My favorite from that horrific Brooks-Collins conversation you all so kindly summarized for me:
I have enormous respect for Ryan and I regard most of the commentary I’ve read about him by people who’ve never even interviewed him to be ludicrous.
You see, it doesn’t matter what Ryan has voted for, it doesn’t matter what’s in his so-called plan, what matters is how you feel when he bats his baby blues at you. Look, plebes, you’ll never know what that’s like, so shut the fuck up and listen to me.
zzyzx
Never even interviewed him.
Because that’s such a common life experience you know. Government by the pundits, for the pundits.
Zifnab
I’m amazed non-pundits are still even allowed to vote. What the hell was the electoral college for?
jwb
Yes, that was an inadvertently great line, but I actually liked the bit about their articles cuddling up in the same ebook better.
WereBear
But did Ryan rub his thigh under the tablecloth?
Ben Franklin
You have to interview Ryan and look him in his Baby Blues in order to understand him.
Calouste
OT, but the BBC reports that Cardinal Nolan is going to appear at the GOP convention. Some careful lawyer words in the announcement to make sure they don’t lose their tax exempt status over this, but if there were any questions whether the bishops conference is anything but a wing of the GOP, I guess they have now been answered.
Brachiator
So, instead of presidential debates, I guess we should have town hall interviews, where the rubes get to have sit downs with the candidate, so we can look into Ryan’s eyes and get that special pundit tingle.
Also too, starbursts.
dr. bloor
Ain’t getting outta the boat. Please tell me that was Brooks, not Collins. The sophistication of thought is certainly in line with his blindingly ignorant sociological noodlings, and I’d be disappointed if Collins had joined him in drawing vast conclusions about human nature and the universe in general while looking at the world through a cardboard tube.
Wag
When I read that last night, Bobo sounded like an abused spouse trying to defend their abusive partner, “He really loves me, but sometimes he votes for stuff that he really really doesn’t mean.”
Gail seemed to be stringing Bobo along, teasing him about how silly his support for Ryan is.
I love Gail.
Shawn in ShowMe
You’re so glib, DougJ. You haven’t even interviewed Paul Ryan. I have.
kdog
Krugman has an item in his blog about the notion that the Ryan plan was scored by the CBO. In short:
1) no, it wasn’t. They ran some numbers, totally not supported by the specifics of the Ryan plan, and were careful to mention this disconnection.
2)Brooks is an idiot.
presquevu
Speaking of those blue eyes — what accounts for the wide margin of schlera often visible beneath his irises? Heaven gazing, mental unbalance, nearness to death?
SatanicPanic
Green balloons
Ben Franklin
@Calouste:
He’s giving the Benediction as cover for his endorsement.
Paul
I know Ryan voted for the costly Iraq war
I know Ryan voted for the costly Bush tax cuts
I know Ryan voted for the costly Medicare Advantage plan.
All these things are “paid” for with borrowed money that my grand-kids will end up paying for. Based on Ryan’s votes, I bet my two year old dog has more concern for our country’s deficit than Mr Ryan does. Ryan is part of the problem, not the solution.
Violet
I hate you for making me take a look at that spewed dreck that is masquerading as a conversation. WTF is up with pundits and their need to describe people in Congress and other political types as “brave”?
Just like with Palin, if Ryan weren’t somewhat attractive, he’d be getting none of this attention.
Yutsano
@Calouste: This should be fun. I wonder how the Jeebus freaks are going to feel having a herald from the Whore of Babylon speaking at their event.
Dennis SGMM
“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy….I was able to get a sense of his soul.”
– George W. Bush, after meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2001
NancyDarling
@presquevu: Sanpaku eyes indicate that his yin/yang is out of balance. Or something.
jwb
@Wag: Yes, I thought Collins was getting a bit of a bum rap in last night’s thread as well, though there was one point in their conversation where she could have put a shiv into Bobo and neglected to do so. Otherwise, she did an awesome job of getting Bobo to spout all these ridiculous statements.
Punchy
Take some Xanacks buddy and perhaps a 3 month vacation to Siberia. You’re not going to make it to the election at this rate.
NancyDarling
@Violet:
Are you a man masquerading as a woman here at BJ? Cuz I don’t know any women who think he’s attractive at all.
Dan
Holy shit- the very next line:
“One thing that people miss is how supple a strategist he is.”
Culture of Truth
I was shakin’ in my shoes
Whenever he flashed those baby-blues
Something had a hold on me
When Ryan passed close by
My blood runs cold
My hero has just been sold
Paul Ryan voted for bailouts
He really is just a sellout
cathyx
He’s everything Brooks wants to be.
Ben Franklin
Dennis SGMM Says:
“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy….I was able to get a sense of his soul.”
–Pussy Riot—–
Fuxed
Ben Franklin
Dennis SGMM Says:
“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy….I was able to get a sense of his soul.”
—Pu55y Riot——-
Fuxed
Villago Delenda Est
Anyone who professes “enormous respect for Ryan” either has not looked closely, or has, and therefore has basically put themselves, by their own words, on the tumbrel list.
The world will be a better place the day David Brooks’ broken body is found in a back alley.
Violet
@NancyDarling:
No, I’m female. Ryan is not an ugly man physically, although his soul makes him very unattractive. To me, anyway. He’s quite fit so his physique is good. His eyes stand out, even if they look like Children of the Corn eyes.
I can see why people could describe him as attractive. Especially Villagers, for whom attractiveness is in short supply.
Oh, and since I live in a red state I have friends who vote Republican (I try to change their minds and have some record of success), and some of the women think Ryan is attractive. So I know some women personally who do think that. Ugh.
Culture of Truth
It’s written down. It’s on paper.
Which they are bravely running away from. They have no real plan.
Villago Delenda Est
@Yutsano:
Oh, cripes. The head of the ticket is a Christless cultist. Surely they won’t freak out at a Whore of Babylon.
Shawn in ShowMe
@NancyDarling:
Well, compared to the 65+ year old dour white men that sit atop the Republican leadership, he is attractive. I’m sure Violet is grading on a curve, i.e. Ryan is quite tall for a dwarf.
Hal
Rachel Maddow played a clip yesterday of Ryan being grilled by some local reporter on his viewpoint and the compared that to Hannity, who soft balled massively leading, rhetorical questions (That Obama’s a real jerk, huh?). It was pretty pathetic, but obviously not surprising.
Brachiator
@jwb:
In other words, here presence there was a waste of time.
Yutsano
@Villago Delenda Est: I don’t think they’ve even delved into the Cult of Moroni yet. All they’re focused on is the sdherrif is near.
Felinious Wench
@Violet: I can see why people could describe him as attractive. Especially Villagers, for whom attractiveness is in short supply.
red dog
My guess is that all debate questions will be answered by R&R with the exact same phrases within 20 words as they answer. So the word puking shall continue. It will be written down and memorized.
amk
Muhlenberg Poll in Pennsylvania
The first poll of Pennsylvania voters since Mitt Romney made Paul Ryan his running mate found the pick did nothing to move the race.
President Barack Obama maintains his lead in the lean-blue state with 49 percent support to Romney’s 40 percent among likely voters, according to a The Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll conducted this week.
Notably, Obama maintains his lead despite weak job approval—47 percent of voters disapprove of the job he’s doing in the White House, compared to 43 percent who do.
Hill Dweller
@Hal: Roger Simon called out Hannity on the twitter machine, saying he didn’t have the balls to bring up Akin.
Ash Can
@Yutsano: This occurred to me too. Who do they think this helps? I too doubt the fundies will be impressed. Do they think it will win over more Catholic votes? The Catholics who aren’t already voting for the Romney-Ryan Great White Trainwreck think Dolan’s a schmuck. Hell, even some GOP-voting Catholics probably think Dolan’s a schmuck, and will think this is a bad move. And everybody else will see a religious figure in the middle of a pedophile controversy standing up and speaking at the RNC. What good does this do?
Violet
@Ash Can: It “proves” that “even Catholics are with us.” To whom is “proves” it, I have no idea, but that’s the thinking behind it, imho. I suspect, as with most wingnuttian ideas, they’re trying to play to the base.
Corner Stone
@Calouste:
The joke’s on the GOP. Wait til Nolan starts castigating them for their mistreatment of the poor and less fortunate. He’s going to use their own podium to lambast them for their sins!
No one could expect it.
Yutsano
@Ash Can: Hell if they’re gonna shiv the religious right might as well invite the Prophet from Salt Lake City to give a speech as well. Of course Willard just tapdances around his religion while calling Obama a skeery sekrit Muslim.
? Martin
And I’m sure Hitler was a fine fellow during sex, as well.
Just taking this argument to its logical conclusion.
Corner Stone
@? Martin: I am almost certain that is not actually where this argument was going to conclude.
slippy
Brooks is such an incredible douchebag. The fact that he is within the pages of the Times keeps me out of them.
Ash Can
@Violet: Yeah, all three dozen Catholics nationwide who don’t think the bishops are completely full of shit. Then again, though, if the fundies don’t realize just how unpopular Dolan and his ilk are these days, maybe that doesn’t matter.
Felinious Wench
@Calouste:
And the parade of really bad decisions continues.
“He’s charismatic! He’s an up and coming star in the Catholic Church!”
He is a slimy, wretched excuse for a man. Don’t have good enough words to describe how much I despise him, except for “he’s a prince of the church.”
? Martin
It won’t be political:
“Lord, please ensure none of these fine Republicans diddle with any young boys as they are want to do, for I have already covered up enough of that business for a lifetime.”
Violet
@Ash Can: I think it’s just another example of the ever shrinking circle. He’s “one of them” so “everyone loves him and respects him.” Uh huh.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Ash Can:
It makes sure Mittens is surrounded by rich white people so he doesn’t freak out again on national TV over catching prole cooties.
quannlace
I don’t think I’m the first one to remark on this, but I think he looks a lot like Scooby-Doo.
Without the Scooby snacks.
Hill Dweller
When a reporter cited fact checkers while asking why he is lying about the welfare work requirement, Willard said fact checkers are biased.
rlrr
@quannlace:
Ryan looks like Gabe from The Office…
Shawn in ShowMe
@Felinious Wench:
The tone-deafness of Team Mitt is a wonder to behold. Has there ever been a post-convention dip?
hep kitty
Violet
@quannlace: I think he looks like Eddie Munster. And his sad clown face just makes me want to punch him.
Villago Delenda Est
@Hill Dweller:
Well, facts have a well known and irrefutable liberal bias, so it’s of no surprise to me that Willard just blew off the findings of fact checkers.
BGinCHI
Back from a week’s vacation and ready to bring the pain.
THIS was the most fucking terrible thing in this ghastly exchange:
Tired? You’re tired of it, Gail? How much do you make a year? Do you see yourself as having any responsibility to the country that allows you to be so grossly overpaid?
schrodinger's cat
Paul Ryan looks creepy not attractive. There is an air of earnest obsequiousness about him, plus his hair is all weird. I have heard from the punditubbies that he is fit, it is impossible to tell under the tent-like suits he prefers.
Villago Delenda Est
@Dan:
This guy is so supple that he can’t figure out that you conquer the world by starting out in Australia.
Tonal Crow
The Who said it best:
—
…No one knows what it’s like,
To be hated,
To be fated,
To telling only lies….
—
jwb
@BGinCHI: Recalibrate your snark detector.
Gloryb
@Hal: I believe that was John Delano from KDKA in Pittsburgh. I’ve found him to be a decent reporter, no flashes if brilliance. Which just goes to show, it’s not that hard to do this.
Linda Featheringill
@Dan: #21
I have such a hard time keeping up with the current euphemisms for canoodling! Strategist. Yeah.
Bulworth
@Zifnab: It’s true. We should be forever grateful.
Also too: actual votes cast in Congress are totally uninteresting and of concern only to the most silly partisans except for the Kerry “He voted for it before he voted against it” defense appropriation which was vitally important as our pundits said in 2004.
schrodinger's cat
@BGinCHI: Unfortunately to the highly paid village idiots it is game and they cover it as such. Who is up, who is down. Did someone make a gaffe? They think their purpose is to entertain not inform.
ETA: I haven’t read the exchange, since I find anything that features Bobo physically painful. I do like Gail Collins’s columns, in general she is much better than MoU and Bobo and Chunky Bobo.
Dennis SGMM
@Felinious Wench:
Ticket headed by a Mormon and a Catholic.
Base is made up of fundamentalist Protestants.
Catholic Bishop speaks at convention.
This should really rock the vote.
Villago Delenda Est
@schrodinger’s cat:
Entertaining certainly is more suited to their true mission: to gather together an audience that the people paying the bills can make a sales pitch to.
That’s the bottom line of all of this. If people are actually entertained, or informed, that’s just a byproduct of the true mission: to make money by selling advertising.
Shawn in ShowMe
@schrodinger’s cat:
Again, he’s in fine shape compared to Mitch McConnell and Newt Gingrich. But I can see why his suits fit so weird. He’s got a broad chest and Mickey Mouse arms. Somebody find this guy a barbell.
TMZ pic
BGinCHI
@jwb: You seriously think she was being cheeky there? You have more faith in Ms. Collins than I do. I think the “but” in the following para is the giveaway….
schrodinger's cat
@schrodinger’s cat: Oops I am missing an article, should read, it is a game.
Felinious Wench
@Shawn in ShowMe:
Quoting West Wing, “you turn disengagement into a Zen-like thing.” It’s the entire Romney campaign. They’re so out of touch, so tone-deaf, it’s Zen-like.
Looking like they’re not going to catch on either.
gnomedad
@Calouste:
Doubtless he will remind them that the Ryan budget is incompatible with the Church’s social teachings.
Waynski
Krugman and Brooks aren’t allowed per NYT’s rules to criticize each other’s columns or blog posts directly, so they both tend to criticize each other with backhanded comments like this. K-Thug is much, much better at it. Shocker.
Mark S.
Here’s another part that gets lost in the ocean of stupid:
Ryan got a bunch of teabaggers to vote on a budget that everyone knew would never become law. It was pretty much the equivalent of passing a flag burning amendment or a resolution saying Jesus is awesome. It was just throwing red meat to the base, though this one might end up costing a few goopers their seats.
What it wasn’t was some legislation that enacted a much needed reform or would help a lot of people. Brooks has no idea that is what a legislator should be trying to do.
schrodinger's cat
@Yutsano: I wonder how many sister wives Ann Romney has? It would be irresponsible not to speculate. They probably live in the Cayman Islands along with the rest of his money.
Violet
@Linda Featheringill:
Speaking of canoodling, this reporter doesn’t know what it means.
schrodinger's cat
@Shawn in ShowMe: Not bad, but hardly a matinee idol, except for the graying men of the Village. His legs look like match sticks too.
ETA: I don’t even think he would qualify as the hottest guy in the Congress, not that it should matter. I remember seeing some freshman Congress critter from Chicago, who if my memory serves me right was much cuter than Ryan.
jwb
@BGinCHI: Yes, this is exactly how she is always cheeky, if you’ve read her for any length of time. My only complaint about her exchange with Bobo here was that she didn’t put the shiv in when Bobo dropped the bullshit about the numbers on paper. Otherwise, I think it was an almost perfect trolling job.
Corner Stone
@Mark S.:
Even better, the pols he got to commit to his policy plans did nothing of the sort. They named him the single negotiator for all things economic re: the GOP. IOW, they hung him far out on a limb so they wouldn’t have their names associated with his budget plan. It was political cowardice they committed, not getting on board.
HRA
OT and I apologize
Last night I read where Willard said,”Bless his heart” in reference to President Obama.
According to a search this is a Southern phrase that is not meant to praise anyone.
Any Southerners have another definition?
WereBear
I find it so very bizarre that the descendants of the KKK are now rooting for Catholics and Mormons.
Politics makes strange bedfellows indeed.
Of course, if their theocracy dawns (heaven forfend!) it will be a lot of bloody inf-fighting over whose version of whips and chains will prevail.
Look around your own neighborhood, count the churches; that is who will rule over you in that particular parallel world.
danimal
OK, I get it, dammit. I really get it. David Brooks is on to something, and it’s real. David Brooks, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney really, really, really, in their heart of hearts, don’t give a damn about the social issues. They take safe votes, confident that not a damn thing will change, so that they retain popularity with the evangelicals and Catholic true believers and then get to the business of looting the treasury. I get it.
The game gets tricky when people start taking a look at the actual votes on actual legislation and ask questions. You see, the safe votes that Ryan made to keep his 100% Pro-Life rating mean he is every bit the extremist that Akin is. Akin is a true believer, but Ryan is just a cynical pol, according to Brooks et al. But that does not excuse Ryan, nor does it excuse a hell of a lot of Republicans who have been voting for filth with the confidence that their filth will never become law.
Unfortunately we have only one Congress, and the votes are what they are. You can not run from your voting record. You can not run from your public record. I’m not sure how long GOP voters will allow their elected reps to get away with this bait and switch crap, but the rest of us don’t need to go along with it. The reason Akin is tied to Ryan is that THEY VOTED THE SAME WAY. Just because it’s inconvenient for Republicans to be reminded of their actual voting history doesn’t make it our problem.
Violet
@HRA: Didn’t hear that he said it, but you are exactly right that’s what it means. It’s usually said by women, though.
jwb
@HRA: Not a native southerner here, but I have heard it used to praise, though only as a stand-alone exclamation after hearing that someone did something good and unexpected, and it always sounds to my ear a bit old-fashioned. When it is used as a clause after the name, it is in my experience always a sign that a negative comment is coming.
Steeplejack
@BGinCHI:
I agree with JWB. That is a common humorous note in Collins’s columns and interactions with Bobo.
jwb
@Violet: Agree that it is usually used by women.
Corner Stone
@HRA: There are many flavors of what that phrase means. None are flattering.
Yutsano
@HRA: If a Southern woman says, “Bless your heart” to you, check your back for cutlery.
Maude
@HRA:
He stole that from Warren. She says that.
Can’t bless Romney’s heart, he doesn’t have one.
jibeaux
Wow, I’ve voted on and held opinions of many people I’ve never interviewed. Pretty much all of them, actually.
HRA
Thanks to all of you in re: to “Bless your heart”.
Felinious Wench
@Yutsano:
Well done! Never heard a man say it, though.
jake the snake
@Tonal Crow:
Behind blue eyes.
First thing I thought about when I heard all the
pundits starbursting about his blue eyes.
Just Some Fuckhead
Paul Ryan is dreamy. He seems like someone you could sit down and have a $300 bottle of wine with, and then fuck raw afterwards. Imagine splooging into those baby blues, and then wiping yer dick off on that crooked smile. I know I have.
Lurking Canadian
Brooks makes more sense if you understand that everything he’s written for the last six months amounts to, “Oh yeah, Krugman? Well…So’s your face!”
jake the snake
@HRA:
It is a little above “God love him” on the pantheon of
backhanded compliments.
BGinCHI
@Steeplejack: OK, humility sandwich for me for lunch.
Though I do think the para I quoted from Collins suits the Beltway media to a T.
Turgidson
Oh, Bobo. That’s because right-wing water carrying dipshits like you only consider policy to be brave if it inflicts unfathomable pain on the poor and working classes or will result in the deaths of thousands of brown people in some other country. Asshole.
The Democrats want to preserve a wildly successful program that has kept millions of elderly people out of poverty and medical bankruptcy for the past half-century. How unserious of them.
Felinious Wench
@Just Some Fuckhead:
You’re a very, very bad man.
asiangrrlMN
@Lurking Canadian: ::snicker:: That neatly sums up the oh-so-reasonable David Brooks. He needs to get a room with Paul Ryan and leave the rest of us out of it.
Rafer Janders
@Violet:
“Brave” is shorthand for sticking it to the poor and defenseless. Which makes it easier to understand this quote:
“But to be fair Romney and Ryan do have an incredibly brave and sensible Medicare reform package on offer. It’s written down. It’s on paper. I don’t see anything comparably brave from the Democratic side.”
Yeah, you know why you don’t? Because we’re not trying to stick it to the poor and defenseless.
Citizen_X
@Dan: He’s a tax code wizard, there has to be a twist
A tax code wizard’s a sup-ple strat-e-gist
BC
@Ash Can: Cardinal Dolan is leading the fight for religious freedom, doncha know, so his presence is a reminder to all that Obama is crushing religious freedom by mandating that all health insurance covers women’s health fully. I think it will remind women that the GOP hates women’s health.
Scamp Dog
@Dennis SGMM: Putin’s KGB, he doesn’t HAVE a soul. You’d think, that with a father in the CIA and then went into national politics, W would have had some sense of what the Soviet system was like.
catclub
@Ash Can: I wish. It is clear there are plenty of conservative catholics who have no problem with the RCC emphasizing two things: Abortion is murder and we didn’t lay hand on those kids.
The Lodger
@Dennis SGMM: Nah, they’re all branches of the Church of Shut Up and Do What You’re Told. Think of Tampa as the quadrennial all-hands meeting.
Drunk n'Ramblings
@HRA:
Yeah, it basically means “He’s an idiot.” As used in the following sentences:
“Ah, little Timmy broke his arm. Bless his heart.” Or,
“Bob went bankrupt. Bless his heart.”
Definitely not a praise thing, and as a southerner whose family has been here from before the founding of our nation, I take offense to a carpet bagging yankee like Mitt using that phrase. Especially when I’m sure it’s been muttered by his southern helpers during this campaign.
Drunk n'Ramblings
@HRA:
Yeah, it basically means “He’s an idiot.” As used in the following sentences:
“Ah, little Timmy broke his arm. Bless his heart.” Or,
“Bob went bankrupt. Bless his heart.”
Definitely not a praise thing, and as a southerner whose family has been here from before the founding of our nation, I take offense to a carpet bagging yankee like Mitt using that phrase. Especially when I’m sure it’s been muttered by his southern helpers during this campaign.
slippy
@Violet:
Me too. I don’t know what it is, but that look he has on his face when he’s handing a budget proposal to one of his cronies makes me think very quickly of the following things:
#1: It’s a cruel-hearted piece of shit, that no credible leader would ever propose.
#2: He’s desperate for gravitas, and believes he is entitled to be taken seriously.
#3: Most of all, he’s never fucking worked a real job one day in his life, so has no comprehension of what real people who deserve to be taken seriously do — he just shits this inane garbage out and thinks it’s the greatest thing.
grandpa john
@Scamp Dog: yeah but neither does Bush so I guess what he was seeing was the result of heart burn or acid reflux as Putin thought ” what the fuck am I doing wasting time with this asswipe”