Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

White supremacy is terrorism.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

People are complicated. Love is not.

So very ready.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

You are here: Home / Politics / Crazification Factor / There’s that number again…

There’s that number again…

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<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/59124558@N06/7982844829/” title=”27-percent-again by dengre.bj, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/7982844829_b64b827613.jpg” width=”427″ height=”351″ alt=”27-percent-again”></a>

Looks like Mitt has finally locked up the crazification vote, but he needs to be careful. One rational statement about any topic and he’ll lose them.

How about an open thread…

Cheers

 

Reader Interactions

120Comments

  1. 1.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Color me totally shocked and surprised at “that number” showing up, yet again.

    A full quarter of the population of this country, some 75 million, are batshit insane.

  4. 4.

    General Stuck

    Who’s the badass in this POTUS race?

    esquire.com/blogs/politics/romney-obama-poll-2012

    Exclusive: Obama Up by 4 Points Among Likely Voters (58% of Americans Say He’d Take Romney in a Fight)

    I am a little surprised a poll question was asked about this, but it does seem a reasonable question per current events, and the chest pounding of moral midget Mitt.

    reposted from thread below.

  5. 5.

    Ed Drone

    I’m beginning to think that Douglas Adams had it wrong in his Hitchhiker’s Guide search for “the answer to life, the universe and everything” — it isn’t 42! That was a fake result, put forward by a 27%er to hide the truth.

    27 percent IS the solution!

    Ed

  6. 6.

    Patricia Kayden

    Wonder if Romney has any idea how he’s hurt himself with his rush to judgment. Probably not since he doubled down and hasn’t retracted his foolishness. And that Reince Preibus (spelling) fellow is a trip. Not helping Romney at all.

  9. 9.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Weird Romney keeps on pandering to the 27%. The only thing I can think of is Mittens is in the same information bubble as the rest of them.

  10. 10.

    EconWatcher

    The Mittster does not back down, the Mittster does not look back, and the Mittster certainly does not listen to the whiny stylings of the liberal press. I think we can expect more of these bold, brave positions from the Mittster.

  11. 11.

    gogol's wife

    First the Obama campaign offered for us to meet Sarah Jessica Parker. Now it’s Beyonce and Jay-Z. I have zero interest. When’s that Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch meet-and-greet?

  15. 15.

    EconWatcher

    @Elizabelle:

    Maybe, but we spend at least 27% of our time feeding them–sometimes entire threads.

    If you’re a starving, homeless troll, this is the place to come for sustenance. It’s like a soup kitchen for trolls.

  26. 26.

    zadura

    Somehow I suspect that the 27% is related to the second most famous number in mathematics – e (2.71828.)

    Amazing…

  29. 29.

    Nylund

    But only 15% of voters think Romney deserves credit for getting Bin Laden. That suggest to me that he’s even having problems with they crazy 27’s.

  30. 30.

    Brachiator

    The 2 percent “not sure” are some deep dumbasses.

    One Southern California morning talk radio host, being surprisingly reasonable, noted that he had received over a hundred emails on the Libyan attack. Only two supported his position on Obama.

    The 98 others insisted that Obama was a Muslim appeaser dedictated to weakening America.

    The 27 percent are not just crazy. They cling to a lie that spits on the values that they supposedly care about.

    They are almost hysterical in their fear and distrust of a black Democrat as president.

    The sadder thing is that nothing can be done for them. Nothing.

  31. 31.

    The Red Pen

    @Ed Drone:

    I’m beginning to think that Douglas Adams had it wrong in his Hitchhiker’s Guide search for “the answer to life, the universe and everything”—it isn’t 42! That was a fake result, put forward by a 27%er to hide the truth.

    27 is 42 in base that’s probably an irrational number slightly larger than 6.

    In other words, 27 in The Answer in an irrational base.

    I think that’s right.

  35. 35.

    The Moar You Know

    I want very much for Obama to hold a presser, call out the Republicans for “emboldening the enemy” and imply that they’re anti-American. He’d never do it, of course. He shouldn’t.

    Petty, I know. But I want some fucking payback for the eight years I was called a terrorist sympathizer and an America hater.

    Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

  37. 37.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @kamalokitty: Ryan had to sneak back into DC to bravely vote on a budget continuation to keep the government from shutting down. Which he will obviously later be against.

  38. 38.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @chopper: Yes, that,.. I am also thinking that’s kind of smirk a man gets when he’s had 50 years of having his ass kissed and told he’s the savior.

  39. 39.

    ant

    I went to politico looking for this to see if it was an online poll.

    couldnt find it.

    where did you see this?

  40. 40.

    Laura

    @Nylund: The money number in that poll were the 47% or so of Republicans who said they “weren’t sure who deserved credit. These people know DAMN WELL Romney had abso-freaking-lutely nothing to do with it, but they are physically unable to give Obama credit for anything.

  42. 42.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @Ed Drone: I was just thinking the same thing. But computer Earth was off by one, not sixteen.

    @EconWatcher: I certainly hope so. We may get house+senate!

    @rlrr: Randian Ryan is thinking 1) I must keep my senate seat; 2) I must find a way to get Mittens to quit so I may become the presidential nominee. Look for subtle underhanded attempts from Ryan to trip Mitt Romney up.

  43. 43.

    Jewish Steel

    If I put myself Romney’s position I can’t see any other sensible approach than to KEEP TOTALLY CLEAR of any but the blandest foreign policy statements. I would have taken out a pencil and made a note of it the day OBL was killed. There is no way to address foreign policy concerns without provoking the memory of the death of OBL in the minds of the electorate.

    I think Republicans are mostly pretty dumb, but didn’t they at least used to be crafty?

  45. 45.

    The Moar You Know

    I’m wondering if Mitt doesn’t have more than just a touch of sociopath in him

    @Cassandra: He does, but like George H.W. Bush before him, the real monster in the clan is his wife.

    I have no doubt whatsoever Ann Romney would gut you like a fish and dig through your entrails with her bare hands if you told her you’d swallowed a quarter as a child. She cannot stand seeing others claim ownership to anything, as she feels it all rightfully belongs to her.

  46. 46.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @The Moar You Know: Actually, I think the last month of the Obama campaign is gonna be about “the republicans plotted to sink the economy, we are going strong despite the hamstringing”, maybe accompanied by some unreleased video. I think this line could be extremely strong in all downticket races as well, and Ryan as a VP is a gimme for it

  47. 47.

    General Stuck

    A competent president waits till most of the facts are in, then delivers a cool headed but firm statement on matters such as in Egypt right now. It sounds a lot like this.

    “Certainly in this situation what we’re going to expect is that they are responsive to our insistence that our embassy is protected, our personnel is protected,” Obama said. “And if they take actions that indicate they’re not taking responsibilities, as all other countries do where we have embassies, I think that’s going to be a real big problem.”

    “I don’t think that we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy. They’re a new government that is trying to find its way,”

    “They were democratically elected. I think that we are going to have to see how they respond to this incident. How they respond to, for example, maintaining the peace treaty with Israel,” he added.

    Etc…. Etc…..

  48. 48.

    jeffreyw

    @schrodinger’s cat: Kittehs! Sorry, no recent photos. They are all fine, though Homer keeps jumping up trying to snatch a hummingbird from the feeders. He also torments the puppehs during the night with his attempts at nursing. Annie’s gonna bite his head off one of these nights.

  49. 49.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @Jewish Steel: Living in an information bubble can make an idiot out of the smartest person.

    Maybe this accounts for the transformation from sensible, thoughtful Clint Eastwood to Crazy Teabagger Clint. Fox geezer syndrome

  50. 50.

    GregB

    A trip to the fever swamp cannot help but confirm my deep suspicions about this film and the ensuing protests.

    Drudge has a masked Muslim as the frontpage photo with the headline:

    Arab Israeli politician warns of Armageddon.

    If anyone thinks that reason is going to keep the fanatics, all the fanatics..the American Christian fanatics, the Israeli fanatics, the Muslim fanatics, from behaving like fanatics they had better think twice.

  53. 53.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Brachiator:

    The sadder thing is that nothing can be done for them. Nothing.

    We can shunt them all off to places where they won’t be able to hurt anyone again. Large padded cells.

  54. 54.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @jibeaux: Maybe a pollster should try out some questiosn like:

    Does the earth revolve around the sun?

    If A then B, and not B, is it true that not A?

    etc…

    Just to check if the number holds up

  56. 56.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @GregB:

    If anyone thinks that reason is going to keep the fanatics, all the fanatics..the American Christian fanatics, the Israeli fanatics, the Muslim fanatics, from behaving like fanatics they had better think twice.

    These people have more in common with each other than they have the cognizance to realize.

    They have their hatred. It’s what brings them together, against each other.

  58. 58.

    Turgidson

    @General Stuck:

    Knowing that Obama and Hillary Clinton are the ones making the big foreign policy decisions and representing America to the world…brings me no small measure of peace of mind. Especially after the Cowboy King’s reign of error.

    Romney, with malevolent, ignorant morons like John Bolton whispering in his ear….the mind just fucking reels at the very thought. I’d have to seriously consider building a bomb shelter.

  59. 59.

    EconWatcher

    @The Bearded Blogger:

    You raise an interesting question: How much can Fox alone account for the craziness? I think actually quite a bit, based purely on personal observation.

    My father had been a hardcore conservative who could engage in rational arguments and occasionally concede points. When Fox first started, he thought it was a lot of fun, but was a little sheepish about watching it, because he knew it wasn’t really news.

    Then, after several years, I started hearing that Fox was no more biased than the “liberal networks.” And then we slid to the point that if he didn’t hear it on Fox, it must be a liberal invention.

    How many people went through a similar progression? Millions?

  60. 60.

    jwb

    @Turgidson: If you believe that the Romney campaign strategy is at all rational, I think you have to conclude that they believe this is a turn out election, one that will turn on the extent that the base of each side votes rather than the middle, and that their best path for victory is to motivate that base any way they can. It doesn’t seem that this strategy is likely to work, but I do think it’s the best explanation for the Romney campaign’s actions.

  63. 63.

    Capri

    @hep kitty:
    When I run up against these types, I get a kick out of doing the following:

    Let them run on at length about the hateful Muslim in the white house, how liberals should be shot, etc. etc.

    Ask them if they hate America so much, why don’t they just move to another country.

    The looks on their faces is priceless.

  64. 64.

    shortstop

    @Jewish Steel: That’s what you’d do, because you’re not Mitt Romney, who’s on the stump in Virginia today criticizing Obama’s foreign policy.

    No, no more popcorn. No! I told you guys, I gotta drop a few.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    RE: The sadder thing is that nothing can be done for them. Nothing.

    We can shunt them all off to places where they won’t be able to hurt anyone again. Large padded cells.

    Actually, we can’t. And the worse thing is, that when Obama wins a second term, these people will become even more frantic, and potentially dangerous.

    And keep in mind that these people actively believe the lies spouted in that nonsensical movie about Obama that is still in current release, that he has some deep secret plan to turn the US over to a coalition of commies, Muslims and space aliens.

    And notice how the GOP leadership tries to walk the tightrope of not fully endorsing these wingnuts while still encouraging anger and discontent.

    They have their hatred. It’s what brings them together, against each other.

    With apologies to Michael Mann’s Heat:

    Vincent Hanna: I gotta hold on to my hatred. I preserve it because I need it. It keeps me sharp, on the edge, where I gotta be.

  68. 68.

    Cermet

    I can only say two things:

    Wish this tragedy had never happened with the terrible loss of life.

    Then, THANK YOU ROMNY FOR BEING A TOTAL ASSWIPE!

    I’ll add – watching romney circle the drain is now getting to be fun! (Time to give to Obama’s campaign again)

  70. 70.

    LD50

    @jwb: again, it ain’t working: electoral-vote.com/

    I can’t tell you how many wingnuts I see on the internet claiming how ‘close’ the race is, how it’s “fifty-fifty”. It’s like they’ve all decided to pretend the electoral college doesn’t exist.

  72. 72.

    The Moar You Know

    Then, after several years, I started hearing that Fox was no more biased than the “liberal networks.” And then we slid to the point that if he didn’t hear it on Fox, it must be a liberal invention.

    @EconWatcher: The slightly more rational Foxbots know their network is a fucking joke, and have gone to citing CNN to legitimize the bullshit they see on Fox.

    If anyone can show me how CNN differs from Fox in even a superficial way, let me know.

  73. 73.

    Svensker

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    I think they’ve all gotten so far inside the bubble they have no idea there’s a world outside. Apparently there’s a real problem in believing your own hype. I see that all the time on FB with the wingnut rellies — they’re always saying stuff that no one else gets and high-fiving over it. Meanwhile, the not-bubble folks are scratching their heads and saying WTF. I had to explain an empty chair bowing to a Saudi King chair to the hubster yesterday because, even though he’s on the net all the time being political, he still didn’t get the “joke.” And, boy, what a knee-slapper it was, too, eh?

  74. 74.

    shortstop

    @LD50: The ranking wingnuts are just pretending, but a lot of the rank-and-file ones really don’t understand how it works. I enjoy asking family members in this category which swing states they think Romney will win and which ones they think Obama will win. The bovine look of bewilderment on their faces is delightful. After a couple of moments of silence, a couple of them gather themselves sufficiently to sputter out a Palinesque “Romney will get all of them!”

  76. 76.

    The Moar You Know

    And notice how the GOP leadership tries to walk the tightrope of not fully endorsing these wingnuts while still encouraging anger and discontent.

    @Brachiator: Leading the charge is awesome until the moment the guys in front of you or in back of you start shooting.

  78. 78.

    aimai

    @EconWatcher:
    I agree. I’ve heard that a lot from people on the internet, and certainly saw it in action when I went doorknocking for Kerry during that election cycle. My SIL, who definitely watched fox news from the beginning, said the same thing. First it was all just in good fun. Later it became like an earworm she couldn’t shut off.

    aimai

  79. 79.

    Reasonable 4ce

    I enjoy Romneytron 2.1’s transparent mendacity and unforced errors as much as the next guy, but let’s not get too cocky, folks. He’s still assured of getting a minimum of 47 percent of the vote in November. USA!!! USA!!!

  85. 85.

    R-Jud

    @The Moar You Know:

    I have no doubt whatsoever Ann Romney would gut you like a fish and dig through your entrails with her bare hands if you told her you’d swallowed a quarter as a child. She cannot stand seeing others claim ownership to anything, as she feels it all rightfully belongs to her.

    Jesus. I’m going to be sleeping with all the lights on, to make sure the Annromney doesn’t come out of my closet while I’m sleeping.

  88. 88.

    Mandalay

    Watch out Obama! Palin has got Romney’s back, and is giving him free advice on how to campaign:

    Yes, he should be very aggressive and he should be adamant in his attacks on Obama’s record, which is so dismal, his plan or lack of a plan of Obama’s to get us out of these woeful times. Yes, he needs to be severely aggressive in his — in his articulation.
    But listen, you know, you bring up those demographics and what — what they’re representing in terms of perhaps wanting some free stuff. You need to remember, America is still center right.
    Proof of that is look at how Obama has to couch his message. He has to lie to pretend that he is for fiscal sanity and strong national defense and those center right positions that the vast majority of Americans stand for. Obama has to pretend like he is that in order to get that base.

    The Democrats use Bill Clinton to explain the complicated shit. The Republicans have Sarah Palin.

  89. 89.

    Maude

    @Turgidson:
    Obama makes all the foreign policy decisions. It is his policy and his, alone. The State Department was told that during the first days of the administration.
    At State, they say that Obama has an iron grip on foreign policy.

  91. 91.

    John H

    Probable breakdown by region:

    Northeast: Help 1%, Hurt 99%
    Midwest: Help 1%, Hurt 99%
    West: Help 1%, Hurt 99%
    South: Help 99%, Hurt 1%

    Just a guess.

  93. 93.

    feebog

    @ Shortstop:

    The ranking wingnuts are just pretending, but a lot of the rank-and-file ones really don’t understand how it works. I enjoy asking family members in this category which swing states they think Romney will win and which ones they think Obama will win. The bovine look of bewilderment on their faces is delightful. After a couple of moments of silence, a couple of them gather themselves sufficiently to sputter out a Palinesque “Romney will get all of them!”

    Works on non-family members too. Works especially well on facebook when some knuckledragging moron keeps spouting RWN talking points. Engaging with these types is a lot of fun, but it can be exhausting.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    @R-Jud:

    RE: I have no doubt whatsoever Ann Romney would gut you like a fish and dig through your entrails with her bare hands if you told her you’d swallowed a quarter as a child. She cannot stand seeing others claim ownership to anything, as she feels it all rightfully belongs to her.

    Jesus. I’m going to be sleeping with all the lights on, to make sure the Annromney doesn’t come out of my closet while I’m sleeping.

    Years from now, when the middle class has been eliminated, the remnants of the poor will huddle around campfires, the shining castles of the oligarchs rising in the distance into the clouds.

    Mothers will tuck their children into their tattered blankets and warn them, “the annromney will come and snatch you up if you don’t go right to sleep.”

    The children will laugh and shudder and close their eyes.

  96. 96.

    The Red Pen

    @Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God:

    27/42 gives you an even more interesting-looking number. Try it and see.

    OK.

    0.64285714285714285714285714285
    714285714285714285714285714285714285714285
    714285714285714285714285714285714285714285
    714285714285714285714285714285714285714285
    714285714285714285714285714285714285714285
    714285714285714285714285714285714285714285
    71428571428571428571428571428571428571428571

    The really funny thing is that 428571 has 13 and 37 as factors. That’s t0T477y 1337 d00d.

  97. 97.

    Mandalay

    @The Moar You Know:

    I have no doubt whatsoever Ann Romney would gut you like a fish and dig through your entrails with her bare hands if you told her you’d swallowed a quarter as a child. She cannot stand seeing others claim ownership to anything, as she feels it all rightfully belongs to her.

    I do not doubt for a moment that she would gut you, but you are being so unfair to Ann.

    If you swallowed the quarter as a child you have obviously had it for a long time. Well, now it’s her turn to have the quarter. There is no need to make it seem like she is being unreasonable.

  98. 98.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    Sadly, the crazification factor is a little ill-equipped to explain this:

    “Latino” or “Hispanic” on the one hand, and the issue of illegal immigration on the other, are highly associated. On average, these non-­‐Hispanic respondents estimated that 35.6% of all Latinos were “illegal.” Over 17% of respondents believed more than half of all Hispanics are illegal, while another 13.3% estimate exactly half are undocumented. Taken together, over 30% of respondents believed a majority of Hispanics (50% or greater) were undocumented.

    Pew estimates that maybe 18% of all Latinos are undocumented, while 37% are immigrants in general. But hey, all of them brown folk look the same, they can’t possibly be American, right?

  99. 99.

    Schlemizel

    totally out in left field:
    Some time ago a friend sent me two .bmp of monsters. Both stand on two feet, one had long shaggy hair on his head & looks vaguely human the other is ‘creature from the black lagoon-ish with a finned back. The things are signed but the quality is poor so I think it says C. Benvery ’99 or C. Bravery ’99 or C. Bonvery ’99.

    I’m hoping to find additional work by this person but every combination I can think of comes up dry on the google machine. I’ll upload them to imgur later so you can see them but does anybody think these sound familiar?

  100. 100.

    SRW1

    What a relieve, the world is back to normal! I had thought the 27%ers had abandoned Romney. After all, in that recent survey only 12-15% accredited Romney with killing OBL.

  104. 104.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    @scav:

    Yeah. Kind of amazing how many people in the country think Latinos could never be really American when a rather significant chunk have roots reaching back for….what, 5, 6 centuries?

  107. 107.

    Dperl99

    And here it is again (poll from WaPo site):

    Did the Democratic national convention help Barack Obama’s chances in the presidential election?
    Yes – 73%
    No – 27%
    Total Votes: 33,589

  109. 109.

    Triassic Sands

    One rational statement about any topic and he’ll lose them.

    Fortunately, for the lunatics there is virtually no chance of this happening, unless Mitt gets really, really drunk or high and does so when a mike is within reach. Otherwise, it’s a safe bet that Mitt will continue to feed the loons and maintain his status as Wackjob-in-Chief.

  114. 114.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:

    Pew estimates that maybe 18% of all Latinos are undocumented, while 37% are immigrants in general. But hey, all of them brown folk look the same, they can’t possibly be American, right?

    This is the factual basis of Arizona’s “show your papers, please” immigration law.

  116. 116.

    mazareth

    It never ceases to amaze me how resilient that 27% number is.

    No snark at the moment for me. Just got back from PT for my left knee (ACL replacement). Today is one month since the surgery and the PT is going well. It’s getting steadily more intense. Time for a little nap before lunch…

  117. 117.

    Danack

    Hmm, seems that quite a few people are confused by the 27% – it’s the The Crazification Factor

    John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is…

    Tyrone: 27%.

    John: … you said that immmediately, and with some authority.

    Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That’s crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.

    John: Objectively crazy or crazy vis-a-vis my own inertial reference frame for rational behaviour? I mean, are you creating the Theory of Special Crazification or General Crazification?

    Tyrone: Hadn’t thought about it. Let’s split the difference. Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification — either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy.
    John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US?

    Tyrone: Does that seem wrong?

    John: … a bit low, actually.

  119. 119.

    PaulW

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    A full quarter of the population of this country, some 75 million, are batshit insane.

    Just be grateful that only a percentage of the population actually votes. So while 75 million are roughly batshit insane, calculate in the fact that about 60-70 percent of the total population votes in Presidential elections, so 60 percent of 75 million is…

    45 million. Which is a bit less than the 59 million that voted for McCain (and way less than the 69 million that voted Obama).

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