Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

Bark louder, little dog.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

The revolution will be supervised.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

This fight is for everything.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Optimism opens the door to great things.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

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Reader Interactions

335Comments

  16. 16.

    Linda Featheringill

    Since I have accepted the fact that everything that has gone wrong in the past 300 years is Obama’s fault, I’m not as upset by Republican “analysis.”

  17. 17.

    BGinCHI

    David Gregory is a good example of how a stupid person automatically sides with the GOP. I’m not sure he’s trying to be biased. It’s just that he’s a dimwit.

  20. 20.

    Ben Franklin

    @lamh35:

    BiBi’s running away from Mitt. I think h’s convinced Obama is gonna win, so he softened the response to the usual leading questions from our sionest friend Gregory.

  22. 22.

    Schlemizel

    So you plan to assault yourself with two different brain damaging agents simultaneously?
    How did you live to such a fine age if you are this reckless?
    Wouldn’t you get the same effect by drinking the scotch and hitting your head with a hammer? The benefit would be you might be able to retain some hope for humanity

  25. 25.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Sometimes I wonder if the only people reading the RW blogs are other RW bloggers and left-wing bloggers who are pointing and laughing.

    I would venture that 99.9 percent of the people I know IRL would look at me quizzically if I said the names Jonah Goldberg or K-Lo or whatever other dipshits they run at the Corner.

  29. 29.

    Mark S.

    I was never impressed with the intelligence of Tim Russert, but David Gregory makes him seem like John Stuart Mill.

  30. 30.

    jwb

    @Chris: Bibi’s appearance on the talking head circuit this morning was an attempt to change it. Also boldly stepped over several diplomatic lines that leaders of countries are not supposed to cross with respect to overtly meddling in other countries’ internal politics. Gregory’s foolish comment, however, spoke the silly belief that was motivating Bibi’s appearance in the first place and so undercut it. If Twitter is any guide, Gregory’s comments are soaking up all the attention. I don’t see Bibi lasting long as Israel PM after Obama is re-elected.

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker

    @BGinCHI: I Just saw that. Even after all these years, The Village can still astound me. And still people in his professional/social circles will continue to deny Gregory’s stupidity.

  36. 36.

    smintheus

    Disgusting. The producer of “Innocence of Muslims”, Morris Sadek, went looking to create a firestorm in Egypt timed to Sept. 11 by urging a Cairo journalist to review it. And he kept pushing him to publicize it.

    Girgis said he watched the movie and found it insulting. He didn’t want to write about it. But Sadek called Girgis back and urged him to, telling him he could not deny that the movie existed.

    Sadek will however continue to lie low inside the US while risking the lives of Americans who are serving abroad.

  37. 37.

    Person of Choler

    While we wait for the horror report from The Corner, herewith an update on the Arab Spring:

    http://tinyurl.com/985ox4j

    Bloody hand prints, stolen documents and shocking security failings: Harrowing pictures inside crumbling U.S. consulate in Benghazi after attacks that left ambassador and three others dead

  38. 38.

    Anya

    @lamh35: I think he dialed back his not so thinly veiled anti-Obama rhetoric. This is from HuffPo, so no linky.

    The Israeli leader also pushed back on the idea that he is upset with the Obama administration for not drawing a red line with Iran over its development of nuclear capabilities. He made it clear last week that he is growing frustrated with the United States for continuing to rely on peaceful methods and generated speculation that Israel is getting ready to strike Iran on its own.
    “No,” he said Sunday. “President Obama has said that he’s determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons and I appreciate that and I respect that.” Asked again if Obama has thrown Israel under the bus by not being more firm with Iran — a reference to a charge by Romney that Obama has “thrown allies like Israel under the bus” in his first term — Netanyahu replied, “There is no bus.”

  44. 44.

    Comrade Jake

    Apparently Lynne Cheney blamed Obama for abandoning Czechoslovakia today. It’s almost like these people take pride in being ignorant.

  46. 46.

    geg6

    Heh, Dancin’ Dave shows a whole new level of utter incompetence with his Bibi is the king of the Jews stuff. There are few Villagers who I enjoy seeing step on their dicks more than Fluffy.

    And that everyone is completely ignoring Netanyahu to point and laugh at Gregory is just icing on the cake.

  48. 48.

    Chris

    @amk:

    The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not publicly (if indirectly) criticize the Obama Administration because he is trying to tip the election to Mitt Romney. He criticized the Obama Administration because he believes the President won’t actually stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

    And if that’s true, the world will go right on spinning.

    The worst thing that happens with a nuclear weapon is that we have to live with another country that we can’t simply depose at a whim like we did Saddam, and Israel has to live with a local cold war instead of utterly dominating the region. That’s not the end of the world. It’s certainly not worth getting bogged down in another massive regional war. It may not even be worth conducting air strikes and risking Iranian retaliation (especially with the program being as decentralized as it is).

    The fact that we can’t even have that conversation is mind-boggling.

  51. 51.

    gelfling545

    @Linda Featheringill: I got there and was doing ok, less given to screaming & throwing things, until I found out that some republicans now give Mitt more credit than the President for bringing down Bin Laden.

  52. 52.

    Chris

    @smintheus:

    Disgusting. The producer of “Innocence of Muslims”, Morris Sadek, went looking to create a firestorm in Egypt timed to Sept. 11 by urging a Cairo journalist to review it. And he kept pushing him to publicize it.

    I’d say the notion of the film being an October Surprise plan is fairly credible at this point, y’all.

  53. 53.

    Kane

    From Jason Linkins:

    Brian Ross says that Iran is “four to six weeks away from having a nuclear weapon” if they “choose that path,” and Raddatz and Amanpour immediately jump in and assert much longer timetables for such an event, leaving Ross to circle back and say, “Well, that’s the latest claim.”

    These people say anything they want without consequence.

  55. 55.

    BGinCHI

    @Villago Delenda Est: That anyone anywhere, including shopkeepers and her family, would ever talk to Liz Cheney mystifies me.

    Who the fuck is she? No one. Name one significant thing she has ever done for anyone but herself.

    Is there any more stupid, dangerous, or selfish bunch of dicks than the neocons?

  58. 58.

    BGinCHI

    @Kane: But…but…Brian Ross has such a sparkling track record! And he’s on TV!

    If he was a student in Poli Sci 201 and said stuff like that he’d be asked to stay after class, then urged to do his homework or drop the class.

  60. 60.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    @gelfling545: I found out that some republicans now give Mitt more credit than the President for bringing down Bin Laden.

    Amazing, isn’t it? We get to see these goobers rewriting history all the time, but this is an unusually clear case.

  63. 63.

    me

    @Villago Delenda Est: “Czechoslovakia” aside, how did the President abandon them anyway? By being less intent on building a ABM program allegedly to stop missiles from Iran? Why the fuck would Iran nuke Poland?

  65. 65.

    rachel

    “I mean I heard some people suggest, David — I actually read this in the American press — they said, ‘Well, you know, if you take action, that’s a lot worse than having Iran with nuclear weapons,’” he said of a potential military strike. “Some have even said that Iran with nuclear weapons would stabilize the Middle East, stabilize the Middle East.”

    Personally, I wonder if Iran being in a position where it could tell Israel to shut up and stop rattling its sabers at them would be such a bad thing.

    “I think the people who say this have set a new standard for human stupidity.”

    The wiser course for the US would be to threaten to just jump in and spend even more blood and treasure in Asia? Um… No.

  66. 66.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    @BGinCHI: Misreading aside, is either Slovakia or The Czech Republic being threatened these days in ways they can’t handle?

  71. 71.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    @me: They are crazy anti western. They will strike at the weak underbelly, which is probably Belgium, but the missiles don’t reach that far. They will do this knowing that if we do Obama would surrender before even thinking about leveling large swaths of Iran.

  72. 72.

    jp7505a

    From AP –‘Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making a direct appeal to U.S. voters to elect a president willing to draw a “red line” with Iran.

    The hawkish leader on Sunday used this week’s focus on unrest across the Muslim world to warn Americans watching two Sunday talk shows that time is running out to confront Tehran on its nuclear program.

    It was an impassioned election-season plea for a world leader who insists he doesn’t want to insert himself into U.S. politics.
    ‘

    Why are the networks giving this guy free air time to campaign for Mittens and war with Iran. If he had limited his comments to Isreali politics maybe it would be justifiable but as soon as he said Americans must elect a president that will set red lines , he crossed a MAJOR redline – foreign leaders do not tell Americans how to vote. He should have be shut down right then and there.

    I know it isn’t politically wise or diplomatically possiblebut I would love to see Obama declare him persona non grata and deny him entry to the US when the UN reconvienes in Oct.

  73. 73.

    pat

    Nuclear weapons are SOOO 20th century. Iran ought to be investing in developing DRONES. Imagine some Israeli politician crossing the street in Tel Aviv and suddenly…

    Well, what then?

  76. 76.

    Corner Stone

    @pat:

    Imagine some Israeli politician crossing the street in Tel Aviv and suddenly…

    Wouldn’t that be an act of war?

  79. 79.

    Chris

    @rachel:

    I mean I heard some people suggest, David — I actually read this in the American press — they said, ‘Well, you know, if you take action, that’s a lot worse than having Iran with nuclear weapons,’” he said of a potential military strike.

    I’d sure like to know who the hell those reporters are.

    Personally, I wonder if Iran being in a position where it could tell Israel to shut up and stop rattling its sabers at them would be such a bad thing.

    How many wars has Iran started?

    How many wars has Israel started?

    Which of those countries is currently threatening to start another war to prevent another country from acquiring a WMD capacity that the first country already has?

    Which of those countries has spent the last three decades invading, occupying and ethnically cleansing foreign soil in order to satisfy lunatic fundamentalist elements of their government?

    Should we feel any more comfortable with Likud’s fetish for religious and nationalist fanaticism than Ahmadinejad’s – keeping in mind that Ahmadinejad is not the leader of Iran and that Iran’s fundies do not, at present, have a nuclear button to push?

    There’s a reason so many foreigners in the run-up to the Iraq War listed Israel and the U.S. as the number one threats to world peace.

  80. 80.

    rachel

    @Kane: And you can add Joe Klein.

    ETA: I never considered him to be a great thinker, but it was heartening to see he’s not crazy.

  81. 81.

    pat

    @corner stone

    well, I suppose if you follow it to the logical conclusion, Iran would be turned into a glassy smoldering ruin before the end of the day.

  89. 89.

    Anoniminous

    Some people say Czechoslovakia hasn’t existed since 1992. Other people say it is leading a stealth existence. It is not the business of Balloon Juice to litigate this matter.

  90. 90.

    Amir Khalid

    @gelfling545:
    Okay, now I’m utterly confuzzled. Mitt has spent the past decade and more as a professional perennial political candidate, none of that time actually holding any elected or appointed public office. How the crap do those people figure he brought about Osama’s death?

  91. 91.

    Anoniminous

    @Kane:

    Some bipartisan security say one thing, other people say Iran will soon have a Martian Death Ray orbiting planet that force Americans to have Islamic Gay Baby abortions.

    I think it is hardly the business of Balloon Juicers to litigate this matter.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker

    Dear Willard,
    Please listen carefully to Jennifer Rubin. She is very smart, not at all insane, has a keen ear for what American people want:

    She suggests he needs “John Bolton on foreign policy. New Gingrich on radical jihadism. Paul Ryan on anything. John Sununu on Obama criticism. “

    John Sununu is the voice of the Swing Voter, who all wish Chris Christie were just a little angrier and a bit less charming.

  94. 94.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    @Amir Khalid: Ok. Obama knew that if he didn’t kill Osama, Romney would craftily use that to trounce him in an election about jobs and the economy. Obama did it out of fear for Romney.

  99. 99.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Kane:

    This is the same Brian Ross who said that a guy named “Jim Holmes” of Aurora, CO, is a member of the tea party, and might be the Aurora cinema shooter.

    With absolutely nothing to make the connection other than the name.

    The wingnutosphere had a grand time identifying “Brian Ross” as a DUI suspect, a registered sex offender, and many other things in retaliation.

    Ross is a serious fuckhead.

  104. 104.

    Anoniminous

    @JPL:

    Some people say nouns refer to persons, place, or thing. Other people say, “fucking nouns, how do they work?”

    I submit it is hardly my place to litigate this matter.

  105. 105.

    Chris

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker:

    John Bolton on foreign policy. New Gingrich on radical jihadism. Paul Ryan on anything. John Sununu on Obama criticism.

    Does it freak anyone else out that she’s separating “foreign policy” and “radical jihadism” into two different things? Which implies a desire to go after “radical jihadists” (which is usually conservatalk for “Islam in any way shape or form”) right here at home?

    Cue the herding people into cattle cars.

  106. 106.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @? Martin:

    Shorter Rubin: An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation, We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland.

    Ms. Rubin? There’s a call on line 2 from Hell. It’s Roy Cohn, counsel for Julius Streicher, they’re claiming you plagiarized him.

  109. 109.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    @Chris: Maybe Gingrich is to lead the radical jihad? Well basically Gingich needs a job. She could have put him in charge of NASA. He’s too much of a pants pisser for actually foreign policy, so they need to put him in an arena where people piss their pants easily so they can pretend not to notice.

  110. 110.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @me:

    No idea, and don’t want to find out how the vile twit’s mind works. If you can call such a mass of lizard neurons a “mind”.

  112. 112.

    Corner Stone

    @pat:

    Iran would be turned into a glassy smoldering ruin before the end of the day.

    By who? No one but Pakistan or India have admitted to nuclear weapons in the ME.

  115. 115.

    Corner Stone

    @PurpleGirl:

    Because any beader can tell you the beads come from the Czech Republic.

    So do some really smokin’ freaking hot women. Also, too.
    Just sayin’.

  118. 118.

    dance around in your bones

    Press the Meat just started here on the lefty coast. Susan Rice is the only person with brains on the show.

    Bibi is bloviating just now – 19 minutes in….fuck it, I’m going back to watch Hoarders.

    ETA: I’d rather just read what BJer’s have to say about it.

  120. 120.

    West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)

    I’ve been surfing the various political and progressive (neo-progressive) blogs today (Huff Post, Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos, NPR, Mediaite, Politico — YES, I know those last three definitely are not overtly progressive)…

    I’m confused. Obama now apparently has the lead on Medicare/Social Security and foreign policy (people have more confidence in his abiity to oversee those issues). He’s got a substantial lead with people of color, women, college-educated people. He is very close (according to one poll) even among white males. He’s leading in most of the so-called battleground states.

    Why do we keep hearing how close the bloody race is? Is it truly the media pushing the political narrative (close horse-race story)?

    People like Obama more. I don’t think Ryan is doing any great favors for Romney… what gives? Any thoughts?

  122. 122.

    kay

    Sounds like Jake Tapper was just as bad, interviewing Susan Rice.
    He’s scrambling a little bit though.
    Thanks her for showing up to answer questions on Twitter, after, and says Romney and Ryan won’t.
    It’s an explanation, of sorts, that Tweet.
    Jake Tapper was repeating Romney’s accusations because Romney wouldn’t show up.
    Although why Romney would bother showing up when he has Jake Tapper to play the role of “Mitt Romney” is still a mystery.
    I’ll wait for another Tweet. Perhaps he has more to explain.

  123. 123.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Is it truly the media pushing the political narrative (close horse-race story)?

    Those inches of space in the paper aren’t going to fill themselves!

  129. 129.

    LanceThruster

    In other news, I’ve found “Dr. Who” on my OnDemand (season 6) and am proceeding with “Let’s Kill Mittler”…I mean “Hitler.”

    The downside is that my closed caption is giving me gibberish, so I’ll have to pot up the volume and turn my head like the RCA dog to decipher whatever strange and exotic dialect these Brits are speaking. Took me awhile to figure out what they were saying in South Park too (except for Kenny).

    It’s already turned out to be a fun ride. How did the sun ever begin to set on the British Empire anyway?

  134. 134.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    We need a president who will stand up to the Ottoman Empire.

    We need a president who will sit down on an ottoman, put his feet up on an ottoman, maybe buy us all ottomans.

  135. 135.

    JPL

    @kay: Maybe it’s time to Tapper to do his own homework and read rather than depending on Mitt’s talking points. Yeah I know reading is hard work.

  137. 137.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker

    Besides the spectacle of a jibbering idiot jibbering idiotically, there’s an interesting nugget in this:

    KING: Well my view is President Obama’s policy has been confusing it’s been apologetic and it’s been misguided. From the day he started his apology tour back in 2009 , he was no matter what people say, apologizing for America. Somehow suggesting that we’ve been anti Islam until he became the president. Even talking about Iraq. He took our troops out of Iraq without even getting the status of forces agreement. He was given a glide path in Iraq and yet he pulled the troops out, brags about the fact that the troops are out, gives a definite get for getting out in Afghanistan. What he’s doing by that is telling our allies they can’t trust us.

    I like that “no matter what people say”. I don’ think I’ve seen one Villager point out that Romney’s whole ‘apology’ theme is a lie, but even Peter King, whose stupidity goes largely unnotticed in a House that includes Goehmert, Bachmann and brother from another mother Steve, seems to know it’s bullshit. I’m sure it went unchallenged by David Gregory, and his hair.

  141. 141.

    TOP123

    Since it’s an open thread and I always seem to be late to the topical ones, I’d like to re-ask the following, for anyone who has an idea:

    RCP has Conn. as a tossup, and McMahon’s numbers improving steadily. Is there a reason why I have yet to see a single Murphy ad? A SINGLE ONE? I’m sure there’s a reason, but I’m not grasping the strategy.

  142. 142.

    GregB

    Did anyone else pick up the quote on MTP from PM Netanyahu that President Obama has met with him more than any other world leader?

  143. 143.

    Brachiator

    @LanceThruster:

    In other news, I’ve found “Dr. Who” on my OnDemand (season 6) and am proceeding with “Let’s Kill Mittler”…I mean “Hitler.”

    There’s been a fun expansion of Doctor Who. You can stream the earlier Matt Smith seasons for free (along with other seasons) if you have the Amazon Prime Instant Video service, for example.

  150. 150.

    LanceThruster

    @Brachiator:

    Thanks. It looks as if I’ll be exploring the various incarnations for awhile. I’ve largely been in a sci-fi wasteland since they’ve quit making new LEXX or Farscape episodes.

  151. 151.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker

    @Chris: to say nothing of the continued incoherence of the McCain-Romney et al foreign policy. GOOPers have spent more than a decade now trying to decide if we need to stand by our Iraqi/Afghan/Pakistani allies, or if we need to exterminate the brutes. A week ago, the three neo-con stooges of the Senate were piously moaning that Obama hasn’t done enough to support the Arab Spring, now he hasn’t done enough to stop radical mooslim uprisings.

  152. 152.

    ? Martin

    From teh Twitters:

    Total # of Sundays so far this year: 38. # of Sundays in 2012 with John McCain on a morning talk show: 17

    Who knew tire swings were so effective?

  159. 159.

    Skippy-san

    The Corner is not worth the time or the Scotch-especially that douchebag Mark Steyn.

    Steyn’s writings about the Middle East-besides being completely fact free about the history of the region- also fail to consider the context that recent events have created for the United States.

    He can whine about the multi-polar world all he wants, but he’s powerless to prevent its continuing rise.

  160. 160.

    dance around in your bones

    @PurpleGirl: I have a strange fascination with the show.

    All the people are so sad and damaged. The pain is palpable and moving.

    Sometimes I think our house here (w/3 little boys age 6 and under) gets chaotic, and then I watch one of these shows and think ‘we’re nowhere near THAT bad’.

  161. 161.

    JPL

    Hope Sarah is okay. If she doesn’t report soon, we should all email John. He loves emails.

    OT on the OT.. The Saints need a coach.

    edit.. yeah… Sarah is alive.

  162. 162.

    Chris

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker:

    Like I said at the time the Arab Spring got off the ground, they’re waiting to see if Tunisia, Egypt, Libya et al turn into nice respectable democracies with liberty and tax cuts for all, or evil terrorist ragheadistans. Then they’ll know whether to bleat “IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF BUUUUSH!!!” or “IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF OBAMAAAA!!!”

    The idea that the changes might have had more to do with the internal dynamics of the countries involved than with whoever was sitting in the White House will go completely untouched, just like it did with China, Iran and Russia in the last century. A navel-gazing conviction that whatever happens anywhere in the world, it must be all about us is one of the many hallmarks of American Exceptionalism.

  164. 164.

    lamh35

    Bonus Quote of the Day

    “No one in Boston thinks this can only be about the economy anymore.”
    — A Romney campaign adviser, quoted by BuzzFeed.

    I hate to link to Halperin, but right after I read Taeggard’s post above, I just happened over to Halperin’s page and read this:

    Coming Attractions

    This full-page ad running in Sunday’s New York Post contains the charge that the President’s father was actually Frank Marshall Davis.
    As Election Day gets closer, there is going to be more of this kind of stuff in direct mail, TV, radio, emails, web ads, and print.
    I’m pretty certain that, in the end, it will help the President’s re-election effort.

    Go check the picture of the ad over at Halperin’s page if u want.

  169. 169.

    raven

    @Chris:

    Talk talk talk
    sometimes I think I must go mad
    why don’t you go home to your wife”
    I’ll tell you what
    I’ll go home to your wife and, outside of the improvement, she’ll never know the difference. . .

  171. 171.

    ? Martin

    Well, the Toobin piece on the PPACA SCOTUS ruling isn’t going to quell the flames any. It reads like a court where 4 court members are fully committed to the GOP political agenda above all else:

    The writer says the conservatives on the court, particularly law clerks, grew “so outraged that Roberts might betray them” that they began talking and, soon after the decision, leaked Roberts’ change of heart — an exceedingly rare occurrence for the court.

    Betray?

    “The four conservatives had overplayed their hand with the chief justice,” he writes. “By demanding that Roberts kill off the entire health care law, they prompted him to look for some kind of middle ground. … [Justice Antonin ] Scalia was enraged at the chief. … With all the changes, the cross-references among the various opinions became confused. … By a vote of 5-4, the Court would uphold the heart of the Affordable Care Act.”

    Conservatives overreaching? Unpossible. Conservatism cannot fail…

  174. 174.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @lamh35:

    I’m afraid the stupid market is hopelessly bear. There’s so much out there that you have to bribe people to accept drilling rights on the wingnuts’ heads, because it’s so plentiful. Too cheap to meter.

  175. 175.

    raven

    Four Marines were killed and 6 harrier jump jets destroyed in Afghanistan yesterday. We can’t put a price on the Marines but the jets cost $210 million .

  179. 179.

    Baud

    @lamh35:

    In the late 1940s, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he ran a small business.

    After impregnating Obama’s mom in Hawaii, Davis quickly shipped her off too Kenya in order to set up an elaborate ruse to make people believe Obama was actually born in Hawaii.

    ETA: FYWP

  180. 180.

    Chris

    @GregB:

    I’ve talked about my darker “we’re all doomed!” moments here before. But conversely, in my more wildly optimistic moments I find myself hoping that the teabaggers and 2010 will go down in history as peak wingnut.

  184. 184.

    Anoniminous

    @Brachiator:

    Communist.

    If people can’t afford to enter the FreeMarket© and buy their own ottomans they will just have to put their feet up on their children like ->GOD<- intended.

    (Edited for congruence with English grammar.)

  185. 185.

    Villago Delenda Est

    “No one in Boston thinks this can only be about the economy anymore.”—A Romney campaign adviser, quoted by BuzzFeed.

    It’s the ni*CLANG*, stupid!

  188. 188.

    gene108

    @Chris:

    A navel-gazing conviction that whatever happens anywhere in the world, it must be all about us is one of the many hallmarks of American Exceptionalism.

    That’s because other countries weren’t hand picked by God to be the greatestest country that has ever been and will ever be upon this God’s Earth.

    Do you really think God helped write Iran’s or Russian’s or China’s constitutions like he did ours? I know He didn’t.

    That’s why everything revolves around us, just like the Sun revolves around the Earth.

  189. 189.

    Chris

    @Anoniminous:

    If people can’t afford to enter the FreeMarket© and buy their own ottomans they will just have to can put their feet up on their children like ->GOD< – intended.

    No. Mister President, we CANNOT afford an Ottoman gap.

  190. 190.

    gwangung

    Like I said at the time the Arab Spring got off the ground, they’re waiting to see if Tunisia, Egypt, Libya et al turn into nice respectable democracies with liberty and tax cuts for all, or evil terrorist ragheadistans. Then they’ll know whether to bleat “IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF BUUUUSH” or “IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF OBAMAAAA”

    Makes you wonder if they think democracies can be popped out of the microwave, instantly formed. Or just add water…

  191. 191.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    @wrb: I think this study may be important.

    Nah, just more liberal academic reality-based fact stuff. Pay it no mind.

  192. 192.

    trollhattan

    @Corner Stone:
    Kerry’s seat might could go to another leather hot-pants wearin’ Playgirl centerfold. We can’t trust those Massholes to do the rightsane thing (my NH brother would be right quick to point out).

  203. 203.

    dance around in your bones

    @JPL:

    I’ve heard Honey Boo Boo referenced here a few times, but never felt the desire to google it.

    Ok, now I have, and I feel much…..diminished…by the experience. In fact, I always flinched at just the NAME of Toddlers and Tiaras when I ran across it while surfing the channel guide.

  206. 206.

    ? Martin

    @gene108:

    That’s because other countries weren’t hand picked by God to be the greatestest country that has ever been and will ever be upon this God’s Earth.

    That’s less satire than you think:

    America, the land of liberty, was to be the Lord’s latter-day base of operations for His restored church…. For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off…

    I doubt we’ll hear it, but I REALLY want the 2012 equivalent to the 2008 debate question regarding the Bible. In 2008 in one of the nutty GOP debates, a question was asked whether the King James Version of the Bible was literally true. I want to hear someone ask Romney if he believes the Constitution was divinely inspired. Normally I shy away from religious criticism (I really don’t think any less of Mormonism than Catholicism – they are equally silly) but when you ask a guy to swear an oath to the Constitution, it’s important and valid for the public to understand exactly what he thinks he’s swearing an oath to.

  211. 211.

    catclub

    @Mark S.: Indeed.

    Is it the case that the Saudis are going apeshit over Iran getting nuclear weapons?

    I certainly have not heard that they are, but they are MUCH more likely to be threatened (and intimidated to the extent that an nation can actually use nuclear weapons for intimidation) by Iran going nuclear than Israel. Since Israel has a reported ~200 nuclear weapons, including submarine Launch cruise missiles.

  214. 214.

    raven

    @Ben Franklin: I was given to understand that not a few of the HC’s would come in, get healthy and go back. Not being of the grunt persuasion I cannot confirm but there are probably no unique clusterfucks in the world.

    The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down,
    You can’t let go and you can’t hold on,
    You can’t go back and you can’t stand still,
    If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will.

  215. 215.

    gogol's wife

    @TOP123:

    I’m with you. Every time I see Chris Murphy’s face, I start to cheer up until I realize it’s a McMahon ad attacking him. He’s AWOL. (I guess that’s what she’s criticizing him for, funnily enough.)

  219. 219.

    Anya

    @Baud: I understand the deranged logic of birthers who claim POTUS was born in Kenya, but what is the up with the ones who claim Frank Marshall Davis was his father? How does that put into question his qualification to be president of the United States? Davis was an American citizen, so what’s their game? Do they think being born out of wedlock disqualifies someone from becoming a president?

    These racist fucks are truly deranged.

  221. 221.

    Brachiator

    @FlipYrWhig:

    It was a vast conspiracy, set in motion by Chairman Mao. Preparing the ground were Agents Chesterfield and Davenport.

    Ultimately, everyone got pardons. Because, as we all know, to err is human, to forgive, divan.

  222. 222.

    Anoniminous

    Bugger all this economics and political stuff!

    Time to move on to important things, i.e., when are the Front Pagers going to go Big Foot all over each other?

    My guess: 4:08 EST.

  226. 226.

    Chris

    @? Martin:

    I for one don’t think it’s satire – even plenty of atheist Randroids who have no time for this “God” stuff totally buy the America-as-unquestionable-messiah thing.

    @Ben Franklin:

    Yep, you Finnished me off with that one.

  228. 228.

    amk

    Ex-Elf boss Floch-Prigent extradited to Togo in fraud probe.

    Mr Le Floch-Prigent has served jail terms for corruption in France related to his time as head of Elf in 1989-93. ///He currently works as an oil industry consultant, reports say.

    frakking unbelievable.

  229. 229.

    catclub

    @Anya: Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, but if you have no mind at all, it is not a problem.

    I think one of the lesser known commandments, oops, sorry, Constitutional amendments, is that no child of a black communist can be a citizen.

  232. 232.

    Baud

    @Anya:

    Do they think being born out of wedlock disqualifies someone from becoming a president?

    No, they think being a Democrat disqualifies someone from becoming a president.

  234. 234.

    Brachiator

    @Anya:

    I understand the deranged logic of birthers who claim POTUS was born in Kenya, but what is the up with the ones who claim Frank Marshall Davis was his father? How does that put into question his qualification to be president of the United States? Davis was an American citizen, so what’s their game? Do they think being born out of wedlock disqualifies someone from becoming a president?

    This is part of the other looney tunes argument, that Obama was born and bred to be a radical, and that behind his calm demeanor hides a vicious anti colonial stealth Mooslem Manchurian Candidate revolutionary conditioned to hate and destroy America.

  238. 238.

    trollhattan

    @catclub:
    They’re doubtless keeping it on the diplomatic downlow, but given the Sunni/Shi’ia, Arab/Persian thing it’s safe to assume they don’t want a nuclear Iran. Shared hatred of Israel only gets you so much accord.

  242. 242.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh35:

    I’m not sure exactly what the birthers think this claim gets them other than the fact that they’re basically screeching, “The president’s mother was a whore!” IF the claim is true (which it ain’t), it would make the president the son of two natural-born American citizens and the entire birther claim implodes.

  248. 248.

    fleeting expletive

    I love puns. I know, worst form of humor and all that. Puts me in a chairy mood.

    Anybody see Doctor Who last night?

  250. 250.

    LanceThruster

    @raven:

    Saw the creator of Treme on Maher recently. I liked him an awful lot but I’ve never watched the show. How can a program about the cultural life of NOLA have such a shitty opening theme (particularly in comparison to Boardwalk Empire or True Blood)? I don’t doubt I might give it a chance later, but the intro music soured me on it right off (personal bias to be sure but that’s how I roll).

  253. 253.

    catclub

    @rachel: “It’s not much, but it’s not nothing.”

    Or as the earthworm says in James and the Giant Peach, “It’s not dirt, but it’s not bad.”

  254. 254.

    danah gaz

    Jesus wept. My spouse is the laziest person on the planet.

    Two notable statements – just today, mind you:
    “Fine! I’ll put on pants. =(” It was around noon.
    “I’m too lazy to take a nap.” That last one… *shakes head*

  260. 260.

    raven

    @Ben Franklin: Neither was The Wire. No one watched but still”

    “Despite only receiving modest ratings and never winning major television awards, The Wire has been described by many critics as the greatest TV drama of all time”

  264. 264.

    raven

    @Ben Franklin: Did you see Generation Kill? Great fucking mini about 1st Marine Recon in the early days of the Iraq clusterfuck. The title was taken from the book by the embedded Rolling Stone reporter.

  265. 265.

    Brachiator

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The wingtards can’t even get the entire Manchurian Candidate meme right. The secret candidate was one of them. A

    wingnut.

    Hmmm. This might explain Romney’s erratic behavior and hapless presidential campaign.

  266. 266.

    Ben Franklin

    @raven:

    Missed it. They’ll probably store it for the duration. I wish they would play more great series in rerun. They play the same fucking movies incessantly, then roll em over to Cinemax.

    Programming fail.

  267. 267.

    catclub

    @Brachiator: It seems far more likely that Romney would have an accident and Paul Ryan lead the nation as savior. But wingnuts apparently think Colbert is conservative, so, um, whatever.

  271. 271.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @catclub:

    That’s the plot from the inferior remake (even with such stars as Denzel and the fabulous Meryl).

    The original was much more disturbing. The rabid McCarthy clone was the true Manchurian Candidate.

  272. 272.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @raven:

    “Despite only receiving modest ratings and never winning major television awards, The Wire has been described by many critics as the greatest TV drama of all time”

    That’s a fucking fill-in-the-blank sentence there if ever there was one.

    Also, fuck HBO and their cableopoly.

  274. 274.

    Brachiator

    @raven: Some of the “minor” awards The Wire won weren’t too shabby:

    Most of the awards the series won were in seasons 4 and 5. These included TCA’s Heritage Award for season 5 and WGA’s Award for Best Dramatic Series for season 4, plus Crime Thriller, Eddie, Edgar, Directors Guild of America, and Irish Film and Television awards. The series also won ASCAP, Peabody and Artios awards for season 2.

    The series won the Broadcasting & Cable critics poll for Best Drama (season 4) and won Time’s critics choice for top television show for seasons 1 and 3.

  278. 278.

    catclub

    @Villago Delenda Est: Never saw the remake. Greatest role for Angela Lansbury, and I felt she always wanted to bury it after she started doing Murder, She Wrote.
    Funny of course, that she was about 30 playing the mother of a guy who looked close to 50.

  282. 282.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @catclub:

    In the remake, Raymond Shaw becomes the VP candidate…quite Ryanesque in appearance (Liev Schreiber had the role). Streep had the Lansbury role, and the much more subtle incest angle of the original was made more explicit in the remake…and therefore a lot more disturbing.

  283. 283.

    Brachiator

    @fleeting expletive:

    Anybody see Doctor Who last night?

    Watched it this morning. I saw where some of the story was headed, but it was still a solid, enjoyable episode. Can’t believe that this segment of the season is almost done already.

    The story is set in the old American West, but I understand that the episode was shot in the part of Spain where Sergio Leone filmed A Fistful of Dollars.

    And yes, the episode could easily have been called A Fistful of Doctors.

  284. 284.

    Corner Stone

    @Villago Delenda Est: Fer God’s sake man! Whatever you do, don’t lead us back to Mike Myers puns! We could be trapped here for multi generations like Kelsey Grammer as the Captain in that ST:TNG episode.
    Please, no.

  285. 285.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Ack, don’t know what I did, but my response to catclub’s last is in moderation hell.

  286. 286.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @raven: I like the show, but I tire of critics talking about “the best drama evah!” about any show. They said the same thing about Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, E.R., now Breaking Bad, etc., etc.

    And fuck no, I hate HBO’s cable bullshit.

  287. 287.

    dance around in your bones

    Slightly long report from a friend on the field of OFA:

    It is always instructive to go out of your comfort zone, and so I made calls to Florida on behalf of the Obama Campaign (Organizing for America) to hear the usual good and bad news … one person informed me neither he nor his wife was “going to vote for that black person.” A few did say they were either voting for him or leaning toward him, with the caveat being gays and abortion, GOD cited as the all knowing judge. So I asked them if they knew any gays, which they did, and I expressed my opinion that they were just as loved as the rest of us (gently, I think the ladies were not looking for a fight, really). And I told one lady about my miscarriages and how I felt nature took the biological process disinterestedly, and women should have a choice. She of course wanted to know if I thought it would have been okay with me had my mother chosen to abort me, and I couldn’t say I think we are reincarnated, just spirits looking for a body whereever it may be.
    __
    Plus there were the lonely ones, the lady who couldn’t find another apartment in her area and was in poor health and started crying because she had only 1,400 dollars to live on a month … the young man who was apparently disabled and told me he couldn’t finish high school because of his medical problems. They all sounded like Obama people, or the kind Bill Clinton would sit down and listen intently to. Hope they feel well enough to get out and vote for him.
    __
    But I am reading that the Reps are pissed and their tails are all twisted because Mittens is falling behind … “he should be ahead by now” … well, folks, you can’t BUY the presidency. And you have to have a viable candidate, hmmm? They are grasping at non-issues, sound bites, when they should have their own platform. I saw this guy from the NY Times yesterday talking about that on Charlie Rose, basically that they can’t seize on an issue here and an issue there to attack Obama with … they have to have a core set of beliefs to come from.

    Which prolly no one will read since it’s FOOZBALL time! and the end of a long thread.

  289. 289.

    ? Martin

    @Brachiator:

    shot in the part of Spain where Sergio Leone filmed A Fistful of Dollars.

    Just watched the end of that yesterday. I can probably stop watching it though. Before the TV picture had a chance to click in the sound turned on and there were two gunshots. “Oh, cool, Fistful of Dollars is on.”

    When you can peg a western from the gunshots alone, it’s probably time to stop.

  294. 294.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Ben Franklin: haven’t watched it. is it better than mad men, which I also haven’t watched, or game of thrones? or weeds? or that western show that used to be on HBO?

  298. 298.

    dance around in your bones

    @Corner Stone:

    I beg to differ with you. The first episode of Breaking Bad is one of the most kick-ass opening episodes I have ever seen.

    Granted, it has gotten very dark and over the top lately, but….just watch the first episode and see if you don’t get hooked for a while.

  300. 300.

    Ben Franklin

    @dance around in your bones:

    Most people don’t give time to absorb the characters. It takes about three episodes to determine if you give a shit about the people. Also, if you came in mid-season, you’re gonna be lost. Patience.

  302. 302.

    dance around in your bones

    @Ben Franklin:

    I have watched every episode of Breaking Bad. I agree one would be lost coming into it halfway through, which is why I said watch the very first opening episode and see if you are not kinda blown away. Then keep watching – I think it’s a great show.

    I think the first several seasons are on Netflix.

  304. 304.

    Brachiator

    @? Martin:

    When you can peg a western from the gunshots alone, it’s probably time to stop.

    I haven’t seen the film in a while, but I seem to recall that Leone had a distinctive approach to the sound design of the film.

    Might be time to check the movies out again. I love both of his “Once Upon A Time” films.

  305. 305.

    LanceThruster

    @raven:

    None of “The Wire” but all of “Generation Kill.” My friend’s Marine son had his unit depicted in one of the final episodes (Marines 1/5) in the scene in the motor pool.

  306. 306.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @raven: No, it’s on Netflix, but honestly, cancer + meth dealer? I have enough to get depressed about without watching it in episodic form.

    I watched The Wire after it had finished its run, fwiw.

  311. 311.

    LanceThruster

    @raven:

    Liked the tune that the link loaded up (“No No”). The cast of Treme looks pretty first rate. It sometimes takes me awhile to be willing to set aside any time for something new.

    I’m still not crazy about the intro theme music.

  312. 312.

    Ben Franklin

    @trollhattan:

    I would say among the best, ever. Intricate plot with no tricks to throw the viewer off, and bravura performances with the exception of Skyler. She’s is too aware of the camera.

    edit; I thought the first comment failed, and I see WP makes me a fool by proxy, again.

  313. 313.

    LanceThruster

    Watching the Dr. Who episode “Praise Him.” In love withe the Indian girl in the hospital garb (she looks like a co-worker I’m smitten with – how do I arrange an arranged marriage?). These multicultural casts on BBC don’t seem as token as US casting for whatever reason. It has a peek of the “Weeping Angels” though they were illusary. Can’t wait to see some of those episodes.

  314. 314.

    trollhattan

    @Ben Franklin:
    Only a triple, which translates to “fleshwound” in the FYWP pantheon.

    I don’t know if there’s a cinematic term for red herring-red herring, but BB has fooled me many times with what I assumed to be a red herring, only to be clobbered by it many episodes, even seasons later. The craft is unimpeachable.

    Also, too, did you know Walter White started life as a skunk?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hX3t_akbjC8

  315. 315.

    Corner Stone

    “You think I knew what we were rollin’ up on?!”
    That, my friends, has hallmarks of greatness.

  318. 318.

    Bruce S

    @Corner Stone:

    Dumbest comment I’ve ever read here. Including some of those hysterical ABL threads where ninnies scream “Firebagger” if you’re not deaf, dumb, blind and aren’t literally obsessed with the notion that Glenn Greenwald’s role as internet crank is a greater threat to liberalism and Obama’s re-election than, say, the ineptitude and infatuation with Wall Street of…oh…Tim Geithner. Fine if you don’t happen to like Breaking Bad. But this was just a butt stupid assertion.

  319. 319.

    Jay in Oregon

    @LanceThruster:
    Last week’s Doctor Who episode Dinosaurs on a Spaceship had a 24th-century space agency and defense organization (?) that seemed to consist primarily of people of Indian descent.

    I’m hoping that the multicultural casting in Doctor Who is reflective of a more multi-ethnic society in the UK, which gives me hope that we can get there someday as well.

  320. 320.

    trollhattan

    @Ben Franklin:
    Was halfway through season 1 before I made the MITM connection. Took me a full season to link Jessie to his “Big Love” character.

    Yeah, I’m slow.

  321. 321.

    raven

    @LanceThruster: Did you catch the round table on the DVD? There were two or three dudes in the show that were in the outfit (Rudy the body builder for one) and the Stone guy. They said when they watched it it was so real they were not sure if it was a dramatization or a documentary.

  322. 322.

    LanceThruster

    @Jay in Oregon:

    I guess at some point their Imperialism/Colonialism actually warmed them to the idea of people other than the melanin-challenged as having worth. Still, aren’t the neo-Nazis and white power fringes still treated in some UK circles as “serious people” (like our own teetards)?

  323. 323.

    LanceThruster

    @raven:

    Negative, raven. Sounds like reason enough to check out the DVD extras. I really enjoyed the series. My friend’s son Adam talked about all kinds of personalities making up his fellow Marines (thoughtful, reflective, gung-ho killers, lifers, short timers, etc.)

  326. 326.

    LanceThruster

    @raven:

    Good point. What startled me was that a Marine in gear looks as capable as any other Marine in gear. It took a little bit to recognize the personality types as revealed by their chatter or actions.

  328. 328.

    raven

    @LanceThruster: Remember the whole idea of training is to strip you of your individuality and then build you back up as a part of a team. Doesn’t mean you are not who you were.

  330. 330.

    LanceThruster

    @raven:

    Very true. I remember they didn’t go overboard in making everyone instantly recognizable in appearance like an episode of Combat! so you had to pay attention to piece it together and begin to understand types and motivations.

  332. 332.

    LanceThruster

    One other observation thats been made here many times before, as repugnant as the Reich Wing bloggers are, the mindset of their commenters is downright frightening. An unholy mixture of ignorance and arrogance boosted by some sort of stimulant that increases the rage factor and lowers any trace inhibitions.

  333. 333.

    Ben Franklin

    @LanceThruster:

    Pavlov’s dog. Their nerve pathways are deep but inflexible. The New Dem is Unfathomable to them, until the Handlers correct course and re-program the collective.

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