• 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.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Second rate reporter says what?

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

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

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

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 / Fuck The Middle-Class / Suffer Little Children

Suffer Little Children

by John Cole|  December 6, 20116:55 pm| 62 Comments

This post is in: Fuck The Middle-Class, Fuck The Poor, Religion, Sociopaths

FacebookTweetEmail

Good post by Steven Taylor over at OTB and Rick Santorum’s odd morality:

Having said that (and hopefully have forestalled comments along those lines), Santorum does keep saying things that I think a substantial portion of the population believes. To wit: he frequently makes moral claims that paint the picture of a universe in which all outcomes are justly generated by the actions of individuals. In this universe, people are successful because they work hard and make good choices and people fail because they do not work hard enough and/or because of bad choices.

Now, let me stipulate another point: it is doubtlessly true that hard work and good decisions are incredibly helpful to the generation of success whilst slothfulness and bad decisions frequently lead to bad outcomes. This is not the issue. The issue is the degree to which is it possible to neatly categorize the citizenry into nice, neat boxes of the good and hard-working (i.e., the successful) and the bad and slothful (i.e., those who have failed in one capacity or another). Indeed, this issue is the crux of the social policy debate and is at the heart of contemporary partisanship (e.g., it is why Republicans frequently cast tax increases as “punishing achievers”—a phrase rife with normative judgments about the way the universe works).

Along these lines we can go back a few weeks to a town hall meeting in Iowa where Santorum extolled the value of “suffering” and apparently finds it problematic that various policies (e.g., food stamps, Medicaid, etc.) ameliorate suffering because, after all, “suffering is part of life and it’s not a bad thing, it is an essential thing in life.”

The thing is, Steven doesn’t realize it, but the only thing that separates Santorum from most of our elites is how blunt he is- he actually uses the word suffering, and not some euphemistic bullshit like “shared sacrifice” that David Brooks or Douthat or some other douche bag might trot out. It’s the core of the entire mythology they have used to divide “real America” from the decadent coastal elites. Real Americans understand “belt-tightening” and don’t want a “handout” and will “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” It’s so ingrained in our conversation that we actually have people making the honest-to-goodness argument that we shouldn’t extend unemployment benefits during the worst recession since the Great Depression because… we don’t people too comfortable while unemployed or they might not look for a job.

Now, mind you, as with everything else involving the GOP, this is a hoax. When they talk about suffering, they aren’t talking about the rich and well-to-do. They are talking about everyone else out in idiot America who hasn’t been able to see through this shit and keep voting Republican because both sides do it or the baby jeebus told them to save snowflake babies or because Obama is coming for their guns or because gays make them feel icky. That’s how they can simultaneously argue that the payroll tax should die but god forbid any tax cuts on the rich expire.

And don’t get me started on the glibertarians, who think basically the same thing, except without the religious component. To them, if you are suffering, it was because you made unwise choices in our fabulous free market FAP FAP FAP. At any rate, suffering is the entire core of the GOP philosophy. It’s just that you are the one they want suffering. But cheer up, I’m sure Chris Matthews will agree it builds character.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Book club
Next Post: Shorter Rick Perry: “God Hates Fags” »

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    In this universe, people are successful because they work hard and make good choices and people fail because they do not work hard enough and/or because of bad choices.

    Huh. So I wonder what it means that Santorum failed to win back his Senate seat by the largest margin ever for a Republican senator from Pennsylvania. Or what it’ll mean when Santorum’s presidential campaign fails. (If you want to pretend like it hasn’t already.)

    Here’s my favorite human Santorum story, because I don’t got many about the other kind:

    In 2005, four young women were ejected from a bookstore in Wilmington, Delaware, where Santorum was scheduled for a book signing, after they were overheard expressing opinions critical of the senator. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit, which was settled in 2007. As a result of the settlement, the Delaware State Police were required to pay legal fees for the plaintiffs and provide training to officers on free-speech rights. The Santorum staff members who requested the ejection were required to apologize and to relinquish their salaries for the event — $2,500.00 — to the plaintiffs in damages.

    In so many ways, on so many occasions, Santorum’s proved it: Trolls Work.

  2. 2.

    Calouste

    December 6, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    Of course, a very common case in America of making a bad decision is deciding to be born to the wrong parents.

  3. 3.

    cathyx

    December 6, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    I’d have to think that even republicans can have a run of bad luck and have negative things happen to them too. So how can they believe this?

  4. 4.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    Oh, and . . .

    And don’t get me started on the glibertarians, who think basically the same thing, except without the religious component.

    Wait, WITHOUT the religious component? Really? All they HAVE is their religion.

  5. 5.

    Nutella

    December 6, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    It is characteristic of the class of people who are comfortable and privileged and either selfish or stupid that they believe there is no luck in life. Everything they have is deserved because they are, obviously, deserving. I can hear them shouting: “There is no luck. THERE IS NO LUCK.”

    All of us sentient beings realize that good and bad luck have an effect on everyone’s life as well as good and bad levels of achievement. The proportions differ: For GWB 99% was good luck. For some particularly dedicated people with hard-luck childhoods it’s mostly achievement. For most of us it’s a lot of both good luck and achievement that allows us to be prosperous and safe enough that we can hang around bloviating on the internet.

  6. 6.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    @cathyx:

    They’re not critical thinkers and they’re prone to egotism. Their party philosophy deprecates the former and elevates the latter. That’s why they see themselves as constantly on the verge of immense personal wealth and power.

    Certainly we have enough studies kicking around now about how conservatives think selectively much more often than others, and when confronted with the error of their own selective thought, they actually double down on being wrong.

  7. 7.

    Redshift

    December 6, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    The Punishment Party. If there’s a problem, their answer is always for someone to be punished, never to provide the resources to solve the problem. Bad school? Punish them by cutting their funding. And so on.

    The beatings will continue until morale improves.

  8. 8.

    beltane

    December 6, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    @cathyx: When bad things happen to Republicans is is always the fault of: a) the government; b) liberals in the government; or c) black and brown people who are given preferential treatment by the government.

  9. 9.

    beltane

    December 6, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    @Redshift: But God forbid any punishment be applied to them. Then they would need the whaaambulance.

  10. 10.

    4tehlulz

    December 6, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    @beltane: You forgot the gays.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    December 6, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    @cathyx:

    So how can they believe this?

    Republican bad luck is attributed to actions of the “others” (liberals, minorities, gays, etc.). Bad luck falling upon those “others” is attributed to Providence.

    ETA: I see beltane beat me in making the point.

  12. 12.

    beltane

    December 6, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    @4tehlulz: Yes, the gays and the government that is forcing teh gay agenda down the throats of good Christians. How could I have forgotten that one.

  13. 13.

    cathyx

    December 6, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    I’m trying to remember who said it, but a wealthy successful man said that he got that way because he was mostly lucky. Does anyone remember who it was? He may even have written a book about it.

  14. 14.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    Kurt Vonnegut wrote a lot of books to that effect

  15. 15.

    cathyx

    December 6, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    I need to start blaming everyone else for my problems. I bet I could sleep better at night if I did.

  16. 16.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    It works even better if you blame all your successes on how dynamically you shot out your mom’s cooch, A DYNAMO FROM THE GET GO who never benefited from anyone or anything else

  17. 17.

    MikeJ

    December 6, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    @cathyx: Not unless you make yourself believe it.

  18. 18.

    cathyx

    December 6, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    @AA+ Bonds: Unfortunately for me, my birth story(that’s what they call it) is that I was too stubborn to come out when contractions started, and I had to make my mother wait another day to have me. But I blame my mother.

  19. 19.

    jl

    December 6, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    @AA+ Bonds: Cooch gets no credit at all? Sounds sexist to me.

  20. 20.

    JPL

    December 6, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    @beltane: Gays can be good Christians so I missed Santorums point. Maybe Andrew Sullivan can write the former senator a note and explain.

  21. 21.

    Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy)

    December 6, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    Damn good post, Mr. Cole.

  22. 22.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    @cathyx:

    Mine is that I was HUUUUGE. Awwwww yeeeeaahhhhh.

    I think the main problem most American conservatives have is that their party has more or less banned them from blaming the Jews at the top of their lungs. That was the go-to all the way up through Reagan.

  23. 23.

    catpal

    December 6, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    the suffering is what the totally loathsome Santorum believes via his practice in the doctrine of Opus Dei – although he denies to be an “official” member.

    But as most Repugs, he is full of the hypocracy on suffering:

    His wife wanted $500,000 in damages against her Virginia-based chiropractor for alleged malpractice — although her actual medical costs added up to $18,800. … ““The Senator also said he fears his wife will be unable to help him out much with his upcoming re-election campaign because of her physical limitations and the poor self-image she has developed since her back problems changed her life and her daily routine.”

    1999, a Fairfax County, Virginia jury awarded Karen Santorum $350,000 in her malpractice lawsuit.

    so ALL should suffer but him and his wife. Manondog is Truly Delusional as I have spoken to people who know him and they say he is bizarre in his thinking from his irrational religious beliefs.

  24. 24.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    Oh yeah, I almost forgot that Santorum is another fake-ass wack-ass quotes-around-it “Catholic” who seems to believe that the Church endorsed capitalism at some point.

    Also, as an Opus Dei hive queen, Santorum probably is a sure ‘nough antisemite, the real kind, the Holocaust-denier-in-secret kind.

  25. 25.

    Comrade Dread

    December 6, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    @cathyx: I’m going with at some level they’ve embraced the Prosperity Gospel version of Christianity, where God would never allow hardship to enter the lives of the righteous, so if you’re suffering, you just lack (pick one or all: faith; good work ethic; ambition; holiness.)

    The book of Job does not exist in the Objectivist Christian fusion bible.

  26. 26.

    cathyx

    December 6, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    @catpal: And I bet he gets less sex now too. Sorry honey, I have a back ache.

  27. 27.

    Egg Berry

    December 6, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    @beltane:

    But God forbid any punishment be applied to them. Then they would need the whaaambulance be paying for the “escort.”

  28. 28.

    General Stuck

    December 6, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    Santorum is too much of a loon, even for the tea tards.

  29. 29.

    Comrade Dread

    December 6, 2011 at 7:29 pm

    @AA+ Bonds: I cut my own umbilical cord and gave the doctor a stirring critique on his shoddy techniques and let him know that my mother and father wouldn’t pay anymore than 4 chickens for his services in delivering me.

  30. 30.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:29 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    The problem, of course, is that the Roman Catholic Church considers that doctrine to be apostasy at best and heresy at worst.

  31. 31.

    catpal

    December 6, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    Ugh. I give up on comment format, can’t type today or fwp.

  32. 32.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    ~~inhale deeply~~ I LIKE IT.

  33. 33.

    Comrade Dread

    December 6, 2011 at 7:34 pm

    @AA+ Bonds: Many Evangelicals also consider it heresy. It doesn’t mean people at some level don’t buy it.

    Part of our national myth is the idea of the American Dream, and since the founding, generations have been exposed to fables about the hard working poor boy making good and becoming wealthy through his efforts. Regardless of its veracity, it is one of those shadowy ideas in the back of most of our brains that influences how we view the world.

    So even if someone knows that the idea that “suffering never strikes the righteous” is blatantly false, when they see something bad strike someone, one of the first thoughts in the back of their mind is “I wonder what they did to deserve that.”

  34. 34.

    catpal

    December 6, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    @cathyx: he doesn’t need it, he is raptured all on his own, all day, every day.

  35. 35.

    AA+ Bonds

    December 6, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    Oh, I agree. It’s just a different thing with Catholics because there’s a catechism and an institution to enforce it, supposedly. I’m just saying that Santorum, Gingrich, etc. appear to have fallen out of communion with Christ by the measure of the Church with their statements about the moral worth of wealth, how the poor and especially their children should be treated, etc.

    And I’m sure any day now all those bishops who interfered illegally with the 2004 election over Kerry are gonna pop up and explain why Gingrich and Santorum can’t receive the Eucharist. Right? Right? Any day now . . .

  36. 36.

    harlana

    December 6, 2011 at 7:39 pm

    it all comes down to this: if you’re not successful, God hates you, so you’re unworthy and you can be dismissed with a clear conscience

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne

    December 6, 2011 at 7:39 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    So even if someone knows that the idea that “suffering never strikes the righteous” is blatantly false, when they see something bad strike someone, one of the first thoughts in the back of their mind is “I wonder what they did to deserve that.”

    My father — rightfully — held a grudge against my grandfather (his father) for years because, upon being told that my mother had terminal breast cancer, my grandfather said, “Well, she must have done something really bad in her life if God gave her cancer.”

    My father also told me that he was very tempted to say something similar to my grandfather when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but he at least knew it was a mean thing to say.

  38. 38.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 6, 2011 at 7:40 pm

    If any of these assholes actually believe any of this shit, they’d be demanding, at the top of their lungs, 100% confiscatory estate taxes, with plenty of safeguards to insure that there is no way to get an advantage in life by choosing the right vagina to be squirted out of.

    But, of course, they don’t actually believe in all this hard work shit. They only believe in wealth, no matter how obtained. By theft, by being born to the right parents, by fraud, or by winning the lottery.

    “Sloth” is not the problem. If you inherited millions, you can be as fucking slothful as you want. They do not fucking care.

  39. 39.

    Rihilism

    December 6, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    In Santorum’s case, I wonder if it’s a bit of a Catholic thing. Reflecting on growing up Catholic, it seems obvious to me now that fetishizing suffering and poverty contradicts the goal of ameliorating them. After all, if the poor in spirit are owed the kingdom of heaven and the meek shall inherit what’s left of the earth, providing succor to the downtrodden may, in effect, deny them their God-bequested inheritance…

  40. 40.

    Suffern ACE

    December 6, 2011 at 7:55 pm

    Everything in block quote is so much cooler than everything in strike through. It’s like joining the hive mind.

  41. 41.

    Jim Pharo

    December 6, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    For the record, we are now in the midst of an “emperor has no clothes” moment: With just a bit of hindsight, we’ll see that this was when the scales started to fall from the eyes of millions, in what will seem like the blink of an eye (historically speaking, natch).

    We have laid a solid and substantial base the past few years: the left blogosphere, our strong embrace of data and science, the rise of other progressive media, of think tanks that, you know, think, the many groups, individuals, etc., who have been proselytizing for years now, all out of a shared set of values: humanity, compassion, community, justice and opportunity for all, etc.

    This is what living history feels like, bitches!

  42. 42.

    carpeduum

    December 6, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    Does anyone still watch Chris Matthews?

  43. 43.

    Southern Beale

    December 6, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    Yes, good things happen to good people, wealthy people obviously deserve their blessings, the righteous are blessed in this lifetime, yada yada. It’s a nice fairy tale but it has no bearing on reality. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes good things happen to bad people. That’s just the way it is, and try as we might to make sense of it, it just won’t ever happen.

    It’s fine to talk about this stuff but when assholes like Santorum, Gingrich, etc. start trying to craft actual public policy based on this fantastical worldview, we have a HUGE problem.

    Along these lines, remember that family in rural Tennessee last year who didn’t pay their $75 fire protection fee, and when their house caught fire with their dogs and cats inside, the fire department came out and did nothing? Even though the man begged them to, said he’d pay the $75 right then and there? Remember that? Glenn Beck and the other sadists of the Republican Party made a big deal out of saying “serves you right” to the guy.

    Yeah, well, it’s happened again. Same rural Tennessee town. Only this time it wasn’t a middle class guy who “forgot” to pay because he really thought they’d put it out if it came to it: it’s some desperately poor couple living in the most ramshackle backwoods trailer you’ve ever seen. I don’t know but I’d say $75 was out of their budget this year. Why the fuck people in these dire straights aren’t offered another option besides “pay up or suck it up,” I don’t know.

  44. 44.

    Chuck Butcher

    December 6, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    I’m reminded of alcoholics/other addicts who think getting clean and sober means that things will go well. It does mean that you’ll be better equipped to deal with life, but it certainly does not ensure that things won’t happen. It doesn’t mean you won’t get laid off or can’t get hit on a crosswalk or that your … take your pick.

    This seems to have followed the concept of life being fair when the term has nothing to do with life. I see this feeling ascribed to various “philosophies” while I’m of the opinion that those are simply constructed around a fairly common feeling.

  45. 45.

    Scott P.

    December 6, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    This attitude is so prevalent you’ll even see conservatives hold up the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath as examples of the can-do American spirit and as role models for modern Americans.

  46. 46.

    RSA

    December 6, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    Republicans frequently cast tax increases as “punishing achievers”

    Some conservatives push this idea to great lengths. I recently saw someone write (I don’t remember where) that Democrats are trying to protect people from being hurt by capitalism, while Republicans are trying to protect people from being hurt by government. There’s a nice Anatole France flavor to that view.

  47. 47.

    Threadkiller

    December 6, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    My wife (Catholic-raised) asserts that this is a common notion among right-wing Catholics.

    “I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people.” – Mother Teresa

    Happens to synch somewhat with prosperity gospel.

  48. 48.

    Threadkiller

    December 6, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    @Scott P.: Lolz.

    “Wherever there’s a hedge fund manager fighting for his carried-interest 15% tax rate, you’ll find me.

    Where there’s an oil company defending its depletion allowance, I’ll be there.

    And when there’s a dirty hippy “drawing contact” from a poor copper’s baton, well, I’ll be there too”.

  49. 49.

    ericblair

    December 6, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    @Rihilism:

    In Santorum’s case, I wonder if it’s a bit of a Catholic thing. Reflecting on growing up Catholic, it seems obvious to me now that fetishizing suffering and poverty contradicts the goal of ameliorating them.

    I’ve seen that before, and defines your basic “totally missed the point” Catholic. If you’re a sociopathic asshole, poor people aren’t people who need your help; they’re just things that you can work on to get yourself extra bonus Heaven points. The poor will always be with us, right, so what’s the point in actually fixing the problem?

    In a similar vein, “When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist.”

  50. 50.

    Liberty60

    December 6, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    @Threadkiller:

    “I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people.” – Mother Teresa

    Keep in mind this was stated by someone who literally devoted her life to easing the suffering of the poor.

    As a former Catholic, I can say honestly that Catholics are like anhyone else- they enjoy picking and choosing what parts of the Gospel appeals to them and ignoring that which doesn’t.

    Which wouldn’t be such a problem, if there were a leadership that wanted to keep the focus on afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted; but as has often happened through the centuries the contemproary Church leadership seems quite comfortable with the world as it is with the singular exception being the freedom you have with your uterus.

  51. 51.

    Kilkee

    December 6, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    @Threadkiller: Love it.

  52. 52.

    Betsy

    December 6, 2011 at 10:52 pm

    @cathyx, @beltane — I think it’s a consequence of believing in the Just World fallacy (the logical fallacy that everyone gets what they deserve). If you believe that virtue leads to earthly reward, and vice to punishment, then if you are not doing well in life, you must be evil and undeserving — UNLESS you can pin your misfortune on someone who kept you from what you were otherwise entitled to.

    Thus, the natural outcome is hatred of some scapegoat group, be it affirmative action recipients, government handout recipients, the gays, etc. (and of course the group one chooses to blame has to be an already picked-on minority or persecuted segment, otherwise it wouldn’t be quite as safe to blame them, would it).

  53. 53.

    Betsy

    December 6, 2011 at 11:02 pm

    Also at some level our puritanically founded society does just hate pleasure. I think a lot of folks just feel guilty if they have it pretty good — Americans in general seem to relish discomfort, and apologize for ourselves if we have it very good.

    Outcome of an officially class-free society (that’s really not): people feel guilty for having more than others, therefore we reject comfort as being a guilty thing.

    No Swiss would impose suffering on a Swiss poor or disabled kid the way Americans seem to. Because the kid is SWISS, he deserves the best! But we Americans — we would let fellow Americans crawl into a corner and die, and celebrate it as the deserving fate.

  54. 54.

    300baud

    December 6, 2011 at 11:43 pm

    @cathyx:

    a wealthy successful man said that he got that way because he was mostly lucky. Does anyone remember who it was?

    Maybe you’re thinking of Warren Buffett? That’s a regular theme of his. E.g.:

    http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/03/31/warren-buffett-on-the-lottery-of-birth/

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    December 7, 2011 at 2:07 am

    @Betsy:

    No Swiss would impose suffering on a Swiss poor or disabled kid the way Americans seem to.

    Maybe not a official “Swiss” kid, but there seems to be a whole political party that doesn’t consider immigrants (especially Muslim ones) to be Swiss and would be happy to let them suffer.

    Xenophobia and racism are not reserved to the US, unfortunately.

  56. 56.

    JGabriel

    December 7, 2011 at 2:07 am

    John Cole:

    It’s just that you are the one they want suffering. But cheer up, I’m sure Chris Matthews will agree it builds character.

    The only things I’ve ever seen suffering build are frustration, pain, despair, and post-traumatic trauma.

    .

  57. 57.

    BC

    December 7, 2011 at 11:47 am

    But then when there are people who truly pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and succeeded by dint of intellect and hard work, the Republicans do not acknowledge their achievements. Witness: Bill Clinton and Barak Obama.When these two Democrats were successfully elected president, the Republicans did not acknowledge this is the way things work. Instead, they tried to use their history of hard work against them. So as usual with everything Republican, it’s just a crock of shit from beginning to end. There is no coherent philosophy or principles here, just win at any costs.

  58. 58.

    Lex

    December 7, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    Beware those who profess bravery in the face of the suffering of others, for they are the sociopaths and ill will befall all who cross their paths.

    Except in sane societies, which, unlike ours, lock them away forever.

  59. 59.

    Paul in KY

    December 7, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Your father was a nicer man than I.

  60. 60.

    Paul in KY

    December 7, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    @Threadkiller: Mother Teresa was a weirdo (IMO).

  61. 61.

    Paul in KY

    December 7, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    @Liberty60: She wouldn’t do anything to potentially stop them from being poor.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Suffering the Insufferable | Just Above Sunset says:
    December 7, 2011 at 9:42 am

    […] But John Cole at Balloon Juice offers this: […]

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Baud on Late Night ‘Should Be Always’ Open Thread: Librarians, Doing Civilization’s Work (Apr 18, 2024 @ 6:16am)
  • Jay on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 6:15am)
  • Central Planning on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 6:14am)
  • OzarkHillbilly on Late Night ‘Should Be Always’ Open Thread: Librarians, Doing Civilization’s Work (Apr 18, 2024 @ 6:11am)
  • Jay on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 6:10am)

🎈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!