Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

We won’t go back.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

I really should read my own blog.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

You are here: Home / Books / Drift: We Have A Winner!

Drift: We Have A Winner!

by | 35 Comments

This post is in: ,


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As of 7:30pm, there were 618 entries total — 440 in Contest Thread #1, 177 in Thread #2, and one emailer whose posts weren’t showing up on the site. Random.org selected comment #580.

Commenter Evap, please email me at AnneLaurie @ verizon.net (direct link via the Contact list, to the right) with your mailing address!

Thanks to all who participated (yes, I read every comment, so your jokes did not go to waste). Newbies, welcome to our virtual Place Where Everybody Knows Your Nym, don’t hesitate to jump into the conversation again!

Those who were waiting can now order their own copies of Drift: the Unmooring of American Military Power in paper, Kindle, or Audible formats. Our own Mistermix has a review here (spoiler: he liked it).

Here’s an excerpt from the Terry Gross interview on NPR:

Maddow’s new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power traces how U.S. national intelligence agencies have taken over duties that were once assigned to the military, and how this shift has increased the public disconnect from the consequences of war.
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“Politically, secrecy is a great excuse,” Maddow tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “If something is being done on a secret basis in national security, that’s a great reason for elected officials to not talk about it. And that’s a great way to shirk accountability for it with the public.”
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That lack of accountability, says Maddow, lets America’s national defense operate without public oversight or knowledge.
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“When things are done in secret in our name, we can be held accountable for them, even if we can’t hold accountable our government for directing it,” she says. “And that feels very un-American to me.”…

Reader Interactions

35Comments

  2. 2.

    WereBear

    Thanks for letting us know, Anne Laurie!

    And, since I didn’t win, I will rant in my best Yosemite Sam mode: ricka frakka horneytoad!

  4. 4.

    piratedan

    TY AL for running the contest and drop me a line and let me know what anime you’re watching now ;-)

  5. 5.

    Alison

    Aw, well. Signed copy would have been cool, but then knowing me, I’d spill tea on it or something and then hate myself. Instead, since I’ll be finishing my current book tonight (and because I am too much of a booknerd to go a day without reading) I’ll drag my ass to the bookstore tomorrow to pick up a copy and send a few more ducats Ms Maddow’s way.

  10. 10.

    JPL

    Well it’s not me but congrats to the winner. I’m happy watching a story about Fenway on PBS. I went to Fenway Park on a bus as a little kid organized by the local playground organizers. (Ted still played) When I was older, I went as a chaperone for students and then I went because I knew someone who worked for the Sox. (much better seats) At times I even sat behind those posts but it was worth it.

  12. 12.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    (sigh) Well at least Mega Millions is at $365 million so I will try my hand there. Hey Mitt can you lend me a couple hundred?
    Congratulations Evap.

  13. 13.

    Warren Terra

    Next time I successfully suggest a contest design, I’ll make sure it somehow guarantees me the win …

  14. 14.

    BGinCHI

    VICTORY!

    ETA: Why doesn’t strikethrough work? It’s hard enough to be funny…I needs my props!

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    It was wonderful to hear two of my favourite broadcast people–Gross and Maddow–in conversation with each other. Terrific interview. And Terry gave her the whole hour. There were no book reviews or jazz album commentaries, just these two super smart, funny women talking about stuff.
    .
    Congratulations to Evap. I’m ordering it tonight and very eager to read it.
    .
    Not sure this was ever addressed, and now I have no idea in what thread I asked the question, but might Drift be a good choice for a future BJ book discussion? And if so, might there be a prayer of getting RM to participate? I have a vague memory that she once mentioned John Cole on air, approvingly, so this would be kind of a known quantity for her.

  17. 17.

    evap

    I’m running around the house, doing the happy dance :)

    If I win $356 million (well, half that after taxes), I’m setting up an endowment on behalf of Balloon Juice. You read it here first.

    Thanks, Annie Laurie. :)

  21. 21.

    Jewish Steel

    You do realize that all the posts that weren’t mine were DougJ, right?

    Sincerely,

    DougJ

  23. 23.

    hells littlest angel

    Well, the random number generator has decided. Let us now all come together to support the winner, Evap, and hope that Evap will let us borrow it once he/she is done with it.

    (It was either that or, you won’t have hells littlest angel to kick around any more.)

  24. 24.

    Mrs. Whatsit

    I agree, it was a great interview on Fresh Air! After I found that a previously unknown bag soaked in cat pee discolored the wood floor in my daughter’s bedroom (we have been out of town), I realized that today probably wasn’t my lucky day.

  25. 25.

    Mrs. Whatsit

    I agree, it was a great interview on Fresh Air! After I found that a previously unknown bag soaked in cat pee discolored the wood floor in my daughter’s bedroom (we have been out of town), I realized that today probably wasn’t my lucky day.

  28. 28.

    Paddy

    Anne Laurie- I just tried to email you about a dog up for adoption at that addy and it erred back to me. I copied it over to Cole to send along to you.

  29. 29.

    MonkeyBoy

    Who the hell is Evap?
    __
    I bet “it” is just some right wing Nazi who has been pretending to be a sensible liberal on BJ just so it can just evaporate our precious bodies and suck in book freebies.
    __
    Curse you evap for stealing the book that rightfully belonged to me, me who copyrighted (2009) the double underscore hack to make FYWP emit blank lines. Laugh while you can until we sick the counter-top inspectors on you.
    __
    (P.S. was there any evidence of people creating new accounts just so they could deprive me of my deserved book? I know evap was a long term sleeper agent whose dastardly agenda finally reached fruition.)

  32. 32.

    evap

    I didn’t win the lottery :( But neither did anyone else, so there’s still a chance. :)

    Who is evap? My first vote was for Jimmy Carter in 1976, soon after I turned 18, and I’ve voted for Democrats ever since. I’ve been a liberal longer than most of you have been alive. I’ve been a Balloon Juice fan since I stumbled on this site sometime in 2008, but have not posted much. And I have the same profession as DougJ.

Comments are closed.