Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

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

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Peak wingnut was a lie.

The revolution will be supervised.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

The willow is too close to the house.

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

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

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

“Squeaker” McCarthy

The words do not have to be perfect.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

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178Comments

  4. 4.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    So, apparently the new scandal du jour is apparently some froth over the DOJ supposedly collaborating with Media Matters to help cover up Fast and Furious. I’ve preserved my sanity by not visiting any of the pages peddling it, but just wondering if anyone else has heard this crap enough to tell me just how much full of shit my friends peddling it are?

  5. 5.

    Southern Beale

    Yeah it’s one of those “who do you REALLY support in the presidential election?” surveys, but this one is actually pretty good because you can drill down on each question to give a more nuanced response than just “yes” and “no.” Looks like I’m firmly in the Obama camp, with Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party being my number 2. I didn’t even know Anderson was running.

    I remember liking him. Wish he weren’t doing this third-party nonsense and instead maybe running for Congress in Salt Lake or somewhere that he could win.

  8. 8.

    BGinCHI

    Last night Rachel Maddow opened her show by saying that she was allergic to polls (as they can be a poor predictor, etc.).

    Without batting an eye Mrs. BG turned to me and said, “she’s a lesbian, of course she’s allergic to poles.”

    /names have been changed in this comment to protect the innocent

  13. 13.

    Suffern ACE

    I’d be angry about the craven Pakistani governing parties, who both organize riots and shoot the protesters they themselves organized, but I’m worn out.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    My friend Angela is coming in tomorrow, so I am cleaning, cooking, and watching Pulp Fiction.

    Angela is in the mob?

  20. 20.

    Abo gato

    I have a question about old Mitt’s tax return…..if he really gave 4 million to charity (Mormon church) doesn’t that really mean he made 40 million since he’s supposed to give them 10 percent?

  26. 26.

    Comrade Mary

    @MattR: Second goat reference of the day (with a sadder ending):

    One of my forebears had a twin who sadly died in childhood. For many years it was a family story how a goat had crushed him to death. We could only imagine the poor soul petting this animal quite innocently, only to receive a fatal blow from the beast’s hooves.
    __
    Until one day my grandfather came by and asked, “Do you remember the story of Medleycote’s brother?”.
    __
    “Yes, of course,” I replied.
    __
    “Well, I’ve discovered he died in the Grand Junction Canal.”
    __
    “That doesn’t make sense, what was a goat doing in the canal?”
    __
    “It was a boat. A BOAT! All these years, he was crushed by a boat!”
    __
    In a rather happier turn of events, my great-great-grandmother’s first husband was crushed by a falling haystack.

  27. 27.

    Triassic Sands

    I’m not surprised that Romney has turned out to be such a bad candidate. But there is one thing that does surprise me about the current state of the campaigns — that the Democrats are now better than even money to keep the Senate.

    In January 2012, given who is up for re-election, who’s retiring, and how many seats the Dems have at risk, I wouldn’t have given a dime for their chances to hold onto the Senate. However, it’s really hard to factor in the Tea Party and the ability of the GOP to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It was easy to expect Romney to be a poor candidate, but much harder to imagine just how terrible he would be. But then, you have to feel sorry for the guy, it’s an uphill battle when nearly half the country is nothing but a bunch of worthless parasites, who still manage to have enough energy to drag their lazy asses to the polls to vote for their welfare checks Obama.

    And to think, they don’t even have a witch running this year.

  28. 28.

    BGinCHI

    Mitt Romney made 13.6 million dollars last year and does not have a job.

    How is that not a fucking headline? Or am I being too hard on rich people who want to boss a couple hundred million people around?

  31. 31.

    lamh35

    Alex Castellanos, who worked for Mitt Romney in 2008 and continues to be a Republican political consultant, tells Politico’s Maggie Haberman that he is not impressed with the optics of Romney’s tax dump move:
    “At first I thought this was an April Fool’s Joke,” said Castellanos, who tweeted something to that effect at me earlier. “But it isn’t April. I can’t imagine that David Axelrod will now say, I’m glad Mitt put this issue behind him. This will drag Mitt’s taxes back into the debate. And there’s not many days left. I just can’t imagine why they would do this. There are 40 days left and you have now made more of them about Mitt’s taxes….you don’t serve a life sentence and then confess
    afterward. They’ve taken their beating on this (already) … I just don’t understand how a (being) ‘little pregnant’ strategy
    (works).”

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/09/castellanos-on-tax-summary-is-this-a-joke-136321.html

  33. 33.

    MattR

    @The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik: Not just F&F but the New Black Panthers as well. From what I can tell, conservatives don’t like that the DOJ was providing info to Media Matters in an effort to push back against the BS being pushed by GOP Congressmen, pundits and the media. I think this is essentially “Journolist” all over again.

  34. 34.

    Brachiator

    I have an image in my head of John Cole and Lily doing the Twist.

    I also have an image in my head of Tunch turning to Rosie and saying, “Get the Gimp.”

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker

    @Southern Beale: I’m 90% with Obama, 89% with Jill Stein (Unleashing my inner fire bagger!) and 67% with Rocky Anderson. 9% with Romney. I wonder what the hell that was.

    ETA: I remember liking him. Wish he weren’t doing this third-party nonsense and instead maybe running for Congress in Salt Lake or somewhere that he could win.
    amen

  38. 38.

    MattR

    @lamh35: I made a comment about this earlier. I am now thinking that Obama should wait a few days for the GOP to go all in about how that summary is just as good as the actual returns and that it clears up all questions about Romney’s taxes. Then he should release a summary of his college transcript (if they can get it notarized by someone in Columbia admissions that would be a bonus), sit back and watch heads explode trying to explain why that summary was unacceptable and just created more questions.

  39. 39.

    danielx

    @Comrade Mary:
    @different-church-lady:

    Yup…this is sounding pretty suspect.

    Back in the day when I was (ahem) expecting a guest, the first three things to get done:

    Change the sheets whether they need it or not.

    Clean the bathrooms – thoroughly.

    Clean the kitchen.

    Then worry about everything else.

  40. 40.

    Quincy

    So you’re gonna go out there say, “Goodnight I’ve gads lovely evening. Walk out the door. Go home, jerk off and that’s all you’re going to do

  53. 53.

    different-church-lady

    People, if you’re going to quote the entire film, at least have the courtesy to do it in order.

  56. 56.

    danielx

    @Maude:

    I never did sink to stuffing things in closets. I did have problems with the resident Oriental Shorthair, though: “he’s staring at us!” Of course he is, he’s clingy and neurotic.

    I got a lot of that.

  59. 59.

    MikeJ

    Truth is, nobody knows why John is cleaning up his house except John and Angela. When you little scamps get together, you’re worse than a sewing circle.

  60. 60.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @different-church-lady:

    He’s cleaning. What does this tell you?

    Well, hard to say. If he’s getting the nude mopping out the way today, then that could mean friend. On the other hand, if he’s just practicing for tomorrow, then I’d say friend friend. If she’s bringing pets, then I’d say friend friend friend friend spam nude mopping spam and friend.

    Lots of possibilities, really.

  63. 63.

    muddy

    Violet, are you still here? I answered you very late on the open thread downstairs about the Osmond thing, the dog insisted we had to go out right after that and I didn’t get to answer in time. Sorry.

    And as far as cleaning goes, I find that not wearing my glasses in the house fixes that situation right up. My friends and relatives look great too. Not a wrinkle in (my) sight.

  65. 65.

    Maude

    @danielx:
    My closets are very small. They are neat. THere must be something wrong with me. nothing is a big fat mess.

    I get tweets from Voyager2. She says how far she is from earth. I remember the first images she sent back.

  68. 68.

    lamh35

    Democratic Donors Awaken as Romney Seeks New Cash

    Politico: “Mitt Romney was expected to use a billionaire-fueled fundraising juggernaut to crush President Barack Obama’s once vaunted small-donor army. But things haven’t gone according to plan.”

    “Headed into the home stretch of the 2012 presidential race, it is Obama who looks to have an edge, thanks to an awakening donor base, aggressive summer spending on ads and ground game, and a Romney hoarding strategy that left him with plenty of cash in the bank, but not much to show for it.”

    New York Times: “Mitt Romney entered the final months of the presidential campaign with a cash balance of just $35 million, racing to find new large donors and rally low-dollar contributors in August even while he raised tens of millions of dollars for the Republican Party.”

  69. 69.

    different-church-lady

    Good news for you Boston sports team haters: the Sox were just mathematically eliminated from next season’s playoffs.

  80. 80.

    Comrade Mary

    OMFG. I have to share the ad that was just foisted on me at the top of the comments. Thank you, SUN Media, for continuing to support and import the cray-cray.

  88. 88.

    different-church-lady

    @Gravenstone:

    I’m sure there’s all sorts of shit in the white space I missed as I scrolled along the terrain or up the verticals.

    There is indeed. I’ve figured out how to download the individual bits of it so you don’t have to drag and drag and drag, but even I haven’t bothered downloading all of the pieces yet.

    And no, I’m not going to share the trick.

  92. 92.

    Corner Stone

    @Maude: Contrarians sometimes aren’t sure exactly who they want to disagree with yet.
    At least there wasn’t any demand that we consider some aspect of Pakistan v India randomly thrown in there for flavor.

  97. 97.

    muddy

    I think Callista is trying to fulfill Newt’s blowup doll fetish, that hair!. She must really have something on him, or she has some technique he’s addicted to. He couldn’t even give a speech without her there. No one else brings their blowup doll to the lectern.

  101. 101.

    Gravenstone

    Wow, just hit a video that had am anti=Romney web ad preceding it – using the data from today’s doc dump. That’s some nice turnaround.

  105. 105.

    Anya

    @Southern Beale:

    Here’s my results: Jill Stein Green 94%
    on domestic policy, environmental, economic, social, science, foreign policy, and immigration issues

    Barack Obama Democrat 83%
    on economic, science, social, environmental, healthcare, and immigration issues

    Rocky Anderson Justice – 80%
    on domestic policy, social, economic, environmental, foreign policy, and immigration issues

    6%
    Mitt Romney Republican
    no major issues

    58%
    American Voters
    on domestic policy, environmental, science, social, foreign policy, healthcare, and immigration issues.

    I’ve never even heard of Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson. I bet it’s my answer to the Israel issue that made me more aligned with the deal with the Green Party lady.

  106. 106.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Southern Beale:
    I took the poll which was influenced by my Canadian filter. I would consider myself a centrist liberal by Canadian standards (fiscally prudent but socially liberal). Puts me to the left of many Democrats.

    93% Jill Stein on domestic policy, social, immigration, foreign policy, environmental, healthcare, and science issues

    84% Barack Obama on economic, social, environmental, science, foreign policy, and immigration issues

    80% Rocky Anderson on social, economic, healthcare, foreign policy, and immigration issues

    15% Mitt Romney Republican no major issues

    6% Virgil Goode no major issues

    57% American Voters on domestic policy, foreign policy, environmental, science, and immigration issues.

  109. 109.

    different-church-lady

    So, basically there’s only about a 10% spread between Obama and Stein, but about 70 points between Obama and Romney.

    Yet somehow we are encouraged by some Stein voters to believe there’s no difference between Obama and Romney. Odd, no?

  114. 114.

    dance around in your bones

    @muddy:

    And as far as cleaning goes, I find that not wearing my glasses in the house fixes that situation right up. My friends and relatives look great too. Not a wrinkle in (my) sight.

    Heh. I’ve found that my poor eyesight works quite well in this fashion.

    p.s. Too many good Pulp Fiction quotes…..has anyone said “You, Flock of Seagulls? You know why we’re here?”

  116. 116.

    raven

    Had a weird one tonight. My favorite neighborhood eatery was having a dinner/fundraiser for the local Cancer Society. I walked over with the dogs and, just as I got there, this big , crazy-eyed dude walked up and started talking to people. I was sort of drawn in his direction and started talking to him and it didn’t take long to get Marine, Afghanistan, just got home, sniper, black ops and my twin brother just got killed out of him. He was really jumpy and distracted by every woman that was in the area. I was really uncomfortable with his behavior but felt I needed to hang and see if I could defuse him. After some time I got him to come sit with me, a couple of other guys asked me if I needed help but I told them I thought it best to do one-on-one. Basically we shot the shit and I talked to him about some of my losses and tried to affirm how he was feeling. I don’t really know if I bought his whole story but, after about and hour, I was able to get him to leave. I didn’t smell booze but he indicated once that he had been drinking. I feel a little badly that I let him drive but I didn’t want to call the cops because I felt that they might not be as understanding. Fuck

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: Good that someone like you with some understanding of where they guy might be coming from handled it. I hope he made it home okay.

  118. 118.

    muddy

    It’s weird because I thought about Pulp Fiction earlier today when someone asked what was the last good movie Travolta was in. The subject came up because my friend pointed out this pic online where he’s wearing a weird buzzcut wig (http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/09/john-travolta-hair-toupe-photos-dye-color), and his sideburns came out from underneath and were a totally different color. This actor has not featured in a conversation on my part in years and years, and now here it is all over BJ on the same day.

    When I first watched Pulp Fiction I kept getting confused, because I rarely sit and just watch things at home, I am moving around doing little tasks etc or messing about online. I kept saying, Didn’t that guy die already? etc. I went through it on the cable about 5 times this way (no rewind), bitching about how people thought it was so great and it was just a mess. My son recommended that I sit and watch it all the way through. Oh….

  119. 119.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s the bitch. He said he was from Iowa and didn’t live here but he was driving a ride with Georgia plates. I got his name and can’t find any record of a casualty with the same. Guess I better let it go.

  120. 120.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: Did you get a vibe that he was a real vet in distress or was he just odd? I would say you did your bit for him, but my dad still regrets not driving from Chicago to Rockford to bail out a friend of his younger brother with money he didn’t have 45 years ago, so what do I know?

  121. 121.

    dance around in your bones

    @Omnes Omnibus: Sorry, Flock.

    Ok, FUCK YOU< FUCK YOU WORD PRESS in advance.

    Ok, that’s because I tried to hit submit 3 times and nada.

    Also, because I am looking for Pulp Fiction on the TV machine and all I am getting is The Italian Job.

  123. 123.

    dance around in your bones

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s the Mark Wahlberg one, sad to say. (Had to eta that sentence – sometimes I get him and Matt mixed up, but in a good way :)

    ’03, still kinda ok. But I wanta watch Pulp Fiction. Y’all have me all worked up.

    Forgot Jason Statham was in this movie.

  124. 124.

    double nickel

    Late to the party, but that’s the way it goes. Just finished work. Permanently. Retired today after nearly 38 years in the public service. It was a good run, no regrets. Time for a rum and coke.

  127. 127.

    trollhattan

    Ah, Pulp Fiction.
    “Wingnut, motherfucker, do you speak it?!?”

    I have to edit a CERCLA ROD (yes, I typed “ROD”) so you degenerates need to fill in for me. Don’t behave, no matter what.

  136. 136.

    BGinCHI

    @raven: You’re a saint, dude. You did what you could. There just isn’t any way to make sure he’s OK all the way down the line.

    Also, fuck Dick Cheney and all neocons.

  139. 139.

    BGinCHI

    @Omnes Omnibus: Racing cyclocross this fall. Two races in. It’s the most painful thing you can do on a bike. It’s hideous and beautiful all at the same time.

    When you get fitter you should try it.

  142. 142.

    dance around in your bones

    @Steeplejack:

    Thanks, Steep. I THINK I get Cinemax, but navigating my way around the bazillion channels on this TV leaves me quite confused.

    It was all so much simpler with 3 channels.

    Ok, I’m old.

  143. 143.

    BGinCHI

    @Omnes Omnibus: If you want to keep your heart rate over 180 for 50-55 minutes straight it’s the sport for you. Plus, there was a lot of jostling for position and I went down in the opening straightaway. Flat on my back in the grass. Got back up, mounted, and chased back into the pack.

    Fucking crazy.

  144. 144.

    double nickel

    @Steeplejack: Nothing too dramatic for now. Need to decompress. I might start writing snarky letters to the editor, signing them “concerned citizen”, or work on a process for turning rum into urine :)

  150. 150.

    dance around in your bones

    @Steeplejack: Oh gawd, don’t I know.

    Trouble is, we end up watching Angry Birds videos on my laptop, or Gawd help me Annoying Orange. It has the middle kid scared of the toilet paper roll because he saw one talking on Annoying Orange.

    My bad. Never again.

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack

    @MattR:

    Mount Gay Eclipse is my usual, with Schweppes tonic water and a big wedge of lime. Barbancourt three-star is an acceptable alternative.

  154. 154.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yutsano: South African blondes aren’t French, are they? Besides some of us have – one doesn’t want to say had, but – experienced South African blondes already.

    ETA: If Seattle is overrun by French woman, I am willing to do what is necessary to be admitted to the Washington Bar. I will do my part.

  155. 155.

    PurpleGirl

    @MattR: No, I don’t think he should do that. College transcripts are not the same as tax returns. We have no need to see what his grades were. We don’t need to establish a new requirement of any sort.

  156. 156.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MattR: Fuck that. Tax returns have mattered since Romney’s dad made them matter. College transcripts have never come into play; why bring them into play now?

  157. 157.

    Yutsano

    @Omnes Omnibus: Lots and lots and lots of Scandihoovian girls. Probably a few French females mixed in. Seattle is amazingly diverse. And I heard tell the Washington bar is…different. No personal experience myself, I just know the reciprocity agreements are stringent for some strange reason.

  158. 158.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yutsano: Eh, Scandi girls are here in WI. I asked for Frogs. I met a lovely Frog-Canuck a the poutine stand here, but it hasn’t blossomed.

  159. 159.

    MattR

    @Omnes Omnibus: @PurpleGirl: I understand the concern, but I don’t think it would introduce any new standard since I am not saying to release an actual transcript. Just an unsubstantiated summary that says he got mostly A’s and some B’s, maybe with an occassional C.

  160. 160.

    Yutsano

    @Omnes Omnibus: We may just ship you off to Montreal with a thousand dollars and a few sharp outfits. Comrade Mary can come rescue you if matters get too out of hand.

  161. 161.

    MattR

    @Yutsano: Debatng between Montreal, Miami and Aruba for my Nov 1-5 vacation. Final decision may be made tomorrow when I get the bill from the mechanic.

    EDIT: If money is not an issue, Montreal slips to last place just because I am looking for a do-nothing but sit at the beach vacation. But Montreal is not a bad fallback option at all. Haven’t been there since I was 12 or 13. Proabably can’t stay with my cousin at college :-)

  164. 164.

    MattR

    @Yutsano: That is my top choice. The guy I am travelling with was the one who first brought it up but I have a feeling he is having second thoughts about going back to a place he stayed a couple times with his wife now that he is divorced.

    @Omnes Omnibus: Is that you Mitt?

  165. 165.

    Yutsano

    @MattR: It might do him some good to wash the bad memories out of his system and indulge in beach weather. There’s a Garth Brooks song that says this is so. And he’s as Oklahoma as our local grunt.

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well…I don’t want you getting into TOO much trouble. Mary does have a day job after all.

    PS I’m also a freely admitted cheap bastard. I could do quite well for a couple weeks in Montreal with ten Benjamins.

  169. 169.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yutsano: Well then, everything should be fine.

    @MattR: Did you read my comments above? Barnyard animals should not be a worry. Few sheep resemble Eva Green, n’est-ce pas?

  170. 170.

    MattR

    @Yutsano: @Omnes Omnibus: No hablo frances.

    One more reason Montreal is below Miami on my list.

    PS. Ewww. You were thinking about having sex with a sheep. Not what I had in mind at all. Really. I was just pushing the sheep through the fence.

  172. 172.

    Comrade Mary

    Hi guys! I’ve been off cleaning house a bit and just wanted to see what you all were up … to …

    Oh. Oh, my.

    I’ll just let myself out …

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