Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

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

The willow is too close to the house.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

This blog will pay for itself.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

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

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

You are here: Home / Absent Friends / Ex-Frontpage Roundup

Ex-Frontpage Roundup

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Erik Kain has a new blog, where he’s concentrating on politics. He’s also blogging at Forbes, where he just posted an interview with Rep. Jared Polis. Polis is an interesting guy: he’s the only gay member of Congress who’s a parent, and he plays League of Legends.

In case you missed it, ABL was on the Hal Sparks radio show and has posted the video of her interview.

Here’s an open thread.

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  2. 2.

    scav

    you bad bad man. Is this a sneaky way of going dark?

    ETA: I mean, Countdown to All Caps. AKA Catnip for All Caps.

  4. 4.

    schrodinger's cat

    Why are you pimping Bobo-in-training’s blog? He just pretended to be reasonable, while he was here. He has a bright future as a Villager, without our help.

  6. 6.

    maye

    Jared Polis is my 15-year old’s hero. (League of Legends, SOPA opponent, and first person to run for Congress openly gay).

  11. 11.

    Hill Dweller

    @lamh32: As I was saying in the other thread, Newt is escalating the Bain attacks again, which likely means their internal polls are telling them it’s working.

    Plus, Romney’s surrogates are out there this morning calling Newt unstable. Another sign Newt’s attacks are effective.

    I bet Newt makes another move in the polls. The food stamp nonsense is catnip for the racists in that party.

  12. 12.

    Soonergrunt

    @handsmile:
    @chopper:
    I see ya’ll beat me to it.
    There’s a contingent round these parts that doesn’t like front pagers to say things with which they disagree.
    Queue 75 posts bitching about ABL and EDK in 3…2…1…

  13. 13.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @lamh35:

    Chris Christie may be a Hutt, but he’s well aware that getting the tax returns out there TODAY, in the hot house that is the MSM, is the way to deep six the concern tomorrow.

    Mitt the Shit, however, is, well, shit.

  14. 14.

    geg6

    @lamh35:

    Yeah, I’m thinking that VP slot just flew out the window.

    TBH, though, I think Christie is trying to help Mittens out. He’s signalling what a stupid thing it is to wait without actually saying it. He says, well, Mitt says he will and this year’s 1040 is the most relevant, but he doesn’t seem too sure about that. He’s telling Mittens, listen you stupid fuck of a too-white boy, get it out there now before they crucify you twice over this: once now because you won’t do it and once later when you are finally forced to.

  16. 16.

    kindness

    I didn’t agree with a lot of Kain’s views but I appreciated his willingness to discuss them with people who don’t agree with him. How much of his life with the unwashed hoards (us) stayed with him? Not much I’ll bet. Still I give him credit for giving it a shot. He does give all the appearances of a Villager in Training.

  17. 17.

    General Stuck

    Leave it to the GOP to pick a plutocrat’s wet dream for a candidate, in a pitchfork election.

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    A great victory in the war on pron

    In a significant defeat for the adult film industry, the Los Angeles City Council has given final approval to a city ordinance requiring porn actors to wear condoms while performing.

    It was a 9 to 1 vote. Other cities will of course, pick up the slack, and the amateur market will no doubt see a surge.

  19. 19.

    Anya

    @lamh35: Via Steve Benen:

    CHRISTIE: Well, listen, I think the most relevant information is the most recent information. He’s going to release when he files in April. You know, that’s going to be personally up to him. My practice has been all along is, I release my tax returns every year as soon as they are filed. And that would be my preference.

    Christie knows what a land-mine those returns are that’s why he’s limiting it to the one he’s yet to file and therefore tweak.

  21. 21.

    Judas Escargot

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    He just pretended to be reasonable, while he was here. He has a bright future as a Villager, without our help.

    Well, to be fair, having no discernible credentials, expertise or experience in politics does seem to be the path to success for young political writers these days.

  23. 23.

    Matthew Reid Krell

    Besides, ABL isn’t an ex-front pager. She’s just on indefinite leave because she and Cole had a fight. I certainly hope she’ll be back, because I miss her righteous ranting and bringing things to my attention that I didn’t know before.

  24. 24.

    Martin

    @Hill Dweller:

    The food stamp nonsense is catnip for the racists in that party.

    True, but it’s an attack on Obama, not on Romney, so it’s not going to get him anywhere other than demands from the base that Romney name him Director of HHS.

    The Bain attacks are just awesome, though. Talk about party self-immolation. Newt is helping Obama more than he’s helping himself at this stage, but what’s to be done? It’s his best line of attack against Mittens, and if he doesn’t win SC, he’s done for – as is everyone else. I’m begging that Newt win SC so that this can continue.

  26. 26.

    Martin

    @geg6:

    Yeah, I’m thinking that VP slot just flew out the window.

    Christie as VP? So, the GOP is going to nominate a ticket with two ex-governors who will promptly lose both states that they were governor of? Their electoral calculus would be no worse by nominating a native Ukrainian for that ticket.

  27. 27.

    Hill Dweller

    @Villago Delenda Est: Speaking of Jabba the Hut, Lauer’s slobbering during that interview was disgusting. For example, here is Lauer prefacing the income tax question: “You’re a full disclosure guy. You like it when politicians get out there and reveal their financial situations and their tax returns.”

    When did Christie become a full disclosure guy?

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Joseph Nobles: Well, I’m sure this will calm all the waters, and everyone who pre-abandonned Obama over this issue will apologize.

    Also, too, on the subject of one-time Ed Schultz favorite Ed Henry, yesterday he called on the White House to release Obama’s grades. I guess Bill Hemmer and Shep Smith were teasing him about the size of his Christmas bonus.

  29. 29.

    EvolutionaryDesign

    @maye: Pretty happy with Polis here in Boulder, but he is somewhat of a DLCer when it comes to fiscal policy. He’s much closer to the 1% than the 99%.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Martin: Oh come on, what candidate could rally the base for the flip-flopping Mormon from Massachussetts than a snarly Yankee who likes to alternate between pretending to be Tony Soprano (actually, I don’t think Tony would ever be that crude, at least in public) and mocking the ‘baggers who see Sharia law under their beds.

  34. 34.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    The Bain attacks are just awesome, though. Talk about party self-immolation. Newt is helping Obama more than he’s helping himself at this stage, but what’s to be done? It’s his best line of attack against Mittens, and if he doesn’t win SC, he’s done for – as is everyone else. I’m begging that Newt win SC so that this can continue.

    The funny thing is that a lot of this will be water under the bridge when we get to the general election, and I’m not even sure how much of the details will stick in the public’s mind. I do, think, though, that it is useful in shaping voters’ perception of Mitt, and I hope that it is a negative perception.

    I’d love to see Santorum take SC. This would anger Newt even more and give false hope to the GOP fundamentalists.

    ETA: The San Fernando Valley has a reputation?

  35. 35.

    Schlemizel

    @lamh32:
    You don’t think she see him as a second chance at the VP slot do you? She wouldn’t fit with Ol Frothy but Salamander could use her help with the insane.

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    He didn’t pretend too well either.
    @kindness:
    Funny but my issue with him was that he specifically avoided discussing with us until John was goaded into making him do it. Even then I don’t recall any honest debate on his part. Maybe he grew after I gave up on him but I missed that part & the stuff I have read (linked here) since then has not convinced me I made a mistake in ignoring him. ^{something about blind sows & acorns here}^

  37. 37.

    gaz

    @ABL: I lurk your blog all the time. I don’t post there just because I’m guessing you probably have enough white guys who want to give their $0.02 without me adding to the noise, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a fan.

    I enjoyed your interview. Although I would have enjoyed it more if the host hadn’t talked over you for most of it.

    In any case, wishing you a smashing success.

    And let me know where I can get the action figure? =)

  38. 38.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I think the Romney tax returns are the Edwards love child of this cycle and the powers that be are getting nervous. Remember when we all remarked about what a stupid, selfish shit Edwards was because had he won the nomination and then the scandal broke we would have been looking at President McCain. The powers that be think the tax returns are going to be toxic, and the last thing they want is for them to be released when Romney has locked in the nomination, therefore handing the election to POTUS.

  39. 39.

    Brachiator

    @rlrr:

    What is Mitt Romney’s position on this blatant attempt to regulate free enterprise?

    As a Mormon, it would have to be missionary.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Brachiator:

    Titles with unrubberized males outsell titles with rubberized males.

    This is the way the market wants it to go.

    The LA City council is fighting the market. They’re communists, obviously.

  41. 41.

    Schlemizel

    @Brachiator:
    I do agree that these attacks are great for shaping the image of the vulture capitalist in the low-information voters minds & a good thing.

    But I don’t see the loss of SC as fatal for Willard. He still has the best organization & is going to be on every ballot, something Salamander and Ol Frothy won’t be. It’ll get a lot uglier if he does not win so it is much to be hoped for. It will also make the RNC a LOT more interesting if it is well stocked with people with grudges.

  45. 45.

    Schlemizel

    @Litlebritdifrnt:
    I think we are all going to be greatly disappointed in the returns. I bet he only releases 2011 & he has worked very hard this past year to make them look as pretty as a leach like Willard can.

    Some people will be upset that he pays such a small portion of his income in taxes but not enough. The worst sins will be buried in older returns he won’t release & the media will, once again, be too polite to question him on.

  46. 46.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Brachiator:

    All those jobs leaving LA. Way to go, LA city council!

    The important thing is, the San Fernando Valley will once again be a quiet slice of suburbia, not a wild and crazy Roman orgy, with cameras and lights and shit.

  47. 47.

    Martin

    @Brachiator:

    The funny thing is that a lot of this will be water under the bridge when we get to the general election, and I’m not even sure how much of the details will stick in the public’s mind.

    Once Mittens makes it into the general, there’s going to be a raft of ‘what is a venture capitalist, anyway?’ segments along with the specific deals he was involved in and profited from. That’s going to get married to his record as MA governor, and none of that shit is going to match what he’s campaigning on. And Mittens reflexively defends everything he did at Bain as positive, which makes it entirely too easy for Obama to tweak him – particularly in debates.

    One reason why it’s easier to go from governor to president vs Congress to president is because governors can cherry pick the accomplishments from the state and typically blame the failures on the legislature. Romney won’t be able to pass the buck on any of the Bain stuff. He’ll do the ‘we were profitable for shareholders’ bullshit, and Obama will counter with ‘well, with the thousands of jobs you destroyed so they could be profitable, how many did they create?’. This is going to be a hard and very public less on how wealth works in this country, and thanks to Mitts gaffes and the GOPs insane focus on taxes, it’s going to back straight into a discussion of how these wealth holders are able to destroy jobs, create none, and pay no taxes along the way.

    Honest to God, in the face of the Occupy movement and even the Tea Party movement, high unemployment, and a rising debate about wealth inequality, nominating Mitt has to be the most tone-deaf move the GOP could possibly make. Bain won’t hurt him with the base, but it’ll destroy him with independents.

  49. 49.

    Hill Dweller

    Think Progress is reporting the Obama administration will announce it is rejecting the Keystone pipeline at a press conference this afternoon.

  51. 51.

    Benjamin Franklin

    But we promised the Chinese they could pick up the slack…….

    http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum

    Yesterday I wrote that Saudi Arabia has very little spare oil production capacity, which means it also has very little ability to affect world oil prices. On Twitter, Ed Crooks of the Financial Times took issue with that, suggesting that Saudi Arabia has spare capacity of 2 million barrels per day, about what the Saudi oil minister says. (He actually claims 2.2 million barrels of immediate spare capacity and another 700,000 barrels that could be brought online in a few months.) Unfortunately, there’s no way to resolve this definitively since the Saudis simply don’t share enough information publicly to judge whether they’re telling the truth. My own guess, not to put too fine a point on it, is that the Saudis are lying. They may have a million barrels a day of spare capacity right now (mostly in heavy crude), but I’d be surprised if it were much more than that.

  55. 55.

    Jewish Steel

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Spot on. The first time I heard he wasn’t releasing them alarm bells went off in my head.

    But the solution is so obvious; get them out there and get it behind you. It makes me wonder what kind of mischief is in his returns.

  58. 58.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @BGinCHI:

    I can’t believe we live in the same country with these people.

    South Carolina: Too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.

  59. 59.

    John PM

    @ABL:

    I just listened to the interview and I thought you were great. I especially liked the words “progressivebot” and “puretopia.” Plus, your voice is amazing! I have no doubt that you were great in court.

  60. 60.

    Jewish Steel

    @rlrr: That actually occurred to me!

    Or people will be alarmed by the tithing. It makes him seemed enthralled to a cabal of cultists.

  61. 61.

    JPL

    If Romney won the nomination and asked Rubio to be his VP, wouldn’t that create problems for those who scream Obama’s father is from Kenya. Biden would be the only candidate whose parents were born in the United States.

  63. 63.

    MikeJ

    @Martin:

    Once Mittens makes it into the general, there’s going to be a raft of ‘what is a venture capitalist, anyway?’ segments along with the specific deals he was involved in and profited from. That’s going to get married to his record as MA governor, and none of that shit is going to match what he’s campaigning on

    I hope he still makes it to the general. I’ve long thought he was the easiest to beat.

  64. 64.

    Judas Escargot

    @Martin:

    Bain won’t hurt him with the base, but it’ll destroy him with independents.

    Maybe, maybe not.

    All the ‘Independents’ I know fancy themselves to be of the investor class.

  68. 68.

    John PM

    @BGinCHI:

    “God-fearing homophobia”?!?! If I hadn’t read the article myself, I swear I would have thought that quote came from the Onion. How long until this pastor is outed?

  70. 70.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @JPL:

    You know, it’s such utter bullshit that the fucking PARENTS of the candidate have to have been born in the USA.

    Next, these assholes will be demanding that candidates prove their lack of Jewish blood back five generations.

  71. 71.

    Judas Escargot

    @Hill Dweller:

    Think Progress is reporting the Obama administration will announce it is rejecting the Keystone pipeline at a press conference this afternoon.

    Good news in the short term. But the debt ceiling fight just got a whole lot uglier.

    And our chances of getting China to help the US punish Iran via (relatively) peaceful sanctions just got a whole lot smaller.

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Judas Escargot:

    China wasn’t going to help the crazies with their Iran obsession regardless.

    The Iranians have a perfectly reasonable explanation for wanting nukes: if you have nukes, you won’t get invaded by the the warmongering superpower that is the United States of America.

  76. 76.

    El Tiburon

    @Southern Beale:

    Yay. We won one.

    Look, Chris Christie ain’t singing yet.

    Zombie lies never ever go away. Don’t think for a minute Keystone is dead. Don’t think the backers are just going to throw up their hands and say, “okey dokealee we’ll move along!”

    It will get re-branded and put back out there.

  77. 77.

    kay

    @JPL:

    If Romney won the nomination and asked Rubio to be his VP, wouldn’t that create problems for those who scream Obama’s father is from Kenya. Biden would be the only candidate whose parents were born in the United States.

    I don’t know, but it’s complete Politico-style national horserace bullshit that Portman would provide Romney with some big “lift” in Ohio.
    Portman was elected in a wave year for Republicans against a weak Dem candidate and he has done not one thing to distinguish himself or draw attention to himself since 2010.
    It’s just the most boring beltway conventional wisdom to say “he’s from Ohio, so that’s a huge plus for Romney”.
    Biden versus Portman in Ohio as VP is at best a wash for Romney.

  78. 78.

    Southern Beale

    @El Tiburon:

    It will get re-branded and put back out there.

    Well of course, they always do. But for now, this one is dead. But sure, there’s gonna be all sorts of “OMG Obama is raising the price of gas and turning down tens of bazillions of jobs to cater to those stupid tree huggers and Al Gore is fat” and on and on.

    I mean, this ain’t my first rodeo. But geez at least we get one little thumbs-up moment. Fleeting though it may be.

  79. 79.

    WereBear

    @BGinCHI: Whew!

    The Word of Almighty God, from the Books of Moses to those of the Apostle Paul, commands faithful Jews and Christians to be homophobic.

    And I wonder why the Baptists don’t denounce Phelps…

  80. 80.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    Once Mittens makes it into the general, there’s going to be a raft of ‘what is a venture capitalist, anyway?’ segments along with the specific deals he was involved in and profited from.

    I don’t think that people will care that much about the details of Bain. It will be more about whose side Mitt is on, and whether he can really deliver, whether he is really the adept business man he claims to be who knows how to get the economy going.

    I agree that Obama will be able to tweak Mitt on this in the debates. I’m just not sure whether the impact will be that significant.

    Honest to God, in the face of the Occupy movement and even the Tea Party movement, high unemployment, and a rising debate about wealth inequality, nominating Mitt has to be the most tone-deaf move the GOP could possibly make. Bain won’t hurt him with the base, but it’ll destroy him with independents.

    To a large degree, the concern over wealth inequality as it is typically discussed is a fetish of bloggers. Somebody without a job just wants a job with good wages. Somebody who fears losing a job is concerned about keeping or finding a job. Ultimately, the election will still be about the economy. It won’t be a referendum on Mitt’s business relationships.

  83. 83.

    WereBear

    @Brachiator: Ultimately, the election will still be about the economy. It won’t be a referendum on Mitt’s business relationships.

    Ummmm… way to contradict yourself. Romney’s selling himself as the guy to fix the economy because of his business acumen.

    When the general public finds out his economic plan is “Fire them all and loot the rubble!” I don’t think it will appeal.

  84. 84.

    Judas Escargot

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The Iranians have a perfectly reasonable explanation for wanting nukes: if you have nukes, you won’t get invaded by the the warmongering superpower that is the United States of America.

    If Iran is ever stupid enough to use a nuclear weapon, there will be a glassy crater where Tehran once stood 20 minutes later.

    Here’s the funny thing: There’s no real evidence that Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons at all– They might actually be telling the truth with that ‘peaceful purposes’ talk. Most of their domestic oil is heavy crude, not really suited for gasoline or fuel-grade diesel. They have to sell the heavy stuff to industrial users like China/Japan, and use the proceeds to import most of their fuel.

    IMO we should call their bluff and offer to open an international research project with them and any other interested players (India, Russia, probably France) on Thorium reactors (which produce no fissile by-products). If the intent is truly peaceful, problem solved.

    But we don’t live in that kind of world.

  85. 85.

    MikeJ

    @WereBear:

    And I wonder why the Baptists don’t denounce Phelps…

    Because his church doesn’t actually belong to any of the Baptist organizations? When people say “Baptist” in the US they most often mean “member of the Southern Baptist Convention.” Westboro isn’t. It is an “Independent Baptist”, that is, unaffiliated with any larger group.

  86. 86.

    Brachiator

    @Schlemizel:

    But I don’t see the loss of SC as fatal for Willard. He still has the best organization & is going to be on every ballot, something Salamander and Ol Frothy won’t be. It’ll get a lot uglier if he does not win so it is much to be hoped for. It will also make the RNC a LOT more interesting if it is well stocked with people with grudges.

    Yep. I agree. I just want to see the GOP angrily wear itself out for now, even if Mitt is Mr Inevitable.

    This just in:

    If you think you’ve already heard everything there is to know about Mitt Romney, think again. A 200-page document that appears to be Sen. John McCain’s entire 2008 election-year opposition research file on the former Massachusetts governor hit the Internet with a vengeance Tuesday evening. And it’s an eye-opener.
    __
    The file explores everything from the assessed value of Romney’s house (“$3.162 million”) to his views on the Boy Scouts’ ban of homosexuals (“publicly opposed … in 1994 and 2002 campaigns”). It was made public Tuesday on the social media website Buzzfeed, although it appears to have been accessible online for two months.
    __
    The document, given the name “The Romney Book,” was viewed less than 100 times on the page where it was originally uploaded by its anonymous leaker on November 11.

    This is even better than Mitt’s tax returns. I love the InterTubes.

  87. 87.

    kindness

    I learned to stay out of ABL threads. I know why. It was the time ABL called me a racist because I didn’t agree with one of her statements. Having grown up in the 70’s in a very mixed socioeconomic area with lots of different friends and being very liberal on most issues I was a tad insulted. I never was one to wish ill on her though. Just made me not want to interact with her, that’s all.

  88. 88.

    wrb

    I went to have a gander at ABL so I could see if she looked racist (I can tell) but there was just a white guy and a bunch of guitars.

  89. 89.

    Yutsano

    @Judas Escargot:

    IMO we should call their bluff and offer to open an international research project with them and any other interested players (India, Russia, probably France)

    Russia offered a compromise where they supply and control all the nuclear fuel and the Iranians run the reactors. The Iranians turned it down flat. In Iran things are very rarely as simple as dedication to one purpose. These are the people who invented bureaucracy.

  90. 90.

    wrb

    @BGinCHI:

    I’m surprised that they haven’t gone after Romney’s ambiguously metro-sexual toned good looks before now. Clearly they result from being massaged, pummeled, perfumed and exercised by muscular young bucks at luxury spas.

    Not the sort of body non-pervert American men develop, sprawled on the couch while downing brews and snarfing dip.

  92. 92.

    Benjamin Franklin

    Here’s the funny thing: There’s no real evidence that Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons at all— They might actually be telling the truth with that ‘peaceful purposes’ talk

    Iran is deja-vu, all over again.

    There is a good chance this is true. Just as everyone wondered why Saddam was so uncooperative about UN inspections (he didn’t want his enemies to KNOW he had no WMD’s), for Iran’s SclemieloCons, proving a negative proves to be hard for the Hegemonists.

  93. 93.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @MikeJ:

    True dat. There are lots of “Baptists” out there, some of which (to include the SBC) have abandoned one of the central tenets of that particular flavor of faith and gone all Romish on us.

    The idea that each person must read the Bible and find his or her own truths in it has been ditched for the propagation of dogma. Bill Moyers pointed this out decades ago.

    One of the drawbacks, if you will, of the 1st Amendment is that all sorts of heresies flourish in the United States because the government is totally out of the religion business, unlike back in Europe, where the power of the state could come down on you in a heartbeat if you ticked off the state religion’s leaders badly enough. Just ask the Puritans who left England, then moved to Holland, then to Massachusetts where they could practice their own brand of religious repression free of the interference of the state. It’s not that they were freeing religious oppression because they didn’t care for religious oppression, it’s because they weren’t the oppressors until they got to Massachusetts.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    @WereBear:

    When the general public finds out his economic plan is “Fire them all and loot the rubble!” I don’t think it will appeal.

    But that’s not his economic plan, is it?

    If, as MA governor, Mitt regularly backed plans that put people out of work, his goose would be cooked. If he had pulled some Scott Walker crap, his ham would be hocked.

    The Bain stuff is good for bashing around the bloggosphere, and tarnishes Mitt’s image, but I don’t know how voters will process it. Maybe exit polls and interviews coming out of SC will provide a clue.

  96. 96.

    MikeJ

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The idea that each person must read the Bible and find his or her own truths in it has been ditched for the propagation of dogma.

    In 1980 when Adrian Rogers (pastor of Bellevue Baptist in Memphis) seized control of the SBC they became a dogma factory. Shortly after that, Bellevue left Midtown Memphis and moved out to Germantown where the white flight went.

  99. 99.

    liberal

    @Yutsano:

    Russia offered a compromise where they supply and control all the nuclear fuel and the Iranians run the reactors. The Iranians turned it down flat.

    Yeah, I wonder why any sovereign state would ever disagree to hand control over what it considers a vital state interest to another state?

  100. 100.

    Sly

    @BGinCHI:
    They’re referencing Jews in a way that doesn’t portray them as a shadowy elite, in league with Satan, who are responsible for international communism and convincing black people that they shouldn’t be content with second-class citizenship. So that’s progress. I guess.

    At the rate they’re going, maybe in a century or two South Carolina will no longer fly the flag of treason in front of its state capital.

  101. 101.

    Brachiator

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    All those jobs leaving LA. Way to go, LA city council!

    an interesting double hit. The industry has been hit by piracy issues, to bring some SOPA wash to this thread, and by the growth of an “indie,” amateur market. The city council’s actions is a dumb job killer in bad economic times.

    The important thing is, the San Fernando Valley will once again be a quiet slice of suburbia, not a wild and crazy Roman orgy, with cameras and lights and shit.

    Oh, parts of the Valley were always a little wild, with swinging going on behind closed doors, and housewives doing occasionally prostitution to add to family income.

  102. 102.

    MikeJ

    @Sly:

    They’re referencing Jews in a way that doesn’t portray them as a shadowy elite, in league with Satan, who are responsible for international communism and convincing black people that they shouldn’t be content with second-class citizenship. So that’s progress. I guess.

    Only because they think that Jeebus will want to kill the Jews personally when he comes back so we have to keep a bunch around to feed His bloodlust.

  103. 103.

    FlipYrWhig

    @liberal: I think the simpler solution would be to just let Iran have nukes already. Is that really any more dangerous than Pakistan and North Korea having them? Or apartheid South Africa? Israel gets to have ’em, Iran gets ’em, problem solved.

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    @MikeJ:

    Let Detroit go Bankrupt by Mitt Romney.

    Ah, but Mitt has already flipped on this. So, from this:

    Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

    To this:

    This week, in an interview on CBS, Romney defended himself against critics of his work at Bain Capital by equating what he did as a corporate restructuring specialist with Obama’s temporary takeover of General Motors and Chrysler in 2009. “In the general election,” Romney said, “I’ll be pointing out that the president took the reins at General Motors and Chrysler – closed factories, closed dealerships, laid off thousands and thousands of workers – he did it to try to save the business.”

    As Krugman confirmed, Mitt is a moral coward who talks brave, but runs from his ideas, his plans, his past dealings. This craven bull puckey is not even effective pandering.

    Romney’s weakness is that he is a weasel. This may do him in faster than trying to tie him to Bain because it may somehow be a hint of his presidential economic policy positions.

  107. 107.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Brachiator:

    I understand from the link that the AIDS awareness folks are behind this, in an intense desire to provide protection in the workplace for the on screen work force of the pr0n industry.

    So it’s not just about “icky pr0n”, it’s framed as a worker protection issue.

    That’s all well and good, but the fact is, bare sells better than wrapped, which is driving the industry’s position on this particular issue.

    If other precautions are taken (on screen workforce regularly tested for AIDS, for example) then they should be able to turn in their performances in a manner that will be rewarded in the marketplace.

    But, yeah, it’s driving them out of LA and further enhancing the market position of the “indies” of pr0n.

  109. 109.

    shortstop

    @maye:

    first person to run for Congress openly gay.

    Assuming that you mean the first openly gay person to make his or her first run for Congress (i.e., not Barney Frank, Steve Gunderson, etc.), that was Tammy Baldwin, I believe.

  110. 110.

    Brachiator

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I understand from the link that the AIDS awareness folks are behind this, in an intense desire to provide protection in the workplace for the on screen work force of the pr0n industry.

    A bit of a smokescreen. There was a lot of hoopla about worker safety issues, and condoms being likened to safety harnesses and hard hats. Along with this was an insistence that industry practices were ineffective. But although incidents of peformers with AIDS or other STDs got headlines, there did not seem to be widespread or persistent problems.

    I guess that bare sells better than wrapped. The industry hugely lacks in creativity, and they push out crap that was like the last crap. And much of the viewers are just happy to see naked people doing it, and don’t much care how the sausages are encased.

    Still, the pron industry ain’t happy. Not sure if they intend to fight the new rules.

  111. 111.

    Samara Morgan

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Why are you pimping Bobo-in-training’s blog? He just pretended to be reasonable, while he was here. He has a bright future as a Villager, without our help.

    Kain quit his day job and is tryin to make it as the next chunky Bobo.
    Nice to see Kain and Mixie kissed and made up.
    One born every minnit, right?

  112. 112.

    Samara Morgan

    oops!
    the next wannabe chunky bobo.
    once a c-list blogger, always a c-list blogger IMHO.
    ;)

    Note mixie is pimping Kain’s old forbes blog too. send those page clicks or Kain might have to go back to honest labor, instead of glibertarian grifting.

  113. 113.

    Samara Morgan

    @Cris (without and H): if only. if i could crawl out of tv screens scare glibertarian grifters to horrible frozen death there wouldn’t be a single one left on this planet.

    No why do you suppose mixie linked that Forbes blog? Kain’s been there for a loooooooong time, and the juicitariat knows all about it.
    Is he about to get shitcanned for lack of page clicks?

  114. 114.

    Samara Morgan

    Kain can start 10 other blogs but hes still gunna be a crappy whiny little sleazebag weathervane with more positions than the KamaSutra.

  115. 115.

    Samara Mormonomaniacal

    Watch me leave monologuing comments 3-8 minutes apart for hours straight with no one else even deigning to talk to me. I won’t even notice!

  116. 116.

    Samara Morgan

    jaysus h keeyrist inna handcart…..did you look at that blog mixie?
    theres like 20 posts a day since he started.
    talk about blogger diarrhea…
    it looks like hes trying to reinvent himself…he threw Ron Paul AND Huntsman under the bus.

    strangely….no posts about the Freed Market Fantasy Forest.
    is Kain about to throw his beloved “Freed” market under the bus in a desperate search for pageclicks?
    is he gunna double reverse himself on teachers unions?

    @schrodinger’s cat: he has no “bright future” as-a-villager. Hes a crappy writer that has reversed himself more times than Mitt Romney.

  117. 117.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    Erik Kain has a new blog

    Man, someone really wants to distract Samara Morgan today. Judging by the comments above, Mission Accomplished can be officially proclaimed.

  119. 119.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @kindness:

    It’s the internet, put up or get called out on your bullshit. It’s your choice. You made the claim and have been called on it.

    Back it up if you can.

  121. 121.

    harlana

    interesting Hal Sparks interviewing ABL, as he is what some might term an “Obama apologist” as is ABL. I’m not calling them that personally, but “some would say.” Hal is a very smart guy and listening to him and Stephanie Miller over the last year has helped me be more at peace with the Obama administration and not so frustrated and disappointed. It’s a good thing because I do not want to be frustrated and disappointed with this administration. I want to get behind it so, anyway, i think it’s a good thing for me personally. That said, do not ever call me an Obamabot – that is one thing I am not.

    I do realize that, However that, in retrospect, Obama has accomplished a lot of great things against incalculable odds and you have to consider the reality of the political environment and the influence of wealth and how hard it is to challenge all that – it’s becoming more and more clear to the American public. I also realize more and more how ugly, insidious racism has helped drive the machine to destroy this presidency. As a white person, I need to appreciate the gravity of all this, and how powerful an engine of hate-filled energy to destroy the “other,” the one who never deserved this job in the first place because he is black, period, can be. Because I don’t consider his race when evaluating his performance, I stupidly assume (or I guess, want to assume) most people don’t either, when in reality, I am surrounded by people who can’t get past the fact that he is black, whether they can admit it to themselves or not.

    I do respect certain issues the left has with Obama – I’m not saying they are all valid or battles worth fighting, but some are and the criticism and pushback from the left, in the end, is going to help Obama, because the times, they are a-changin, and he must respond to the people and a lot of what the left has been bitching about over the last several years (since they were right about a lot of things, after all). It appears he is responding appropriately so far.

    That vs. The man who represents everything that has helped destroy the country, including jobs. It’s a slam-dunk.

  122. 122.

    harlana

    it’s becoming more and more clear to the American public. I also realize more and more how ugly, insidious racism has helped drive the machine to destroy this presidency. As a white person, I need to appreciate the gravity of all this, and how powerful an engine of hate-filled energy to destroy the “other,” the one who never deserved this job in the first place because he is black, period, can be. Because I don’t consider his race when evaluating his performance, I stupidly assume (or I guess, want to assume) most people don’t either, when in reality, I am surrounded by people who can’t get past the fact that he is black, whether they can admit it to themselves or not.

    THE REPUBLICAN DEBATES

    fixt, sorry

  123. 123.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @ABL:

    But… but… teh Google is BLACKED OUT!!

    Sorry, I just couldn’t let that one pass by. ;D

  128. 128.

    Samara Morgan

    @harlana: a lot of what the left has been bitching about is Obama’s foreign policy, Astan and Iraq.
    Like Coles intransigent “american interests” stupidity on Libya.
    This pretty much explains that all to me.
    Don’t Do It Bibi.
    Obama and Panetta have to chill the Izraelis out until after the election, or Bibi will launch on Iran.

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