silly uniforms, making free burgers for all. The tips associated with these patriotic pastimes that coincidentally show up in envelopes with windows and federal documentation (for some unknown reason) are slightly smaller however.

  6. 6.

    Brandon

    December 1, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    The fact that Newt is so open and so blatant with his graft is exactly why he’ll get away with it. I remember seeing a History channel thing on military camoflauge (sp?) once and the most surprising thing to me was that if you covered a massive sherman tank in lights during the day, it was impossible to see approaching on the horizon. Newts scandals shine so bright in light of day that they are nearly impossible to see or differentiate anymore.

  7. 7.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 1, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    BTW John, on the Daily Dish, Sullivan has posted an extra long post on IQ and race, which I haven’t read. Just thought you should know. Also how about an update of the great white one (with an orange tail) with photos and a video.

  8. 8.

    PeakVT

    December 1, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Has an enterprising reporter/blogger investigated how Newt’s “comeback” was engineered? The guy has no natural constituency among voters. At some point the right wing infrastructure started pushing him, and I’d like to see it traced through the media. /assignment desk

    ETA: @The Moar You Know: He hasn’t; he’s engaging in PR. Look at the scale of the numbers.

  9. 9.

    Linda Featheringill

    December 1, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Coburn:

    Hot damn.

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    You are a very, very naughty person!

  11. 11.

    Rommie

    December 1, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    I’m not so sure he’ll get away with it. The only thing that can enrage Teh Romney even more than an uppity FN interviewer is the idea that he’ll lose to NEWT, of all people. I can’t see him not trying to plant a rusty pitchfork in Mr. Speaker’s back.

    Then again, being the Mittster, he’ll probably use the wrong end and fail. And I’m sure he’s too proud to ask the expert BJ rusty-pitchfork wielders for any advice.

  12. 12.

    The Moar You Know

    December 1, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    He’ll get away with it, too.

    Gingrich, while as unappealing as a tub of rancid lard, is the one GOP candidate in this race who scares me. He has that Reagan gift of being able to present the most appalling ideas imaginable and make them sound perfectly reasonable.

    As to his personal life, he is handling that – so far – with an adroitness which suggests that he studied how Clinton handled his bimbo eruption VERY closely and has learned quite a bit.

    He’s also the only guy who would be able to debate Obama with any degree of skill at all, although I’m convinced Obama would still ruin him and even if he didn’t, the medium of television sure would.

  13. 13.

    Certified Mutant Enemy

    December 1, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    If a yacht (yacht does not always mean luxury – a converted work boat, for example is considered a yacht) is a family’s only residence, I have no problem with a mortgage deduction.

  14. 14.

    Rihilism

    December 1, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    New line for a bank robbery:

    I’M A CITIZEN! GIMME ALL YOUR FUCKING MONEY!….

  15. 15.

    The Moar You Know

    December 1, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    He hasn’t; he’s engaging in PR. Look at the scale of the numbers.

    @PeakVT: I know. They are trivial. It’s not the numbers, it’s fact that he’s discussing the issue in any way, shape, or form at all that I find very…heartening.

    Somehow, the discussion of privilege in this country has been reframed like nothing I’ve seen in my lifetime. The fellators of the wealthy largely have been caught off guard by it. I view Coburn’s editorial there as a victory, not for any substantive proposals but because he’s now talking in the language of class war – from the proper side.

    Get enough people talking like that and things will change.

  16. 16.

    geg6

    December 1, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    He’ll get away with it, too.

    Well, maybe not completely.

    He did turn Catholic, after all. He’ll have to go to confession and repent for his many, many sins of lying. However, since lying is really only a venial sin, he’ll say a couple of Hail Marys and Our Fathers and be right back out on the hustings, lying his big fat ass off all over the place. Just like every day. And just like all Catholics. That’s how it works. Sin all you want, say a few quick prayers and Bob’s your uncle.

  17. 17.

    Jenny

    December 1, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    I was watching Morning Blow today and they’re besides themselves that Mittens is losing to Newt.

    It was so delicious.

  18. 18.

    boss bitch

    December 1, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Why does she make it so easy?

    Bachamnn: Gays Can Marry As Long As It’s To The Opposite Sex:

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    I wonder what his angle is.

    Having skimmed it, I suspect it’s a camel’s nose under the tent way of introducing SS and Medicare means testing, and perhaps sunsetting the mortgage interest deduction, which primarily benefits the middle class. From the Recommendations:

    Means-Testing Should Be Considered for Other Government Programs. Some programs are essential for individuals without adequate financial means. Individuals with adequate means should not be taking from the federal government just because the money or benefit is available.
    Congress should consider means-testing these types of programs to ensure the payments go to the Americans that need them most.
    __
    Reduce or End Certain Tax Deductions and Credits For Millionaires. The incentives created by certain tax deductions, such as the mortgage interest deduction that encourages home ownership, are lost on millionaires. Congress should take a hard look at the tax code and reduce
    or eliminate a number of confusing and misplaced tax breaks, including those utilized by millionaires.

    Emphasis added.

  20. 20.

    Mark S.

    December 1, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    Oh, he was being interviewed by Hannity. If Newt ever deigns to be interviewed by a non-Fox employee, I hope they ask him how in the hell anyone would qualify as a lobbyist under his incredibly stupid definition.

  21. 21.

    General Stuck

    December 1, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    I think the wingnuts have made their choice to run against Obama, and it’s Newt the Slimymander. It’s a choice of last resort, but they already knew the score with him and his, inconsistencies (cough). And Newt himself has been upfront with his many skeletons, and the rest he explains away in tongues, of which he is fluent.

    They are all mean and crazy, but Newt has that special quality of diving head long into the rhetorical sewer as a lung fish, and be right at home. He was speaker during the good econ times in the 90’s and far as we know, has been keeping his pecker in line, at least since the last time it wondered/wandered.

    Think about it. Newt 2012 Gop candidate. I would have bet the farm, ranch, and country club, that such a thing was not possible.

  22. 22.

    Jenny

    December 1, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    Things are so bad for Mittens that even the liburel Mark Halperin has jumped shipped.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    December 1, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    @The Moar You Know: I read the article at your link. That’s a shocker coming from him.

  24. 24.

    Rick Massimo

    December 1, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    The one thing that’s going to be entertaining about this campaign season will be Our Media Stars trying DESPERATELY to come up with an explanation why a multimillionaire lobbyist/grifter/adulterer is the darling of the supposedly fiscally-prudent, socially-conservative crowd without using the phrase “angry, old, white Americans saying ‘fuck you’ to the rest of the country.”

    Well, it would be entertaining if it was some other country, anyway …

  25. 25.

    Mark S.

    December 1, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    Yes, just like when a person engages in sexual conduct with another person for money it is in keeping with their role as a generous, giving human being, and not evidence that they’re acting like a prostitute.

    Right. As Professor Gingrich explained, the money part is irrelevant. It’s no different than having sex with your third wife.

  26. 26.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 1, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    @trollhattan: Thanks, I will take that as a compliment. I love how John skewers the bearded one, I think in his new post John should aim for the Moore award.

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Here’s why I think Newton will fail: he loves himself and the camera, any camera, too much. He’s “too smart” to follow any handlers’ instructions. He will bask in the attention being a frontrunner brings, like Homer basking in a kiddie pool filled with Duff and donuts.

    And he will manage to kill off his own campaign by Newt being Newt.

  28. 28.

    Face

    December 1, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    I hear Cain didn’t engage his mistress as an cheating husband, he engaged her as a citizen and a vagina tourist.

  29. 29.

    eemom

    December 1, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    He’ll get away with it too.

    With a shitty attitude like that on “our side”, he will.

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I sure hope Moko’s been getting some rest. There’s a 300-post thread a-brewin’.

  31. 31.

    Cat Lady

    December 1, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    Callista will make Cindy McCain look like a flower child hippie chick. If Newt ends up being the last one standing, she’s going to be a punchline. She is not an asset.

  32. 32.

    eemom

    December 1, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    WHY do you hate me? :(

  33. 33.

    RalfW

    December 1, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    He’ll get away with it, too.

    Yes, in the sense that he will not withdraw from the nomination fight. But the press is fickle, and they will get bored with Newtie being in first place.

    They also don’t tend to like it when a pol too obviously dodges and weaves. The maneuvers Newtie has to go thru to claim he didn’t lobby don’t pass a basic smell test.

  34. 34.

    kindness

    December 1, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    What is so incredible is if any Democrat had come out with the bullshit dog ate my homework replies that almost all the Repubs have they’d be laughed off the interview.

    But if it’s a Repub doing the overt lying….not so much. Gee, why is that?

  35. 35.

    dedc79

    December 1, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    I have to admit to being surprised by how blatant this lie was, even coming from a pathological liar like Newt.

    He’s deconstructed lobbying in a way such that nobody is actually a lobbyist as long as they buy their own bullshit (or pretend to).

    I’m not a lawyer, I’m just a citizen with a law degree who gives out legal advice to people who just happen to pay me.

  36. 36.

    RalfW

    December 1, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    OT, but related to my mentioning smell tests:

    The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ran the latest GOP bullshit on the Walker recall thru the Truth-O-Meter, and came up pretty stinky.

  37. 37.

    eemom

    December 1, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    @geg6:

    uh oh, you said “his big fat ass.” Suzie-Q the PeeCee Fairy will be along any minute now to turn you into a Goon.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    @Cat Lady:

    Calista reminds me of a certain Terry Gilliam film.

    http://www.amazingmonkeys.com/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e1d97_brazil-terry-gilliam.jpg

  39. 39.

    General Stuck

    December 1, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I have no idea what is running around the current wingnut brain in their primary. But I do think that Newt is the best bullshitter of the lot, and that goes a long way with voters with poor choices.

    For a GE, I am just relieved not being a republican. It must be tiring for them getting through each day feeding so many lies. And that’s just the sane ones.

  40. 40.

    dollared

    December 1, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    @RalfW: Thanks. Check out the list for Walker statements. 15 statements, 15 lies. Oh, and the Journal Sentinel endorsed him, AND opposes the recall.

    Nothing like a leading newspaper dedicated to good government for all the citizens of hte state.

  41. 41.

    Redshift

    December 1, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    Newt Gingrich said on Wednesday night that his advocacy with state and federal legislators for policies that would help his paying clients was in keeping with his role as a citizen, and was not evidence that he ever acted as a lobbyist.

    It depends what the definition of “lobby” is.

    This is one of those cases where everyone knows Newt is lying. They may accept his excessively legalistic definition and pretend it’s true, but for a layman’s understanding of lobbying, it’s obvious that’s what Newt was doing.

    I think it’s time to reread Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit.” It helped me understand when Bush Administration officials were telling lies that were so transparently obvious, I couldn’t figure out what purpose they served (like “He didn’t cut his vacation short and fly back to sign the Schaivo law; he was always planning to come back then.”) Gingrich does the same thing — not the run-of-the-mill repetition of talking points that have no relation to the truth, but telling whoppers that are probably intended to play the “if you’re objective, you can only report what I say” media like a fiddle.

  42. 42.

    Jay in Oregon

    December 1, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    So let me get this straight:

    Gingrich’s claim was that they were paying him for work that was indistinguishable from lobbying, but he wasn’t lobbying because he would have been doing that ANYWAY so he didn’t need to register as a lobbyist?

    Has he heard of Occam’s Razor? The simplest explanation that fits the evidence is usually the correct one. Or, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…”

  43. 43.

    RalfW

    December 1, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Coborn decrying $9 billion in retirement checks is a highly problematic target. Means-testing Social Security checks is most likely what he means.

    The brilliance of SSI is that damn near everybody pays in, and gets back. It becomes welfare if that’s not the set-up.

  44. 44.

    sven

    December 1, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    Newt Gingrich said on Wednesday night that his advocacy with state and federal legislators for policies that would help his paying clients was in keeping with his role as a citizen, and was not evidence that he ever acted as a lobbyist.

    This reminds me of the debate over whether Paul Ryan wants to ‘end Medicare’. Was this lobbying? No, because I didn’t call it lobbying. Am I ending Medicare? No, it will still be called Medicare. I wonder how Politifact would rate this one….

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    @General Stuck:

    I do agree he’s glib and a polished liar, and I think he’ll hang in there for a good while. I just don’t think he has the capacity to behave himself long enough to get the nomination, much last another eleven months to the general. Besides, he’s only been elected in Georgia and there’s no precedent for…oh…nevermind.

  46. 46.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 1, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    The utter scum that are the Villagers loves them the “intellectual” Newt.

    He’ll get away with it.

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    @General Stuck:

    I do agree he’s glib and a polished liar, and I think he’ll hang in there for a good while. I just don’t think he has the capacity to behave himself long enough to get the nomination, much less last another eleven months to the general. Besides, he’s only been elected in Georgia and there’s no precedent for…oh…nevermind.

  48. 48.

    RalfW

    December 1, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    @dollared:

    and the Journal Sentinel endorsed him, AND opposes the recall.

    Hardly the only newspaper where the editorial page is insane but the news-gatherers are still slogging along trying to uncover a truth or two.

    ETA: It does boggle that a paper in the city that Walker “managed” would endorse him. I’m glad I’m an in-law who visits MKE from Minnesota 6 or 7 days a year.

    EETA: out-law. My man and I are choosing not to marry people of the opposite sex as Michele so helpfully suggests…

  49. 49.

    sven

    December 1, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    @Redshift: Yup. The ‘sources’ include: a conversation between Newt and Sean Hannity, a conversation between Newt and Bill O’Reilly, and a comment from one of his clients. The story doesn’t even include a “Democrats disagree…” as a nod to reality. This is no better than stenography.

  50. 50.

    daveNYC

    December 1, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    @trollhattan: Possibly, but with the way the polls are looking if he can hold his shit together for about six weeks, Romney will be in a real tight spot. That’s a big if, but it could happen.

  51. 51.

    bemused

    December 1, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    Randi Rhodes is dishing about Newt today. Randi has gone through his downfall as Speaker era. She said his mother used to call her show all the time and talk about Newt. Mom said Newt didn’t have any friends when he was a kid, that he wanted to own a circus so he’d have friends. Perhaps, in a fashion, he has finally realized his boyhood dream. He’s got his circus and could count his supporters as quasi friends.

    I also heard Rep. Jim McDermott on the radio telling his Newt stories from Newt’s Speaker days. Laughing, he said he had written a play about Newt. I think he was serious.

    An entertaining day. Now to watch cranky Mitt’s interview with Brett whatshisname and read about Mitt’s throwing a hissy fit at him after.

  52. 52.

    JPL

    December 1, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    @dmsilev: I can’t believe the MSM didn’t attack that explanation for days. haha
    John should use it as a tag when discussing Newt.

  53. 53.

    Rick Massimo

    December 1, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    @sven: It’s worse than stenography. As Glenn Greenwald once said, a good stenographer is absolutely indispensible, because they take down EVERYTHING that EVERYBODY says. Calling this crowd stenographers is an insult to stenographers.

  54. 54.

    Rick Massimo

    December 1, 2011 at 5:40 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: The Villagers think, “He calls people stupid, so he MUST be smart!”

  55. 55.

    Cat Lady

    December 1, 2011 at 5:40 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    He’ll get away with it for a while because Mitt is disliked and there’s a horse race to fill Villager air time, but Newt is hated by a LOT of beltway pols and their Village enablers. He made no friends in his time in DC, and has no network to draw on outside of DC. He’s no blank slate for the Kochs, and no empty vessel for the neocons, and no outsider businessman type for the Murdochs. He’s going to get in trouble with his mouth cuz he believes in his own cleverness, and will never realize what hit him. Like someone said, his baggage has baggage.

  56. 56.

    g

    December 1, 2011 at 5:40 pm

    Here’s why I think Newton will fail: he loves himself and the camera, any camera, too much. He’s “too smart” to follow any handlers’ instructions. He will bask in the attention being a frontrunner brings, like Homer basking in a kiddie pool filled with Duff and donuts.

    I agree with trollhattan. Newt will overreach. Just like he did with his whining over being made to sit in the back of AF1, his ego will run away with him and he’ll turn a lot of people off. He’s already skirting the line now, bragging he’s the front-runner as though he’s measuring the windows for the drapes.

    he will not get womens’ votes.

  57. 57.

    smintheus

    December 1, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @Mark S.:

    I hope they ask him how in the hell anyone would qualify as a lobbyist under his incredibly stupid definition.

    Worth pointing out the obvious: you don’t actually qualify as a lobbyist, you register as one. If Newtie ever acknowledges he lobbied, then he’ll be admitting he broke the law.

    It will be especially interesting if information turns up that he lobbied for a foreign gov’t or foreign corporation.

  58. 58.

    smintheus

    December 1, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    @sven: Or the debate over whether we torture when we subject prisoners to what used to be called ‘the water torture’.

    Somebody should ask Newtie: “So when you were having your various extra-marital affairs, were you acting as a husband engaging in adultery or as a citizen engaging in free speech?”

  59. 59.

    Menzies

    December 1, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    @Jenny:

    You realize that, per the Halperin Axiom, that means he’s going to get the nomination.

  60. 60.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 1, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    @PeakVT:

    Has an enterprising reporter/blogger investigated how Newt’s “comeback” was engineered? The guy has no natural constituency among voters. At some point the right wing infrastructure started pushing him, and I’d like to see it traced through the media. /assignment desk

    How is this scenrio; The GOP inner circle looks at Mittens and sees him melting down on a interview with Fox News of all things. They think, ZOMG! Mittens will turn to butter against Obama, 2012 will be worse than 2008 for the GOP! Well there is Newt.

    Yes Newt is morally corrupt, physically unappealing and offends a lot of people. But the base likes him. At lest the base will come out to vote for him and keep 2012 coming Cal 2010, on a national scale.

    There is more to the election than just the president.

  61. 61.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 1, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    @bemused:

    She said his mother used to call her show all the time and talk about Newt. Mom said Newt didn’t have any friends when he was a kid, that he wanted to own a circus so he’d have friends.

    This sounds like the plot of an episode of South Park, where Cartman is desperately trying to get some friends.

    Funny, but I can see Newt screaming “Respect my authoritay!” at wayward GOP House members…

  62. 62.

    Menzies

    December 1, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I can also see him tricking the occasional challenger into eating chili made from his (the challenger’s, not Newt’s) dead parents. But then I’m a darker soul than most.

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    December 1, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    This sounds like the plot of an episode of South Park, where Cartman is desperately trying to get some friends.

    That’s brilliant! I can so see Newton–big or little edition–offering Polly Prissy Pants more tea and her telling him how kewhl he is.

  64. 64.

    Jenny

    December 1, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    @Menzies: Hahahahah. I know. it’s hilarious. Halperin spent the last three years fluffing Mittens as the next president and now Mittens is going down in flames.

  65. 65.

    gene108

    December 1, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    I wonder what his angle is.

    To turn Social Security into a welfare program, which is the first step right-wingers need to stamp it out.

    Also, too he lumps stuff together that middle-class folks benefit from like child care credits, unemployment benefits, farm subsidies, etc., as benefits not due to millionaires, though I’m sure there are some wage scale issues with something like child care credits that make his line of reasoning faulty, as well as the fact unemployment insurance – like Social Security – is a government sponsored insurance, where you get back what you pay into it and therefore it isn’t means tested (as stated above, means testing is the first step to turn it into welfare and thus makes it easier to eliminate).

    I almost want to believe Coburn has some principles, but then he opens his mouth or pens something like the inane op-ed you linked to and it erases doubts that he’s nothing more than another foot soldier for the right-wingers.

  66. 66.

    Menzies

    December 1, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    @Jenny:

    Maybe it’s like the Madden curse. As soon as Halperin “endorses” someone, that person is doomed.

  67. 67.

    SenyorDave

    December 1, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    At some point Newt will have to defend his absurd tax plan (no tax on capital gains, kills the middle class). If its against Obama, he’ll have more than a little trouble.

    Newt’s a full-fledged amoral degenerate. Ads will write themselves.

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 1, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    @boss bitch:

    Dear FSM, I hope you have a link for that. Too delicious!

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 1, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    @boss bitch:
    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Never mind the link, I just saw the video clip Anne Laurie posted earlier today. Wow.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Suzanne on Thursday Morning Open Thread — Nancy Pelosi: Every Day Is A Matter of Life and Death (Apr 18, 2024 @ 7:33am)
  • Eyeroller on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 7:31am)
  • Mousebumples on Thursday Morning Open Thread — Nancy Pelosi: Every Day Is A Matter of Life and Death (Apr 18, 2024 @ 7:29am)
  • Baud on Late Night ‘Should Be Always’ Open Thread: Librarians, Doing Civilization’s Work (Apr 18, 2024 @ 7:29am)
  • Baud on Thursday Morning Open Thread — Nancy Pelosi: Every Day Is A Matter of Life and Death (Apr 18, 2024 @ 7:25am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!