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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / Ron Ron Ronaway

Ron Ron Ronaway

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This is amusing:

Kent Sorenson, the one-time chair of Michele Bachmann’s Iowa campaign who threw a jolt into the caucuses by switching to Ron Paul tonight, said he only told Paul officials of his decision when he arrived at a Des Moines rally for the congressman tonight

“10 minutes ago,” Sorenson, a GOP state senator, told POLITICO about when the Paul campaign found out he was moving to their camp.

In one of the most surprising moments of the 2012 campaign, Sorenson strolled on stage just moments before Paul was set to speak and declared that he had switched his allegiance. Just hours earlier, he had been at a Bachmann campaign event with his former candidate. Sorenson’s switch is a major boost to Paul’s campaign, which has been dogged by criticism from establishment Republicans that his support here was largely among Democrats and independents.

A furious Bachmann accused her former chair of being bought off.

We’re really going to see more fail this election year than we are used to.

Reader Interactions

192Comments

  1. 1.

    Lolis

    A work friend who adores Ron Paul just outed herself as a birther last night. I am working on staging an intervention. Ron Paul supporters are flat out insane. But, I guess, anyone working for Bachmann had to be pretty crazy too.

  2. 2.

    Veritas

    Yawn. Neither candidate matters.

    What matters is that the inevitable nomine–Romney–is ahead of Obambi in a shocking new poll.

    Of course it needs to be confirmed by other new polls, but don’t be surprised if Romney begins surging as he wraps up the GOP nomination.

    Democrats must be feeling nervous about 2012.

  3. 3.

    Samara Morgan

    You will see men bark like dogs and speak in tongues as the specific gravity of wingnuttery begins to deform the Wingnut Event Horizon.
    you have seen nothing yet.

  5. 5.

    Schlemizel

    Look, he knows the internal numbers. Batshit is dead meat next Wed & his party welfare check would dry up. Its a smart move, jump to Paul & the checks keep rolling in at least until summer.

  7. 7.

    Chyron HR

    @Veritas:

    Shocking new poll

    Romney 23%, Ron Paul 22%? Yeah, that is pretty shocking. No wonder you’ve been whistling past the graveyard in every thread today.

  8. 8.

    Veritas

    @John Cole:

    Laugh all you want, but they had the most accurate final Presidential poll of 2004 and 2008.

    As I said, we’ll see about it being confirmed by other polls–I suppose Obambi lemmings would rather deny reality than face it.

  9. 9.

    4tehlulz

    >A furious Bachmann accused her former chair of being bought off.

    She’s mad that the chair was more Republican than she was.

  10. 10.

    Schlemizel

    @John Cole:
    No, really. The most critical polls, the ones most accurately predicting the outcome of an election are those that come nearly 12 months before that election. You know back in Dec ’07 Obama was ahead of McCain so that proves it.

  11. 11.

    Veritas

    @Chyron HR:

    A Ron Paul win in Iowa is still a Romney victory, as Paul can’t compete anywhere else and will flame out quickly.

    All Romney has to do is prevent a Gingrich or Santorum victory. An outright win will mean a strong one-two knockout punch of IA-NH that will propel him to the nomination. A Paul victory in IA will just be discarded as an outlier, but Romney might take just a little longer to win in the end. That’ll be the only difference.

    What is true is there is 16%+ real unemployment in this country–that’s Obambi’s record, and that’s what this election will be about.

  12. 12.

    Comrade Mary

    I like this detail:

    Sorenson, a GOP Iowa state senator, not only ducked out in the ninth inning, but he didn’t tell Bachmann he was leaving until he was already on the way to a Paul event. Earlier in the same day, Sorenson joined Bachmann at an event in his hometown, but stayed quiet, saying that he had just returned from the dentist, “was still numb and afraid he would drool on himself.”

  13. 13.

    Amir Khalid

    Ooh! Ooh! I know this one! Del Shannon!

    @Samara Morgan:

    You will see men bark like dogs and speak in tongues as the specific gravity of wingnuttery begins to deform the Wingnut Event Horizon.

    Starting with you, right?

  14. 14.

    Veritas

    @Schlemizel:

    But if Obambi is in such a strong position (something I constantly here from the Obambi lemmings on this blog as they follow Dear Leader right over the cliff), then why is Romney even tied with Obambi, let alone ahead?

  15. 15.

    Chyron HR

    @Veritas:

    A Ron Paul win is actually a double-super-secret Romney VICTORY!!

    That’s the spirit, kid. Never let ’em see you sweat.

  19. 19.

    Veritas

    Don’t want to believe Rasmussen? Fine.

    But the Democrat Pollster PPP has Romney up by two points.

    Again, isn’t this bad news for an incumbent? How does this square with all the squawking by the commentators on this blog about how strong and unbeatable Obambi is?

  20. 20.

    JGabriel

    John Cole:

    We’re really going to see more fail this election year than we are used to.

    That reminds me … (adds popcorn to the shopping list).

    .

  21. 21.

    JPL

    Michael Reagan and Laffer both came out in support of Newti. That will cause Romneyi to shake in his ski boots.

  22. 22.

    Schlemizel

    @Ian:
    Thats ‘pimping’ not pumping – pimping is what you do for whores, pumping is something you do for water.

  23. 23.

    opie jeanne

    @Lolis: After reading your post I am so very glad I’m retired. I had trouble enough being civil to a guest one of my kids brings home for dinner. He would stand in my kitchen and fuss at me about Obama and soshulizm while I was trying to finish up whatever I was cooking.

    He lost his job and was deported to Austria not long ago, (I had no idea that he wasn’t a naturalized citizen) where he has been enjoying the attention of the health program of that fine country, from a padded cell.

  26. 26.

    Redshift

    What I like about this story is both the obvious info about Bachmann cratering, and that a guy who was dumb enough to be a state campaign chair for Bachmann is also dumb enough to think jumping to Ron Paul at this point is a good idea.

    Hilarious.

  27. 27.

    Veritas

    @Joel:

    What about the PPP poll? Even if its “early” shouldn’t an incumbent President be far, far ahead? And remember, this is before Romney’s Super PACs and Crossroads America/Crossroads GPS gets to work, not to mention the UNLIMITED funds of the Koch Bros.

    You must be getting nervous alraedy.

  29. 29.

    Chyron HR

    @Veritas:

    They only have Romney up by two points against “the worst President in history”? Even though he has UNLIMITED ANONYMOUS CASH!! on his side?

    You know, you’ve still got a whole week to pick find a better candidate. We won’t hold it against you.

  32. 32.

    rlrr

    UNLIMITED funds of the Koch Bros.

    Unlimited? I’m pretty sure, as rich as the Koch brothers may be, their wealth is hardly infinite.

  33. 33.

    Veritas

    @Chyron HR:

    That cash hasn’t started pouring out against Obambi yet. Remember how “progressives” freak out about OMG TEH KOCH BROTHERRRZZZ? There’s a reason for that.

    And not to mention the new election integrity laws are bad news for Obambi and his voter shennanigans, too.

  35. 35.

    JGabriel

    @Veritas:

    What matters is that the inevitable nomine—Romney—is ahead of Obambi in a shocking new poll [includes link to Rasmussen, which I refuse to duplicate].

    Hey, Veritas, I keep posting Nate Silver’s assessment of Rasmussen’s 2010 performance, and you keep ignoring it: Rasmussen Polls Were Biased and Inaccurate (11/4/2010) [Editor’s Addendum: So Were Marist’s and CNN/Opinion Research].

    Why is that? Why do you keep ignoring it? Don’t you want to be sure that your favorite pollster is generally regarded as accurate rather than mostly wrong and biased?

    I’d think you would want to quote a pollster who isn’t quite so discredited. Maybe someone like SurveyUSA, Quinnipiac, or PPP.

    Or, on the other hand, maybe polls from RELIABLE pollsters don’t fit your propaganda.

    .

  40. 40.

    Brian S

    My cousin put this on Facebook and took great offense, perhaps even umbrage, when I noted that it was basically a lateral move in terms of crazy. He got put on blast shortly afterward, in part because he’s constantly shouting about how awful the welfare state is when he moved back to France last year.

  42. 42.

    Satanicpanic

    Oh jeez. You know, Veritas should really be over at some Republican blog pimping Romney, word about how great he is hasn’t reached Republican yet since they’re still putting him at 25%. Maybe they just need UNLIMITED ANONYMOUS CASH!!

  43. 43.

    EconWatcher

    It seems odd to me that, other than Huntsman, the GOP also- rans don’t seem to have gone after Mitt all that hard. Maybe it’s because they know he needs a wingnut running mate, and they all hope to be it.

  45. 45.

    Arundel

    I saw this Sorensen guy on Rachel last night, his dramatic! announcement and speaking to reporters later, and oh my God he could not shut the fuck up talking about himself. “Me me I me my conservative beliefs..” Must be quite the ego trip for him, fifteen-second microfame.

  46. 46.

    daveNYC

    @rlrr:

    We’re still waiting for actual evidence of any voter shenanigans by Obama supporters in 2008…

    There were pictures of black people voting, ergo shenanigans.

  47. 47.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    This thread makes absolutely no sense with the pie filter engaged, and for that, I am deeply grateful. Cleek, you’re a great humanitarian.

  48. 48.

    AnotherBruce

    The interesting thing about Romney is that he consistently polls below the “Crazification factor” (27%) in his own party.

  51. 51.

    cat

    @Veritas: You need some basic “how to read a poll” instructions if being up by 2pts in an poll with a 3.7% error is a sign anything. Obama was ahead by 1pt last month by the same polling group with 3.5% error which means their relative standing is unchanged.

  56. 56.

    Schlemizel

    @Veritas:
    Theres that read comprehension problem again. I, and many other commeters here do not believe Obama is unbeatable. The Republicans have done an excellent job of hamstinging the economy so there is a very real chance he could lose in November of 2012.

    But here is the problem – and I will try to use small words and short sentences so you might understand.
    It is 313 days until the election
    313 days is a long time in politics
    Poll results will go up and down
    McCain did not have a chance of winning the Republican nod in Dec 2007
    Obama did not have a chance of winning the Dem nod in December 2007

  58. 58.

    J.D. Rhoades

    Mitt will need to go full fundie for a running mate…

    There’s a quote hanging up in the local probation department that’s apropos:

    “If you do the same thing you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”

  59. 59.

    EconWatcher

    @rlrr:

    What he needs is a Hispanic fundie. Rubio probably ain’t it, because a Cuban may not be able to deliver other hispanic votes.

    But it’s interesting that, while nominally still Catholic, Rubio attends some kind of fundie Protestant Megachurch. Whatever else you might say about the guy, that’s thinking ahead.

  60. 60.

    Palli

    [email protected] Money for the move doesn’t surprise me-the lure of stupidity of any Republican ilk does not insure integrity. Afterall, l this charade of endless early campaigning was really just to accomplish the transfer of republican payola money to media and pundits. The fame and splendor of each unsuccessful wannabes campaign trail pays off in book deals, the thrill of the podium and the ego inflation of the bright lights. It also gives the Rovian puppeteers trial runs on every conceivable idiotic lie to present during the “real” campaign.

    As an aside: why did Mrs. Bachman think the big boyss would ever really let her in?

  62. 62.

    Mark B.

    Paul does have a lot of shiny object potential. I see a lot of people who ought to know better who are intrigued by him. By standing for nothing, he can basically be all things to all people … well maybe just many things to some people, but maybe that’s enough to make headway in the fractured Republican party. I don’t see him having lasting appeal, but then again, this was the country that elected a senile washed up actor twice who wrecked the economy and infrastructure, revived racial divisions, and who is still revered by millions.

  63. 63.

    Veritas

    Bob McDonnell would be a very strong running mate for Mitt–popular Governor of a swing state, conservative and well-liked by evangelicals.

  65. 65.

    burnspbesq

    @Veritas:

    Grasping at straws again? Must suck being you. Your world is going to come crashing down around your ears for a second time next November.

    The American people are not nearly as stupid as you believe them to be.

  67. 67.

    Mark B.

    And as bad as Obama is doing, he’s in better position that Bush was in 2003, and he’s up against a much weaker field. I would be willing to give at least 3:1 odds for an Obama reelection.

  68. 68.

    Emma

    @Veritas: Not really. Me, I’m going to sit back and enjoy your whining when your mother’s social security check is turned into an “investment” that will net her less than a third of what she’s getting now and you will have to get off your arse and out of your basement and actually work two or three jobs to support her. Or when you lose whatever insurance you have and then get sick. I am stocking up several years’ worth of schadenfreude and will indulge myself recklessly.

    The nice things about chumps like you is that you really think that you’re automatically one of the elite because you hate liberals and you never see the train coming until it hits you. And then when it does, you whine endlessly about how life is “unfair.” Yep. It is. Especially under a Republican administration headed by a psychopath.

  69. 69.

    Veritas

    @Emma:

    I don’t give a rip about Social Security for the next generation, and neither do they. They know they won’t have it. I’m a Gen-Xer, I know it won’t exist when I retire either. And you know what? I PLANNED for that, and have a nice nest egg. I don’t need any fucking government dole to “secure” my retirement.

    SS is a bankrupt ponzi scheme. It will come crashing down sooner or later. The question is whether we do it the easy way (private personal accounts) or the hard way (bankruptcy).

  70. 70.

    MikeJ

    @Schlemizel:

    McCain did not have a chance of winning the Republican nod in Dec 2007

    December? Hell, McCain got trounced in Iowa. The final result was Huckabee, Romney, Thompson(!), McCain.

    McCain lost to Fred Thompson. Romney came in second with a higher percentage than he’s polling at now, 25.19%.

  71. 71.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    Remember 2000? 2004? Get ready to re-live it.

    In 2000, Gore won.

    In 2004, Republicans based their entire election strategy around gay-baiting.

    Yup, I could see us reliving this.

  72. 72.

    TooManyJens

    @Comrade Mary:

    Earlier in the same day, Sorenson joined Bachmann at an event in his hometown, but stayed quiet, saying that he had just returned from the dentist, “was still numb and afraid he would drool on himself.”

    And as we all know, that’s the candidate’s job.

  75. 75.

    slag

    Kent Sorenson, the one-time chair of Michele Bachmann’s Iowa campaign who threw a jolt into the caucuses by switching to Ron Paul tonight, said he only told Paul officials of his decision when he arrived at a Des Moines rally for the congressman tonight

    So what causes these people to do stuff like this? I mean, is it not enough for them to be non compos mentis? They have to be unprofessional too?

  76. 76.

    Brachiator

    @Veritas:

    As I said, we’ll see about it being confirmed by other polls—I suppose Obambi lemmings would rather deny reality than face it.

    Polls ain’t votes. Polls ain’t reality. Come back and talk to me when there is an actual GOP nominee, and when we get closer to the general election.

    We’re really going to see more fail this election year than we are used to.

    Who knew that the run up to the GOP primary would be its own reality show? “The Real Clown Cars of the GOP.” The Kardashians must be envious.

  77. 77.

    Veritas

    @Xecky Gilchrist:

    In 2000, Gore won.

    Nope. Bush did.

    Let me spell it out for you:

    BUSH. WON. FLORIDA. He fucking won, and I love rubbing your nose in it. Still crying about that one?

  78. 78.

    slag

    Isn’t Veritas bad enough when commenting on-topic? Now we’re going to encourage off-topic trolling as well? Don’t we have any standards at all anymore?

  80. 80.

    burnspbesq

    @Veritas:

    Remember them well. Republicans cant win elections in this country, they can only steal them. Planning to steal another one?

  81. 81.

    Palli

    Veritas @55

    I’m not so sure, There are fewer republicans now and a candidate whose known wealth is $450 million isn’t from very many neighborhoods. The OWS have opened some eyes and the voting booth is private. (Although the E-vote machine is not impenetrable by tabulation fraud-the wild card in American elections.)

  82. 82.

    Schlemizel

    @MikeJ:
    Exactly yet he who can not read wants us to believe it is all over because that same Romney is within the margin of error of a poll taken by a GOP friendly service 313 days before the election.

    It seems to be trying to convince itself there is hope

  83. 83.

    Veritas

    @burnspbesq:

    You really believe not only 2000, but 2004 was “stolen”?

    So how did they do it in ’04? Did Dick Cheney secretly control Diebold machines with a magic laser invented by the Koch Bros. from the basement of the Naval Observatory?

  85. 85.

    Raven

    @Veritas: The families of the people that draft-dodging punk you had for a vice president are crying because their kid died for nothing.

  86. 86.

    Emma

    @Veritas: Sweetie pie, ignorant is not a good way to go through life. Really. Unless, of course, that’s as much as your brain expands. And good luck getting those three minimum-wage jobs. Competition these days is a bitch and will get worse when your beloved Republicans come back to rule the land.

  87. 87.

    Brachiator

    @Emma:

    The nice things about chumps like you is that you really think that you’re automatically one of the elite because you hate liberals and you never see the train coming until it hits you. And then when it does, you whine endlessly about how life is “unfair.” Yep. It is. Especially under a Republican administration headed by a psychopath.

    Very good stuff.

    Actually, though, the GOP true believers whine that some undeserving member of the underclass took all their milk money even though the trails from the broken piggy bank lead straight to some GOP protected elitist goon.

  88. 88.

    JGabriel

    @Veritas:

    You want a PPP poll? Here you , Romney up by +2.

    Well, damn, Veritas, why don’t you give us a link?

    Pollster Dates N/Pop Romney Obama Undec Other Margin
    Rasmussen 12/20-21/11 1000 LV 41 44 8 7 +3D
    YouGov/Polimetrix 12/17-20/11 715 RV 40 47 6 – +7D
    CNN 12/16-18/11 928 RV 45 52 2 1 +7D
    PPP (D) 12/16-18/11 700 RV 47 45 8 – +2R
    ABC/Post 12/15-18/11 RV 47 47 3 2 0
    USA Today/Gallup 12/15-18/11 898 RV 48 50 – – +2D
    Rasmussen 12/14-15/11 1500 LV 43 42 – – +1R
    YouGov/Polimetrix 12/10-13/11 720 RV 43 46 6 – +3D
    Ipsos/Reuters 12/8-12/11 900 RV 40 48 6 6 +8D
    AP-GfK 12/8-12/11 1000 A 46 47 1 7 +1D
    NBC/WSJ 12/7-11/11 RV 45 47 4 4 +2D
    Rasmussen 12/8-9/11 1000 LV 45 42 7 7 +3R
    FOX 12/5-7/11 911 RV 42 44 11 3 +2D
    YouGov/Polimetrix 12/3-6/11 715 RV 44 46 6 – +2D
    Fairleigh Dickinson 11/29-12/5/11 855 RV 42 46 11 – +4D
    Rasmussen 11/30-12/1/11 1000 LV 40 42 8 10 +2D

    Oh, because you got it from an aggregated list* that shows Romney tied or losing in every single other non-Rasmussen December poll. And, hell, lookit that: even your beloved fraudulent Rasmussen show Obama in the lead as recently as 12/20, more recently than the anomalous PPP poll you cite.

    Isn’t “veritas” Latin for truthful? Gotta say that’s not very veritas of you, Veritas.

    .

  89. 89.

    Howlin Wolfe

    @Veritas: Rasmussen is one of the most unreliable polls when it comes to presidential politics, because it’s a Republican outfit, essentially, so “Veritas” has a lot of vino in him/her.

  90. 90.

    Chyron HR

    @Veritas:

    Obviously ACORN bussed in homeless people to steal the election.

    Ha ha, just kidding. Only someone with severe mental problems would believe that.

  91. 91.

    Veritas

    @Emma:

    Ahahaha. Minimum wage? I make nearly six figures. Why? Because I have an actual skill. I don’t demand I make $50/hour just from turning a wrench on some blue collar assembly line, or demand a middle class lifestyle just because I took out student loans to get a Masters Degree in Queer Gender Music Theory.

    Wealth must be EARNED, not extorted by union thugs.

  92. 92.

    Emma

    @Veritas: You.Can’t.Prove.It. Because the Supremes stuck their oars in it before the recount could be complete and then, conveniently, several boxes of the paper votes went missing.

  93. 93.

    Emma

    @Veritas: Ah. Delusional as well as ignorant. If you really made six figures, kiddo, you wouldn’t need to spend your life trying to get liberals in an everyday blog riled up. You’re a loser like the rest of your kind.

    And you wouldn’t know an “union thug” if he smashed you one on the occiput.

  95. 95.

    Howlin Wolfe

    Stupid troll is stupid. Lying troll is lying and derails thread.
    I want to see the furious Bachmann. Her eyes must be a sight to behold.

  96. 96.

    Veritas

    @Emma:

    I said “nearly”.

    How much do you make? $10/hour at Starbucks, paying off the student loans you took out to get an MA in Women’s Gender Studies or Queer Theory in Puppetry?

  97. 97.

    Emma

    @Veritas: Actually, I do have a skill. A rather good, transferable one, much improved by the fact that I am multilingual. I will give you a hint: according to Spider Robinson, I am one of the masters of the Universe.

  98. 98.

    Howlin Wolfe

    @Veritas: Nearly six figures? BWAHAHAHAHA! You think that makes you one of the 1%? You want to carry water for the callous assholes that blew up the economy? For assholes like the Kochs and Richard Scaif, who were born on 3rd base and think they hit a triple?
    Jeeezus, who is stupid enough to pay you any money at all, let alone “nearly six figures”?

  99. 99.

    Soonergrunt

    @Veritas: Rasmussen? Really? What kind of sad pathetic fucked in the head jerk-off quotes a Ras poll for anything other than laugh value? Those fuckers haven’t been accurate in well, forever. But they are in the tank for the Republicans, so that would explain why you love them so much.
    They predicted Republican gains in 2006 midterms and had John McCain in the lead in damn near every poll they did in the 2008 race.
    Sad and stupid. No surprise that you quote them. Sad and stupid is your thing.

  100. 100.

    JPL

    @Veritas: Wow.. The ponzi scheme comment made me think you only listened to Fox but now I’m thinking Limbaugh. He also, too is afraid of females.

  101. 101.

    cat

    @Veritas:

    a weak position for an incumbent. Scary for Dems, huh?

    Uh, no. This is how it is in modern presidential elections. GOP/DEM condidates always poll almost exactly equal within the margin of error and a single digit percentage of the population called the ‘middle’/’independents’/’swing voters’/’undecideds’ decide who gets elected.

  102. 102.

    DaBomb

    @Lolis:

    Kelly Clarkson endoresed Ron Paul so that means he is going to win everything.

    Well, his nomination is doomed like her career.

  104. 104.

    J.D. Rhoades

    The majority of posts these days seem to be either Veritas trolling or people who just can’t seem to resist responding to Veritas’ obvious* trolling. The solution would seem to be clear.

    *I say obvious because anyone who comes to a mostly liberal blog talking about “Obambi” can’t be anything else other than someone trying to stir up shit.

  105. 105.

    Brachiator

    @Veritas:

    When Romney wins the GOP nod, his poll numbers will go up.

    Pay attention.

    Polls ain’t votes. Polls ain’t reality.

    Polls are useful to political strategists, and are abused by people, of either party, who like to play Political Fantasy Football.

    If Mitts gets the nomination sewed up, then the game is on. Until then, to quote my favorite line from Casino Royale,

    Does it look like I give a damn?

  106. 106.

    JGabriel

    @Veritas:

    BUSH. WON. FLORIDA. He fucking won …

    Feeling a little insecure, Veritas? With good reason (Wikipedia):

    The first independent recount was conducted by The Miami Herald and USA Today. The Commission found that under most recount scenarios, Bush would have won the election, but Gore would have won using the most generous standards.
    __
    Ultimately, the Media Consortium hired the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago to examine 175,010 ballots that were collected from the entire state not just the disputed counties that were discounted; these ballots contained under-votes (votes with no choice made for president) and over-votes (votes made with more than one choice marked). Their goal was to determine the reliability and accuracy of the systems used for the voting process. The NORC concluded that if the disputes over the validity of all the ballots statewide in question had been consistently resolved and any uniform standard applied, the electoral result would have been reversed and Gore would have won by 107-115 votes if only two of the three coders had to agree on the ballot. When counting ballots wherein all three coders agreed, Gore would have won the most restrictive scenario by 127 votes and Bush would have won the most inclusive senario by 110 votes.

    It must chafe your hollow soul to know that your team stole a national election, like the common crooks they are, and that Gore won the national popular vote by more than half-a-million votes:

    Popular vote — Bush 50,456,002, Gore 50,999,897

    Not even close.

    .

  109. 109.

    Veritas

    @JGabriel:

    Wikipedia? Where anyone can edit anything? Try using that as a reliable source on say, a college term paper some time. Or try to pass that off to a professional librarian as a reliable source. you’d be laughed at.

  111. 111.

    LAC

    @Veritas:

    Yawn….still trying too hard, aren’t you? Your endless posting is getting a might too shrill. If we pretend to buy your story, will you go lie down with a cold rag on your head?

  112. 112.

    Veritas

    @JGabriel:

    And so what if Bush lost the popular vote? The popular vote doesn’t matter. In fact it makes the victory even sweeter–to see you morons whine about “buh buh the popular vote!!” 11 years later. Love it.

  116. 116.

    Citizen Alan

    @David in NY:

    Gotta get me one of those … took too damn long just scrolling past the garbage.

    It really is just the most wonderful thing. I find Veritas to be rather charming now that all his posts are just witty bon mots about how wonderful pie is.

  117. 117.

    Veritas

    @Howlin Wolfe:

    No. I know I’m not in the “top 1%”. But unlike you I don’t whine and bitch and moan about how unfair it is, or think I’m for one minute entitled to anything they have. I make a comfortable living. The fact their billionaires is no skin off my back. Envy is the only vice that has no pleasure in it, and I don’t have much time for it.

  119. 119.

    JGabriel

    Veritas:

    And so what if Bush lost the popular vote? The popular vote doesn’t matter.

    And Republicans wonder why people think they’re anti-democracy.

    In fact it makes the victory even sweeter …

    … to take office knowing more than half the country despises your candidate?

    You might want to get your taste buds checked, buddy, if that’s your idea of “sweet”.

    .

  120. 120.

    gorram

    Queer Theory in Puppetry sounds actually awesome, I’ll just interrupt (the obviously sociopathic troll) to say.

  123. 123.

    Yevgraf

    @Veritas:

    What is true is there is 16%+ real unemployment in this country—that’s Obambi’s record, and that’s what this election will be about.

    I see this bandied about quite a bit. Just want to point out that while unemployment is high, Obama is actually working to address it. Meanwhile, the goopers are saying that the solution is tax cuts, an end to regulation, an end to unions, and that giving a few untaxed wealthy guys control over everything will create jobs galore.

    The American people can be pretty stupid, but the stupid won’t reach critical mass outside of those economic paradises of South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama or Georgia.

  126. 126.

    Veritas

    @LAC:

    What the fuck do you think I was doing for the last week I wasn’t here, unlike you losers? How many of you actually posted on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Now THAT’S sad.

  129. 129.

    Veritas

    @Yevgraf:

    Fun fact: Alabama now makes more cars than Michigan, and Georgia is close behind.Meanwhile, Detroit is a deindustrialized shithole that makes nothing but crime and shitty sports teams.

  132. 132.

    Veritas

    @LAC:

    I guess you were working the night shift at McDonalds, bitching to your manager about how you should get paid $50k/year because “waaah, I went to COLLEGE! And have a degree in MUSIC!!! And it’s all the fault of the 1%!!! WAAAH!”

  133. 133.

    JGabriel

    Veritas:

    Fun fact: Alabama now makes more cars than Michigan …

    Not next year, not after the car manufacturers start relocating their plants so their executives & managers don’t get arrested for looking foriegn.

    .

  135. 135.

    butler

    Meanwhile, Detroit is a deindustrialized shithole that makes nothing but crime and shitty sports teams.

    Lions in the playoffs, Tigers in the ALCS, Michigan in the Sugar Bowl, Red Wings in the Semi Finals, Michigan State in the Outback bowl and within 3 points of winning the Big 10 Title game…

    Not exactly Titletown, but hard to call it shitty.

    Oh, and Michigan has had great job growth in the last few years.

  136. 136.

    The Moar You Know

    Jesus Christ you people are idiots. This troll couldn’t be any more well-fed than if he had a lifetime all-you-can-eat pass to Applebee’s (not the salad bar though) and a truck full of delicious cake.

    You people claim to have cleek’s pie filter? Might want to try actually using it for a change.

    Damn.

  137. 137.

    carpeduum

    They are all batshit crazy no matter which crazy person supports which crazy candidate. So crazy moving from one shitpile of crazy to another is not really news worthing imho.

  138. 138.

    Veritas

    @butler:

    So the Lions got to the playoffs for the first time since the Clinton Administration. Yay? And they’re not going anywhere in the playoffs, mark my words.

  139. 139.

    JGabriel

    @LAC:

    What were you doing? Waiting for Santa to come down the chimney? Did you eat all the cookies mommy left out?

    He did, while masturbating up in his bedroom to his collection of Ayn Rand and Friedrich Hayek photographs.

    .

  142. 142.

    butler

    @Veritas: So a team used to be shitty, and now they aren’t shitty, but current reality doesn’t matter because they used to be shitty. Funny, I thought we were supposed to celebrate the whole “up by their bootstraps” redemption story.

    As for the rest of those supposedly “shitty” teams…?

  143. 143.

    Chyron HR

    @butler:

    No, see, “Shitty” is code for something else. As in, “Detroit’s sports teams are full of shitty players,” or “Obama is a bad president because he’s shitty,” or, “That was such a nice neighborhood until all those shitty people moved in.”

    Wink, wink.

  144. 144.

    Canuckistani Tom

    @Emma:
    Cool. I’m the caretaker of a small but well stocked Astronomy & space collection. Several hundred books and a periodical collection going back two centuries.

  145. 145.

    Brandon

    I get the distinct feeling that people arguing with Veritas don’t realize that he is a pimply 19-year old college sophmore.

  148. 148.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brandon:

    I get the distinct feeling that people arguing with Veritas don’t realize that he is a pimply 19-year old college sophmore.

    Oh, we realize it. It’s just funny to watch him run around trying to pretend he’s an adult with an actual job who’s totally not living in mom’s basement.

  149. 149.

    hildebrand

    @Veritas: Election laws? You are so far behind the curve. We are working in ways that you cannot even imagine to insure a comfortable victory for Obama in November. I have been helping to develop these networks for years. In fact, I feel that things are going so well with the plan that I think it safe to say that Texas is in the bag for Obama. In. The. Bag. The poor bastards in the red parts of the states won’t even know what hit them. They will see county after county in the Hill Country go Democratic next Fall – my God, they will wonder just exactly what happened. We happened.

    Don’t you get it? We allowed Acorn to be submarined. Made the most sense, they were getting too big, too noisy. We had to let them go. They understood, this is all about the win in 2012, so they were willing to take one for the team.

    And make no mistake – this is a team. We play for keeps. Money isn’t going to tip this election – the ground game will get the people to the polls – and we plan on insuring that the necessary numbers appear for the final vote. It will be delicious. Now, I would love to give details, but you know how these things work. Ban Ki-moon would never approve. Not that he really has the ability to pull the strings, but he needs to feel like he is still in the loop. No, all is proceeding according to plan.

    Of course, we really appreciate the constant kvetching about Obama’s work on this – puts the dogs off the true scent. You dumb hacks will be chasing ghosts long after the election is over.

    Off to continue writing checks to local election officials – my little part in the plan. It is delightful work, especially with so many frustrated with Mitt ‘One-Percent’ Romney – and yes, he will get the nod (the Iowa plan seems to be shaping up quite nicely) – makes the work so much easier because the officials are not particularly thrilled with the way the big money boys are throwing money in every direction but the most beneficial one.

    Have oodles of fun. I know we are.

  151. 151.

    Comrade Rich

    @hitchhiker:
    This thread finally made me break down and install Cleek’s pie filter, so here:

    Go to Cleek’s pie filter site. The instructions are pretty clear. The pie filter buttons appear at the bottom of the comments page. It actually makes it all pretty hilarious!

  155. 155.

    grandpa john

    @J.D. Rhoades: @J.D. Rhoades:

    people who just can’t seem to resist responding to Veritas’ obvious* trolling. The solution would seem to be clear.

    This I really don’t understand the overwhelming urge of people here to respond to these morons by trying to enlighten them. Hell they would accomplish more by spending their time trying to teach pigs how to fly.

  156. 156.

    Samara Morgan

    @Veritas: Romney is mathematically unelectable. He can’t get the requisite 65% of the white vote he needs to beat Obama.
    Of course Ras has Romney ahead– Landline bias.
    wireless only households make up a third of the electorate naow– and they are almost all Obama voters.
    ;)

  157. 157.

    FlipYrWhig

    @gorram: Chapter 1: Queer Street Goes to Sesame Street. Chapter 2: From Lamb Chop to Meat Market. Chapter 3: Topo Gigolo. Chapter 4: Thunderbirds Are Gay.

  159. 159.

    Samara Morgan

    @Veritas: Ras failed in Colorado.
    We turned the Red Wave to Beach Break.
    Ras got spoofed by landline bias….he had Tancredo and Buck to win.
    1/3 of American households are cell only now.
    And we ALL are voting Obama.
    ;)

  161. 161.

    Amir Khalid

    @Samara Morgan:
    All this while, you’ve been saying that Mitt won’t even get the nomination. And here you are now, saying he’ll lose to Obama in the election proper. I wonder, has something changed?

  162. 162.

    Brachiator

    @JGabriel:

    It must chafe your hollow soul to know that your team stole a national election, like the common crooks they are, and that Gore won the national popular vote by more than half-a-million votes.

    Jeebus. Bush stole the election. But the stuff about the popular vote is just crap.

    And it is not about being anti-democracy. It’s the current rules and that little thing called the Constitution.

    The other thing is that even though Dubya stole the election the first time around, the people had a chance to definitively make a different decision. They didn’t do it, and we ended up with a heck of a mess.

    Now it’s time for the cleanup.

  168. 168.

    Faux News

    Veritas: you were a boring douchebag during the Fucked Company blog of the late 90’s. I loved how Cheopys verbally stomped you in the ground every time your tired Troll ass showed up. Ten years later you still are a boring douchebag.

  169. 169.

    The Other Chuck

    Cleek’s pie filter now pie-ifies blockquotes in replies. I’ve gone one further and hacked it to filter out the full text of such “rePies”. Still a little rough, but it cuts down the noise. This blog sure is obsessed with pie now.

    @Faux News:
    But it only works if you use the proper reply functionality, so next time you want to give the troll attention, could you use that button please?

  170. 170.

    Strandedvandal

    @ Veritas, you know that whole “6 figures” thing doesn’t count the two to the right of the “.” ?

  171. 171.

    bemused

    @Chyron HR:

    “Wealth must be earned”, yet he’s still making “just under” 6 figures. Why hasn’t he managed to earn 6 or 7 figures yet?

  172. 172.

    Donald G

    Part of me is looking forward to a reprise of Veritas’s Baghdad Bob-like performance of last November as wave after wave of Republican initiatives went down to electoral defeat.

    I can see it now: “Democrats are immolating themselves rather than get crushed by the Romney Republican juggernaut. I guarantee you Obambi will have to sneak out of town like the whipped dog he is. VICTORY!!eleventy!”

    And then he doubles down again and again as Obama ekes out a VICTORY of his own.

    Good times. Lookin’ forward to it.

  173. 173.

    Samara Morgan

    @Amir Khalid: i never said Mitt wont get the nom.
    i have said, consistently and constantly, that it is mathematically impossible for Willard to beat Obama in the general, IFF minorities vote for Obama in 2008 percentages.
    Changes in electoral demographics have created a political landscape where Mitt needs 65% of the white vote to beat Obama.
    That is impossible, especially since some fraction of whites claim they will not vote for him ever, because of antimormon sentiment.

  174. 174.

    Samara Morgan

    @Veritas: In the Ras poll, Obama leads Willard 46/40 among women. Since there are slightly more women than men in the voting population, how is it mathematically possible that Romney leads Obama 45/39?

    could you explain that to me, please?

  175. 175.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    And it is not about being anti-democracy. It’s the current rules and that little thing called the Constitution.

    Except that the Supreme Court deliberately bypassed the Constitution, which spells out that the House of Representatives is supposed to vote on it if there’s a problem with the electoral college vote.

    That’s what drove me the most nuts about that whole thing: the MSM was running around like “Oh noes what do we DO?!” when it’s the House of Representatives that decides if there’s a discrepancy. The fact that the Supreme Court stepped in and stopped the count doesn’t make their actions “constitutional.”

  179. 179.

    opie jeanne

    @Samara Morgan: I have but I think they were anomalies, as I suspect any others to be.

    They mostly belong to very conservative Christian Evangelical churches, two of them with black preachers at the helm. The one I know best lives in Virginia and her pastor believes all of those Urban Legend stories about Obama and passes them on to his congregation; she is the mother of a good friend who rolls her eyes when her mother starts up about it.

    The last I heard, her mom was considering voting for Newt. I think she and some of the others have bought into David Barton’s “history” of the US, but I do not understand any black person living in Virginia voting for Newt. Can’t wrap my head around it.

  180. 180.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    Except that the Supreme Court deliberately bypassed the Constitution, which spells out that the House of Representatives is supposed to vote on it if there’s a problem with the electoral college vote.

    Still got nothing to do with who won the popular vote. Not directly.

    And yeah, it should have got thrown to the House. But it wasn’t. And yeah, here is where the popular matters in that the top candidates with the most popular votes would be considered by the House if no one had a majority of the electoral votes. But this is not precisely what happened in the presidential election, and this left some nasty wiggle room for the Court to jump in.

    And again, the voters could have made a different decision the second time around if they strongly felt that Dubya was not legit. They didn’t.

    This is not the first contested presidential election. Everyone who says that the election was stolen wins the argument. But it doesn’t change anything.

    I suppose that the House could have asserted its authority. It didn’t.

    You wanna impeach the Supremes? Put an asterisk by Dubya’s name in the record books?

    Festivus is the time for the airing of grievances. But after a while, you just have to file this away and make sure that it does not happen again.

    ETA: Heck, it’s more fun to talk movies. See anything this year that you liked?

  181. 181.

    opie jeanne

    @Amir Khalid: That’s great.

    I just looked at how Iowa’s caucuses work, 1,784 precincts in 99 counties/caucuses for a little over 3 million residents. I had forgotten how local the national politics can be.

  182. 182.

    amk

    @Veritas:

    All Romney has to do is prevent a Gingrich or Santorum victory.

    That’s willard’s pathetic campaign in a nut-shell. It must really suck to be you, willard.

  185. 185.

    magurakurin

    @Veritas:

    bwahahahahaha. What a fucking douche bag. You make less than 100 Grand and you are all about you best bud and 1% paisano the Mittster?

    Hardy har har. You fucking loser shit face. To guys like Romney you’re the fucking help, jackass. You’re nothing but a boil on a gnats ass as far as he is concerned. A mark that has so little it isn’t even worth his time to con you. He just figures your stupid enough to part with your “nest egg” all on your own.

    The stupid in you is strong, Master Luke.

    bwahahahahaha.

  189. 189.

    opie jeanne

    @Samara Morgan: Yeah, pretty much outliers, the people I mentioned.

    I saw that poll in the LA Times and it reminded me of a visit to Olvera Street, before the 2007 primaries. All of the booths are owned by Hispanics, all of the restaurants and shops selling trinkets to the tourists, and I would guess that more than 90% of those Hispanics are of Mexican descent. Every booth, every restaurant, every shop had a sticker for either Hilary or Obama (more for Hilary, but that’s a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down right now). Not one had a sticker for any of the Republican candidates.

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