• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The willow is too close to the house.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Blind Pigs/Acorns (1) George Will edition

Blind Pigs/Acorns (1) George Will edition

by Tom Levenson|  May 27, 201212:53 pm| 46 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Peak Wingnut Was a Lie!, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

FacebookTweetEmail

Via TPM:

“I do not understand the cost-benefit here,” Will said. “The costs are clear. The benefits – what voter is going to vote for him because he’s seen with Donald Trump? The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me. Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low, and you can still intrude into American politics.”

 

I’d only add that this observation could be applied to less public buffoons currently weighing in on the GOPster side.  (I’m pleased to see that Joe Ricketts seems in the process of cursing the Cubbies (w. a losing streak now up to 11!) more thoroughly than ever did Mr. Wills pretentious fandom.)

More clear thinking from unexpected to sources to come…

Image:  F. A. Phillips, Child with a Punch puppet, 1878.  ( I must say that I’ve rarely seen such a perfect representation of the Romney-Trump relationship….)

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Open Thread
Next Post: Blind Pigs/Acorns (2) Alan Simpson edition »

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    Comrade Jake

    May 27, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    Well, George Will would know a bloviating ignoramus if he saw one, that’s for damn sure.

  2. 2.

    Alison

    May 27, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    you can still intrude into American politics

    More like dominate. There’s no “intrusion” when these rich stupid fuckfaces are the ones running the damn show, for the most part, especially state-level.

  3. 3.

    Schlemizel

    May 27, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    Perhaps the death of wingnutia will not come from the average schmoe finally seeing through the GOPs Death To America stance but from the pretentious pricks like Mr. Will being appalled at being associated with the doofus brownshirt brigade. Tut-tut’ed to death would not be my choice but anything that will finally bring the curtain down on the shitfest will be welcome

  4. 4.

    Joey Maloney

    May 27, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    @top:

    I must say that I’ve rarely seen such a perfect representation of the Romney-Trump relationship….

    Which is which?

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 27, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    To my simple mind, Romney’s embrace of Trump is still another sign of the confused feelings of contempt and fear he feels for the Republican base/Tea Party, think Poppy Bush x 10. As George the would-be Lord Codswallop, Wannabe Fourth Viscount of Broderton, says, it’s beyond my imagination that Trump has an actual constituency, but Romney is so terrified of criticism from the Right that he’s holding hands with a demagoguing grifter (Palin x 10). Somebody on the TV said last week that this fundraiser is a compromise, if the Short-Fingered Vulgarian gets to look like a king-maker now, he’ll drop his demands for a convention speaking slot.
    But there are political professionals in the Romney team, they approved this “Dinner with the Donald (fercrissake)” thing. Do they think that his reality show will win votes? Could they possibly be right? Am I that much further out of step with the average American than I was even a year ago?

  6. 6.

    Hill Dweller

    May 27, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    But the Romney spokesman said Trump was more popular than Clooney. That has to matter for something, right?

  7. 7.

    Brachiator

    May 27, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    @Comrade Jake:

    Well, George Will would know a bloviating ignoramus if he saw one, that’s for damn sure.

    Good one.

    The Friday Rachel Maddow show pointed out that Trump did robocall endorsements for states in which Romney scored primary victories.

    So, the sad conclusion may be that even though reasonable people and pundits like Will may recoil in horror, associating with The Donald is not hurting Mitt at all. At least, not with Republicans, and maybe not with many Independents.

  8. 8.

    Tom Levenson

    May 27, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Gerry, right, not George. Please tell me that the Romnoids are not that dumb.

  9. 9.

    joes527

    May 27, 2012 at 1:22 pm

    @Hill Dweller: only if they are casting another Ocean’s 11 sequel.

  10. 10.

    Mark S.

    May 27, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    Things I learned from Thomas Friedman this morning:

    1. Obama doesn’t brag enough.

    2. Obama would be kicking Romney’s ass if he embraced Simpson-Bowles.

    Actually, that part is beautiful in its wrongness:

    Had Obama gone to the country with more near-term stimulus married to Simpson-Bowles, he would have owned the left, independents and center-right. It would have split the Republicans and provided a real alternative to the radical Paul Ryan-Romney plan.

    3. Obama has retreated to his left base.

  11. 11.

    HRA

    May 27, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    There are some things that have to be faced. George Will does not represent the base of his party now. He’s a little late in realizing it and/or writing about it. The moderates have 3 choices. They vote for the stiff version of Pinocchio without the growth of his nose when the lies are thicker than molasses. They vote for the best president I have had the fortune of seeing through many years. They stay home.

    What bothers me the most is the inability of Democrats to act loyally on behalf of the president or to act for themselves as well. It’s like they have all been taking relaxants by the fistful.

  12. 12.

    texascowgirl

    May 27, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I think it also reflects how Mitt Romney views the GOP base. He sees them the same way we do: rabidly, ignorant birthers who are turned on by Obama hate more than anything else. Romney, like most uppercrust GOPers, see the GOP base as stupid, bigoted rubes to be placated and he’s so lacking in his own principles he’ll placate them in whatever way he thinks will work. With Trump he gets to say he’s not personally a birther, but that he thinks birthers are cool.

  13. 13.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Rmoney has to appeal, constantly, to the teatard/wingnuts/racists/talibangicals, because he’s got two terrible traits: Mormon, and used to be governor of one of the most hated by aforementioned morans states in the entire Union, the home of the vile Communist Kennedy clan, much beloved by the hated liberal media.

    Rmoney cannot tack to the center. His crew will revolt. As I’ve said before, “starboard or death!”. And then the idiots crash into the lee shore and wonder wtf happened!

  14. 14.

    Hill Dweller

    May 27, 2012 at 1:31 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Yes, they’re that dumb:

    “Donald Trump’s popularity is substantially greater than that of George Clooney,” Cohen maintained, though he offered no supporting statistics. “I think it’s just self-evident.”

  15. 15.

    ExurbanMom

    May 27, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    TPM is full of goodness today; taste the delicious schadenfreud of Randy “Duke” Cunningham begging a judge to restore his 2nd Amendment rights upon his release from prison:

    http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/randy_duke_cunningham_gun_rights_restore_atf.php

    Almost makes you feel sad for the guy. Almost.

  16. 16.

    FlipYrWhig

    May 27, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maybe the idea is that Trump makes Romney look like a paragon of humility and restraint, instead of a guy with a car elevator and a predilection for show-jumping horses.

  17. 17.

    kdaug

    May 27, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    More clear thinking from unexpected to sources to come…

    Projection much, Dr. Levenson?

    I kid, because I care.

  18. 18.

    jl

    May 27, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Might be true, depends on what you mean by ‘popularity’. Back in the day, you could get as many people to show up at a state fair for a staged train wreck as for Jenny Lind or Caruso singing an aria. Which was more ‘popular’?

  19. 19.

    Tom Levenson

    May 27, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    @kdaug:

    Projection much, Dr. Levenson?

    Always, sez I, non-Dr. Levenson.

  20. 20.

    MattF

    May 27, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    Liar, coward, plutocrat, sanctimonious, soulless pr*ck with a Daddy Problem. Have I left anything out?

  21. 21.

    texascowgirl

    May 27, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    @MattF:

    Creepy.

  22. 22.

    patrick II

    May 27, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    @texascowgirl:
    I agree, but would add that Trump does not serve the same purpose as a Joe Arpio would. I look at Trump as Romney’s businessland ambassador to the land of the Teaparty proletariat. Someone with a $5000 suite Romney can be seen with at a fancy restaurant in Manhatten, but who is fluent in birtherese. Trump is Romney’s backdoor diplomatic channel.

  23. 23.

    Roger Moore

    May 27, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    @MattF:

    Have I left anything out?

    Sociopath.

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    May 27, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Rmoney cannot tack to the center. His crew will revolt. As I’ve said before, “starboard or death!”. And then the idiots crash into the lee shore and wonder wtf happened!

    I would be willing to bet that Romney’s people are telling him to keep courting the right up through the convention, and that he will be able to court moderates and Independents in the general election campaign. And he is betting that he will be able to sell himself as a job creator, and that this will be all that the voters care about come November.

  25. 25.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    @Brachiator:

    I’m sure that his advisers are giving him that advice.

    The thing is, I don’t think the 27% will tolerate any movement to the center even after the convention, and the Obama people will destroy any twisted notion that Rmoney is a job creator.

  26. 26.

    Bruce S

    May 27, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Yeah – whatever!

    Fuck George Will.

    Just felt like saying that.

  27. 27.

    WereBear

    May 27, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: The thing is, I don’t think the 27% will tolerate any movement to the center even after the convention, and the Obama people will destroy any twisted notion that Rmoney is a job creator.

    I agree completely. Those ads with the local slant, where the people right there in town explain what Romney did to their lives, are devastating.

  28. 28.

    jl

    May 27, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    @WereBear:

    And McCain is pitching in too: “Capitalism can be cruel”.

    All hail, The Deal!

  29. 29.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 27, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    I understand the predominant viewpoint expressed in this thread but this could be the fissure that causes George Will to come to our side. No, he hasn’t made a complete break with the right yet, but when they come after him for these comments, it may very well happen. This is how Charles Johnson saw the light, of course.

  30. 30.

    Yutsano

    May 27, 2012 at 3:39 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Nahgunna happen. No way would Will ever associate himself with dirty hippies and folks who wear denim on a regular basis. He wants his 1960’s Nixon Republicans back.

  31. 31.

    jake the snake

    May 27, 2012 at 3:39 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Just Some Fuckhead Says:

    I understand the predominant viewpoint expressed in this thread but this could be the fissure that causes George Will to come to our side. No, he hasn’t made a complete break with the right yet, but when they come after him for these comments, it may very well happen. This is how Charles Johnson saw the light, of course

    .

    I hope you’re wrong. We have enough sanctimonious pricks on our side as it is. We don’t need another, certainly not one as humorless as George Will.

  32. 32.

    MattF

    May 27, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    @jake the snake: I wouldn’t worry about it. We’ll be having sleigh rides in Hell before George Will endorses a Democrat.

  33. 33.

    Ash Can

    May 27, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. Will is just crabbing about Romney here. If he were crabbing about the entire GOP and/or right wing, that might signal a fissure. He could be pining for Chris Christie/Mitch Daniels/Marco Rubio white-knight action, for all we know.

  34. 34.

    jl

    May 27, 2012 at 3:55 pm

    @jake the snake: I agree. If a few zombie remants of their internecine fight wander a few inches towards the side of reason and fact (even assuming such a thing occurs to the extent that the other side really splits up in a serious and prolonged way), that can be used as evidence that the other side is a worthless mess and not a good bet for providing reason and truth. No reason at all to try to adopt any of them for anything.

    But, won’t happen. I think people like Will and Brooks are professional hacks who have marketed themselves as a reliable ‘pundit product’ to the media. Doubtful they have any interest in being anything else. For one thing, it would entail some irritating details like study, effort and work. Why do that when you can make good bank by typing up sloppy and fantastical pundit boilerplate on the spot, or in response to the GOP operatives’ tactic of the day?

    They will never be useful or reliable allies in anyway as long as they keep that attitude, which I think they will.

  35. 35.

    Uncle Cosmo

    May 27, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    @patrick II:

    Trump is Romney’s backdoor diplomatic channel.

    Trump is Rmoney’s backdoor man??!?!!??

    Aieee! Brain bleach, NOW!!

  36. 36.

    Citizen_X

    May 27, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low, and you can still intrude into American politics.

    JOB CREATOR LIBEL!

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I’ll lay down a marker for him: until he refudiates his AGW denialism he can GTFO.

    Like Yutsano said, it’s nahgunna happen.

  37. 37.

    WereBear

    May 27, 2012 at 4:13 pm

    Some people just have an adoration of money, from whatever source. Even someone like Trump is Important because he has Money and Fame. Period.

    I’m still trying to get over the gossip mag headline I saw in the supermarket this week; the one that detailed the struggles of one of the Kardashians and claimed, “The fame she struggled so hard for is slipping away!”

    Excuse me? Struggled so hard? What on earth are they talking about?

  38. 38.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 27, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    @Brachiator:
    Put me in ‘This is exactly the plan, and it’s already failing.’ The plan itself shows that they’re not keeping up with current events, and even if it still suited the circumstances Romney couldn’t pull it off. Plus, Obama is already eating Romney’s lunch. By the time Romney pivots to the importance of the economy, he’ll be driving voters in droves to Obama with that argument.

  39. 39.

    Anoniminous

    May 27, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    Obama is polling +8 to +20 over Romney with women, depending on the pollster. Women will be 51 to 53 percent of the electorate. Unless Romney knocks the number down it doesn’t matter what he does, he’ll lose the election.

    Sometimes this stuff does get real simple.

  40. 40.

    feebog

    May 27, 2012 at 5:30 pm

    @ Anonimious:

    Ditto that for Latinos. Number I saw this morning was Obama carrying the Latino vote 67 to 23%. Obama gets north of 70%, there is no way the Romneybot 2.0 carries Colorado, New Mexico or Nevada. And you can likely throw Florida in there too.

  41. 41.

    jl

    May 27, 2012 at 5:41 pm

    @feebog:

    I read Romney figured he could finesse the issue of immigration by the clever trick of not even mentioning it at a headline talk with Hispanics. Nice try, big guy.

    I don’t think that will work, and I am sure that his little finesse will have consequences in other ethnic communities with lots of immigrants. That has been the history of how that goes in CA since the Wison/CA GOP jihad did its wonderful counterproductive work. The Hispanic reaction against the CA GOP brought a lot of Aisan and PI with it to Democrats.

  42. 42.

    schrodinger's cat

    May 27, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    @Mark S.: Friedman is demonstrating what Will said, it also helps if you NYT column, being an ignoramus who can affect national politics, I mean.

  43. 43.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    @jl:

    And McCain is pitching in too: “Capitalism can be cruel”.

    Fuck.

    McCain’s entire fucking life, from before birth to the present, has been on the government teat.

    Every motherfucking second of it.

    Fuck him.

  44. 44.

    The Other Bob

    May 27, 2012 at 6:32 pm

    @MattF:

    Liar, coward, plutocrat, sanctimonious, soulless pr*ck with a Daddy Problem. Have I left anything out?

    Cultist? Religious nut? Or were those covered under “sanctimonious”?

  45. 45.

    CW in LA

    May 27, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: On top of what everyone else just said, remember in ’92 when William Safire acted like he had single-handedly swung the election Clinton’s way by endorsing him, and then tried with increasing hysteria to take the Clintons down because he felt like they had personally let him down somehow? How much more self-important would something like this make George Swill?

  46. 46.

    ed

    May 27, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    Dear George Will, please either join your party on the Ledo Deck or plunk your ass down in a lifeboat, and leave the deck chairs alone.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - twbrandt - Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan 7
Image by twbrandt (7/18/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • lowtechcyclist on Saturday Morning Open Thread: Everybody Needs A Hobby (Jul 19, 2025 @ 10:52am)
  • Kayla Rudbek on Saturday Morning Open Thread: Everybody Needs A Hobby (Jul 19, 2025 @ 10:51am)
  • catclub on Saturday Morning Open Thread: Everybody Needs A Hobby (Jul 19, 2025 @ 10:50am)
  • Geminid on Saturday Morning Open Thread: Everybody Needs A Hobby (Jul 19, 2025 @ 10:50am)
  • H.E.Wolf on Saturday Morning Open Thread: Everybody Needs A Hobby (Jul 19, 2025 @ 10:49am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!