From a Tumblr with questions for Tom Friedman (via):
Mr. Friedman, is it your broad shoulders that allow you to so gracefully bear the White Man’s Burden?
Talk, talk, talk about it, or anything else, here.
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rlrr
Mr. Friedman, is it your broad shoulders that allow you to so gracefully bear the White Man’s Burden?
Along with his ample mustache…
c u n d gulag
Mr. Friedman,
Are those 3rd world cab drivers who agree with you real, or figments of your imagination?
And if they are real, how much do you tip them?
And if they’re not, do you still hand in a fake receipt to be reimbursed, so the Editors won’t know you’re bullsh*tting them?
Litlebritdifrnt
There is a birther hearing in FL this morning. Should be a fun fail parade.
Livestream here if anyone is interested.
http://www.ustream.tv/WND
different-church-lady
Eau de Doug J.
SRW1
It is, as rlrr already pointed out, his ginormous Rotzbremse.
I bet it gets twirled feverishly when Tom imagines the various cab drivers.
maya
Actually, no, Friedman does not shoulder the White Man’s Burden. Alone, that is. Rushbo also lends substantial leverage to that Herculean effort. You are not very well versed in the lore and pageantry of American Exceptionalism, mistermix.
Dork
@Litlebritdifrnt: Did I mislearn this, or didnt the SCOTUS recently decline to hear a birther case? Doesnt such rejection pretty much put an end to these lawsuits?
rlrr
@Litlebritdifrnt:
While driving through FL last year, we saw a number of “Show us the birth certificate” billboards…
Schlemizel
@Dork: It will never end. Once these poor deluded creatures get an idea in their heads it is so alone and frightened that they dare not allow it to leave on its own. 25 years from now Og will have a show on FOE NOOZE called “Yell Loud!” and his guest will be some clown who has made several tweets proving Obama was born in Kenya.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Dork:
Well to anyone with half a brain, yes, but these are birthers we are talking about. They won’t shut up until they can scream “VICTORY” once POTUS is out of the WH (probably some time about 2016). LOL
Ruckus
@Schlemizel:
You are being too kind with poor deluded creatures.
I’ll give them stupid wankers but that’s the upper limit for me.
Zifnab
I get a tingle up my leg every time I see those broad shoulders. Sometimes I even see star bursts.
OGLiberal
Looks like the “Austerity Now!” victory in Greece is really helping the markets. Dow only down 50 pts and Spanish 10-year yield up about 4.5%. Awesome!
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/cant-get-no-satisfaction-2/
MattF
Hmm. Russian naval vessels going to Tartus, a Syrian port on the Mediterranean north of Lebanon that hosts a Russian base:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/world/europe/russian-warships-said-to-be-going-to-naval-base-in-syria.html?_r=1&hp
What a fucking mess. In any event, do you think the Russians know something we don’t?
anibundel
There was an article up over the weekend blaming LiveNation for the Radiohead stage collapse. It has, as of this morning, been taken down.
I still think the steel was overloaded, because of how it crumpled.
becca
Current is reporting scotus will be ruling on something within the hour.
I’ m betting immigration is the issue, but maybe ACA.
Maude
Tom Levenson was mentioned on Bloomberg Radio this morning.
Tom Keene,one of the hosts of Bloomberg Surveillance is reading Newton.
The show is heard in Europe, so this is really wonderful.
From now on Tom is Mr. Douche.
Amir Khalid
@anibundel:
What was the connection drawn between the concert promoters and the people who actually designed and built the set? As I understand, the latter usually work for the band, rather than the promoters.
Maude
SCOTUSblog has live updates of orders and opinions from the court on their site.
MattF
@OGLiberal: Krugman says the actual 10-year rate for Spain is 7.25 percent, which is ‘Panic, right now’ territory.
redshirt
Theory: Every Mustache is really an alien symbiote, from the Planet Mustachio. Anyone wearing a mustache is a thrall in service to their evil, hairy plans.
anibundel
@Amir Khalid: The connection was that the promoters came the the engineers on site and demanded x amount of extra lighting and video equipment be added to a rig that was already at weight limit and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The story itself would have sounded fantastical to anyone outside the business, but those who are in the business said the wording of it rang of truth.
Even if it’s not true, the promoters are who do the hiring of the outside vendors. They would have been the one to hire the steel company, for instance, that puts up the scaff that surrounds the stage and that lighting/sound/video rig off of. It is a confirmed fact that LiveNation went around IATSE and the unions and hired non-union companies, who are known to be faster and looser with rigging than union hands. Whether or not that contributed is not known at this time.
handsmile
Quite a weekend for international elections:
In Egypt, the military has essentially declared a coup in advance of voting results from the presidential election run-off between Mohammed Morsi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak’s last prime minister.
Last night, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces issued a constitutional declaration granting it legislative and executive powers that largely will render as a figurehead the incoming president. Among its measures, the military will now have a permanent role in the parliament and the president will not be the commander-in-chief of the military. Judicial challenges to this power-grab will likely fail, as Egypt’s Supreme Court in recent months has revealed itself to be reliably pro-military.
Tahrir Square will continue to roil, and the promise of 2011’s Arab Spring in Egypt has all but evaporated.
There is great news from France, though, with Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party winning an absolute majority in both the National Assembly and Senate. Such legislative control provides Hollande with significant authority to address the economic travails of both France and the Eurozone. It bolsters as well his role as an anti-austerity counterweight to Germany’s Angela Merkel.
France’s far-right Front National won only two seats in the National Assembly, after concerns about its potency following leader Marine LePen’s substantial vote totals in May’s presidential election. Sarkozy’s UMP continued to implode, with senior party leaders losing their parliamentary seats.
And in Greece, “Drachmaggedon” has been averted for a little while longer, but unstable governance will continue. In this weekend’s parliamentary election re-run, the left-wing coalition Syriza increased its vote total from 17% to 27%, but was narrowly defeated by the conservative New Democracy party winning 30%.
ND leader Antonis Samaras will once more be asked to form a coalition government. Enormous international financial pressure will be exerted upon the center-right party PASOK to agree to co-habitate with ND, its longtime bitter rival in Greek politics.
For more, as always: http://www.guardiannews.com/
rlrr
Apparently, Romney took a $77,000 tax deduction for his dancing horse…
Linda Featheringill
@OGLiberal:
Greece:
Krugman also has a full article about Greece in which he touches on one of my favorite points. If you marry someone, you take on their debts as well as their assets and their potential assistance to you. If Europe wants to have a union, then everyone will have to cope with whatever financial difficulties that arise.
Punchy
@becca: I bet its the ACA. Monday morning would be a perfect time to crush Obama. Gives em 5 full days of coverage.
MattF
@Punchy: No ACA decision today, according to scotusblog. Next opportunity is Thursday.
Villago Delenda Est
@redshirt:
I’m pretty sure Bolton got that way on his own without the help of the moustache.
rlrr
@rlrr:
Link:
Amir Khalid
The Underpants Gnome is apparently executing his plan at Euro 2012.
jwb
@becca: Reading between the lines of numerous GOP press releases and tweets over the weekend, I find a strong, implicit expectation that SCOTUS will overturn part but not all of the ACA. Still, there is no clarity on what parts will be overturned. I, on the other hand, have come to the conclusion that SCOTUS will not overturn anything substantive because business is basically ok with the law and it will be easier for Rmoney and the GOP to run against the law than to run with no law when the GOP would be forced to talk about what they are for rather than what they are against. We’ll see.
jwb
@MattF: SCOTUSblog also seems to think next Monday is the most likely scenario.
Villago Delenda Est
@rlrr:
OK.
Should Cole take a deduction for the care and feeding of Tunch? Considering Tunch’s size, I’m sure it was a significant loss…
Punchy
@jwb: I can see it both ways. If its gone, they’ll just promise ponies and rainbows and M&M Blizzards for every American, while the media just nods in awe of such an awesome and unique plan. Nobody dares ask them to be realistic and honest. And Obama will be painted as weak.
Related, anyone think a House Obama impeachment is in the works come Sept., either via Fast and Furious or this Exec order w/r/t illegal workers?
Linda Featheringill
@jwb: #32
That would be June 25th. One of our commenters here predicted that date. I don’t remember who it was but if he’ll come forward, we’ll award him the door prize.
jwb
@Punchy: Impeachment will only come in September if the GOP has decided that Obama pretty much has a lock on the election and they decide to go for broke. But even the GOP idiots in the House have to recognize that going for impeachment is the most likely way to ensure that Obama ends up with a large governing majority in House and Senate as well as a gazillion dollars in campaign donations that might actually turn Citizen United on its head.
Linda Featheringill
@Punchy:
They might have some problems with F&F because Holder didn’t start the program. Actually, Holder investigated and halted the program.
Technically, the “executive order” isn’t that. It’s a change in the way current laws are executed by one department of the executive branch. Still, I’m sure that Obama was deeply involved in that decision.
DREAM-Lite arguments would probably come down to constitutional questions and I suspect that Obama knows a lot more about the constitution than Issa does.
Issa, of course, might not let mere facts get in his way so he might try something anyway.
Frankensteinbeck
@jwb:
Do not assume any organization or rationality in these predictions. Remember that these people are famous for grabbing any rumor they like, no matter how tenuous. The SC is also tight lipped and answers to no authority but their own consciences. Except Clarence Thomas, but in a way he proves the point. They do whatever they feel like and have huge egos. Men like that are hard to lead.
Steeplejack
@Punchy:
There was no executive order. The change in immigration policy was set forth in a memorandum written and signed by Janet Napolitano.
yopd1
@Dork: It doesn’t matter. People will also keep the birther story alive because they see it as a way to earn money. There is now a website set up to send faxes to AZ politicians in order to force them to get “official” authentication of Obama’s birth certificate. The website, (address is here: grassroots.cc/9069_120523_BOPAC_Arizona_Obama_Ballot but I won’t link it), requests donations up to $5000 in order to send “faxgrams” to all AZ politicians. How dumb do you have to be to think it costs $1 to send even a single fax.
Villago Delenda Est
@yopd1:
Well, we are talking about birfers, here…
chopper
@Linda Featheringill:
as a bicyclist in NYC, i’m sure it’ll feel like one.
shortstop
@Linda Featheringill: I know you’re not new here, so you know that whomever didn’t predict June 25 will now insist that he did.