Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

In after Baud. Damn.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

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

Innocent people do not delay justice.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

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I’m retiring the Metrosexual Black AbeJ moniker because James Harden is a real life Metrosexual Black Abe Lincoln.

Talk about whatever, but if you’re not following this year’s NBA play-offs, you’re missing out. My dad and I were remembering seeing Dave Cowens and the Celtics play Bob McAdoo and the Buffalo Braves way back in the day, and we agree right now is the most fun the league has been since the ’70s. Unpredictability, teams from nowhere cities, crazy outfits, Earth Wind and Fire on the way to the commercial breaks…all we need is a little more scoring and a little less defense and it would be perfect. Maybe short shorts and a few more headbands too.

Reader Interactions

139Comments

  7. 7.

    MikeBoyScout

    Hey John ….

    Three prominent West Virginia Democrats said Monday that they would skip the party’s national convention in Charlotte, N.C., this September over concerns that links to the party could hurt their re-election chances.
    Sen. Joe Manchin, Rep. Nick Rahall, and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin all said they would avoid the convention, according to the West Virginia Metro News.

    What the f*ck John?

  8. 8.

    Joel

    I have to say, the playoffs have been great, but the Finals have been a little disappointing. Throwback to the nineties, and not in a Jordan-era Bulls kind of way.

  9. 9.

    lamh35

    posting this here cause I love the video so much and I was just saying to some friends of mine in NOLA that I’m made I never learned to double dutch. Plain ole jump rope I can do, double dutch…nope.


    FLOTUS jumping double dutch (catch her at about the 5:30 mark)

    Mrs. Obama also joined the Cary Family YMCA SuperSkippers of North Carolina for a round of Double-Dutch jump roping, and surprised the kids—boys and girls—with her prowess.

  10. 10.

    Hunter Gathers

    I stopped paying attention to pro basketball when Jordan retired for the second time. I know, I know, fair weather fan blah, blah, blah. It’s just too fucking sloppy for me to want to pay attention anymore.

  11. 11.

    JC

    Actually, the 80’s were pretty good – but yeah, nowadays, the league is back to being pretty open, with exciting shots from everywhere, fast break offenses, etc.

    It is a lot of fun!

  13. 13.

    Loneoak

    I have to admit the original ‘Metrosexual Black Abe Lincoln’ proposal, no matter how morally repugnant, got a chuckle out of me. It’s not so far outside out reality.

  19. 19.

    lamh35

    So I’m a little behind, but it seems Obama another “Oprah” vote, well the “Hispanic Oprah” herself, Cristina’s endorsement.

    Cristina Saralegui Supports President Obama

    So Obama’s got 2 Oprahs in his corner, and Romney’s using the “private sector is fine” remark of POTUS in a Spanish-language ad targeting Hispanics????

  21. 21.

    burnspbesq

    It’s been all downhill for pro ball since the last ABA championship series. When the NBA can give me something as good as Dr. J vs. David Thompson, I’ll start paying attention again.

  23. 23.

    dr. bloor

    all we need is a little more scoring and a little less defense and it would be perfect.

    So the NBA All-Star game is the highlight of your year?

    I find few things less interesting than pro basketball. The whole thing has drifted so close to WWF that there’s little point in watching.

  25. 25.

    West of the Cascades

    I got picked once as a Kleinhans honorary ball-boy for the Buffalo Braves. It seems life has been pretty much downhill since that (at least as a Buffalo sports fan). Kleinhans went out of business, oh, about two decades ago, about the same time the Bills did.

    But this year they’ll be great!!

  29. 29.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @lamh35: I love that video, especially for the fact that the announcer says “south side of Chicago right there”. I am guessing that Michelle isn’t taking any 77K loss on a dressage horse this year.

  31. 31.

    The Dangerman

    The NBA game would be interesting if:

    (1) Flopping earned you a technical foul; it’s a basketball game, not a time to polish your acting chops

    and

    (2) They called traveling

    Yeah, yeah, neither is gonna happen, but a guy can hope.

  33. 33.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    I cheer for the Thunder, but in the Seattle Metro Area that is grounds for your frapaccino spiked with rat poison, and don’t you talk bad about the new arena idea, or you might as well move to Portland you infidels(or a Coog fan)

  34. 34.

    Yutsano

    if you’re not following this year’s NBA play-offs

    FUCK. THE. THUNDER.

    /bitter Seattleite

  35. 35.

    The Dangerman

    @Yutsano:

    /bitter Seattleite

    Could be worse; you could be a Portland fan and watch them pick Oden over Durant after having watched them pass on MJ.

  37. 37.

    Steeplejack

    @The Dangerman:

    [If] They called traveling.

    This. Lord knows I try to stay “hip” and be down with the yoots, and I know the game has to evolve, man, but I just have a visceral “played basketball in middle school in Illinois way back when” reaction to this.

    And palming. They palm the shit out of the ball.

  41. 41.

    MikeJ

    @DougJ: Why would anyone care about palming? You’re just walking down the court, nobody withing 20 feet of you, why not palm the ball? Really, who the fuck cares? It doesn’t confer any advantage and calling stupid shit just slows things down.

  44. 44.

    DougJ

    @khead:

    I hate to say this, but I think Uncle Drew palmed the ball on some of those crossovers late in the video.

  45. 45.

    Steeplejack

    @DougJ:

    You’re probably right, but it seems more blatant now. They give them five steps instead of three, and almost every night on the highlights I see some guy take two (or three) steps and then do a both-foot plant to go up for his shot.

    Maybe it’s the fault of the big-ass TV and slo-mo on the DVR. I’m just seeing more of what’s there.

  47. 47.

    The Dangerman

    @DougJ:

    The traveling is same as it ever was.

    While true it’s a “tradition” not to call it, the traveling has gotten worse; last game, Lebron broad jumped into the lane and then jumped up again for a layup or dunk. I’m cool with a jump stop, but a jump jump is a little too much.

  48. 48.

    khead

    @DougJ:

    A little… but us old folks get a break.

    For two years now I’ve been allowed to do what I want while playing with the “kids” as long as a I manage to chuck up a few winners from 25 ft like Uncle Drew. The kids even call me “Pops” some days. I wear it as a badge of honor.

    Still, even though some folks have called me “Money”, I’m no Lamar Mundane…

  50. 50.

    khead

    @DougJ:

    A little… but us old folks get a break.

    For two or three years now I’ve been allowed to do what I want while playing with the “kids” as long as a I manage to chuck up a few winners from 25 ft like Uncle Drew. The kids even call me “Pops” some days. I wear it as a badge of honor.

    Still, even though some folks have called me “Money”, I’m no Lamar Mundane…

  53. 53.

    Violet

    I clicked on that post-game news conference drinking game link at the top and then had to search to find out what “air tie” is. In the middle of looking for that, I stumbled across some men’s sartorial blog that referred to some styles of dress as “spezzy”. Any idea what that means?

    I clearly know nothing about modern menswear and styles of dress.

  54. 54.

    Jade Jordan

    Noooooo tell BronBron the cumberbund sized headband is not cute. Nor is he fooling anyone about his great receding hairline.

  55. 55.

    Spaghetti Lee

    The NBA comes third for me after baseball and football. I don’t think it’s the game itself so much as the way it’s covered by sports media. They’ve just gotta have their Star-vs.-Star storyline at all costs, when it’s obvious that Durant didn’t get this team here by himself. (And for that matter, neither did James-I think we already had a ‘James and no one else’ team and it was called the mid-00’s Cavaliers. Call me crazy but I’d take the ’12 Heat over that group.)

  56. 56.

    lamh35

    Alright, so at first I was like Abraham Lincoln vampire hunter…wtf?

    Now I’m all hell yeah Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter? I guess endless advertising does work.

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    @MikeJ:

    You’re just walking down the court, nobody withing 20 feet of you, why not palm the ball?

    They also do it when they’re changing direction on fast breaks and driving the lane.

  60. 60.

    Violet

    @DougJ:
    Yeah, I like “air tie”. Once you know what it means, it’s really obvious. I had a good idea I knew, but decided to search to be sure.

    There sure are a lot of menswear bloggers out there. Wouldn’t have guessed.

  62. 62.

    lamh35

    I can honestly say I have absolutely no interest in seeing the Romney boys on Conan. I tend to love Conan, but ugh can’t stand any of the Romney clan, so even my love of CoCo and Andy won’t lead me to wanting to watch the show, but I can bet we will hear all kinds of praise over those Romney boys, much like we hear from their classless parents.

  65. 65.

    khead

    @Steeplejack:

    I like(d) the Mars Blackmon commercials too – do you know, do you know, do you know? – but being a guiltless playground gunner I really, really liked that Reebok commmercial.

  66. 66.

    Yutsano

    @lamh35: Either Conan is committing career suicide or this is a genius move. Only the results will tell for sure.

  69. 69.

    catclub

    @Mr Stagger Lee: Well, I cheer for the Seattleites who voted down the Sonics hostage taking ploy.

    Since I am a Spurs fan, I am really impressed by the Thunder(and have not had time to build up the same hate that is directed at the Lakers).

    I am also impressed by the Miami defense if it can slow down the Thunder. Before the finals the consensus was that either Spurs or Thunder might sweep Miami. Ain’t necessarily so.

  70. 70.

    J.W. Hamner

    I have to admit I’ve been following the NBA playoff this year despite not being much of a pro basketball fan… is it because the pro game has gotten “better” in some way, or just because since ESPN/ABC broadcasts games they talk about it nonstop and I’ve gotten caught up in the marketing? For me at least I’m guessing I became one of the Sheeple at some point on the elliptical listening to Mike and Mike recap podcasts.

  73. 73.

    LT

    I saw those Braves back in the day, maybe even that season. Man they had some players McAdoo – who was the short dude? Ernie? Wasn’t there a MacMillan?

  74. 74.

    khead

    @DougJ:

    That’s right. Air Jordan, Air Jordan, Air Jordan.

    As for this year, I like The OKC players but there’s just no way the youngbloods will win the championship this year.

  75. 75.

    khead

    @DougJ:

    That’s right. Air Jordan, Air Jordan, Air Jordan.

    As for this year, I like The OKC players but there’s just no way the youngbloods will win the championship this year.

  79. 79.

    YellowJournalism

    @lamh35: My brother-in-law was very upset about that movie because, “Everbody knows he never hunted vampires.” He was dead serious.

    I think it’s time someone explained the concept of fiction to him.

  80. 80.

    LT

    What the fuck? Did I miss a game today? It’s 2-1 Heat?

    EDIT: Fuck, Lost 2 days there somehow. Oh well.

  82. 82.

    patrick II

    @lamh35:

    I have read the book, and while it is a fun read it had an edge to it. Vampires were used as a metaphor for slaveholders of the south that were sucking the life out of their slaves. The war between the states was caste as a last ditch effort to prevent the continuation of that unspeakable evil.
    I have been wondering how much of that edge the movie would keep.

  88. 88.

    lamh35

    @Warren Terra: sorry, sorry, that was from original video. here’s a better one, clipped to include only FLOTUS jumping double dutch.

    FLOTUS jumps double dutch

    ETA: I’ve can’t stop watching this video. It’s like the picture of the Obama’s wedding day and the pic of Barack and Michelle where her head is on his shoulder and she has her arms around his middle and he has his arm around her shoulder. My friends and fam are always commenting on how that pic just looks like one we’d see of our aunt or uncle and it totally reminds me of a pic I have of my mom and dad too.

    This video reminds me of all the times I watched the girls in my neighborhood jumping double dutch while a bunch of us sat on da stoop.

    Brings back memories of my younger years growing up on public housing. I used to watch the girls in the projects where I lived jumping double dutch and I remember even then being mad cause I didn’t know how. It also brings back memories of us playing regular old jump rope in the courtyard of our buildings. I usta love to jump rope, me and my sisters were a team…lol.

  89. 89.

    Cacti

    The Thunder seem like a fairly likeable bunch.

    I just have a hard time rooting for them after the way Sonics were stolen from Seattle.

  92. 92.

    Cacti

    @lamh35:

    sorry, sorry, that was from original video. here’s a better one, clipped to include only FLOTUS jumping double dutch.

    Oh yeah, well, Ann Romney can pay a guy to make a horse dance, and take a $77,000 tax deduction for it!

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    @Joel:

    I take your point. I was referring to it as the end of an ungainly sequence where the player stops dribbling a full two steps ahead of the jump stop. In your linked description, the player is supposed to keep dribbling until the “hop” preceding the jump stop.

  94. 94.

    MD Rackham

    Think how much@MikeJ:

    Think how much faster soccer games would go if they could just pick up the ball and carry it when, you know, it doesn’t matter.

    Rules, what are they for?

  95. 95.

    Warren Terra

    @trollhattan:
    The specs sound like it will be everything the iPad really should have been.

    But note that “sound like” and “will be”: as far as I’ve seen, there’s no pricing information and no release date. Which is not a good sign.

  96. 96.

    BigSouthern

    While I definitely prefer college ball to pro ball, you people that don’t like defense are very strange to me.

  98. 98.

    Cacti

    @BigSouthern:

    While I definitely prefer college ball to pro ball, you people that don’t like defense are very strange to me

    Yeah…those low scoring college games are totally because of defense, and not at all because of the shorter game length and insufferably long shot clock.

  99. 99.

    Geoduck

    I was never much of a basketball fan to begin with, but add me to the Seattle-area Thunder-hate.. well.. dislikers. If they manage to win this, it will be bitter pill to swallow after Seattle’s decades in the playoff-wilderness. (Not just basketball; beside two wins from the Seattle Storm women’s basketball team, the city hasn’t had a pro championship in about forty years.}

    As for this new arena idea.. I don’t actually live in the city, so it’s not really my decision. I’d personally tell the NBA to go piss up a rope, but if people want basketball back badly enough.. shrug.

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh35:

    I can honestly say I have absolutely no interest in seeing the Romney boys on Con

    Oh, I bet the Mittlets are practicing their ‘jokes’ as we speak. one of the few times I’ve been in sync with the broader electorate was in my 2008 reaction to the smug entitlement of those overgrown preppies. Apparently somebody had to tell Mitt the same thing and they’ve been kept pretty much under wraps this time around. Conan may not be as risky as Letterman, but I think this could backfire. Mitt and his gang must watch a lot of CNN, and they’re feeling overconfident

  101. 101.

    Cacti

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    one of the few times I’ve been in sync with the broader electorate was in my 2008 reaction to the smug entitlement of those overgrown preppies.

    They give you the exact sense of what little lord Mittleroy must have been like as a younger man.

  102. 102.

    Slaughter

    The NBA of the early ’80s was the best, what with Larry’s Celtics and Magic’s Lakers. Kind of like baseball in the ’50s.

  104. 104.

    Hill Dweller

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Why would they go on the show together? I could understand one son going on there to stump for his Father, but the entire litter doing the interview together seems sort of childish.

    Nightly Daily Show update: Two bits(one on Europe and another on Obama’s fundraiser at SJP’s house), both sucked.

  105. 105.

    Cacti

    @Valdivia:

    Have to agree with you here. I tend to think the Romney camp truly believe their own spin and think the election is theirs now. in June!

    Google “White Horse Prophecy”. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mittens had been told by the Mormon prophet that he was ordained by God to win this year.

  106. 106.

    Joel

    @Cacti: If people love defense, they would love the last 20 years of the NBA, with the Robinson-Duncan Spurs and the Garnett Celtics being two of the greatest defensive squads in league history.

  107. 107.

    Brachiator

    @patrick II:

    @lamh35:
    I have read the book, and while it is a fun read it had an edge to it. Vampires were used as a metaphor for slaveholders of the south that were sucking the life out of their slaves.

    I don’t know. I don’t think you need a metaphor to express a repugnance to slavery.

    When I was at the movies, the trailer for Vampire Slayer Abe was followed by the trailer for Django Unchained. It’s somewhat jarring to think that history has to be sexed up and turned into action movies in order to be even remotely palatable. And yeah, I missed Tarantino’s revisionist WW II movie, but may still try to catch it.

  111. 111.

    Dr. Squid

    I see LeBron in that sweater and I’m waiting for him to bust out the Carlton Dance.

  112. 112.

    MikeJ

    @burnspbesq: I’m supposed to hate somebody I’ve never heard of because he went to the same school as Nixon?

    Ok. I tuned out at “brought to you by Pepsi.”

  113. 113.

    freelancer

    @Cacti:

    Oh yeah, well, Ann Romney can pay a guy to make a horse dance, and take a $77,000 tax deduction for it!

    This made me laugh my ass off. Thanks.

  114. 114.

    lamh35

    @ruemara: You would now have three members (add me to that deal) but now I have to admit that I don’t play an instrument either, but I can whistle pretty well. I’ll be the whistler in the group.

  115. 115.

    Cacti

    @Valdivia:

    yikes. so our constitution hangs by a thread? why because Obama is near? gah. these people!

    Oh the White Horse Prophecy isn’t even the best part of Mormon end times theology.

    The Mormons teach that the United States will eventually become the seat of an earthly theocratic government, where Christ himself personally reigns from the new Jerusalem…built in Jackson County, Missouri.

  117. 117.

    burnspbesq

    @LT: @MikeJ:

    Palming has never actually affected the outcome of a game unlike La Mano de Dios.

    Not true. Thierry Henry palmed it.

  120. 120.

    Cacti

    @Valdivia:

    oh boy. I really have no words.

    And the reason the new Jerusalem will be in Jackson County, Missouri, is because according to the prophet Joseph Smith, that was the location of the biblical Garden of Eden.

  121. 121.

    Warren Terra

    @freelancer:
    The whole tax loss on the horse stuns me. I don’t know Obama can use this personally – it’s a bit odd to attack the candidate’s wife’s horse’s tax status – but surrogates and independent PACs ought to rub their face in it. It is beyond absurd that his wife not only uses a million-dollar horse instead of visiting a physical therapist’s office like a normal person would, if their insurance even was up for that on an ongoing basis, but that she claims a frigging tax loss on the horse?

  122. 122.

    handsmile

    @burnspbesq:

    And I believe the football gods subsequently punished the French for Henry’s bit of improvisation.

    Now tell me, for what are the Irish being punished at Euro2012?

  125. 125.

    Cacti

    @Warren Terra:

    The whole tax loss on the horse stuns me. I don’t know Obama can use this personally – it’s a bit odd to attack the candidate’s wife’s horse’s tax status – but surrogates and independent PACs ought to rub their face in it.

    Agree that this is a job for surrogates, but it’s some low-hanging fruit that someone should mention. Along the lines of the tax code being so slanted in favor of the 1%, not only do the Romney’s pay 12.5% income tax, they get to write off the $77,000 per year they spend on rich people hobbies.

  126. 126.

    BigSouthern

    @Cacti: Easy, friend, I never said I preferred college ball because of better defense or lower scores or that the lower scores in college ball came from better defense.

    I just don’t understand people who long for the days of yore when, I guess, players just ran up and down the court for the entirety of the game. I’m sure a game that was 169-147 where one player scored 100 of those points was exciting for some people, but for my money I’d rather see steals and blocks, not just layups and dunks.

    Different strokes and all that, but I think everyone can agree that watching Rondo pass the ball is a thing of pure beauty.

  127. 127.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Cacti: No one is going to make an issue of the $77,000 loss on the dressage horse. That’s because it wasn’t an actual tax deduction. If I’m reading their return correctly (check page 81 here), the total loss was $77,731. Of that, $77,682 wasn’t allowable.

    That means that it wasn’t a $77,000 tax deduction. It was a $49 tax deduction.

  128. 128.

    Upper West

    Am I the only one who finds the uniform colored shirts in the stands creepy? What if I don’t want to wear a fucking white shirt and I’m sitting in the white shirt section? I’ll even wear a team shirt, but I want to wear a blue one, or a pink one or a purple one.

    It’s fascist crap uniformity, that’s what it is.

    I don’t want to be forced to be a background for the NBA’s spectacle. They’ve got other-worldly players out there. why do they need a game-long card section?

    Don’t let them try that shit at the Garden (not that the Knicks will get that far).

    At least some OKC fans had the Harden fake beards.

    But don’t forget about Miami’s beard guy — my man (and ex-Knick) Ronnie Turiaf — pretty nice facial growth, even from the bench. And he even speaks French.

    But again. Fuck the fucking uniform shirts.

  130. 130.

    freelancer

    @Warren Terra:

    You don’t even need to bring up the tax thing. That’s a special feature bonus of just bringing up the absurdity of the Romneys, “Dressage”, and the Olympics. Ann Romney, Bless her heart, I’m sure she’s a perfectly pleasant person, is associated with the Olympics because she is paying for the privilege of reaping the rewards of paying a human being whose sole income is based on his or her ability is to make another mammal that you concurrently own, “dance” according to the whims and judgments of other human beings. I’m sure it’s more nuanced, but the optics are horrid when Average Joe and Mrs. Average Joe have to tell their (maybe gay) A student that she can’t reply positively to the Stanford Acceptance letter and that she might have to pick between her C or D school if Mom and Dad want to keep their house, or if they want her sophomore Christmas break visit be to a crummy two bedroom apartment.

    It further emphasizes that the life Anne leads is a magic, almost Tolkien, actually rather Robin Leach-based fantasy as opposed to the daily moral struggle and sacrifice that everyone else has to face with head held high for fear of being a whiner or a moocher, every goddamned day. You’re gonna take your Seabiscuit Baryshnikov ball and go home? Fuck you, I’m trying to give those that come after me a world better than when I found it. So, nothing personal, but you’re lack of empathy is showing. FUCK YOU.

    I love Anne Romney. I love horses. Her husband is just the right spouse. I love having residences in multiple states. It’s amazing, it’s like a puzzle for the “gotcha-question media” or anyone else who asks, like “Where is Mitt Romney from?” California? Massachusetts? Utah? Lake Winnipesaukee (coughI’m Sailing!cough)? I love animals. I love what the Romney’s have done with the animals under their purview. And Anne? She’s just the best. Her animals, they are just the right prices. I love the sport of it all. I really do. Her horses, they have been trained at just the right locations, at either of our two or three stables where the trees are just the right height so they provide just the right amount of shade. I love it. So refreshing. I can’t wait for the fans of the US Olympic team when we go overseas later this summer, so that Anne can represent us so completely. They shouldn’t be shocked, but the world is on notice that Anne has purchased some no-shit, pure choreographed equine excellence. Her mare’s got all the right moves in all the right places.

    [drops mic]

  132. 132.

    Brachiator

    @Warren Terra:

    The whole tax loss on the horse stuns me. I don’t know Obama can use this personally – it’s a bit odd to attack the candidate’s wife’s horse’s tax status – but surrogates and independent PACs ought to rub their face in it. It is beyond absurd that his wife not only uses a million-dollar horse instead of visiting a physical therapist’s office like a normal person would, if their insurance even was up for that on an ongoing basis, but that she claims a frigging tax loss on the horse?

    It’s not just odd to attack the candidate’s wife. It’s stupid.

    I don’t much care whether any surrogates take this on, but I will bet good money that it will backfire.

  134. 134.

    freelancer

    @Brachiator:

    Agreed. Although sometimes low info voters vote on the flimsiest of reasons. I remember back in ’04, my Mom didn’t like Bush or Kerry, so she voted on which potential first lady she liked best. I didn’t know the whole “Laura Bush killed a guy” thing at the time, but I could at least understand that if that’s how she was basing her decision, that she voted the way she did.

    In 2008, I made her pay for that logic. I love my Mom, and she told me that was how she made her political choices, and I came back with a vengeance. Obama married an awesome human being and is raising two daughters and even though Dems have a more forgiving attitude for progressive ideas like freedom to divorce, abort, join a union, etc; at least the man is still on his first wife. Then there’s the other guy, who sued for divorce once he got back, and whatever his reasons, he felt he needed to move on. So who do you want for a first lady, Mom? Michelle, who knows her man and feels his equal, or a beer heiress who is resigned to her husband’s ambition to prove himself? She voted for Obama. She liked his family more. That’s my mom, and she’s a smart lady, she just doesn’t give a shit about politics.

    The “off-limits” shit often matters more than you think. It’s a matter of how much of the peripheral that the candidates’ peripherals choose to highlight. Going right after Anne Romney can be framed as low-blow campaigning, but if she sits down in an interview and expresses views that make her and Mitt seem as unconcerned or dismissive of the real lives and struggles of voters without even the easiest of platitudes, then it’s going to be an issue and deserves to be.

    Someone so rich that mere touchscreens in retail equal the triumph of the free market that leave no one behind has no business as the leader of the US or any position where their input has an effect on the economy. We use touchscreens swiping our debit card at Wal-Mart. Amazement at Wawa’s’ technological innovation in sandwich-making speaks to a kind of individual who when he wants a Big Mac, tells a staffer, who tells a staffer who has an intern who goes through the local McDonald’s Drive-Thru, gets the order, brings it back, presents it to the in-house chef, who re-creates it with focaccia bread, angus patties, organic cheddar, freshly chopped Romaine lettuce, caviar, and gourmet Thousand Island.

    The original staffer then brings it to him and states: “Your Big Mac, sir.”

    Don’t even ask what kind of bullshit the staff has to endure when Willard wants to watch a movie. Nevermind Blu-Ray, Satellite, On-Demand, Netflix, all that shit. He is beyond the eccentric audio or videophile. The man just asks and the images are soon after projected onto a pure white screen in unblemished perfection. He knows he can make it happen at his whim, it’s like the stories he read at Harvard, Plato and his cave, and he is in charge of who conducts the shadows on the wall. I’d be more forgiving, but I feel like I should be as kind to Mitt as he is self-aware.

  135. 135.

    JerryN

    @BigSouthern: I’m late to the party here, but watch some NBA games from the early 70s. They played defense back then, but they also played offense as a team.

    Frex, a while back I watched an old Knicks / Lakers finals game on ESPN Classic and it looked like a completely different sport. Both teams virtually never walked the ball up the floor or set up an isolation play that took 10 seconds to develop. Basically, the first guy with an open look from inside 15 feet would take his shot. And even the Knicks, known as a halfcourt team, would always look for somebody breaking on a defensive rebound. So there were a lot more shots taken during the course of the game which is gonna give you higher scoring.

  136. 136.

    patrick II

    @Brachiator:
    Too many movies, and other popular medium, show the civil war as a noble cause for the south, and their ex-soldiers roaming the country side proud, lost, but not beaten. They pretend the war was fought over states rights, but overwhelmed by the North’s resources. From “The Birth of a Nation” to AMC’s “Hell on Wheels”, the southern slave owner was a gentlman.

    So, I will be glad if they take an example from the book and show slavery is evil driven by darkest desires and its proponents not just good Christians fighting for a lost cause. Vampires to their fellow men and this country’s future was exactly Jefferson Davis, General Lee, and their “noble cause” cohorts were.

  137. 137.

    Paul in KY

    @MikeJ: It is a little harder to dribble the ball without palming it. Might lead to an unforced turnover, if they lost control of their dribble.

  138. 138.

    Paul in KY

    @khead: The whole thing was staged (of course). Else, they should have had footage of someone saying ‘Man, you’re not old, what is this, Candid Camera?’

    Nice commercial, though.

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