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You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / NANCY SMASH! / Well Yes. Nancy Pelosi Is Indeed The Bees Knees…

Well Yes. Nancy Pelosi Is Indeed The Bees Knees…

by Tom Levenson|  January 17, 20124:10 pm| 127 Comments

This post is in: NANCY SMASH!, Republican Stupidity, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

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…for being able to uncork lines like these:

“This crowd that they have there, it’s not exactly what you would call the first string of the Republican Party,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said during an interview hosted by Politico. “I think that they can do better than that.” (h/t GOS)

Testify!

The once and future Speaker called the current field the “third tier,” which sounds about right, if perhaps a little generous.  (I’m not sure they make it past low-A ball, myself, and for some, the ceiling might be the Cape Cod League.)

But what I really like is the way she can speak instantly recognizable truth whose sharp edges do or should twirl the intestines of our GOPster friends like spaghetti on Pavarotti’s tines:

“If the far right thought that Romney could win, they might be more enthusiastic about him,” she said. “But they question what he stands for, and they don’t think he’s going to win, so what’s the sell?”

Heh.

I do love me some fine Nancy Smash.

Image:  Thomas Eakins, Baseball Players Practicing, 1875.

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Previous Post: « Just a Common Man
Next Post: Fire Walker Chronicles: A Million Reasons To Say No »

Reader Interactions

127Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    January 17, 2012 at 4:19 pm

    Bal’more grrl takss another couple scalps while barely mussing her hair. And they keep “misunderestimating” her because 1. she’s a Democrat and II. a grrl.

    Their mistake.

  2. 2.

    SteveinSC

    January 17, 2012 at 4:19 pm

    Is “Testify” the new “Word to your mother?” If so, I love it!

  3. 3.

    Mike Goetz

    January 17, 2012 at 4:22 pm

    I saw this and smiled. It’s the matter-of-fact ease with which she performs her garrottings that amuses.

  4. 4.

    BGinCHI

    January 17, 2012 at 4:23 pm

    Why isn’t Eakins a more famous American painter?? Amazing stuff.

    I bet the GOP rank ‘n filers hate it when Nancy says what they are already thinking.

  5. 5.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    January 17, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    “I’m not sure they make it past low-A ball, myself, and for some, the ceiling might be the Cape Cod League.”

    The CCL isn’t really a “level” in the baseball league structure. Basically, it’s just one of a number of college summer leagues, notable for using wood bats. In between college and low-A ball you have “short-season” and “rookie”. A player who has a disappointing summer in Cape Cod probably won’t see his major league dreams end there.

  6. 6.

    Jeff Spender

    January 17, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    So…has there already been a discussion about the Wisconsin recalls? The Dems announced that they collected over a million signatures to recall Scott Walker.

  7. 7.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    “I think that they can do better than that.”

    I hate to disagree with Nancy Pelosi. But I will. They cannot do better. If they could, they probably would. They can’t.

  8. 8.

    jibeaux

    January 17, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    @slag: Yeah, it’s a good line because it calls attention to their deficits, but — who’s in their first tier? Chris Freakin’ Christie? This actually is all they have to offer.
    It’s like a Denny’s menu….some things on it might be a little tastier or healthier than some other things, but none of that shit is actually good for you.

  9. 9.

    IM

    January 17, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    @Jeff Spender:

    What’s there to discuss? I just cheered.

  10. 10.

    Ben Cisco

    January 17, 2012 at 4:34 pm

    Totally OT but for the fact that it recognizes a sense of humor about the absurd:
    __
    President Obama sends Betty White a special birthday card. Hilarity ensues.

  11. 11.

    Kyle

    January 17, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    I’m sort of with jibeaux. I think she should call it their first string, and then paint the congressional GOP members with it. E.g., “If this is their first string, imagine the idiots we’re having to deal with in Congress.”

  12. 12.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 4:37 pm

    @jibeaux:

    It’s like a Denny’s menu….some things on it might be a little tastier or healthier than some other things, but none of that shit is actually good for you.

    Ha! Exactly. It’s the situationalism of perspective. After spending an hour in ValueVillage even a millionaire will start thinking how expensive $0.99 is. Republicans these days can be bought at ValueVillage for half off. And yet they’re still overpriced!

  13. 13.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    January 17, 2012 at 4:37 pm

    @slag: That’s the beauty of it: it’s a reverse Nancy Smash with a twist. I give it a 9.5.

  14. 14.

    geg6

    January 17, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    Me, too, Tom. I just adore her.

    Meanwhile, PPP says Obama is up this week against Romney: 49/45.

    And the WaPo polling this week asks a pretty specific question about income inequality. And gets an very interesting answer. 55% of the public believes that economic unfairness is the bigger problem facing the country, not overregulation.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/economic-unfairness-not-overregulation-is-the-problem/2012/01/17/gIQA7wrs5P_blog.html

  15. 15.

    Yutsano

    January 17, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    @Ben Cisco: I LOLded. It could just be me being snowed in however.

  16. 16.

    Triassic Sands

    January 17, 2012 at 4:42 pm

    @slag:

    I second your disagreement. Who the heck is better?

    Kasich? Jindal? Christie? Paul Ryan? Eric Cantor? The Great Orange Boner? Mitch McConnell? Inhofe?

    Nonsense. Sure the Republican candidates are a depressing group of bozos and clowns, but who in the GOP today isn’t?

    For example, Perry is the much-lauded superstar governor of the great state of Texas. By the way, has anyone ever told you that Texas was once a sovereign country? If not, then you must never have met or talked to or listened to a Republican from Texas. For some reason they all think that’s important. Some Texans seem to think it means they could just phone the White House and announce their secession from the Union and there wouldn’t be a thing anyone could do about it. Damn, I wish they’d make that call. I’d welcome their withdrawal from the Union — it would help on election day. Just think, that would leave us with 49 states and a brand new banana republic.

    Sadly, these guys, including the recently departed but not forgotten John Huntsman and Michele Bachmann, make up a veritable who’s who of the Modern Republican Party.

    Nancy Pelosi should be ashamed of herself. Why if that’s not a nine Pinocchio, eight pants on fire LIE OF THE YEAR, nothing is.

  17. 17.

    EconWatcher

    January 17, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    @geg6:

    I think the combo of “quiet rooms” and Mitt paying a lower effective tax rate than the middle class is just going to be devastating.

  18. 18.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    January 17, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    Also totally OT, but today is the birthday of the only President of the United States who was never President of the United States.

  19. 19.

    The Moar You Know

    January 17, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    Nancy’s overlooking something. Republicans do this thing where it is “someone’s turn”. And that guy gets to go, electability be damned. I can think of two off the top of my head:

    McCain 2008
    Bob Dole 1996

    And I’m pretty sure it’s “Romney’s turn”. This is an unavoidable problem in any society that has authoritarian hierarchy worship – the GOP.

    Her essential point about this crowd of candidates being a bunch of losers is spot-on, however.

  20. 20.

    jl

    January 17, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    @Triassic Sands: California was an independent country for damn near three weeks in 1846. I did not know that we had those kinds of perks. Might come in handy for us, if the GOP wins later this year.

  21. 21.

    geg6

    January 17, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    @EconWatcher:

    I do, too. And every time he opens his mouth, he seems to come out with some completely clueless statement that just puts a spotlight on his privilege. Like over $300K in speaking fees is “not much.” He just can’t help himself. I don’t know how he’s going to handle a real opponent, especially one as smart and quick as Obama. He hasn’t really had one yet, and the few hits that people like Gingrich have gotten in on him have had him reeling.

    I am not one to get too excited or complacent at this point of the election season, but I’m feeling a little better about things than I did back in August.

  22. 22.

    Upper West

    January 17, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    @Aardvark Cheeselog: I thought that was Al Gore.

  23. 23.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    @Triassic Sands:

    For example, Perry is the much-lauded superstar governor of the great state of Texas.

    I know. I can’t believe I was once afraid of him as a candidate. Part of me wonders, though, whether or not his candidacy was destroyed by a perspective shift that we, as a country, experienced during and after Bush. If Bush won, why wouldn’t Perry? Unless, of course, we Americans actually learned a thing or two over the last twelve years. I’m not going to bet on it, but I’d like to hope it.

  24. 24.

    geg6

    January 17, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    @Aardvark Cheeselog:

    It’s FLOTUS’ birthday, too. Love me some Michelle.

  25. 25.

    mickey g

    January 17, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    Since even Jesus wold have to caddy for St. Ronald Of Raygun, all Republicans since are relegated to third string status.

  26. 26.

    scav

    January 17, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    Rah! Rah! Nancy and Wis-con-sin, Rah Rah Rah!

    and isn’t the upper left racking up the snow.

  27. 27.

    R-Jud

    January 17, 2012 at 4:54 pm

    @Aardvark Cheeselog: Fart Proudly!

  28. 28.

    Carnacki

    January 17, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    I’m so glad she took my advice to her to heart. That long-ago diary, btw, bumped her post off the top of the recommended list. ;)

  29. 29.

    MikeBoyScout

    January 17, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    This is hilarious.

    Yes, let’s argue about which Republicans are one and two tiers above this group of clowns or declare we love the RomneyBot.

    Damn, she’s good.

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    January 17, 2012 at 5:02 pm

    @slag:

    They cannot do better. If they could, they probably would. They can’t.

    Only if you define “can’t do better” in terms of who could get the nomination, not in terms of how well they’d do in office. There are better, more competent people within the GOP who are eligible to run. The problem is that they aren’t running because they don’t want to risk their current jobs and/or don’t excite the crazy enough to win the nomination.

  31. 31.

    Beauzeaux

    January 17, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    I love that Nancy Pelosi can produce such lines without effort. She’s calm, refined, and very “lady-like” — just before she delivers a dainty but effective knee to the balls.

  32. 32.

    kdaug

    January 17, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    Boom, boom, boom.

  33. 33.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 5:04 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Some of the non-Klowns who stayed out of the GOBP Klown Kar seem sane, by comparison to the wackaloons who actually ran. That’s mostly because we didn’t see them in 87,369 live debates.

    Thanks for making that distinction. It’s the same distinction I’d like to see us start making for how attractive third-party candidates look from afar. And for President Ron Paul v. Candidate Ron Paul. I find it odd that seemingly sane people overlook this obvious and important distinction.

  34. 34.

    gwangung

    January 17, 2012 at 5:04 pm

    And every time he opens his mouth, he seems to come out with some completely clueless statement that just puts a spotlight on his privilege

    This doesn’t hurt him with the base. But does this hurt him with the independents and unenthused Republicans?

  35. 35.

    Triassic Sands

    January 17, 2012 at 5:06 pm

    @slag:

    Ditto. Before he entered the race, I was aware of some of what he’d done in Texas, but didn’t have a firm idea of who he is as a person and candidate. Then, I saw him in a debate and I was absolutely flabbergasted by his stupidity.

    Perry may have just set the bar for insanity and idiocy beyond the reach of the other candidates with his statements about Turkey. For just plain down home Lone Star brainlessness, Perry is in a class by himself.

  36. 36.

    gwangung

    January 17, 2012 at 5:07 pm

    @Yutsano: I’ll be snowed in tomorrow, but I thought you lived near Northgate, which looks pretty clear at the moment…

  37. 37.

    Yutsano

    January 17, 2012 at 5:10 pm

    @gwangung: My street sure wasn’t. Of course I live on a cul-de-sac at the bottom of a hill. And there was two inches of snow on the street when I left for work. It’s coming down right now in fact. This has been so weirdly patchy.

  38. 38.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    There are better, more competent people within the GOP who are eligible to run.

    Where?

  39. 39.

    AnotherBruce

    January 17, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Those butt-hurt wingers in the comments section of the Hill are hilarious. It almost makes me want to register at that site so I can taunt them.

  40. 40.

    slightly-peeved

    January 17, 2012 at 5:18 pm

    Even if Romney is the best they can do, would it help to further depress Republicans to say they could do better? Come on purist Republiicans, you can still find someone else! It’s not too late! And if it is too late, I’m sure you can find someone better in 2016, so you should really just sit this election out.

    @slag: The reason the U.S. Electorate wouldn’t elect Perry when they elected Bush is that the Bush of 2000 would have wiped the floor with these jokers. He had more charisma than any of these guys (talk about damning with faint praise) and his father’s political machine behind him.

  41. 41.

    Triassic Sands

    January 17, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    OT

    Holy Landslide Lyndon! They’re saying that more than a million signatures have been gathered in support of recalling Scott Walker.

    In the 2010 election, Walker received 1,128,941 votes. His Dem opponent got 1,004,303.

    Amazing!

  42. 42.

    MikeJ

    January 17, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    @efgoldman: The garbage guys refused to travel through the 1/4″ of snow on my cul-de-sac (maybe 3′ of elevation gain between the main road and my driveway). The main road was clear so they picked up the rest of the neighborhood’s trash. Hell, had they said something I would have rolled the wheelie bin 50′ out to the main street. Grrr.

    As someone who has lived in New England I was very, very annoyed.

  43. 43.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    January 17, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    Pelosi is poking at the concerns of the Republican voter. A lot of them I think are worried that they don’t have the right candidate. If Nancy’s not scared of the current ones, maybe they’ll work more.

  44. 44.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    @efgoldman: My father-in-law who lives in Mumbai, was telling me, this weekend, how cold it was over there and how they had been hit by a “cold wave”, when the temperature was in the mid 70’s at night.

  45. 45.

    scav

    January 17, 2012 at 5:21 pm

    @efgoldman: Well, I saw ’96 in Seattle-attle, have been mid-west tested since ’03, this is supposed to be equivalent and ’96 would have slowed even Chicago down. Maybe not for as long, we’ve got more plows, don’t have uppy and downy places and, above all, don’t put electric buses on the uppy and downy places. Yes, part of the time I was in near Broadway.

    ETA: yes, they do freak out at the smaller amounts like many. But the ice-snow combo packed a mighty Zhivago-esque wallop when it got going.

  46. 46.

    Chris

    January 17, 2012 at 5:22 pm

    @Triassic Sands:

    Ditto. Before he entered the race, I was aware of some of what he’d done in Texas, but didn’t have a firm idea of who he is as a person and candidate. Then, I saw him in a debate and I was absolutely flabbergasted by his stupidity.

    Couldn’t have been any worse than Sarah Palin, and they fell head over heels for her for a good two-three years.

    Not sure what it was about Perry they didn’t like. He’s right up their alley.

  47. 47.

    fleeting expletive

    January 17, 2012 at 5:23 pm

    You know, re the 2 previous threads about out of touch Newt and Mitt, if either one had an ounce of self-awareness (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA), Newt would say this:

    “I’ve criticised for suggesting that kids could do janitorial work in their schools. I still think it’s a good idea, but to prove it I’m going to shadow a 4th grade teacher for two days, and then their school janitor for two days. I will pitch in and help.”

    Likewise, Mitt could say, “I’m being criticized for seeming out-of-touch with regular Americans, so I’m going to spend two days with an average income family and will document their money environment, and then I’ll spend two days shadowing a single parent who has to support her family. I’ll go with her to her jobs, and will document what I learn.”

    (Catches breath, HAHAHAHA)

    Because I’d really like to see them try.

  48. 48.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    @slightly-peeved:

    He had more charisma than any of these guys

    I’ll have to take your word for it, because honestly, I don’t see a bit of difference between Perry and Bush. I don’t have any substantive information on their respective political machines, so I can’t speak to that.

  49. 49.

    shoutingattherain

    January 17, 2012 at 5:26 pm

    @Aardvark Cheeselog:

    …the only President of the United States who was never President of the United States.

    Teslacle’s Deviant to Fudd’s Law: “It goes in, it must come out.”

  50. 50.

    AnotherBruce

    January 17, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    @Chris: Yes indeed Perry is worse than Sarah Palin in terms of stupidity. Did you read his comments about Turkey? The only job this moron is fit for is Governor of Texas.

  51. 51.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    Whatever happened to Bobby Jindal, wasn’t he supposed to be the GOP’s Obama or something.

  52. 52.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    @AnotherBruce: I hear he sees Turkey from his house.

  53. 53.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    @slag: I see chickens, I think my neighbor is raising them, does that count?

  54. 54.

    Amir Khalid

    January 17, 2012 at 5:33 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    Take it from me: to a tropical person, 70*F (21*C) outdoors feels positively Arctic. I don’t even like to be in an air conditioned room that cold.

  55. 55.

    KG

    January 17, 2012 at 5:35 pm

    @Roger Moore: I think a lot of potential GOP candidates, who might have been somewhat better, saw the writing on the wall and figured out early that Obama was going to get re-elected because the electoral map looks so bad for the GOP right now (basically, they have to hold everything from 08 and swing Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and one other Mid-western state; that’s a tall, tall order).

    I think Jeb Bush wanted to run but knew he had no chance after his brother’s administration. I also think Pataki was a potential candidate. But, after those two? Shit if I know.

  56. 56.

    gwangung

    January 17, 2012 at 5:36 pm

    @efgoldman: Dude, I revel in my light-weightedness. Snow wimp and proud of it (must be my Arizona upbringing–snow is a freaky, unnatural occurrence). Also, I would totally crunch my car if I went driving into anything more than a half inch of snow.

  57. 57.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Only if they’re radical Islamic chickens.

  58. 58.

    Brandon

    January 17, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    @jibeaux: Exactly. The whole things begs the question, “Who is the GOP first tier?”. I don’t see how Christie even qualifies on that list.

    It is interesting to me though that the only incumbent GOP politician willing to put themselves on the line to run was Perry, who proved to be a monumental idiot. So maybe all those GOP governors and congress critters are not so dumb after all. Because they were smart enough not to run.

    What I would like to see sometime soon is a smart piece looking at how badly the GOP mis-calculated their 2012 strategy.

  59. 59.

    KG

    January 17, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    @efgoldman: I thought it was the response to the SOTU that did him in.

  60. 60.

    slightly-peeved

    January 17, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    @51: Bush had the good sense to campaign as a compassionate conservative, for a start. And as far as I can remember, he wasn’t going around advocating invasion of countries as part of his election campaign. Those two things already put him ahead of Perry and Romney.

  61. 61.

    Amir Khalid

    January 17, 2012 at 5:42 pm

    @Brandon:
    Well, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul are currently in the House of Representatives, so they too would have to count as incumbents.

  62. 62.

    KG

    January 17, 2012 at 5:42 pm

    @slightly-peeved: yeah, Bush, as I recall, ran on a “humble” foreign policy.

  63. 63.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:43 pm

    @Amir Khalid: This weekend we had temperatures in single digits (Fahrenheit), so I was quite unsympathetic to the “cold wave” temps of Mumbai. I had to really restrain from bursting out in laughter.

  64. 64.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    @slag: I think I am safe, they are WASPy New England chickens.

  65. 65.

    Chris

    January 17, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    @AnotherBruce:

    Yes indeed Perry is worse than Sarah Palin in terms of stupidity. Did you read his comments about Turkey?

    No, I didn’t, but is it worse than “Paul Revere warned the British,” “We’ve got to stand by our North Korean allies,” or “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers”?

  66. 66.

    gwangung

    January 17, 2012 at 5:45 pm

    @efgoldman: Strictly a Phoenix kid, which is thick with wing nuts…would have to consider Tuscon or, at best, Tempe…..

  67. 67.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 5:45 pm

    @slightly-peeved:

    Bush had the good sense to campaign as a compassionate conservative, for a start. And as far as I can remember, he wasn’t going around advocating invasion of countries as part of his election campaign. Those two things already put him ahead of Perry and Romney.

    I don’t know that this is a function of the individuals involved or the environment they’re in. I see lots of evidence that these shifts are environmental and very little evidence that they have to do with the idiot candidates.

  68. 68.

    redshirt

    January 17, 2012 at 5:46 pm

    I was in the Maine mountains this weekend – outside temp of -6 F, with 15-20MPH winds. Face melting.

    Edit – that should read negative 6 Fahrenheit, with 15 to 20 mph winds

  69. 69.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:50 pm

    @redshirt: Just one question, why?

  70. 70.

    redshirt

    January 17, 2012 at 5:51 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Gondolin caretaking duties. Mountain Redoubts don’t clean themselves!

  71. 71.

    pseudonymous in nc

    January 17, 2012 at 5:51 pm

    She’s trolling them. She’s very good at trolling them. She’s also a nonna, and you don’t fuck with nonnas.

  72. 72.

    J.D. Rhoades

    January 17, 2012 at 5:53 pm

    @Ben Cisco:

    President Obama sends Betty White a special birthday card. Hilarity ensues.

    Love it. The Devil cannot abide to be mocked.

  73. 73.

    Tom Levenson

    January 17, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    She’s also a nonna, and you don’t fuck with nonnas.

    Truer words and all that….

  74. 74.

    KG

    January 17, 2012 at 5:56 pm

    @efgoldman: I don’t think the race issue played too much into… Republicans liked Powell and Rice, I think they want to like Haley in SC, JC Watts was trotted out all the time, and the only reason Rubio gets any attention in the Veepstakes is because of his heritage. Basically, they like “their” minorities… the GOP/conservative tribe is still (mostly) more important to them than the racial one. Especially if it helps them win elections.

    No, I think Jindhal’s problem was that he walked out and looked like a shaved muppet.

  75. 75.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:56 pm

    @redshirt:I used to live in Maine, I am planning a trip in late spring, early summer.

  76. 76.

    Zagloba

    January 17, 2012 at 5:56 pm

    @Brandon: The whole things begs the question

    …pedantry…rising…must…resist…

  77. 77.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 5:59 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Aren’t you supposed to be at a conference? By the way, how is kitten tikka masala?

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    January 17, 2012 at 5:59 pm

    @slag:

    Where?

    The Senate. I’m pretty sure that Grassley or Alexander would be better than anyone in the current clown parade. Hell, even Orrin Hatch would be better than any of these bozos.

  79. 79.

    redshirt

    January 17, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Then you know you are coming at a much better time of the year. That was a bit much on Sunday, and I know it gets worse too!

  80. 80.

    Tom Levenson

    January 17, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Travelling tomorrow.

    And he’s a fine figure of a mostly feral beast.

  81. 81.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I’m pretty sure that Grassley or Alexander would be better than anyone in the current clown parade. Hell, even Orrin Hatch would be better than any of these bozos.

    This strikes me as an article of faith. You haven’t seen these people live in the circus.

  82. 82.

    redshirt

    January 17, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    @Roger Moore: There’s no such thing as a “Good” republican. By definition – to say you are a Republican means you’re an idiot, a monster, or some combination thereof.

  83. 83.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    @KG: Rubio looks pretty white to me. He is not going to bring in Latino voters, just like Palin did not bring in the Hillary voters. Minorities are not as stupid as GOP seems to think they are.

  84. 84.

    AdamK

    January 17, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    Moar Eakins plz.

  85. 85.

    AnotherBruce

    January 17, 2012 at 6:05 pm

    @Chris: Here is the quote from Perry about Turkey:

    “Obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start seeing that type of activity against their own citizens, then, yes,” he said. “Not only is it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong…but it’s time for the United states, we look at their foreign aid, to go to zero with it.”

    So basically, he called a NATO ally with a secular government Islamic terrorists and that we should cut off foreign aid to them. Turkey is a wealthy country and they don’t get foreign aid from us. This is stupid to the 2nd power because it’s not just embarrassing for Perry, he’s probably too dense to feel that, but it’s embarrassing for us as Americans.

    But yes, Palin is stupid too, maybe we should call it a draw.

  86. 86.

    handsmile

    January 17, 2012 at 6:06 pm

    @BGinCHI: (#4)

    Re Thomas Eakins: Fame is a dubious and imprecise measure, but among historians of American art (a guild in which I hold membership), Eakins is generally regarded as the most important painter/artist until the advent of Abstract Expressionism and Jackson Pollock. His masterpiece, The Gross Clinic enjoys a critical consensus as the greatest painting created by an American artist until the mid-20th century.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gross_Clinic

    Re Nancy Pelosi: If Mittens proves to be the GOP presidential nominee and his campaign continues to be as risibly maladroit and high-handed as it has demonstrated thus far, then it seems to me eminently reasonable to imagine that Obama’s coattails will restore the Speaker’s gavel to Pelosi’s fist.

  87. 87.

    marv

    January 17, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    I know it’s annoying when someone objects to a perfectly serviceable metaphor because they have some insider stuff they’re dying to share, but I played A ball and in the Cape Cod League both, and there is an integrity to those levels of competition that I don’t see anywhere in today’s GOP from top to bottom. Again, not that it matters,but guys in the Cape Cod league, or Rookie League, are not “bad” big leaguers. They’re guys trying to become big leaguers, and I got a lot more respect, in a professional sense, for the first guys released from my Rookie League team than anybody I can see in the Republican Party today.

  88. 88.

    Chuck Butcher

    January 17, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    @redshirt:

    Face melting.

    When I was framing houses in WI we called it a day if it didn’t make minus ten F at 8AM. I got to spend a lot of sub-zero 8hr days. Of course I was getting paid money for it not paying money for it. I don’t go ice fishing. I should note that here in NE OR I called the cut-off point ten degrees, but that would only cost a few days a winter.

    This winter is turning into a disaster, we haven’t had more than a skiff of snow and we count on that for the dry season. Bad juju.

  89. 89.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    @AnotherBruce: It is not just Perry, I am sure the world is pointing and laughing at the GOP fail parade/clown show. I mean this is the best one of the two major parties has to offer.

  90. 90.

    Roger Moore

    January 17, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    @redshirt:

    There’s no such thing as a “Good” republican.

    I didn’t say they were “good”, I said they would be better than the current clown parade. This is something like saying that Khrushchev was an upgrade over Stalin as the head of the Soviet Union; it doesn’t mean I’d like to have him in charge of my country.

  91. 91.

    schrodinger's cat

    January 17, 2012 at 6:09 pm

    @Tom Levenson: We can has photos?

  92. 92.

    Chris

    January 17, 2012 at 6:11 pm

    @AnotherBruce:

    Oh, WOW… the gems I miss when I don’t watch Republican debates. Sounds like a good argument for me to go on not watching them!

    Sure, we’ll call it a draw. Although in the “embarrassing for him and embarrassing for us as Americans” category, I’d also like to nominate Herman Cain’s “wait, did Obama support the rebels?” and “Uzbeckibeckibeckistanstan” moments. (And yes, I’m sure there’s a long list of other Republicans with a long list of other such moments…)

    ETA: and thanks for the quote. Good humor material is a valuable thing.

  93. 93.

    Triassic Sands

    January 17, 2012 at 6:12 pm

    @Chris:

    Not sure what it was about Perry they didn’t like.

    You never know with Wingers. Palin was perky-head full of rampaging wolverines-stupid, while Perry is dull-head just plain empty-stupid. Palin’s looks didn’t hurt either.

  94. 94.

    Tom Levenson

    January 17, 2012 at 6:14 pm

    @marv: You know, you’re absolutely right.

    I can’t get into Fenway anymore, most of the time. But I do go to some minor league games — AAA when I can get down to Pawtucket, and sometimes a Lowell (single A) game.

    It’s great baseball, in fun settings, and everyone playing is an elite athelete trying to master an exceptionally difficult trade.

    So I apologize to organized ball all over. In my defense, I’ll say that clearly demarcated ranks of accomplishment aren’t all that common, and many of them have exactly the problem as metaphors for the GOP. The GOP is a snake pit, and asserting that some members a systematically less competent snakes than others just doesn’t have the same ring.

  95. 95.

    Tom Levenson

    January 17, 2012 at 6:17 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Sure. I see y’all are in Tunch deficit, but I’ll head home soon and put on this funky old lens I’ve dug out of me mum’s relics to take a classic soft focus movie star portrait of the furry man.

  96. 96.

    AnotherBruce

    January 17, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: I’m with what some other folks have mentioned on this thread. Given Perry’s buildup by some as a formidable candidate who had never lost an election, I can’t believe what an awful candidate he is, even by the kurrent klown kar standards.

  97. 97.

    David Koch

    January 17, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    Primary her with Cindy Sheehan!

  98. 98.

    Roger Moore

    January 17, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    @AnotherBruce:

    Given Perry’s buildup by some as a formidable candidate who had never lost an election, I can’t believe what an awful candidate he is, even by the kurrent klown kar standards.

    I’m sure his speeches sound better in the original German Texan.

  99. 99.

    Triassic Sands

    January 17, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    If Mittens proves to be the GOP presidential nominee and his campaign continues to be as risibly maladroit and high-handed as it has demonstrated thus far, then it seems to me eminently reasonable to imagine that Obama’s coattails will restore the Speaker’s gavel to Pelosi’s fist.

    I’m fairly pessimistic about the congressional elections in November, and the Dems could do quite well in the senatorial elections and still lose control given what seats are up for grabs and who’s retiring, so I really hope you turn out to be right. (Plus, I like Pelosi a lot more than I like Reid.)

  100. 100.

    slag

    January 17, 2012 at 6:29 pm

    @Chris:

    I’d also like to nominate Herman Cain’s “wait, did Obama support the rebels?” and “Uzbeckibeckibeckistanstan” moments. (And yes, I’m sure there’s a long list of other Republicans with a long list of other such moments…)

    Hey now, let’s not disparage Cain. I’m rooting for him to win in SC. Go Cain!

  101. 101.

    Brandon

    January 17, 2012 at 6:34 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I must have had a brain freeze, but you’re right. But they are both nutters, which is probably worse than being an colossal moron like Perry.

    The outstanding question would be then whether the GOP politicians that didn’t run did so because they were smarter than these lot, or whether they just didn’t have the money.

  102. 102.

    Dr. Loveless

    January 17, 2012 at 6:39 pm

    @Chris:

    Not sure what it was about Perry they didn’t like.

    He didn’t bring enough of the Mexican-hate for them, IIRC. Didn’t he use “immigrants” and “compassion” in the same sentence once?

  103. 103.

    Catsy

    January 17, 2012 at 6:48 pm

    @efgoldman: This. I’ve been living in the Seattle area for more than 20 years, and it still blows me away just how dysfunctional this area becomes when people even think they smell a snowflake. And let’s not even get into Bellevue drivers, let alone Bellevue drivers in snow…

  104. 104.

    WereBear (itouch)

    January 17, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: minus 9 Saturday evening.

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    January 17, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    Can we just start calling her Nonna Nancy from here on?

  106. 106.

    Chuck Butcher

    January 17, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    @Catsy:
    I lived in Tacoma for a couple years, holy shit.

  107. 107.

    Kola Noscopy

    January 17, 2012 at 7:05 pm

    Allow me the pleasure of interrupting this Pelosi-fawning circle jerk thread to remind BJ of a few things:

    To millions of disgusted, but registered, Democratic voters, Ms. Smash will always be Nancy “IMPEACHMENT IS OFF THE TABLE” Pelosi, who gave BushCo its first pass on the Iraq War of Aggression, setting up things nicely for President Obama to dispose of the matter two years later with “we must look forward, not back,” thus sacrificing any credibility re law-enforcement. Cause, you know, only the little people get prosecuted in America.

    Among many other stinky votes in support of the emerging security state and the government/corporate/military oligarchy, she voted for Telecom Immunity for BushCo’s accomplices in the communications industry, in return for campaign cash and god knows what else.

    She knew about and kept secret Bushco’s illegal wiretapping program for at least six months before it leaked.

    The woman is a multi-multi-millionaire One-Percenter. If you really think Nancy Pelosi is on the side of the 99%, aside from her occasional issuance of pleasing, tribal words, said words being extremely cheap, you are delusional.

  108. 108.

    Kola Noscopy

    January 17, 2012 at 7:07 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Can we just start calling her Nonna Nancy from here on?

    Good.

    God.

    Perhaps also, too she would allow you to suckle at her, surgically enhanced, mechanically cantilevered bosom. The finest 1% Nonna hooters money can buy, I’m sure.

  109. 109.

    Yutsano

    January 17, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    @Kola Noscopy: Herp de herp.

  110. 110.

    Kola Noscopy

    January 17, 2012 at 7:12 pm

    @Yutsano:

    burp de burp

    the sound you make between gentle sucklings at Nonna Smash Mouth’s implants.

  111. 111.

    Yutsano

    January 17, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    @Kola Noscopy: Herp de herp de whizzle!!

  112. 112.

    LesGS

    January 17, 2012 at 7:29 pm

    @handsmile: Thanks for the link to Eakins “The Gross Clinic.” An amazing painting.

    And it also reminded me that Wikipedia (English) will be blacking itself out soon in a few hours…

  113. 113.

    marv

    January 17, 2012 at 7:39 pm

    @Tom Levenson:
    I appreciated the GOP metaphor problem from the beginning, and can’t come up with one that really works myself, so instead I’ll just speculate you can’t get to Fenway much now because tickets are too hard to get or too expensive, or both. Which reminds me (said the Old Ballplayer) of the time I was playing in the Cape Cod League and David Clyde hit the big leagues coming out of a Texas high school like Rick Perry hit the Republican Presidential ra…(ok, bad metaphor), but anyhow Clyde made I think his second or third start in Boston and several of us drove over to see it. Got there at game time, got a bleacher seat for a buck and had a blast. Lots of reefer in the bleachers, at least as I remember it, and then someone set off some firecrackers in the top rows, and I got a big kick out of seeing cops (or security, I guess) wading through the pot smokers to try to catch the real felons.

  114. 114.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 17, 2012 at 7:54 pm

    @slag:

    “I think that they can do better than that.”

    I hate to disagree with Nancy Pelosi. But I will. They cannot do better. If they could, they probably would. They can’t.

    “I think that they can do better than that” not intended to be a factual statement.

  115. 115.

    gaz

    January 17, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    @Catsy: The part I love is when it rains. What is with people? Every single time it rains some jerkoff destroys his car along one of the major commuter routes. Never fails. FFS people it’s washington state. It RAINS all the time!*

    And I like Nancy Pelosi just fine. Also too.

    *also, I know – it’s the oil/petro on the roads that make it slick when it rains, but come on people!

    /rant

  116. 116.

    rikyrah

    January 17, 2012 at 8:05 pm

    Nancy Smash rocks!!!

  117. 117.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 17, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    @efgoldman:

    What’s “snowed in” in Seattle-ese? Ever visit New England in Winter (albeit not this year, so far)? The Great Lakes? Manitoba?

    Atlanta, GA just about a year ago, or in mid-March 1993?

  118. 118.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 17, 2012 at 8:14 pm

    @KG:

    I think Jeb Bush wanted to run but knew he had no chance after his brother’s administration.

    Truly, I would love to be the proverbial fly on the wall at a Bush family gathering.

  119. 119.

    Tom Levenson

    January 17, 2012 at 8:15 pm

    @marv: It’s mostly the sold-outedness, plus my general sloth when it comes to grabbing loose singles from friends’ season ticket packages. The cost is a bummer too. My son isn’t that into baseball, and he comes with me to Fenway just to be with me (which is a fine thing). But to spend fifty bucks apiece on only OK seats that he’s bored with by the sixth inning — not so much fun.

    When I first moved to Boston for work (1985), I lived on Park Dr. in the Fenway. I’d come home from work, and if not otherwise booked, would wander over to the ballpark and buy a bleacher seat for $3 bucks; buy a sausage sub out on the street, and grab some (bad) beer inside. Saw about 20 games that year. Nice.

  120. 120.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 17, 2012 at 8:19 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    WASPy New England Chickens would work as a name for a band.

  121. 121.

    Lojasmo

    January 17, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    @Yutsano:

    a). You suck because there is only four inches in MN

    B) I could unicycle to work in tow inches of snow.

  122. 122.

    Lojasmo

    January 17, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    One thing: his response to Obama’s SOTU.

  123. 123.

    Yutsano

    January 17, 2012 at 9:14 pm

    @Lojasmo: Minnesota is flat. Seattle is not.

  124. 124.

    Brandon

    January 17, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    @Tom Levenson: I’m only 37 and I too remember when baseball was cheap. But being from Seattle, I thought it was just because the Kingdome was a crap atmosphere to watch a crap 80’s Mariners team who’s best player was Alvin Davis. A career .280 hitter. The bleacher seats in center field, where probably only Jay Buhner has ever hit a home run, cost around $3 during that time and my uncle, who probably caught more than 40-50 home games a year, would actually even bring his own hot dogs in tupperware and grab free condiments at the snack bar. It used to be a lot of old folks at the games, with a scattering of little league teams. I suspect baseball is heading back that direction because your buddies with season tickets are probably already in their 50’s and younger people care very little for baseball these days. In 15 years time, when this round of new stadia are old again, and when the people watching baseball are old again, I suspect ticket prices will get cheaper again.

    @Lojasmo: John just posted that again for shits and giggles last month. It was actually not as bad on second viewing as I remember it being the first time, but his Napoleon Dynamite-esque stride and Tweety’s introductory “Oh god”, just set the whole thing off so wonderfully to me.

    https://balloon-juice.com/2011/12/26/the-a-team/

  125. 125.

    Brandon

    January 17, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    @Yutsano: My parents live in cul de sac in Meadowbrook, getting out of there is always a pain in the snow because every direction is uphill. Going south on 35th to 135th is usually the best option because the grade isn’t as steep.

  126. 126.

    Porlock Junior

    January 18, 2012 at 2:04 am

    @MikeJ:
    Well, my friend who lives in an outer suburb of Seattle has to take her garbage can to the end of the access road anyway, but that’s not what bothered her last year when it snowed shortly after she had moved in. No, it was the bear tracks around the can.

  127. 127.

    Porlock Junior

    January 18, 2012 at 2:14 am

    @slag:
    “I hear he sees Turkey from his house.”

    And, of course, in the mirror.

    [Apologies to Turks, who now have special reason for national pride in that the bloody lunatics in charge of Israel hate them. It’s just that we in the land which almost made the turkey its national emblem can’t resist this sort of thing. BTW, that turkey thing: Benjamin Franklin, to whom happy birthday.]

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