Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

In my day, never was longer.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

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

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

An almost top 10,000 blog!

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

This fight is for everything.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / Tampa Bay GOP Debate Thread

Tampa Bay GOP Debate Thread

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(Ted Rall’s website)
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WaPo reports that “the debate at the University of South Florida in Tampa, will air on NBC at 9 p.m. ET in the place of “Rock Center”. Tampa is also the site of the GOP convention in August, which I suspect will be mentioned once or twice. Livestreaming via NBC.com or the Tampa Bay Times.
__
Richard Adams’ Guardian liveblog (actually) here.

(NBC feed just crashed my desktop — twice)
**********
Balloon Juice is loading really, really slowly for me. And since Brian Williams, to his credit, is keeping the audience in line & the freak-show factor down, we are able to discern that stripped of easy applause lines for the bigots and xenophobes, the standing Republican candidates are really, really boring.

From the Guardian:

9:33pm: It’s on to Newt Gingrich’s contract with Freddie Mac. Here’s one thing Gingrich wants to get across: he did not do any lobbying for Freddie Mac. But did you peddle influence? asks Williams? “I think it’s pretty clear to say I never did any lobbying,” says Gingrich.
__
Romney jumps in to ridicule Gingrich’s previous nonsense claim to have been hired as an historian. Gingrich is putting on his “judging face”.
__
“I offered strategic advice, based on my knowedge of history,” he responds . Oh do come on.
__
9.30pm: “I’m proud of the fact that I paid a lot of taxes,” says Mitt Romney, and goes on to say he’s “paid all the taxes legally required,” which is still not a great answer. He still hasn’t got on top of this an issue. His well-paid consultants just aren’t coming up with the goods.

John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz
So on stage–a one-term governor; a guy who quit the speakership; a guy who lost by 18 points; and a lunatic.

For some reason – a cock-up it seems – Rick Santorum is given free reign to defend Mitt Romney and capitalism.

Yeah, Santorum’s running for Willard’s VP.
***********
Comment of the night:

MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson – January 23, 2012 | 10:17 pm

You know, take away the enraged racist mob from Newt Gingrich and you end up with a short, fat, ignorant and incredibly boring asshole.

Reader Interactions

237Comments

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    So far, Brian Williams is going for Mitt v. Newt, and the other two people are basically spectators.

    And Newt and Mitt *really* don’t like each other.

  6. 6.

    freelancer

    Newt has said “historian” twice. I don’t know if I have enough booze in my apartment.

  11. 11.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @freelancer:

    As someone pointed out in the previous thread, these GOP debates are an insidious plot to give Democrats alcohol poisoning.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    Ron Paul is rambling. At this rate, he’s going to start talking about the onion on his belt in about five minutes.

  19. 19.

    Schlemizel

    @Baud:
    Hell, we don’t want controlled! We want the crowd boo’ing motherhood and apple pie, we want them frothing at the mouth while someone puts the colored guy in his place!

  20. 20.

    Brian R.

    Is that the local Hitler Youth sitting behind Williams?

    Seriously, they look like the fanboys from “Bob Roberts”

  24. 24.

    DCLaw1

    This debate may be run and aired by NBC, but it’s atmosphere is pure PBS.

    I demand bloody gladiatorial combat.

  25. 25.

    dmsilev

    Brian Williams: “What were you hiding in your tax returns?”

    Rombot: “Never mind me. Let’s lower the corporate tax rate”

  26. 26.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Raven: I swear there’s a guy behind Williams who looks exactly like Greenwald. And I thought he lived in Brazil 6 months out of the year. There’s no dateline on his blogposts.

  28. 28.

    doofus

    Newt’s performance in last week’s debate was definitely helped by the crowd reaction. Served to punctuate the applause lines for those inattentive wingnuts trying to follow along at home.

  29. 29.

    Keith G

    Got to this late, and I have yet to hear Williams ask a policy question. Now it is about Mitts taxes. What a fricking nut.

  32. 32.

    DCLaw1

    Mitt just going “Blabbedy blabbedy blah blooptie bloop” would have been more compelling than the pulverized jello he ejected from his mouth in response to the tax return question.

  33. 33.

    freelancer

    Ron Paul is not going to be President. One of the other three clowns on this stage is going to be the choice against Obama. If they win, WE WILL BE IN AN INEXTRICABLE MILITARY CONFLICT AGAINST IRAN. I think that notion is beyond dispute at this point. China and Russia will be none too happy about that, and will punish us economically as well. It’s either Obama or the end of American society as we know it this year.

  34. 34.

    KG

    “I don’t think you want as a candidate, someone who pays more than he owes.”

    That echoes an old Court line about we having a patriotic duty to pay as little tax as legally permissible. But it misses the point, we really don’t want someone who is gaming the system to pay so much lower than what normal people pay.

    One last thought… Romney’s idea that he’ll eliminate capital gains taxes for people making less than $200,000 sounded strange to me. How many people making less than $200,000 pay a lot of capital gains taxes?

  37. 37.

    srv

    On way to anti-choice rally Rand Paul refused TSA pat-down. Because invasive government is wrong when it’s a man’s body.
    @FrankConniff

    h/t Fallows

  43. 43.

    Brian R.

    Mittens actually lands a nice blow against Gingrich’s One Point Six Million Dollar Man bullshit story.

  45. 45.

    KG

    Santorum had an interesting point on TARP. I would love to see one of these jackasses break out the Sherman Anti-Trust Hammer of Doom. But that’d probably be seen as the S-Word

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steve: And actually actually, the University of South Florida (main campus) is in Temple Terrace, not Tampa.

    I’m not feeling particularly wonderful about being a USF alumna right now, but I’ve had worse and I’ll survive.

  49. 49.

    KG

    @Cap’n Swag: I thought Gingrich was wobbled there on the lobbying issue, but he parried it well and came back with a haymaker. Not sure it landed clearly.

    And I’m not sure how long I can keep that metaphor going.

  51. 51.

    dmsilev

    Hard to say who came out ahead on that last exchange. Mitt probably had the upper hand in terms of facts, but I think Newt out-BSed him.

  52. 52.

    Violet

    At least that last back and forth between Newt and Mitt over whether or not Newt was a lobbyist was somewhat entertaining. Otherwise, this is a very boring and terribly run debate. I thought Brian Williams would be better than this initially, but he’s awful, letting them run on and on hoping for fireworks rather than actually asking tough questions.

  53. 53.

    DCLaw1

    @Raven:

    How bout the Professor freezing there?

    Definitely weird. The lack of audience participation is flattening the dynamics and depriving Newt of his demagogic lust for mass-rage.

  55. 55.

    dmsilev

    The combination of the phrase “nibbling around the edges” and the word “Santorum” is just plain wrong.

  57. 57.

    freelancer

    OMG, if I want to see tweets over the debate, I’l LOOK AT TWITTER! Fuck NBC for this ADD distraction.

  59. 59.

    ChrisNYC

    I think Romney’s doing great. I watch these things to see Newt humiliated and confronted with his grossness and it’s happening!

  60. 60.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @KG:

    And I’m not sure how long I can keep that metaphor going.

    A bloodied Newt screaming out his wives at the end “SUSAN! I MEAN MARIANNE! I MEAN BIRDLADY!”

  61. 61.

    Mark K

    Steve beat me to it. Thanks. A pet peeve of mine (grew up there)

    My son is a grad student at USF and said no srudents were allowed and all tickets are alloted by the TV networks. Republicans (and the corporate media) hate democracy.

  62. 62.

    Brian R.

    How long are the Republicans going to be allowed to keep flogging this bullshit story that it was Fannie and Freddie that were responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis? It’s complete and utter bullshit.

  63. 63.

    dmsilev

    I dunno. This is like some TV show that was renewed for about 2 seasons past the end of the writers’ creativity. Rehashes, bizarre plot twists. The magic is gone.

  64. 64.

    jl

    not listening, but from the live blogs, sounds really fun so far.

    Remember when HRC called Obama a disgraced communist community organizer who the peeps ran of town and been living on skeavy federal grants ever since?

    And Obama said HRC lied so much he couldn’t respond to all her BS?

    Ahhh, too bad I’m not watching this debate, it would bring back some good old times, eh?

  65. 65.

    SP

    Shorter Brian Williams: “At this time, please recite your pre-written lines to pander to the Florida Cuban community.”

  69. 69.

    Brian R.

    Good to see the Republicans all taking bold stands against Fidel Castro’s corpse. It’s a brave move to make in Florida, but they don’t care who doesn’t like it.

  70. 70.

    dead existentialist

    Williams is gonna have to pass out snorkels to these guys ’cause the bullsh*t is getting dangerously deep.

  72. 72.

    dmsilev

    Even by the low low standards of the GOP debate, this is pretty blah. The contrast with tomorrow’s State of the Union will be stark.

  73. 73.

    SP

    If Santorum really believes all his bogeyman talk about Jihadists in Nicaragua invading us via Mexico, I honestly feel sorry for him. How can someone really live in such constant fear something that doesn’t exist?

  74. 74.

    Brian R.

    I love how Newt says Obama is letting Iran think we’ll let them close the Straits of Hormuz after the moderator notes that the U.S. Navy just moved an aircraft carrier through it.

    Facts? We don’t need no esteenkin’ facts!

  76. 76.

    The Dangerman

    I’m thinking that the Blog Masters’ plan of using Tunch running (well, waddling) in a hamster wheel to power the server is FAIL.

  77. 77.

    John O

    Older Republicans grew up with a largely non-interventionist foreign policy platform. Paul serves a purpose in the larger scheme of things.

  79. 79.

    jl

    @freelancer: OT of the GOP death cage match, but just read on Pat Lang’s Sic Semper Tyrannis blog that Paul maybe is a little nuts on foreign policy.

    Supposedly Paul thinks a money saving and effective way to keep the international sea lanes open without soaking the tax payers is for government to issue letters of marquis and register privateers.

    You can look at today’s SST blog and judge for yourself.

    If Paul goes that far, then he is totally nuts on everything, and is cagey on how much nutso he lets out.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    This is boring. Didn’t get much sleep last night, so I’m going to bed and I guarantee my most tedious, pedestrian, plain vanilla, B-flat dreams will be more interesting than this snoozefest. Brian Williams is just yawn-inducing.

  82. 82.

    John O

    The last thing the bad guys think is that Obama is weak. Duh. He’s killing bad guys at an unprecedented rate.

    But the morons will buy it.

  84. 84.

    jl

    @The Dangerman: Actually, its
    Tunch waddling back and forth creates severe disturbances in the gravitational field and that powers the blog.

    Used to work. I think Cole has not factored in the effect of the healthful slimming diet he imposed upon Tunch.

  88. 88.

    Brian R.

    Yes, yes, let’s call the president who toppled Gaddafi without putting a single soldier on the ground, who decimated Al-Qaeda, and who put a bullet in Bin Laden’s fucking brain a coward who’s afraid to act against America’s enemies. Good luck with that.

  89. 89.

    Brian R.

    Santorum says the economy is bad because of an oil price spike in the summer of 2008.

    I can’t wait to hear how that was Obama’s fault.

  92. 92.

    dmsilev

    There’s just something strange about Santorum’s haircut. I think it’s the slope across his forehead; I’m not used to seeing people with trapezoidal faces.

  101. 101.

    dmsilev

    @MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson: I have my doubts. There are a lot of ethnic communities here, but I’m not sure there are *that* many, and most of the older ones have most of the population speaking English natively and their mother tongue as a second language.

  108. 108.

    dmsilev

    Romney: “The solution to illegal immigration is ‘self-deportation'”. That’s going to go over *real* well with the mouth-breathers.

  114. 114.

    freelancer

    Go home and leave your friends and family if you feel like it. Surround yourself in a new environment and forego everything you’ve ever known and worked for and start from zero. It’s an honor thing, so make up your mind if you want to or not.

    I love plausible GOP policy.

  120. 120.

    Brian R.

    Wow, Mitt launched a shitload of lies in that fusillade against Obama. He really has been taking notes from Newt.

    Hmmm. His wife should probably start packing now.

  122. 122.

    dmsilev

    Someone on the Twitter machines pointed out that ‘self-deportation’ is Mitt Romney’s investment strategy.

  125. 125.

    freelancer

    Gas prices have DOUBLED since 2008?! Yeah I remember back in 2008 when Gas was $4 a gallon, but then Obama was elected and it dropped to $1.70, and then it went back up because this President doesn’t know anything about Energy Policy.

    I know a lot of bullshit gets spewed in politics, but Americans KNOW how much gas prices are, and they can’t remember the last time they were under $2 in recent memory. This is something people will remember, and think, oh that’s a load of shit.

  127. 127.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    You know, take away the enraged racist mob from Newt Gingrich and you end up with a short, fat, ignorant and incredibly boring asshole.

  132. 132.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    Even with Brian Williams keeping the Nootness Monster in check, Romney seems intent on self-deporting himself out of the nomination. He just can’t get out of his own way.

    Dude needs to do something spectacular to get the base on his side. Show up to the next debate in blackface, deliver Mrs. Santorum’s next baby. Something.

  136. 136.

    jl

    I will never watch the debates live again. That upsets me.

    Peeking in at the liveblogs and you folks commenting is the way to go.

    LOL all the way.

    Self deport?
    For some reason hearing reading about a tired old smear (soon to be a joke, with enough repetition) is funny to me. Having to sit through it would be irritating.

    I know people are worried about falsities being drummed into people heads, but on other hand, the secret to false smears is to do them right before the election, so there is no opportunity for response.

    If the Obama team is brave enough to do it, they could cut an ad that give the facts, with quick clips of these jokers spitting out the lies, with the debate places and dates running underneath.

  138. 138.

    Brian R.

    @TaMara (BHF):

    Flattered. But on that point, Obama’s actually been great without my help.

    A few weeks ago, the Republicans were calling him weak and he said something to the effect of “they should go ask Bin Laden if he thinks I’m weak.”

    Fuck and yes.

  139. 139.

    dmsilev

    Ron Paul: People should have living wills.

    On this subject, Ron Paul is the sane one on the stage. Still a maniac on a host of other issues.

  140. 140.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    Florida is suffering from a lack of people in space? And underwater houses? Must be a damn strange climate and terrain down there.

  142. 142.

    Brian R.

    And Newt Gingrich completes his transformation into a con man by promising Americans a series of lucrative prizes.

  144. 144.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    Very romantic and exciting futures, Mr Gingrich? What is this, the Tiffany’s presidential candidacy?

  145. 145.

    Suffern ACE

    @freelancer: Yeah. I remember gas under 2.00 out here after it had spiked up near 5. Because, well, all indication was that the entire global economy was crashing at the time. Tended to damped demand. I assume that if we put any of these guys in charge, we’ll soon have gas for a dime, no dimes.

  148. 148.

    freelancer

    @MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:

    NASA’s budget hasn’t been cut, just that the Space Shuttle fleet has been retired. NASA has been shifted to robotic exploration of the solar system as well as the launch of next gen measurements such as the James Webb Space Telescope (Hubble’s successor). Publicly, the vacuum left by no longer having a vehicle to support manned missions, the question is, in all actuality, what do you see as the future of American manned missions to space? What’s the next goal? Should it be the moon? Mars? An asteroid? etc.

  149. 149.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    @John O:

    And no one asks Newt where he’s going to get the money for permanent moon bases and Mars missions.

    The moon is made of green cheese.

  150. 150.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    Mitt Romney sounds like a resume reading itself. I really ought to record this and save it for nights of insomnia.

  152. 152.

    Bondirotta

    I feel like Mitt was on the verge of winning…. And then he went with the self-deportation line.

    Which is now blowing out the Twitter. If that becomes the key take-away from Tampa, Mittster is a goner.

  153. 153.

    Judas Escargot

    Did Ron Paul just say we’re already at war with Iran?

    We’ve always been at war with Iran… I remember the t-shirts.

  154. 154.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Can any masshole tell us how many lies Mittens just told about his time as governor?

  157. 157.

    Brian R.

    Yes, Newt Gingrich certainly would be good at reminding Americans of the gap between President Obama and conservatism.

    Most Americans would quickly see just how fucking insane conservatives are.

  158. 158.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Howard Fineman just said that the spat between Willard and Newton Leroy about Fannie and Freddie was “the most substantive part of the debate”

  159. 159.

    Mark S.

    I’m not watching but reading the live blog, but wha?

    Always classy, Newt Gingrich compares Terry Schiavo with a convicted killer on Death Row, on the grounds that the American judicial system bends over backwards to save those its about to execute.

    Did he really say that?

  160. 160.

    Judas Escargot

    I love how both Newt and Mitt diss Obama’s space policy… and suggest that they would do exactly what he’s been doing (Commercial Space).

    Mars, Bitches!

  162. 162.

    Brian R.

    Love the rightwing attacks on cap and trade — that hippie program dreamed up by the Heritage Foundation, pushed by the liberals in the Bush 41 White House, and formally embraced in the presidential platform of noted treehuggers McCain-Palin.

  163. 163.

    jl

    @Brian R.:

    “And Newt Gingrich completes his transformation into a con man by promising Americans a series of lucrative prizes.”

    Did Newt advise the Americans must convey some minor personal financial information to facilitate the transaction, and utmost discretion about this opportunity must be exercised at all times, even though it was all perfectly legal?

  164. 164.

    dead existentialist

    Those ghoulish-looking young fucks sitting behind Williams are scary.

    And I’ve never heard so much blatant lying in a debate before. (Yeah, I haven’t watched many, but . . . .)

  167. 167.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Fred Thompson woke up long enough to endorse Gingrich.

    Will he be able to take time off from making commercials for government guaranteed reverse mortgages long enough to campaign for getting gov’t out of old peoples’ lives?

  169. 169.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    Why is Mittens so proud of making Teddy Kennedy take out a mortgage on his house?

  170. 170.

    gbear

    @dmsilev:

    Even by the low low standards of the GOP debate, this is pretty blah. The contrast with tomorrow’s State of the Union will be stark.

    You lie!!

  171. 171.

    DCLaw1

    On a somewhat serious note, which of the following (or something else entirely) do folks think is more likely?

    (1) Newt starts to lose support in Florida because he was not able to rip his shirt off and beat his chest at the moderator to rapturous bellowing from the audience; or

    (2) Mitt continues to slip due to mass-attention to his easily mocked “self-deportation” proposal.

    I just don’t know what to make of this debate, and no idea what it might do to the numbers in Florida. Bleh.

  173. 173.

    Brian R.

    Hey Newt — you probably shouldn’t complain about “institutional obstacles to getting things done” right after your second wife goes public with your desire to make that marriage an open institution so you could fuck the ostrich lady.

  182. 182.

    Cacti

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Can any masshole tell us how many lies Mittens just told about his time as governor?

    Didn’t he spend about half his time out of state, running for POTUS and insulting the people he’d been elected to govern?

  183. 183.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    @TooManyJens:

    It just seems such an odd thing to take away from a disastrous defeat. Especially given the housing market in recent years.

  189. 189.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    I think Gingrich won this one on points and by staying calm, despite some rather mechanical attacks by the Mittron. Santorum might as well have stayed at home and no-one really cares about Ron Paul as far as the big game is concerned.

  193. 193.

    Elias

    In 2016, who gets the nod? Santorum? Gingrich?

    So much for the second-best from last election theory.

  194. 194.

    ericblair

    @jl:

    Did Newt advise the Americans must convey some minor personal financial information to facilitate the transaction, and utmost discretion about this opportunity must be exercised at all times, even though it was all perfectly legal?

    No, but he did mention in somewhat florid language that he’s actually the son of the Nigerian finance minister and that SIXTY MILLION UNITED STATESIAN DOLLARS will be yours if you help him self-deport it out of the country.

    We got some great one-liners this month. Vadda a self-deporto, cazzo!

  195. 195.

    RossInDetroit

    Thanks for the entertainment. I’m off to nightmare-land to relive the whole sordid thing in my sleep.
    We’ll see how the MSM armchair quarterbacks unpack it in the am.
    Nighters…

  196. 196.

    ChrisNYC

    @MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson: I think it’s his stupid campaign’s idea of red meat in the primaries — humiliating Kennedy.

    It is so bad in all kinds of ways. “I spent sooooo much money that A KENNEDY in Massachusetts had to mortgage his house and I STILL LOST!”

  197. 197.

    flukebucket

    My God! Newt just got the coveted Fred Thompson endorsement! No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

  198. 198.

    MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson

    @ChrisNYC:

    You can just see Don Mittenso di Romney telling his mafia henchmen to break the kneecaps of his opponent’s bank statement and laughing like a maniac for a very carefully calculated 3.65 seconds.

  199. 199.

    Darnell From LA

    I’ve got Evangelical relations in places like Idaho and Tennessee, and let me tell you somethin’: The Evangelicals are not going to be happy tomorrow when they see his tax returns how much money Willard gives every year to the Mormon Church. Count on it.

  200. 200.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @DCLaw1:

    Too bristly and looking like he smelled like salt and vinegar potato chips.

    If Chuck Todd smelled like salt’n’vinegar potato chips, surely Tweety would’ve bit him by now. Just to make sure.

  201. 201.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Brian R.:

    Summer of 2008? That’s obviously Clinton’s fault. We should never have elected him to his third and fourth terms.

  202. 202.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    First time I’ve seen that Terri Schiavo came up, and Santorum was defensive, and Ron Paul actually made some sense.

    I find it so unfortunate. That situation doesn’t come up very often. It should teach us all a lesson to have living wills, or have a good conversation with our spouse.”

  203. 203.

    gogol's wife

    @jl:

    I spent the evening watching two James Mason movies so now I’m getting the best part of the debate — the BJ comments. There is no way I would watch that thing.

  204. 204.

    Darnell From LA

    What the hell was Andrea Mitchell talking about with the whole “GOP establishment types will have to reinvent the Smoke-Filled-Room if Newt wins Florida” nonsense? Who really thinks this is still possible?

    Not just due to the filing deadlines for most states having passed, but how do you tell GOP voters: “Hey, forget it, you’re dumb. We’ll figure this nomination shit out behind closed doors, in quiet rooms”, and expect them to go along with it?

    If Newt gets the votes, and the delegates that go along with them, then he is the nominee and the GOP establishment will just have to suck it.

  205. 205.

    jl

    @Darnell From LA: I posted my comment on that on the wrong thread above. the ‘aftergame’ play by play review by the punditheads was hilarious.

    Especially when the TV airheads got all titillated by sexytime hmmm, maybe? FLIRTATION between Newt and Paul. You could tell the pundits were getting a little breathless just thinking about it.

    The stink. The should take lessons from Madden on how to do play by play review of the action, with tips on tactics, and analysis of position, blocking and tackling technique. And how to draw those cool arrows on the TV screen as the action unfolds.

    Seriously, it was funny to me. Like ha ha funny, like they were a clown.

  206. 206.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Did somebody on MSNBC say there’s gonna be another fucking debate before the FL primary?

  207. 207.

    DCLaw1

    @Darnell From LA: Every few decades, the tiniest glitch in the matrix code causes as system crash, producing a rogue figure that is unacceptable to the Architects. In such cases, the Architects disconnect the nomination matrix, which causes election failure but allows a reboot for the next multi-decade cycle.

  208. 208.

    Donut

    @MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:

    Why is Mittens so proud of making Teddy Kennedy take out a mortgage on his house?

    Josh Marshall said earlier that he thinks the Kennedy trope is an attempt at humor. I guess maybe that’s what it is ? I always thought it was braggadocio, but now I’m not sure.

  209. 209.

    Darnell From LA

    @DCLaw1: Ha!

    What pundits are missing is the devastating impact any backroom (smoke filled or otherwise) deal would have on GOP turnout in November. And how it could make their chances even WORSE than with a NewtGasm™.

    Just imagine if in the Spring of 2008 the DNC overlords had said: “You liberals are CRAZY with this Hillary and Obama crap! We can’t have that! Sooooooo, here’s your nominee….Evan Bayh! Not get out there and VOTE FOR HIM!”

    Just imagine. Now imagine the GOP telling voters: “Suck it, here’s Mitch Daniels. Now give us your money, losers.”

    It’s madness. Newt will be the nominee. Deal with it. Yes, I am calling it for Newt. The nomination is in the refrigerator, the doors closed, the lights are out, the eggs are coolin’ and Callista’s hair is getting hard(er)!

  210. 210.

    jl

    I see Mitt’s line about making Ted Kennedy take out a mortgage was a another gagalicious vomitous obnoxious callous rich boss joke.

    Keep them coming, Mitt.

  211. 211.

    MikeJ

    @Darnell From LA: Republicans follow orders. If the RNC told them to wear brown shirts to the rallies, they’d do it. If the RNC told them they were going to board a space shit following the comet, they’d put on the nikes.

  212. 212.

    Donut

    Is there a fund one can contribute to that would encourage Republicans to fly away on space shits? I’m in for for a twenty.

  213. 213.

    r€nato

    @freelancer: well hell, what did Ron Paul become a doctor for? We should just let illnesses naturally take their course. Who are we to interfere with God’s will?

  214. 214.

    AxelFoley

    @Darnell From LA:

    If Newt gets the votes, and the delegates that go along with them, then he is the nominee and the GOP establishment will just have to suck it.

    I’d think Newt would enjoy that.

    Isn’t that right, Calista?

  217. 217.

    wasabi gasp

    My favorite bit was when Newt said that Terri Schiavo should’ve possibly been given the electric chair.

  219. 219.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @jl:

    That shit might be very, very funny with the guys at the 19th Hole over RobRoys after a hard day on the links, but doesn’t sell two well with guys who just came off shift at the steel mill.

    OvenMitt’s authentic working class banter shines through again.

  220. 220.

    CaseyL

    @MikeJ:

    If the RNC told them they were going to board a space shit following the comet, they’d put on the nikes.

    @Donut:

    Is there a fund one can contribute to that would encourage Republicans to fly away on space shits? I’m in for for a twenty.

    MikeJ – This is one of the best ideas ever, because I think space shits are black holes. A perfect place to put Republicans, so I will match Donut’s $25.

  223. 223.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @jl:

    Supposedly Paul thinks a money saving and effective way to keep the international sea lanes open without soaking the tax payers is for government to issue letters of marquis and register privateers.

    Jesus. Here’s how dumb that idea is: Mark “Science is Dead” Noonan pushed it a couple years ago. And he said that privateers should be able to keep half of what they plunder from pirates because, hey, what could possibly go wrong with that plan?

  224. 224.

    Gwangung

    Most pundits thought McCain was even with Obama in 2008 debates, but the electorate thought differently.

  225. 225.

    DCLaw1

    This talk of modern privateers makes me think of those awsome elderly pirates of the Crimson Permanent Assurance from The Meaning of Life.

  226. 226.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @CaseyL:

    The edit function has been AWOL for at least four days now, and not even an acknowledgement from our genial host that he’s aware that there’s a problem.

    I’m thinking of sending Tunch a kibblegram and a request for him to throw his weight around at Cole for some action on this.

  227. 227.

    David Koch

    @Gwangung: This. Remember how furious John King was when the CNN focus group showed Obama won the debates in a landslide.

    It hilarious that he’s considered to have a liburel bias.

  228. 228.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Bubblegum Tate:

    Well, as was discovered in the 18th Century, who’s a pirate and who’s a privateer often depends on which way the wind is hitting the royals.

    There’s a reason why you had privateers in the day (cheap way to inflict pain on your enemy without tying up your navy in chasing down odd merchantmen on a regular basis) and a reason why they did away with them in the 19th Century. Because telling privateers and pirates apart got to be too difficult.

    Now, Noot the “history professor” should have been able to lecture the Birchite gnome on this shit, but of course being a “history professor” means that, well, he knows less than he should about it.

  230. 230.

    David Koch

    PPP has Newt up 5 pts. Rasmussian has Newt up 9 pts.

    Newt just got another 5 million dollar donation.

    In short, all the kings pundits and the king’s talking heads won’t be able to put Mittens back together again.

  231. 231.

    Mark S.

    Privateers? WTF? How retro can the field get?

    Are they going to start talking about fiefs and manses?

  234. 234.

    Kane

    If I were part of the GOP establishment and I wanted to neutralize Newt’s strength in the debates, the first thing that I would do is to demand/encourage the debate moderators to insist that the audience remain quiet.

    Without the crowd to play off of, Newt comes across as stale and without passion. In other words, he becomes Romney-esque.

  235. 235.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Kane:

    Bingo. Newt draws energy from the hatred radiated from the audience. We saw that in SC. Romney, being an artificial life form, has no way to do that.

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