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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Yet another open thread…

Yet another open thread…

by Betty Cracker|  June 7, 201212:32 pm| 92 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I got nothin,’ but we need a new thread.

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Previous Post: « A get together to tear it apart
Next Post: Abcess Makes The Heart Grow Fonder »

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  1. 1.

    Linda Featheringill

    June 7, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    Somebody had fun with Photoshop. :-)

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    June 7, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    The meme continues apace. And journalists are getting ever so close to the L word in the MSM regarding Willard. I actually have a wee bit of hope.

  3. 3.

    tamied

    June 7, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    @Yutsano: Loser?

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    June 7, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Somewhere on the InterTubes, there has got to be a version of this picture with the caption, “The Queen of England is Tired of Your Shit!”

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 7, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    @Yutsano: Watching Carl Cannon (son of Lou, IIAMN) of Real Clear Politics, even Bill Clinton can’t figure out why Barack Obama is running such a negative campaign, and if you don’t like Romney, it’s because you don’t like rich people. This goes unchallenged.
    ETA: On the liberal MSNBC.

  6. 6.

    Roger Moore

    June 7, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    @Yutsano:

    And journalists are getting ever so close to the L word in the MSM regarding Willard.

    Tell me when they start talking about the M word, especially if any of them drift toward using the C word to describe it. That’s when you’ll know the fix is in against Romney.

  7. 7.

    EconWatcher

    June 7, 2012 at 12:42 pm

    I really like the flannel shirt. He’s obviously a man of the people.

  8. 8.

    trollhattan

    June 7, 2012 at 12:42 pm

    @tamied:
    Lesbian! Ironic he had only boys.

  9. 9.

    kindness

    June 7, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    Feelin’ any better yet Betty? I’m glad you’re quitting though.

  10. 10.

    Yutsano

    June 7, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    @tamied: Liar. But close.

  11. 11.

    Felanius Kootea

    June 7, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    Okay that photo made me laugh.

    Just saw a video of Grace Jones hula hooping her way through a performance at the Queen’s diamond jubilee. I used to be scared of her as a child; I can’t believe she’s now 64!

  12. 12.

    Ed Drone

    June 7, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    Now I know I’ll never be in the 1% — I could never do that to a dog!

    For that matter, I wouldn’t be in the 1% if you gave me a million dollars!

    Ed

  13. 13.

    Yutsano

    June 7, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    @Ed Drone: A million dollars is barely middle class in Romneyworld. And barely worth his attention.

  14. 14.

    Ding dong

    June 7, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Carl cannon s a conservative. He wrote some reagan book.

  15. 15.

    Cassidy

    June 7, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    High on percocet. Anyone want to fill me in on what the L, C, and M words are. I’ll be quietly staring at my ceiling fan in anticipation.

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    June 7, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    @Cassidy:

    Anyone want to fill me in on what the L, C, and M words are. I’ll be quietly staring at my ceiling fan in anticipation.

    Liar, Cult, Mormonism.

    ETA: Has anyone yet said they think Mitt did too much LDS back in the ’60s?

  17. 17.

    pragmatism

    June 7, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    needs moar magick underwear.

  18. 18.

    Valdivia

    June 7, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    lol

  19. 19.

    Hill Dweller

    June 7, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: In reality, Willard is running far more negative ads(70% negative) than Obama, but the republicans want that narrative pushed, and the media is more than happy to do it.

    Willard’s new lie is Obama slowed the economy on purpose. It’s laughable on its face, but he probably would have got away with it. However, he made the mistake of citing Sheiber’s book as evidence. An ounce of thought should have helped his campaign realize Sheiber would call him on his bullshit, which he did. Now they’ve reinforced the liar meme.

    Romney is running an awful campaign, but the media is carrying his water in hopes of a horse race.

  20. 20.

    Valdivia

    June 7, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    @Cassidy:

    hope the percocet is helping. I am doped up on a combo of Voltaren, Tylenol extra strength and flexeril. Plus enveloped on an ice pad. Life is good today as I am able to turn in bed without having to suppress a rebel yell.

  21. 21.

    RossInDetroit

    June 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    Gail Collins LOLs.

  22. 22.

    Mark S.

    June 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    Estonia’s president has a thin skin. And some jackass says that Krugman is dishonest because his graph doesn’t go back to 1996. The whole point of the argument is how Estonia has done since the 2008 crash, not how it’s done in the last 15 years.

    Edited with a different link because apparently some jackass troll’s name that is the same as a libertarian think tank trips the spam filter.

  23. 23.

    Only the Facts

    June 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    Photo shops won’t win you the Presidency.

  24. 24.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 1:03 pm

    Meh. I’m really frustrated right now. Seattle Counseling Services seems more than happy to take my money, but they don’t actually have the staff to take new appointments from the looks of things. They’re saying “wait for our call”. I’ve waited a week since the intake. Right now they haven’t even told me how long it will be, and have not assigned a therapist to me yet – much less scheduled my next appointment with me.

    It’s been two weeks since I initially contacted them. I’ve already paid them, put over 100 miles on my car just to visit them the one time for the intake, and it’s been a week since then. I’m currently getting my meds from mexico, but I’d rather be above board. This seems like a bunch of bullshit to me. Particularly since I have no idea even how long they are going to make me wait by the phone. I’ve never had this kind of experience with therapists before.

    Too bad the people I used to work with in Seattle are now retired. =(

    Am I being overly demanding? I’ll admit I’m eager to get everything above board and safe with respect to my HRT, but this “don’t call us, we’ll call you” attitude just floors me. I’m about to call my insurance provider and tell them that SC is acting in bad faith.

    Meh.

  25. 25.

    Cassidy

    June 7, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    @Valdivia: I pulled a stupid. I lost my balance doing squats and torqued my back because I didn’t want to be “that guy” who face-planted in the gym doing squats. So, I was sore the next day and figured I dodged a bullet and went to the gym. Today, I called in sick because I couldn’t bend over to put on my socks.

  26. 26.

    Only the Facts

    June 7, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    The Wisconsin election is a watershed moment in American politics and the turning point of 2008. There’s even a movement to draft Scott Walker for Vice President. That would force Obambi to compete in the upper Midwest. And as demonstrated in Wisconsin, there’s no replacement for wall-to-wall Super PAC ads and UNLIMITED amounts of cash. Get outspent 10-to-1 and you WILL lose, period. And even in the conventional fundraising race, the RNC and Romney outraised the DNC and Obambi this month.

    Get ready, “progressives”. It’s going to be a bumpy ride to November!

  27. 27.

    Elizabelle

    June 7, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    Need a new thread?

    But the last one had a pit full of weiner dogs.

  28. 28.

    Mark S.

    June 7, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    @Only the Facts:

    Speaking of jackass trolls whose former names trip the spam filter . . .

  29. 29.

    Hill Dweller

    June 7, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    @Mark S.: Krugman just posted a graph showing the GDP growth after FDR took office, and asking the wingnuts if they consider that success.

  30. 30.

    Valdivia

    June 7, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    @Mark S.:

    this is too good not to share: a piece about Estonia and its miracle published in TNR, linked by a Sully underling and the punch line is all the gorgeous women. I think the article is not online anymore but boy a classic wankfest.

  31. 31.

    piratedan

    June 7, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    ok, home stretch here in AZ CD 8 to follow in the footsteps of Gabby Giffords, hope that our work and effort to get Ron Barber into office is a sign that people can reject the message and coinage and onslaught of the Republican message. I’ve seen Barber pilloried as a hack, a mannikin for Nancy Pelosi and someone who would be personally responsible for the loss of 40k worth of jobs if we continue with Obama’s policies. These guys are masters of the 30 second fear smear and while I really like the Dem ads, there are some incredibly talented and evil sonsabitches working for the other team. Gotta be liberating to be able to say whatever you want without having to maintain anything resembling a tenuous relationship with reality.

  32. 32.

    Valdivia

    June 7, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    @Cassidy:

    I am so so sorry. I feel your pain and hope you get better very soon. I have had back issues (back going out) on and off for 4 years. Not so major that I was worried. Then I started training for a triathlon and went flying off my bike and then the fun started. Had my first sciatica attack last november, and it lasted 3 weeks. Got this lovely one last week when I helped my dad off his wheelchair getting out of the hospital. Now I am taking more meds and doing worse than he is and he had brain surgery for 7-8 hours! Ugh.

  33. 33.

    Yutsano

    June 7, 2012 at 1:15 pm

    @piratedan: Turnout turnout turnout. And at least you’re in Tucson where you have a snowball’s chance. Hoping it all turns out well for you.

  34. 34.

    Cassidy

    June 7, 2012 at 1:18 pm

    @piratedan: No conscience. These shit sacks believe they have a get of jail free card right at the end just mumbling some mumbo jumbo over folded hands.

  35. 35.

    Maude

    June 7, 2012 at 1:21 pm

    @gaz:
    I’d make the call to the insurance provider. This isn’t right. You shouldn’t have to wait this long.

  36. 36.

    Ash Can

    June 7, 2012 at 1:22 pm

    @Only the Facts:

    The Wisconsin election is a watershed moment in American politics and the turning point of 2008.

    You can’t make this shit up.

  37. 37.

    SatanicPanic

    June 7, 2012 at 1:22 pm

    @Mark S.: I’m not sure the president of Estonia really wants to have this fight, and I’m also not sure what rightbloggers think they’re going to accomplish by telling everyone they want us to be like Estonia. Their logic is a mystery to me.

  38. 38.

    Uncle Glenny

    June 7, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    Where is my Halley’s MO?

  39. 39.

    Rabble Arouser

    June 7, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    @gaz: I can identify with that frustration. My fiance has been on and off antidepressants most of her life, and now is one of the times she feels she needs to be back on them. Her doctor at Group Health, rather than prescribe the medication, feels that my fiance should instead spend more time cuddling with the dog. These were actually the written instructions my fiance received at the end of her visit. Frustrating indeed.

  40. 40.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 1:29 pm

    @Maude: That’s what I was thinking. I do tend to get impatient, which is why I posed the question. Also, SCS comes recommended, so I’m hesitant to bad mouth them, but they seem to be more of a drug treatment center than anything. I don’t need that, and I think it has to do with the fact that they operate mostly off of federal and state grants. Everything else runs secondary to their drug treatment programs. Funny, if I needed that I’ve got better facilities in my area, and they are closer to home. Not to mention that I’m not using.

    I’m privately funded, and could go to a completely private agency but there are not many with the training that is required to treat me. My previous team is no longer practicing so I went under-the-table, but as I get older, it becomes more important that I do this on-the-level. There are health risks, particularly health-risks that increase with age, and Do-It-Yourself is not the safest, cheapest, or easiest way to handle this. Bribing foreign doctors is not exactly something I’d like to do if I can help it.

    Anyway, thanks for your input. Sometimes when I get impatient I like outside opinions. Strangers are better, because it’s not a loaded question for them. Thanks.

  41. 41.

    Hill Dweller

    June 7, 2012 at 1:29 pm

    @SatanicPanic:

    I’m not sure the president of Estonia really wants to have this fight, and I’m also not sure what rightbloggers think they’re going to accomplish by telling everyone they want us to be like Estonia. Their logic is a mystery to me.

    Krugman has already pointing out their stupidity by taking their standard of success(Estonia) and comparing it to GDP growth during FDR’s first term. Hell, I’d love to see Krugman compare Estonia to our GDP growth.

  42. 42.

    Ash Can

    June 7, 2012 at 1:30 pm

    LOL @ the photoshopped Mitt and mutt, and @ this too:

    @Brachiator:

    Somewhere on the InterTubes, there has got to be a version of this picture with the caption, “The Queen of England is Tired of Your Shit!”

    That looks like something out of the Hellsing manga.

  43. 43.

    Elizabelle

    June 7, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I think mid-day on MSNBC is their last chance to obfuscate and misinform anyone who missed Morning Schmoe.

    By 3:00 p you have Martin Bashir, whom I find courageous and well-prepared in his interviews.

    My elderly mother does not watch MSNBC until mid-afternoon, because she is sick of having her intelligence insulted.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    June 7, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    @Cassidy:

    Oh no. When you mentioned percocet, I thought about you and your health/exercise regimen.

    Be well soon.

  45. 45.

    Elie

    June 7, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    LOL!! What a hoot!

  46. 46.

    Linda Featheringill

    June 7, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    @gaz:

    You could call the facility and ask to speak with the supervisor. They have somebody in house. Then you can explain your position politely but firmly to said supervisor. That helps sometimes and the supervisor can facilitate an appointment. It’s worth a shot.

  47. 47.

    handsmile

    June 7, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    Beltane first linked to this incident on this morning’s open thread, but it may have gotten lost among the dreams of smoking chickens.

    Seems like Scott Walker won’t be the only hero this week for GOP brownshirts: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/07/greek-golden-dawn-mp-assaults-females-tv

    Ilias Kasidiaris, spokesman (!) of the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party in Greece demonstrated how to treat loud-mouthed women from opposition political parties while appearing with them on television.

    The state prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant for his vigorous expression of opinion, but the brave Kasidiaris has disappeared and his party has yet to comment on its representative’s actions. Evidently, the gallant Mr. Kasidiaris has some previous anger management issues as well.

    Golden Dawn garnered 450,000 votes (7% of total) in last month’s Greek parliamentary election, gaining 21 seats in the legislature, but that is notably short of the 27% necessary to identify them as true patriots who just want their country back.

    Nevertheless, one must imagine that the video clip of the incident is being played repeatedly and wistfully in Republican offices and basements throughout the land. After all, just last week the spokesman for Representative Nan Hayworth (R/TeaParty-NY19) had to resign merely for remarking that people should “hurl some acid at those female democratic senators” who pay different salaries to men and women on their staff.

  48. 48.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    @Linda Featheringill: I’ve sent them an email explaining my position, and saying I expect a call by EOB tomorrow. I also plan on calling them today, but I’m going to give them a few hours. It’s early here, and I find that getting it escalated or otherwise is best done after lunchtime – hopefully they won’t be so rushed =) Plus it gives me time to take a deep breath, meditate on it and remain calm. =)

    I just can’t believe the way they are running things. It’s a zoo.

  49. 49.

    Mark S.

    June 7, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    @handsmile:

    Jesus

  50. 50.

    kindness

    June 7, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    @Rabble Arouser: You can sue over advice like that you know. Sometimes just mentioning that in the presence of one of those medical folk helps immensely. Of course, a note to this effect will go into her file too but……..

  51. 51.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    June 7, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    @Brachiator: Not quite what you’re looking for, but there’s this Private Eye cover from 1995.

  52. 52.

    PaulW

    June 7, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    Here in FLorida:

    http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/florida_defends_voter_purge_accuses_doj_of_ignorin.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

    Scott and his ilk are trying to turn the argument around by accusing the DoJ from blocking their access to Homeland Security databases so they can “pursue” illegals who “register to vote”. Never mind the fact that too many American citizens (and one is too many in my book) are getting illegally kicked off the voter rolls by Scott’s purge attempt. What Scott is doing is violating the rights of voters without due process, and forcing people to jump through hoops to get re-registered to vote that they shouldn’t have to be jumping IN THE FIRST PLACE.

    I seriously wanna see Scott, Bondi and Detzner arrested for violating the Voting Rights Act.

  53. 53.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    @Rabble Arouser: That’s interesting (and of course, unfortunate). I’m distrustful of health insurance, but Group Health has been absolutely stellar with me lately – then again I’m on a top notch plan. It’s the agency they sent me to that is giving me trouble.

    You know what I’d do if I were her? Call the customer service line, have them transfer to the behavioral department and (I guess lie if she has to) and say she’s been suicidal (and plotted). That’s code for FUCKING GIVE ME HELP NOW.

    Aside from that, and possibly a better solution, she could do what my wife does. Most primary care providers AFAIK will happily prescribe anti-depressants if you express that you are depressed to them. You don’t need a psychiatrist for that. My wife is fearful of head-shrinkers, so she goes straight to her doctor. It works, and it’s not a special case – even switching PCP’s she and our insurance have never had an issue going that route. I bring this up because before she did it, I didn’t even think that this avenue was possible. Not only is it possible, but it’s easy. (Barring some sort of state law or something that limits your doctor from prescribing that type of medication of course). In any case, the worst they can say is no.

    Offered FWIW, and I hope it helps!

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 7, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    To those who’ve been sort of following the Curt Schiiling debacle, today his company declared bankruptcy. That part isn’t news. The fact that at the same time the State Polica and FBI announced they are investigating its demise, is.

    As is the fact that his Baltimore affiliate (some former gaming co by a different name, IIRC) shows liabilities in excess of $100M and assets under $1M. They’re in the hole for *way* more than the RI loan guarantee.

  55. 55.

    RalfW

    June 7, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    One of the best comments on the Internets today is in an Ed Kilgore item at WaMo. Love the escalator metaphor!

    boatboy says: …the thing that ticks [rightie pundits] off most is that Democrats of late have halted their slide to the right; instead of progressing gradually (though not nearly quickly enough) toward the neocon nirvana the GOP is racing toward with open arms, they’ve managed merely to halt where they are. This behavior the wingnuts interpret through their Rand-Koch lenses as racing screaming to the left. It’s like they’re on an escalator going down, and think the stairs next to them are the part that’s moving.

  56. 56.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    June 7, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    The Wisconsin election is a watershed moment in American politics and the turning point of 2008.

    @Only the Facts: You got a time machine? Otherwise, so sad, no mulligans on your party’s self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head that was Sarah! Palin in 2008, so sorry.

  57. 57.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    @kindness: As soon as you mention lawsuit, expect them to cut off communication with you, other than transferring you to their legal department. I wouldn’t recommend that route.

  58. 58.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    To those who’ve been sort of following the Curt Schiiling debacle, today his company declared bankruptcy. That part isn’t news. The fact that at the same time the State Polica and FBI announced they are investigating its demise, is.

    Let me just say this: Ha-Ha!

    Feel bad for RI, though. That little state needs a break. (Otoh, they did give us FleetBank. Grrrrr.)

  59. 59.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    Betty, LMFAO at that image!

  60. 60.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    @Roger Moore: ETA: Has anyone yet said they think Mitt did too much LDS back in the ‘60s?

    He was part of the Get A Haircut, Son movement at Berkeley.

  61. 61.

    Ash Can

    June 7, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    @Forum Transmitted Disease: You have to love these right-wing chest-thumpers who show up in the thread out of nowhere, drop a comment that they think tells us all off but in reality is no more than a public pants-wetting, and then turn tail and run.

  62. 62.

    bemused

    June 7, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    I caught just a couple of minutes of Issa aggressively bullying Holder on msnbc. Republicans really get their joy from being insufferable pricks.

  63. 63.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 2:05 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Romney is running an awful campaign, but the media is carrying his water in hopes of a horse race.

    Media aspire to several houses and $250mil themselves. They’re shitting their pants at the thought of a pitchfork mob descending and asking pointed (heh) questions about why all the fresh faces are just someone connected’s child instead of anyone talented and suggesting that they, too, are part of the 1% and out of touch, not the regular joes and janes they pretend to be on TV.

  64. 64.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 2:07 pm

    @Ash Can: They must have learned that tactic from Glenn Greenwald, the Internet’s most prolific pants wetter/drive-by-troll

  65. 65.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 2:07 pm

    @Mark S.: Please please dear gawd let it be true, draft Scott “John Doe” Walker for VP, oh the lulz would be epic, 2008-style in fact.

  66. 66.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    @Ash Can: parody troll?

  67. 67.

    Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor

    June 7, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    @Another Halocene Human:
    Heh. This.

    Just this.

  68. 68.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 2:13 pm

    @bemused: There’s nothing more pathetic than the lickspittles who vote for Issa and then puff out their chest when he gets down to some good bullying.

  69. 69.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    June 7, 2012 at 2:13 pm

    As soon as you mention lawsuit, expect them to cut off communication with you, other than transferring you to their legal department.

    @gaz: SOP for any company big or small that’s been through the bullshit joke factory that is our legal system (most small business owners aren’t savvy enough to do this as policy until/if they survive their first lawsuit). You call my workplace and mention that you’re contemplating any form of legal action against us and the only people you’ll be talking to forever afterwards are our lawyers.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 7, 2012 at 2:16 pm

    I really fucking hate being a Democrat sometimes

    “I think she would have come in with a lot more executive experience,” Rendell said on CBS’s “This Morning. ” I think the president was hurt by being a legislator only.”
    For example, health care and the stimulus. Two bills that I think did good things for the American people, too much of it was left up to the Congress. He sort of said, ‘Here’s my concept, you guys flesh it out.’ I think Hillary Clinton would have sent them a bill and said, ‘Here’s what I want.’

    Of course, extraction-industry lobbyist Rendell can count on no one being so gauche as to point out that entirety of Hillary Clinton’s “executive experience” was the utter train wreck of her Mark Penn run primary campaign.

  71. 71.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    June 7, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    There’s nothing more pathetic than the lickspittles who vote for Issa and then puff out their chest when he gets down to some good bullying.

    @Another Halocene Human: I moved two miles across town right after the 2010 elections and find, to my utter rage, that instead of being in Bilbray’s district (a Republican who has had the good sense to not identify too much in public as one and keeps his fool mouth shut), I’m now in that shitbag Issa’s district.

    That Vista white-trash retiree crowd is going to keep that felonious monster in office until the day he dies.

  72. 72.

    Valdivia

    June 7, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    for god’s sake. can this asshole just shut up already?

  73. 73.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    @Forum Transmitted Disease: Exactly. If your lawyer can’t notify them directly of the impending action, you best not say the word. Or IOW: If you aren’t prepared to sue BEFORE you make the call you better keep the idea to yourself.

    That advice from kindness was terrible and wrong headed. Yelling lawsuit may make you feel better, but even if you theoretically have a case, YOU DON’T HAVE ONE until you’ve retained counsel of your own.

  74. 74.

    Ash Can

    June 7, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    @Another Halocene Human:

    parody troll?

    Actually, now I do think so. He/she/it is spraying urine all over Kay’s comment thread upstairs, and one comment is wackier than the next. I’m beginning to suspect DougJ is bored and is looking for a few yucks.

  75. 75.

    Brachiator

    June 7, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    @The prophet Nostradumbass:

    Not quite what you’re looking for, but there’s this Private Eye cover from 1995.

    Ha! Very good.

  76. 76.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    June 7, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    @Ash Can: I’d it’s a parody troll, it makes what it’s doing to Kay’s thread even more obnoxious and stupid

  77. 77.

    catclub

    June 7, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    @Hill Dweller: The real point is that if you do the same chart for the US, it does MUCH better than Estonia over the 2007-2012 period. We have more than recovered to the peak GDP – and passed it. I am surprised Krugman did not do that.

    Especially since he then was asking, “Do you think _this_ looks like success for stimulus?”
    about the FDR case.

  78. 78.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    @Ash Can: My previous comment was eaten, so here I go again.

    The troll-who-shall-not-be-named has a long history on this board. That history includes a whole lot of bigotry.

    Bigotry in parody is still bigotry, just like “Ironic” hipster racism is still racism. So accusing DougJ of parody trolling as this troll is a pretty serious accusation.

    If DougJ were in fact playing parody troll, he has a lot of ‘splainin to do. I also get the impression that DougJ is well aware of the “parody is no excuse for bigotry” dynamic. If he weren’t, I think other FP’ers including (if not especially) ABL and Zandar would have told him to fuck off long ago.

    So I for one, do not believe it. I also wonder why DougJ gets repeatedly accused of this. I haven’t seen any evidence, circumstantial or otherwise which supports even speculation of it. Then again, I allow for the possibility that I may have missed something.

    It’s a serious charge, in any case, and I don’t think people should be so casual about it.

  79. 79.

    Ash Can

    June 7, 2012 at 2:52 pm

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: Yeah, I don’t suppose DougJ would carry it that far. Besides, now that I think of it, he’s at the Netroots convention right now, I believe, so he most likely has plenty to keep him occupied at the moment.

    @gaz: He gets accused because he’s done it in the past. I personally don’t think it’s a huge deal; after all, all this is is a bulletin board, and all we are are some anonymous crabs with a desire to spout our 2 cents in public. It’s not as though we need to adhere to strict protocols to prevent disasters from ensuing. But as I say to Prophet immediately above, now that I give it a little thought I don’t think DougJ is doing this.

  80. 80.

    Cassidy

    June 7, 2012 at 2:52 pm

    @Elizabelle: The stupid thing is, other than my ego, is that I don’t lift free weights. I do all my weightlifting with machines because I don’t have a spotter and am, almost phobically, paranoid of injuring myself. But, I got it in my head this week to change up my routine a bit and do some exercises that would help add in core stabilization…and promptly injured myself.

  81. 81.

    Hill Dweller

    June 7, 2012 at 2:55 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Rendell’s take is absurd.

    Obama surrounded himself with too many Clinton people, who had over-learned the lesson of Bill’s disastrous attempt to pass healthcare. Clinton did exactly what Rendell claims the Obama admin should’ve done(write the legislation themselves and force congress to pass it), which was an unmitigated failure, and almost cost him a second term.

  82. 82.

    Ben Franklin

    June 7, 2012 at 3:02 pm

    @gaz:

    Once I inadvertently deleted part of my handle, and immediately went into moderation.

    I don’t know if DougJ has admin privileges. Just sayin’.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 7, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    @Valdivia: @Hill Dweller: If the stakes weren’t so high, I’d be amused (and yes, I’m aware nobody outside of PA and the blogosphere knows who Ed Rendell is. The media know, and they will work to make sure others know, see Boo k er, Cory). I have a spectator’s curiosity about what plum job Rendell thought he was going to get, what could have made him so bitter. Somebody also needs to point out to these PUMAs that if they want Hillary in ’16, the economy is likely to improve over the next four years, and she’ll have a better chance as Obama’s successor than taking on “morning in America” Romney.

  84. 84.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 7, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: PUMAs are tribalists who are pissed that “teh Blacks” got “their guy” and moment of redemption Frist. Kinda like the tribalist SWM gays who make a show of being pissed at “teh Blacks” for being so concerned about their petty little community concerns and not rushing to their side when they want something.

    Spoiled children are spoiled children.

    Seems like most of the PUMAs took a chill pill after Hillz got Sec of State or Obama turned out not to be the worst thing ever or they turned out to be Republicans.

    The rest are butthurt because Obama hired Saddleback dude before calling them up to serve their country.

    Heck, in terms of shunning Clintonistas Obama’s sin was not going far enough. Larry Summers–really?

  85. 85.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    @Ben Franklin: This didn’t really have to do with DougJ’s access level (other than him being an FP’er). The reason my first post was scrubbed is that I rattled off the list of former screennames of the troll in question. That flags WP to scrub my post. It was my fault.

    To be clear, the crux of what I’m saying in that post is that if you accuse DougJ of parody trolling as this particular troll, you are also calling him a bigot (and if you need to unpack that point, please see my previous post). I was saying that allegation shouldn’t be made so casually, and I also wondered why people accuse dougj of this. If anything, I see circumstantial evidence against it, but nothing that supports it.

  86. 86.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 3:28 pm

    @Ash Can: “He gets accused because he’s done it in the past.”. I’ve heard this from some, but they never name names, or situations – just vague flinging, so I’ve dismissed it. I’m not saying it’s not true, only that I haven’t assigned it any real weight.

    “I personally don’t think it’s a huge deal; after all, all this is is a bulletin board, and all we are are some anonymous crabs with a desire to spout our 2 cents in public. It’s not as though we need to adhere to strict protocols to prevent disasters from ensuing.”

    If it were just parody trolling I’d agree. But to parody a bigot, even on the Internet – man that points to so many different sections of DerailingForDummies that it’s insane. see “It’s Only The Internet”, “But I was Joking”, etc. Seriously, in light of the bigotry involved, it IS a big deal. Doubly so were it being done by a front-pager (who like it or not, represents the blog).

  87. 87.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 7, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    @Another Halocene Human: Oh, I get PUMAs in general. I’m just specifically curious about Rendell. I’ve seen him on TV a lot recently, he’s a political pro, but he harps on the Great Counterfactual Restoration like a commenter at Eschaton or… wherever they are these days. I just think being governor of a big state is more prestigious than all but a very few jobs in the president’s gift, so to speak, and I don’t see Rendell on the USSC, or State or Justice or St James’ Court, so I’m a more than a little surprised at his penchant for trouble-making. Seems to me HUD would’ve been a step down, especially for that ego.

  88. 88.

    Maude

    June 7, 2012 at 4:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Rendell didn’t get a post in the Obama admin. That’s why he’s out there.

  89. 89.

    gaz

    June 7, 2012 at 4:23 pm

    Yay! It looks like my moaning at Seattle Counseling Services got results. =)

    I’m in next week, my wife’s schedule permitting.

    I haz a happy. =)

  90. 90.

    Brachiator

    June 7, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    Krugman has already pointing out their stupidity by taking their standard of success(Estonia) and comparing it to GDP growth during FDR’s first term. Hell, I’d love to see Krugman compare Estonia to our GDP growth.

    I was streaming a Leo Laporte tech podcast during lunch. He had some guests in the audience from Estonia, of all places.

    He didn’t ask them about GDP, however.

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    June 7, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    For everyone but especially for asiangrrlMN, I give you the following link

    A proper rusty chainsaw.

  92. 92.

    LanceThruster

    June 7, 2012 at 6:49 pm

    The campaign slogan from the top down for the GOP gangsters might as well be —

    Nobody can be trusted to hold the money, so it’s best if we hold the money.

    It’s pretty much the same concept where “Trust me” can be accurately translated as “F#ck you!”

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