Paul Waldman at the American Prospect asks:
Have Republicans Ever Hated a President More Than Barack Obama?
No. Oh, and…
Have Republicans Ever Hated a
PresidentBlack Guy More Than Barack Obama?
Lemme just fix that for you.
Thread of the Openness commences.
Another Halocene Human
Barack can’t be worse than Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, can he?
redshirt
If there was an Internet back in the day, I doubt MLK would have fared well in the Birmingham Times comment section.
catclub
Syria and the Kurds. Things are getting very confusing.
I typically cheer that the Kurds will get a better deal than they have in the past. But what do I know.
Comrade Mary
There will be an Olympics open thread tonight, right? I must plan my alcohol purchases accordingly, because I am sure there will be drinking games.
(Need something lemony for my Pimms Cup and some kind of bitter to drink straight up. Is there such a thing as a “Clings to Guns and religion” brewery? Maudite might do in a pinch, I guess.)
Another Halocene Human
MOST HATED BLACK PEOPLE (OF ALL TIME)
Jesse Owens
Jessye Norman
Vanessa Williams
Muhammad Ali
Haile Selassie
Marcus Garvey
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Angela Davis
Rue (Amandla Stenberg)
Kanye
Feel free to add/debate.
scav
Have Republicans Ever Loved Their Candidate Less?
I mean, while we’re asking silly questions and all . . . .
catclub
Smedley Butler might argue the case for FDR as most hated.
I think up until 1939, the GOP strongly favored Hitler, while FDR favored the Brits. Funny that Anglo-American alliance.
Another Halocene Human
@redshirt: snerk!
But who needs the internet? I’m rewatching Eyes on the Prize with my SO (who never saw it) and those … boys weren’t shy at all about yelling “Nigger, nigger, nigger” in front of the national TV cameras.
They also wanked about “heritage” a lot. So, run that by me again, how is “heritage”, that is, apartheid and racial violence, not hate?
Southern Beale
Why did my comment just get eated?
lacp
@Another Halocene Human: Pretty sure Jack Johnson is in there somewhere, too.
Another Halocene Human
@catclub: Ah, but WWI was the good war, whereas WWII was the wrong war at the wrong time.
Robin G.
As to the original question — honestly, I’m not sure. It’s hard to top the raving, visceral loathing they had for Clinton.
Another Halocene Human
Ah, this one? Good call.
beltane
@catclub: Funny how the GOP’s Hitler loving tendecies have been completely excised from our nation’s history. No wonder Republicans think they can get away with everything. In reality, they have always gotten away with everything.
Southern Beale
Mother fuck. Apparently I can’t comment and leave a link. So fucking whatever. Back later when comments are fixed.
joel hanes
@Another Halocene Human:
rlrr
@Robin G.:
After Mondale’s defeat in 1984 it became conventional wisdom among pundits and Holy Gospel among Republicans that it would be impossible for a Democrat to ever win a Presidential election ever again. Clinton proved them wrong twice. Republicans have never forgiven him…
Brachiator
@Another Halocene Human: Paul Robeson
donnah
I can remember how the Republicans went after the Clintons, hammer and tongs, right from the start. They hated Hillary, they hated Bill, they despised them for being hicks from Arkansas. They screamed about Whitewater until they could scream about Monica Lewinsky, and that’s the one that finally stuck. Remember how they claimed that the Clintons trashed the White House when they left?
I remember all of it, and it made me sick.
But the Obama Hate makes those days look like a picnic in the park. It’s more than I can comprehend sometimes.
KG
@catclub: yeah, I’d go with FDR, they hated him so much they changed the rules on how long you could be president – of course, that kinda backfired on them too, as one of my polisci profs in undergrad said about the 22nd Amendment “they aimed for Roosevelt, missed Truman, and hit Eisenhower.”
rlrr
@rlrr:
The running joke during the 1992 Democratic primaries was that it was merely a contest to see who was going to lose to George H. W. Bush in a landslide.
dimmic rat
Yeah Jack Johnson belongs at the top. I had a black guinea pig named Unforgivable Pigness growing up.
EconWatcher
I dunno, they really, really hated “slick Willie” back in the day. It’s certainly true that Obama’s race gives some of their particular attacks a certain, well, hue. But I think the ferocity would be just as intense if it were, for example, Hilary. The dog whistles would just have more of a gender component. And if it were, say, Biden, they would come up with some other flavoring for equally ferocious attacks.
They just aren’t willing to treat a Dem as the duly elected president.
rlrr
@beltane:
Even after liking Hitler stopped being fashionable in late 1941, conservatives considered premature anti-fascists un-American…
lacp
In light of the recent unpleasantness overseas, perhaps the new campaign slogan should be: “Willard Romney: Too Big to Succeed.”
Alison
Attention any BJers in the Irvine CA area (or if you know anyone there) – Kevin Drum’s cat Inkblot is lost! :( Please keep an eye out for him…
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/07/friday-cat-blogging-27-july-2012
rlrr
@donnah:
They hated Hillary, they hated Bill, they despised them for being hicks from Arkansas.
Even though Hillary Clinton is from suburban Chicago…
Gus
I don’t know, man. The Clinton hatred was pretty intense.
schrodinger's cat
They didn’t like Carter either, though he was Southerner and a religious one at that.
freelancer
Y’know, they actually killed Emmett Till.
EconWatcher
By the way, excitable Andrew today said the race is Romney’s to lose. Why? Because the polling shows Romney inching forward in the polls, even after a disastrous week like this.
Here’s how I see it: Images and perceptions are being shaped right now among a certain relatively small group of people who pay attention to these things before the conventions. The polls don’t really move much, but the perceptions will stick.
When the others start paying attention, it will be as if they are joining late into a conversation that has been going on for a while. But the perceptions game will probably have already been won or lost by then, and they’ll just pick up on it.
japa21
What always gets me is that as bad as the hatred for Clinton was, it was if it never happened during the Bush era. They always acted like Bush Derangement Syndrome was something that was unique in American history and that the Bush haters, who never amounted to anywhere near what happened to Clinton, were some strange species.
slim's tuna provider
devil’s advocate: liberals hated bush II and reagan just as much. it’s not really the hating, it’s how much you’re willing to screw the country to effectuate your hatred.
Catsy
@donnah: Seriously, this. I remember the Clinton hate from out of the starting gate quite well, thank you. My stepfather at the time was very into listening to Rush Limbaugh, and at the time I recall having more than a few words with him about the whole gays in the military thing. Clinton might as well have been the devil usurper.
Sadly, I have to agree with those who’ve said that it’s only gotten worse. The ugly threads of racism and xenophobia–as well as the right’s utter nihilism and rejection of reality–are so much worse now.
The Other Chuck
@slim’s tuna provider:
And how much shit one is willing to fabricate out of whole cloth in order to support that hatred.
ant
I dunno. OJ Simpson still gets play all the fuckin time.
They sure didn’t like that dude.
staci
@Another Halocene Human: Hank Aaron – his name is probably close to the top. People were really upset with him “taking” Babe Ruth’s HR record.
Oh yeah, and Michael Vick, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (although gotta say, I agree on JJ).
Hungry Joe
As much as they hate Obama, I gotta give the nod to Clinton. He made their eyes bulge, their temple veins throb, their ears blow smoke. In short, he turned them into Warner Bros. cartoon characters. They took it — “it” being his presidency, him, his wife — personally. With Obama it’s mostly matter-of-fact, boilerplate racism and knee-jerk Dems-have-no-right-to-occupy-the-White-House.
schrodinger's cat
@slim’s tuna provider: The elected Democrats treated Bush II far better than the elected
Republicans have treated Obama. Even after Florida and after he was anointed by the Supreme Court. No, both sides don’t do it.
Culture of Truth
Carl Lewis:
“I swear, sometimes I think some Americans shouldn’t leave the country. Are you kidding me? Stay home if you don’t know what to say.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@slim’s tuna provider: speaking just for myself, I hated Bush II for things he actually did, like invade Iraq. I didn’t hate him because of tax cuts or even his mewling, infantile religiosity. Those things bugged me, and I hate some of the Democrats who voted for those tax cuts, and I hated the media who made excuses for Bush and told me he was a self-made businessman and regular guy (and religiosity was one of the reasons I was a late comer to O-bot-ism), but I don’t think I started to really hate Bush until around the time of “axis of evil”, which is also why I can never take David Frum seriously.
staci
@ant: They liked him just fine until Nicole Simpson got killed.
Villago Delenda Est
@EconWatcher:
The catch is, the polls are rigged to make sure the horse race narrative is not in terrible danger. It’s all the vermin of the Village have to justify their phoney-baloney jobs.
Zifnab
Honestly, I always thought the most hated Democratic President was Jimmy Carter. He has the gall to upset the sovereign holy reign of Nixon/Ford and was only slain by the heroic might of Sir Ronald Ray Gun.
Clinton and Obama have been hard pills to swallow, but lots of conservatives warmed up to Clinton once he wasn’t in office. He shoots golf at fund raisers with Pappa Bush and shakes hands with Wall Street mega-bankers all the time now. And it wasn’t hard to find conservatives that admitted they missed Clinton back when we were under Bush Jr.
I suspect we’ll be hearing all about how Obama was a true Burkean Conservative in a decade or two (unlike the Democratic nominee of 2028, who has clearly betrayed the party by moving too far to the left). Republicans don’t hate Obama. They just hate not being in charge.
jwb
@EconWatcher: And Sullivan doesn’t know that aside from the trackers the polls that are coming out now are a reflection of last week and into the weekend, when the whole damn MSM was yelling about taking guns away and “he didn’t build that.”
kindness
Kevin Drum’s cat Inkblot is missing. Kevin has been pissing me off lately but I would never wish this upon anyone. My critters are my children. I know he feels the same way.
Gonna push some energy towards the guy in hopes of better news.
Punchy
@Comrade Mary: Can you please give me some ideas for Opening Ceremony drinking games? I’d like to give it a try.
Soonergrunt
Are you kidding? They hate the guy so much that they actively rooted and campaigned for Chicago to lose their bid for the 2016 Olympics.
I really think if he were assassinated, they’d dance in the streets and petition to get the assassin pardoned.
Valdivia
Have we heard from DougJ after his Mate scare the other day? I know he is on blogcation but wondering if he is ok.
Another Halocene Human
@ant: I almost wrote down OJ Simpson but wavered on that one. He was beloved until, you know.
Anyway, I was going more for envy-hate.
Another Halocene Human
@staci: Jesse Jackson has done nothing for white folk to envy and loathe.
redshirt
@Another Halocene Human: I watched Naked Gun again recently and OJ is hilarious in it. Poor Nordberg.
scav
@EconWatcher: Definitely trying to control the narrative, especially for those just waking up to the program because a good number of them just like voting with the winning side. Sort of the fans that suddenly appear when bowl games are suddenly of offer.
But there’s another way to read this: “excitable Andrew today said the race is Romney’s to lose”. If one accept this premise, it isn’t the party or its positions that failed. See SOP.
Hungry Joe
That’s not to say that Obama hatred doesn’t get pretty nutso. Last week the editorial board of UT San Diego (the recently re-named Union-Tribune) ran an essay called “Presidential Busts” — the five worst presidents in American history. Number One: Barack Obama. My favorite line: “If self-reverence were a crime, he would be facing a life sentence.” Can that be read as anything but “uppity”?
George W. Bush? He didn’t make the cut.
slim's tuna provider
@schrodinger’s cat: which is exactly what i said. it’s not what you hate, it’s what you DO.
Pennelope Pennebaker
I’ll wait until they impeach him before I agree with your assessment. Til then, he’s second most hated.
Amir Khalid
@Culture of Truth:
If I were American, I’d feel embarrassed too. Mitt faced no challenge in London beyond remembering his manners, and still he failed.
You can dress Mitt up, but you can’t take him out.
Jim
@freelancer: At the time “they” killed Emmett Till, “they” were probably Democrats. Scary!
maya
hated blacks?
1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos with their black power salute.
Mohammed Ali for refusing to go to Viet Nam because of religious objection. This was when Joe Willie Namath and others didn’t get the tap because of knee problems – yet they could play football.
Raven
@scav: My football tickets just came!
Jim
@Another Halocene Human: Oh, how they love to see their black heroes taken down. Don’t like uppitiness!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Zifnab:
I suspect that’s true of most elected Beltway Republicans, especially the old timers. I don’t think Boehner, who twenty years ago represented the right wing of the DC GOP, hates Obama or believes half his own rhetoric, but he finally made it to a place where he has power and can advance his agenda, and he’s terrified of being eaten by the tiger he rode to get there. Eric Cantor strikes me as too dumb to understand the stakes of the game he’s playing to further his own ambition. McCain hates Obama but that’s more personal than political. I suspect most DC Republicans– Marco Rubio, for example; Pawlenty, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chuck Grassley– are somewhere between Boehner and Cantor, stuck in partisan rhetoric but naively thinking they can reign in the haters like Steve King or Louie Goehmert who put them in the majority (or close to it) once they get taxes cut.
Hal
I almost have to give the award to Clinton since he was impeached, though if Obama wins a second term, there will still be time for that.
Dork
Word. Needs to make the rotating tag line.
rlrr
@Hal:
I’d almost bet money Obama will be impeached if he wins a second term and the Republicans hold onto the House.
Catsy
Meanwhile, there continues to be complete and absolute deafening silence on Redstate regarding Romney’s disastrous opening to his “foreign policy” tour. Not one diary. Not one comment that I’ve seen. Not even so much as a tweet.
They’re watching their candidate–who has to be the worst major-party presidential candidate I’ve seen in my lifetime–completely and humiliatingly implode when presented with the easiest imaginable photo op. They are absolutely desperate to talk about anything else, and are hoping it vanishes in the Friday news dump as people get distracted by the weekend.
Linda Featheringill
@Amir Khalid:
Exactly. Perfect time to use that saying.
And it is unfortunately true.
Face
/scans BJictionary
Translo anyone?
gogol's wife
@Face:
Somebody gave DougJ some tea at a conference or something and he drank it without realizing it was mate, some kind of semi-hallucinatory thing, and he had a bad reaction to it. Although some of the medical staff among the commenters were afraid it might have been a transient stroke because he was stumbling the next day.
pragmatism
in the spirit of openness and teh cute (i’m biased), my daughter dancing to yo gabba gabba:
http://youtu.be/jTJSqUHBsd8
TG Chicago
@donnah:
That’s a very consice account of Republican screaming during the Clinton years. Don’t forget Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Travelgate, Filegate, Pardongate, and Vince Foster. Not to mention the Hillarycare mudslinging.
Heck, Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House by becoming the personification of Clinton Derangement Syndrome.
I think it’s about a toss-up as far as who is hated more between Clinton and Obama. But I’d say the Republicans are doing a better job of channelling their hatred now. Back then, they came up with all these -gate “scandals”, but never really got anything out of it. These days, they aren’t as splashy about it, but they consistently work together to ensure that absolutely nothing can get done. It’s giving Romney a better shot at winning the Presidency than any -gates would have, since most voters don’t even see what the Republicans are doing. They just see a lack of results.
piratedan
@Another Halocene Human: was going to offer Jackie Robinson as an example
wrb
@Another Halocene Human:
Paul Robeson
Tommy Smith
John Carlos
Thurgood Marshall
edit: damn I see at least 3 of these had been picked.
Tommy Smith and John Carlos convinced ne that blackswere cool.
I dug the fist thing emmensely.
According to my mother my 7 year-old self had been highly suspicious of the members of this strangely-tinted tribe but they won me over during the ’68 Olympics.
Valdivia
@Face:
late to answer you. @gogol’s wife: thanks for filling in the info for me :)
For you, to keep calm :)
the fake fake al
Honestly, they expected him to be the Black Jimmy Carter, but instead is a black Reagan/HWB. Think his competence drives them insane. Same with the redneck for Hope Arkansas.
Thought experiment: What if GWB was an effective Prez?
Ouch, that hurt.
kindness
@gogol’s wife: Mate isn’t hallucinatory. I’ve done enough mushrooms & acid to tell the difference. I have a friend from Argentina who tried getting me to love the stuff years ago. It’s an odd tea (not terribly good tasting as it needed lots of extra stuff to make it good) that is a somewhat powerful stimulant. Vasodialator & other stuff. I didn’t have DougJ’s experience thankfully.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul – Brokedown Palace
Culture of Truth
You can
dressdressage Mitt up, but you can’t take him out.Gin & Tonic
@gogol’s wife:
I have drunk mate plenty of times in South America, and it is really stretching things beyond reason to call it semi-hallucinatory. Unless you consider coffee or cigarettes to be semi-hallucinatory as well. Drinking mate is mostly about the social aspect.
MikeJ
Are you a Romney?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@beltane: Hey come on, let’s not hyperbole our selves out of reality. In 1939 it was Isolationism verses Intervention and Isolationism had very strong bipartisan support.
Heliopause
@Comrade Mary:
I get CTV on my cable and it’s on in the background right now. I’m not really watching it closely but the bits I’ve looked at live up to the grand Olympic tradition of horrifically overproduced schlock.
Redshift
@Catsy: Meanwhile, Democrats are eagerly anticipating how he’ll screw up in Poland and Israel!
Ordinarily, I’d think that a candidate’s handlers would be able to prevent that from happening, but,
a. According to many reports, Romney refuses to be told what to do by anyone, and,
b. It’s been clear since the primaries that the only situation where he can (sometimes) avoid making an ass of himself and come off like a human being is a giving a speech with no Q&A.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to the fall campaign, when candidates can’t avoid interacting with people without looking cowardly and weird. Romney’s problem isn’t just that he has to hide every bit of information about himself to be palatable, he also has to hide himself.
dead existentialist
Well, Mitt was right. Those Brits fucked up already.
Ash Can
OT, from the “this is not news” dept.: Rick Santorum defends Penn State, says the Freeh Report is teh suxx0rz. Opus Dei family values, yo.
Shawn in ShowMe
Jack Johnson hate wasn’t party specific. That was average white man at the turn of the century hate.
If we’re talking Republican-specific hate, I think you have to start the clock after Nixon lost to Kennedy because of the black vote. Black folks haven’t always voted 90%+ for the Dems. That started after Senator Kennedy made the call to MLK in jail and black folks showed their appreciation by voting for Kennedy en masse.
In the post 1960 era, Barack Obama is the black man most despised by the Republicans, hands down. And the answer is simple — he’s the most powerful. The most politically powerful black man at any given time has always held the title. MLK, Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan have all had their turn as that guy over the last 50 years.
The Moar You Know
@Hungry Joe: The Doug Manchester Catholic House Newsletter (formerly the San Diego Union and the Tribune – yeah, I’ve been here a while) is nothing now but red meat and apologia for unfettered, Randian capitalism.
Gotta hand it to Doug. Local paper talking smack and printing inconvenient facts about your pet development projects? Did they support a token Dem for the City Council? Buy the paper and solve all that shit at one stroke. He’s an asshole, but a smart asshole.
Elie
@dead existentialist:
Actually, that has happened at other Olympics.
AxelFoley
Just saw this on the web:
Chick-Fil-A Veep Corporate-Public relations dies:
http://www2.wrbl.com/news/2012/jul/27/chick-fil-s-vice-president-corporate-public-relati-ar-4220290/
Elie
They don’t HATE Obama — they are jealous and resentful. They know their candidate suxx bad. All they can do is try to kick Obama’s shins from time to time—
Rmoney is a wreck waiting to happen at any moment. Amazingly, he has upped the ante for fail by now being on an international stage. While many Americans kinda don’t care about international issues, they do not want a President who makes a fool of himself and embarrasses the US.
I personally think he is an Aspie (Asperger’s) Fits all the way — socially awkward and unable to be in synch emotionally with what is needed. Being rich has allowed him to indulge his idiosynchracies without too much consequence. Till now. My guess is that its going to get a lot worse.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Pennelope Pennebaker:
It’s a lot easier to catch Sam Malone in a lie than it is Cliff Huxtable.
scav
@dead existentialist: A) that was yesterday but more importantly, b) of course there will be errors let alone the previously known bugs but common human politeness, let along business courtesy or diplomatic tact should suggest the usual banal complements even when your host is not perfect, especially in a televised interview where it’s clearly a part of introductory chitchat (Unless you are asked directly for criticisms and helpful suggestions.) I can wait for his response when asked about how the wife and kids are: “Well, Tagg’s hanging in there, but the attractiveness of his wife is debatable and we’ve all heard about how bad the 3rds kids report cards are.”
El Cid
The exact same people who today are the center of the Republican party used to be the people who most despised Lincoln for his War of Northern Aggression, attacking the South’s patriotic right to demand that non-slave states guard their borders and return any escaped slaves.
That’s why when they try to talk about the greatness of Lincoln the Republican, in order to pursue some point against Democrats, so many in the Neo-Confederate Talibangelical Party of Deregulatory Separatism look like they’ve just swallowed a bug.
MikeJ
@Elie: Not just the Olympics. The Brits played South Africa’s apartheid era anthem at a field hockey game last month. Kuwait played the theme to Borat instead of the Kazakh national anthem.
At a canoeing competition in Hungary, they played the German national anthem starting with the first verse(the one that starts “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles”), rather than the now official third verse.
Elie
@scav:
“but common human politeness, let along business courtesy or diplomatic tact should suggest the usual banal complements even when your host is not perfect, especially in a televised interview where it’s clearly a part of introductory chitchat (Unless you are asked directly for criticisms and helpful suggestions.)”
Aspies have a hard time with knowing the socially/emotionally appropriate thing to say. They can memorize it to a certain extent, but there is not internal software that helps them see the situation correctly. He doesnt “feel” the right thing to say, like most people do — he doesnt have that level of empathy…
Caz
What an unfair, semantically charged post that is!
That’s like a republican asking a liberal, “Which white person do liberals hate the most?” There’s no way to answer that without it sounding racist.
Republicans hate Obama because he’s the worst president ever, and he just happens to be black. They hated Clinton too, and he happened to be white. They also don’t like Hillary, who happens to be a woman. Does all this mean that republicans hate blacks and women? Of course not.
But you know this. What exactly is the point of this post?? If your point is that all republicans are racist, why not just a single-sentence post: “Republicans hate black people.” Wouldn’t that accomplish your goal without playing semantic games?
I don’t know how you live with yourself being such a dishonest, integrity-lacking, hateful hack. Have you not a shred of decency in your whole body?? Obviously not.
And I guess you hate Romney because he’s white, so you’re a racist. I don’t know why I keep hoping for something intelligent and honest on this site – there’s never anything even close. The depth of your idiocy is fairly entertaining though, I guess that’s the main reason I keep checking in. Oh, and I like the troll comments in place of anything resembling an intelligent or substantive thought.
As a group, you people are a pretty disgusting, hateful, negative collection of hacks. It’s like a hoard of rats clamoring about the sewer in search of rotting flesh to scavenge from.
I thank the lord every day that I’m not like you!! Good grief, I’d shoot myself if I were stuck with such a f’d up brain.
scav
@Elie: That may be a diagnosis, but it’s not exactly a vote-deserving qualification. If the Brits have been handling Price Phillip all these years, they’ve got tho chops for the tactful deafness to odd uncles nattering the corners mastered. RomBott hasn’t earned his eccentric yet technically “beloved” (well, tolerated and a boon to cheap comedy) uncle badge yet.
Ash Can
And in other news, this comes via LGF: When Jake Tapper fucks up, I’m more than happy to get in line to give him a few whacks with the pinata stick. Today, however, credit where credit is due: he gets up off his kazotz and performs some real live journalism on the bullshit kerfluffle over the Churchill bust in the White House — and hey, whaddya know, he blows a huge hole in that failship and sinks it like a stone (hint; there are actually two busts…). Amazing what happens when you do a little investigating, eh what?
Note to Jake: Moar of this plz. And remember, we yell because we care.
AxelFoley
@Caz:
Dude, STFU.
dead existentialist
@Elie: GOP presidential syndrome: Alzheimer’s to Assholery to Asperger’s.
The ayes have.
Villago Delenda Est
@Caz:
We know you’re a fucktard. That’s long been established.
You don’t need to keep providing evidence of it.
Turgidson
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I initially didn’t hate Bush at all. I didn’t much respect him, seeing as he came across as such a bumbling moron most of the time.
I wasn’t as fixated on politics as I am now in 2000, but Bush seemed relatively harmless (I mean, still a lying asshole, but not a particularly threatening one) as far as GOP pols went, and I only really expected him to be a not at all good but not-batshit-stupid/evil president like his old man was.
Ruckus
@Another Halocene Human:
Johnny Lee Robinson
dead existentialist
@Caz: See, most people don’t bother to make “substantive” comments to someone who insults them by comparing them to sewer rats.
YMMV
gogol's wife
@Valdivia:
Yes, thank you, that’s helpful.
Jay in Oregon
https://twitter.com/DavidClinchNews/statuses/228929511130009600
gogol's wife
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m sorry, I didn’t remember all the details of the thread. I was just trying to fill this person in on the general outlines. There seemed to be differences of opinion about what this stuff was. I can’t even drink regular tea, so it was not something I felt I had to understand thoroughly.
Turgidson
@Turgidson:
Just to clarify – I meant to express that GHWB was a not-good-but-also-not-stupid/evil president. As far as modern Republicans go, anyway.
Calouste
@Amir Khalid:
That’s a pretty steep challenge for Mitt.
Redshift
@MikeJ: Ooh, that’s very nicely done. I didn’t even know about his hiring a lobbyist to get a house expansion approved.
gelfling545
@Alison: I was told just last weekend, when my nephew’s 20 something cat who had disappeared for a week after they moved to a new location turned up at home meowing to be let, in that cats don’t get lost. They come and go as they please. That seems to have been true for my cats over the years.
Dennis SGMM
It certainly isn’t substantive and it may be old news, but the USS Nimitz is fueling its embarked aircraft with biofuel.
“It’s a step towards energy independence,” said Cmdr. Michael Maxwell, Nimitz’ Mini Boss. “If we can prove that it works for air operations, then we will be able to mass produce it here in the U.S.”
karen marie
@Heliopause: It takes the cake. Some of the worst “entertainment” which will be “remembered” as “awesome.”
OMG. I really cannot believe how bad the whole thing has been.
dead existentialist
@Comrade Mary: Here’s one.
NancyDarling
@rlrr: They particularly hated Clinton because he was an upstart—not the right sort. But he was smarter than they were and better at their game. And in the end, in spite of all they threw at him (some of which he supplied to them), he was still standing and they hated him even more for that. Now I hear Scarborough and others wax nostalgic about how he was willing to work with the other side, blah, blah, blah, but at the time, they would have flayed him alive if they could have.
Ash Can
@Comrade Mary: Or you could just stick a straw in a fifth of gin.
Kane
The hatred for Obama is real, but the reasoning is imagined.
gnomedad
@TG Chicago:
This cheers me up. I reckon most of what they’ve tried to pin on Obama has even less substance, and birtherism is in a (fantasy) class by itself. And no Monica in sight.
Abijah L.
@Hungry Joe: I opened the UT one day to the Style section and there was a review of Clinton’s book. In 32 point type the headline said, “Bill Clinton; My Life and Crimes”. I folded the section back up, put the entire unread paper on the recycling pile, and called to cancel my subscription. I haven’t read it since.
They still haven’t accused BHO of committing murder or running drugs.
kindness
@Abijah L.: Oh great. Give them new/old ideas.
karen marie
@gelfling545: That’s why when they go missing one generally gets a very sick feeling in one’s stomach.
Catsy
@Caz: Awww. Concern troll is concerned.
NancyDarling
@Caz: Why do you bother coming here?
Elie
@dead existentialist:
LOL — so right, you are….
Kane
@Amir Khalid: I’m not so sure that Romney’s comments were entirely a gaffe, at least not in the tradional sense of saying something unintentional. I think Romney went to London with every intention of highlighting his own Olympic experience, and he believed that the worse off the management of London games were perceived to be, the better he would look.
This would follow a pattern throughout the course of Romney’s life, where to garner attention for himself, he often mocks and belittles others.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
Worst president ever, Caz? Because the economy is so much worse than when he took over? Oh, wait, I guess not… Oh, because he started an illegal war or two and… ooops, no, guess not. Hmmm… Oh! Because he has failed to terminate Bin Laden… oh, dang, I guess he did get that mission accomplished!
Oh, wait, you’re right… the dude is black, after all. Yeah, we’re all hateful and stupid here. Go back to whacking off over Ann Coulter’s dustjacket.
Sly
O.J., because he got away with killing an actual white woman. Obama is killing “America” who, in their eyes, is merely a figurative white woman so it counts somewhat less.
folsom ca
@Hungry Joe: I assume you live down there. I was visiting my son in La Jolla, and read in the UT that Bilbray’s daughter has stage III melanoma she is 25. I have not heard a peep about that on the national dialogue. It was written by Christopher Cadelago, Sunday July 15, 2012. Not a mention about ACA or anything. She is trying some new therapy in Houston. The crux of the article is medical marijuana. It is a good read. I do not know how to link. This should be big news. I really do not like Bilbray, but this should make the nightly news. The daughter’s name is Briana. Enough said.
Another Halocene Human
@Caz:
Fuck you, Caz. I would killfile you, if that was a thing. Since I can’t, you’ll just have to imagine the *plonk* sound.
Another Halocene Human
@Ruckus: Help? I don’t know who that is and teh goggle has failed me.
Caz
@NancyDarling: I bother coming here because it’s entertaining to see what liberals think are the important issues of the day and what their take on said issues is. It’s also entertaining to see how out of touch with reality and brainwashed BJ Nation is.
What I didn’t expect was the level of absolute hate that you liberals have for everyone that disagrees with you. I post any simple statement that you disagree with and it’s like I killed your mom or something. It’s hard to believe that you would accuse conservatives of being all the things you say they are, and then you’re the most hateful bunch of people to be found anywhere. It’s like a bunch of spoiled thirteen year olds who have no respect for anyone, have no manners, and don’t know how to intelligently discuss anything.
I guess when you just stick to the BJ where everyone agrees with everything, and then I post something that doesn’t fit in exactly with your little fantasy world, you must really feel threatened and inadequate, because it’s nothing but insult after insult. I would expect a bunch of adults who try to stay informed about pressing issues would respect others with different opinions and enjoy some intelligent conversation. But it’s like you’re not interested in discussing anything, just patting each other on the back and treating someone with a different opinion as some sort of evil outsider coming into your house to kill you or something.
You’re all just a bunch of random people checking out a blog on your computer like anyone else, including me, but you act like I have no right to be here and how dare I come on here and post a different opinion.
It’s interesting and entertaining to see how immature and childish everyone acts. You’r simply not prepared or able to actually critically analyze these issues, and you feel threatened by different opinions, probably because you know you’re full of it.
If this is the level of voter who supports Obama, then he has no chance in November, because you all act like a bunch of little kids with bad attitudes. I don’t get it, but it’s entertaining.
And the whole troll thing, doesn’t that get old after like the hundreth time?? It’s like a car wreck, it’s so pathetic and sad that I can’t turn away, lol.
NancyDarling
@Caz: Oh.
Caz
And you call conservatives the most offensive, outrageous names you can come up with, but then, for example, if I use even a moderately insulting name you all get so offended like I’m way out of line, lol. This is the most hateful group of people I’ve ever seen, and yet you can’t handle even the slightest degree of offense in your direction. Just another sign of the hypocrisy of liberals. Free speech for me but not for thee. And you call conservatives names, but how dare they call you any names. It’s just a really entertaining group of immature, brainwashed, hateful, know it alls who really don’t know all that much when you get down to it.
NancyDarling
@Caz: Oh.
Canuckistani Tom
@MikeJ:
Heck, we’re still pissed about the time the Marines hung the Canadian flag upside down during the 1992 World Series
maya
@Caz: Uh, not conservatives. We no like Republicans, Caz. There is a difference. Obama is a conservative by action and political orientation, yet the Repubs still call him a socshillist. All the fucking time. Apparently anyone who expresses concern for those in pain or in need, like 45 million Americans without healthcare or jobs or a decent chance at life are soshillists. Republicans, like Mitt, “don’t care about the poor” (direct quote from your boy, oops -, man, Caz.) Fuck these sociopaths you seem to admire.
Is that so hard to understand?
NancyDarling
@Caz: I’m glad we entertain you, Caz. I wish we could say the same about you.
Spatula
He may be a right wingtard, but Caz DOES make some useful points regarding the dominant BJ commentariat; as thin skinned as they are tribal, predictable and vicious.
I look forward to commenters like Catsy Patsy considering Caz’s thoughtful words, reflecting on them, and making the appropriate behavioral changes.
El Cid
GIMME MAH 15 CENT I DUN MADE A GOOD POST MA
Villago Delenda Est
@Spatula:
Feel free to find a fire to go die in.
NancyDarling
@Spatula: The Rebeccas of Sunnybrook Farm, aka Caz and Spatula, need to find another place to hang if they can’t stand the heat at this here blog. It’s not for the faint-hearted. My take on this place is that all the regulars can take it as well as dish it out.
CW in LA
@Turgidson: When Shrub took the office his dad’s pals had stolen for him, I already resented him. But I assumed he’d be a run of the mill crappy president like said dad. If only we’d been so lucky.
Somewhere on the internet I read a very apt summery of presidential politics in the 21st century. We on the left hate Cowboy Caligula for what he did. The right hates President Obama for who he is.
Hungry Joe
@The Moar You Know: Re Manchester/U-T San Diego: Yup. You nailed it.
Wolfdaughter
I had a phone conversation today with a cousin who is a registered Republican. She kept averring that Obama is planning all sorts of dastardly things to ruin American. She doesn’t “trust” Obama.
When I tried to pin her down, she started talking about how Reverend Jeremiah White has admitted black Muslims to his church and had not required them to declare that they accept Jesus as their savior. Whether this is true or not I don’t know, but I pointed out to her that Obama could hardly be held responsible for every one of Rev. White’s actions. She replied that he went to that church. But he had to disassociate himself from Rev. White during the 2008 campaign, which I pointed out to her. Then she said he hasn’t chosen a church in the D.C. area, and has only gone to church a couple of times since he was elected. I replied that he feels that it would be awkward for him to ally himself with a particular church since he’s President of all Americans, and that George Bush wasn’t exactly a big church goer either during his presidency, and indeed, many past presidents had not been big on attending church regularly.
She had no rebuttal for these points, but kept saying that she reads a lot and she doesn’t trust Obama.
Sigh.
Emperor of Ice Cream
@TG Chicago: Well said. This.
RadioOne
I wasn’t as invested or involved with politics in the 90’s as I am now, but I think Bill Clinton was probably hated more by Republicans during his term in office. Not that it matters.
Amir Khalid
@Kane:
Now that you mention it, it does seem plausible, even likely, that Mitt’s comments re the organizing of the London Olympics were intentional, that he meant to boast indirectly about his own feat of Olympics management. But it was still rude of him to try to upstage his host country. And it could not have been his intention to be the one that came out looking like a pillock.
Amir Khalid
They look good together, don’t they: the unrepentantly obtuse Caz and the vile Spatula.
Spatula
@NancyDarling:
AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHA….AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…
Thanks for the laugh. Your powers of observation and comprehension are not stellar.
Spatula
@Wolfdaughter:
Lord, I would have hung up on that moron.
I have relatives of a similar type. I avoid them at all costs.