(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)
__
Paul Constant alerts us to the way that “The Romney Campaign Is Successfully Hiding Both Candidates from the Public”:
… These schmucks are terrified that one real human being with one real question will shatter their perfectly constructed illusion, and the sad truth is that the only remaining opportunity to break this person-free bubble Republicans have built around their candidate is at tomorrow’s town hall debate.
***********
Right now I am not at peace with the world, because the novocaine is wearing off so my lower lip is itching like mad and it’s still too numb for scratching. Also, the $1500 crown turned into a $2000 crown over the course of a long afternoon in the chair, and yes I am aware how lucky I am that I have access to credit that allows me a level of dental luxury even my grandparents could only dream about. And yet. Forget the flying cars, where’s my third-stage tooth bud regeneration cloning?
Apart from that, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Lee
Look up P411 Tooth enamel regrowth.
We are getting very close.
My Google-fu is weak this afternoon and I could not find a link, so I am going off a the memory of a 47 year old :)
different-church-lady
Pishaw… when two $300 fillings turn into a pair of crowns and a pair of endos in the course of 20 minutes, we can talk. (Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up with lousy dental hygiene habits.)
BTW, tell your dentist you want a real post, not a paper clip.
Brachiator
Been there, done that. Really. About 3 weeks ago, so I can totally sympathize.
MonkeyBoy
There is a new vid on YouTube – Paul Ryan Girl – that surprisingly as a right wing entry hasn’t turned off comments and voting. I think it could use a little dose of free speech.
Anibundel
I am seeing far too many “White People For A Return To Supremacy Romney/Ryan” bumper stickers on my commute home for my liking.
The signs are suddenly everywhere too, like mushrooms that spring up after rain, all in the last week. It’s distressing and makes me wish there were a way to drive to work that didn’t require passing them all. This cannot be good for my blood pressure.
different-church-lady
@Anibundel:
Literally?
Citizen_X
Alex Pareene has a good post today on how the debates stick so resolutely to the conventional wisdom,
and what can be done to fix them. Among other suggestions:
I dunno if there’s the will to fix them. All Pareene’s complaints–which I agree with–revolve essentially about the lack of surprises in debates, at least WRT the beltway/Village consensus. Campaigns can’t stand surprises, and work to manage events as closely as possible. Who wants to risk facing a few knuckleballs?
gogol's wife
@different-church-lady:
That sounds like poetic license.
I’ve been seeing many more Romney/Ryan signs in the last week too. And WAY too many “Linda!” (McMahon) signs.
dmsilev
This evening, I think I’ll go blast some virtual ETs.
The remake of XCOM is awesome.
Zifnab
Nope. No single person asking a single question is going to shatter the illusion constructed by our Corporate Media Overlords. This is going to be a two-horse, down-to-the-wire, in-by-a-nose race because we only have it once every 4 years and by God these two people are vomitting up money so it pays to keep it neck-and-neck.
Anyone that seriously gets close to shattering the illusion will be exposed as an Obama plant, and immediately dismissed if not viciously character-assassinated first.
This isn’t a movie. There will not be that one man pounding a table at the 11th hour that wakes up all the Sheeple. Most of the country has already made up its mind. This game will be won by GOTV.
PeakVT
Via the comments at the Stranger, the head of the charity where Ryan staged that photo-op is pissed.
kathy a.
dentists (and dental students) saved my mouth. seriously. i had no dental care until my late teens, then a drought until i was in law school. so i did the smart thing, and got low-cost care at the major local dental school — not much money, but i got to hear dental professors lecturing students my very own age about my “bombed out mouth.” that was an ego booster….
that was over 30 years ago. i have a full set of real and enhanced teeth, despite the inauspicious beginning. i really think that basic preventive dental care should be part of comprehensive health services. obviously, that won’t happen in my lifetime, but something to aim toward.
Anibundel
@different-church-lady:
No, not literally. The sticker reads “Romney Ryan”, but every last car that had one of them was driven by a white person yammering into a cell phone. Several had those godawful yellow “choose life” license plates.
I had to speed up and pass several of them in order not to ram the backs of their cars.
kindness
I’ve been wondering how the people at this Town Hall debate are picked to get in. We all know Repubs love to pack these events with their people so how does this debate go down without one group gaining an edge?
@Anibundel: I have a black permanent marker Sharpie in my glove box just for bumper stickers that suck. I let them suck even more.
22over7
@Zifnab:
If this game is to be won by GOTV, I shudder and head out to buy a lot of scotch. 2000 and 2004 were also very close elections. We need to win this one by a couple of touchdowns, and we were until something happened in September.
Will the new liveblog thingy be up tomorrow? That was fantastic and much easier on my blood pressure than actually watching it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Citizen_X:
There’s a lot about Josh Marshall that bugs me, from his support of the Iraq War to the way he trolls for hits, but one thing he absolutely nailed was that the elite media are confused and slightly embarrassed that people, especially on the left, actually think politics affects people’s lives. And Pareene is dead on about their Concern, and not very keen understanding, of fiscal issues, meaning they want to cut “entitlements’
quannlace
Gonna start a batch of Cherry Bounce, made with Apple Jack.
Edible Christmas presents are the best, don’t you think?
dmsilev
@kindness: They’re supposed to be “uncommitted” voters, or maybe it was “undecided”. Gallup apparently is responsible for identifying the potential attendees.
hojo
I wish the Obama camp would lose John Kerry as Romney stand-in or debate coach or whatever he’s doing there. Bring Clinton in, Bill or Hillary.
Anibundel
@kindness:
I really want to take spray paint to the big Romney Ryan lawn signs that appeared over the weekend (there are like 5) add “Racists For” at the top. Just so everyone is clear on who lives there and why they support Romney.
Brachiator
Just going to relax. Taking the day off tomorrow, and might even skip the presidential debate to keep my blood pressure from rising over another session of Lying with the Mitt.
Been catching up on comedy podcasts. Particularly enjoyed last Friday’s BBC Friday Comedy News Quiz, available as an iTunes download or here.
They had a great line about how the UK Tories are right up there with Romney in economic cluelessness and class cruelty. One favorite quip:
It was also wild to learn that the UK conservative party is also going full wingnut, judging by the remarks of the Scottish MP.
A reference link here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/scottish-politics/9593135/Nine-in-ten-Scots-living-off-states-patronage.html
Joseph Nobles
@Anibundel: My favorite bumper sticker combo of the past week, and I actually did see them:
“I’m Pro-Life” and “GOARMY.COM”
FlipYrWhig
@Citizen_X:
Of course this immediately falls prey to the “We oughta” curse. Because, sure, “we” would benefit from a lot of things. But they’re not up to us. The campaigns don’t want this to happen, and what venue do “we” have for trying to carrot or stick them into it?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hojo: Brian J.
Barney Frank.
I see Constant also calls out little Paulie for his homeless stunt. If a Dem did that, “clean pans” would be shorthand through the length and breadth of the media within 24 hours.
That thing with the View seems like a mistake, too. I don’t know what the ratings/demographics of that show are, but the only thing worse for Romney that getting tripped up by Joy Behar is The Lady Ann getting snippy and condescending.
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
And how. People would be bringing pots and pans to every public appearance.
hedgehog the occasional commenter
Going to a town hall (no, really) for Mary Parker, running in Colorado House District 22 (in deep-red Jefferson County). She’s been working her tail off and her opponent has been nowhere to be seen. I am hopeful.
Also scored tickets to “Messiah” at St. John’s (Episcopal) Cathedral. Been something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
Narcissus
It’s a testament to how effective the media is in manipulating the public that Mitt “47 percent” Romney is not only still in the race but could conceivably win.
It makes me want to fucking puke
Arm The Homeless
Well, boss told me today that he thinks I am over-qualified for the only position open in the near future within our Dept. I think he sensed my frustration with being a part-timer, so he offered to talk to the big boss and see if something can be cobbled together so that I serve time in a few different divisions as a full-timer. Not the best, but if I can get dental insurance I would dress like a chicken and dance on the sidewalk.
On another note: Does anyone around here have any experience with Genetic Algorithms? I have been trying to find an excel version that I could manipulate, but I feel like I am trying to learn multi-variate regressions from an Italian cab-driver.
raven
I think the forces fluoride treatment upon return from R&R must have help me teefes alot!
Violet
I’m going out to dinner with some friends. Weather is nice here, so we’re going to sit outside. Looking forward to it.
I know we were all complaining about NPR in a thread below, but I was just in the car and listening to them and they were reporting on a new study about who’s paying for the political ads this time. Romney’s ads are almost all coming from outside groups, with Crossroads (or is it Crossroads GPS?) being the main one. Obama’s are being paid for by the campaign. Can’t remember the exact numbers, but it was kind of amazing.
Brachiator
A little moment of respite:
David Byrne & St. Vincent,Burning Down the House
Violet
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m glad to see they’re picking on Paul Ryan for that pan washing thing. And the director of the charity has come out against the stunt too.
I think sending Ann in on her own is even more dangerous now. They’ll be asking her, “Why couldn’t Mitt join you?” types of questions and she’ll be defensive. Ann doesn’t do defensive well.
geg6
@kindness:
From what I understand, the people at the town hall debate are the mythical “undecided” voters. Almost always people too stupid to remember to breathe. I have no great hopes for the questions they will ask.
ruemara
I just got a bill for $150 for the blood testing for my physical, alpha kitty has dicky tum and is overdue for a checkup and the car needs an oil change. This evening I will try not to concuss myself by slamming my head into a wall, the perfect metaphor for my life.
MikeJ
@kindness:
I have extra “mommy stick figure” window stickers for anybody that leaves enough space to add one. Sadly I’m never there to hear the question about why “Candy” gets a stick figure on the family truckster.
Arm The Homeless
This is for the lovers
Yer Welcum
TheMightyTrowel
“dear science… top work on the light bulb that was real cool, but where’s my
hoverboardthird-stage tooth bud?!?”Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Violet: especially with the background of “four sharp-tongued women”, and getting everybody talking about his secret tape again. It could make for a great SNL skit, though. I like the way that new actress does Ann Romney
Brachiator
@Arm The Homeless:
Good luck to you. I know this can be tough.
And a couple of years ago, a friend took a job that required that he occaisonally dress up like Uncle Sam and dance on the sidewalk.
It’s a living.
Lojasmo
@raven:
I don’t think fleuride treatments work. I had them twice yearly as a kid, drinking well water, and had a bazillion cavities. Since I moved to the city, and have been drinking fleuridated water, on cavity in thirty years.
Joel
Paul Ryan is a phony, part MCMVIII:
The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall.
Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University.
“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.”
He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”
Calouste
@Brachiator:
Well, and that on the day that an agreement is signed between the UK and Scottish governments about a referendum on Scottish independence. I can’t see what impact that statement could possibly have…
geg6
As for what I’m up to tonight, it’s chilly and rainy here, so I’m staying put, watching The Voice and No Reservations (the last season before Tony goes to do some show for CNN, which I will never watch despite my crush on him since I have banned CNN from this house). John isn’t home, so I ate a big lunch at work and will just have one of the nice fresh Honey Crisp apples he brought me home from the farmer’s market in Titusville yesterday slathered with peanut butter. It’s safe because Jif doesn’t seem to have the salmonella problem.
Arm The Homeless
@Brachiator: Yeah, when I went back to get a Masters, that wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal. FFS, I work for gov’t organization, I thought we were supposed to be larded up with useless positions. Where is my useless position!?
Yutsano
This is depressing and hopeful at the same time. If they’re moving her that means she’s stable enough to travel. I hope she keeps speaking.
Oh and got sent home with no voice. Tea and some chicken soup I froze for din-din. And maybe toast.
Arm The Homeless
@geg6: Titusville, FL?
I have some friends from New Smyrna, beautiful place, crappy politics
Xecky Gilchrist
The Romney Campaign Is Successfully Hiding Both Candidates from the Public
Yet another way in which Palin pioneered the New GOP!
Matt McIrvin
The liberals at The Atlantic seem to be in the process of collectively convincing themselves that Obama is going to screw up the second debate by not listening to them.
kay
@Violet:
We had sort of the anti-Paul Ryan photo op story here yesterday. My friend Darlene is the mayor of a tiny town in this county. A “village”. It’s a part-time job.
In 2008, Darlene and her elderly mother were at a restaurant off the turnpike and Obama came in. Pictures were taken of Obama and Darlene’s mother.
Obama has a new Medicare ad up and the last frame is Obama and Darlene’s mother. She’s seated and he’s leaning in, laughing with her.
They put the ad story in the local paper. Both Darlene and her mother are big Dems, and they’re having a lot of fun with it.
opie_jeanne
@different-church-lady: My Cod, if a dentist did that to me I’d picket his office.
Or burn it down.
Arm The Homeless
Here is an easy way to spend a lot of money on PR once your idiocy goes viral.
I guess when you are from Montana, you don’t have to worry much about POC boycotting you.
Porco Rosso
@Anibundel:
I assume you didn’t want to ram them because they were doing 25 in a 30mph zone like the nice Romney supporter I passed today.
Suffern ACE
Backed into a car in the parking lot and made a young lady cry. I didn’t see any damage, I felt her car door and it didn’t appear dented. But eventually I had had enough of her yelling at me, which was getting in the way of resolving anything. So I barked at her and then the tears. Now of course I’m going to need to go back there in two days and pick up my shirts and will be the customer who shouts at scared college kids.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@Matt McIrvin:
Objection. Presumes facts not in evidence.
(Sorry, just always wanted to say that).
J.
@MonkeyBoy: Uh, are we sure that video is a parody? I’m confused. Also, is it just me or do those workout pics of Ryan remind you of Anthony Weiner’s pecs, I mean pics?
Also, too, a brief guide to tomorrow night’s presidential debate with drinking game suggestions.
geg6
@Arm The Homeless:
No, Titusville, PA. It’s where our cabin is. He went up to do some winterizing.
different-church-lady
@opie_jeanne: I did it to me, by not taking care of my teeth when I was a kid. The dentist is merely fixing the problems.
One of the amazing things about today’s dentistry is that he can just take a photo of what’s going on in my mouth and put it up on a monitor for me to see. Last time I was in there I took a look at the before and after and said, “Oh, that gray patch, so that’s what dental decay looks like, huh?”
Still, sometimes I think to myself, “How do I know that when he’s repairing one tooth he’s not surreptitiously drilling tiny holes in other teeth?”
ETA: Oh, wait, you were talking about the paperclip, right? Yeah that guy is not just getting sued, he’s getting jail time.
Gracie
Just learned we might have roof rats. Will know for sure later on this week. Wonder how much this is going to cost us. Anyone had this problem? I first heard them scurrying around in our attic about a week ago. Hopefully they’ve not done much damage.
Extensive dental work sucks Anne. I hope you feel better soon.
Ruckus
I’ve never understood why dental care is not generally part of health care insurance, that it is a separate thing. One can be sick with good teeth but you are for sure going to be sicker or sick more often with bad teeth.
I just found out that my temporary rooming situation is coming to an end in 90 days. So now I’m scrambling to find out what to do next.
Life sure does throw curve balls(or strike the batter) an awful lot of the time.
Origuy
@Brachiator: I couldn’t see from that Torygraph article how they compute the value of state services. It’s quite possible that people in the Highlands and Islands, who get subsidized petrol and ferry services among other things, consume more than they pay in taxes. However, if those were eliminated, the Hebrides would probably be even more depopulated than they already are. Consequently, there would be no one to run those lovely B&Bs and quaint pubs that bring in the tourists. Scotland’s loss might be Norway’s gain.
different-church-lady
@Ruckus: I’m still trying to figure out why my dentist gets $1800 for a crown, but the surgeon who put some mesh in me last year only gets $1000.
cathyx
I thought my crown was expensive at $900. Luckily I only had to pay half with my insurance covering the other half.
Ruckus
@different-church-lady:
Yeah, my last one was $1300 and fell off 3 times. When the money lady tried to charge me for the visits to fix his work I raised holly hell. The dentist relented that I shouldn’t have to pay to fix faulty work, even if it wasn’t his fault.
OTOH, how much would you charge to stick your hands in anyone’s mouth? I’m thinking it is only slightly better than being a proctologist, considering some of the mouths I’ve seen.
J. Michael Neal
@Suffern ACE: That’s okay. At hockey games I’m known as the guy who yells at nine year olds who are constantly going back and forth to the concession stands during play.
I had one mother ask me, “Don’t you remember what you were like when you were a kid?”
I responded, “Yeah. According to my mother, by the time I was three I was already getting mad at people who couldn’t stay in their seats.”
Ruckus
@different-church-lady:
Well for one thing that $1800 was probably the total cost. The surgeon’s $1000 was only one of several charges. What was the total bill? If you can even figure that out because each charge is a separate bill, all sent at different times and sometimes for stuff you didn’t even know you got, if you actually did.
ETA And if you have insurance what did the insurance company actually pay against the bill? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the amount billed.
SectionH
$1500 for a crown? Hmmm… yah, that’s what I got quoted a while back for the one I need (actually a replacement of one done manymany yrs ago). I’m putting it off because I’ve got “other priorities” – ha, medical ones I mean, not the chickenhawk sort. Yes we have no insurance…
When I did have dental insurance, it was utter crap. We dropped it after a couple of years. Our local University dental school was a godsend for major stuff like impacted wisdom teeth and perio work. Unfortunately, that’s not an option for many ppl.
MonkeyBoy
@J.: “Uh, are we sure that video is a parody? I’m confused. Also, is it just me or do those workout pics of Ryan remind you of Anthony Weiner’s pecs, I mean pics?”
When I posted the top voted comment said something like “if this vid is a parody then it is a parody of Republicans”.
But most of the action there is from vapid Ryan fan-boys and fan-girls who say they like that screeching badness.
SectionH
really?Wut? Wherefore Moderation? Awww, come on!
Ok, I did changed my handle, but this is Not my first SectionH post.
I was posting as GG, which I’ve used online since the ’90s, but too many ppl on BJ use those initials for the Greenwald person, and I kept getting creeped out by the GG references. Wimpy of me, perhaps, but that’s the truth. Pffffffft.
It may have been my first post on this machine. Does that make a difference?
At this point, it’s been over an hour since I started the post that’s in durance vile, and maybe I should just request deletion. It wasn’t that wonderful.
different-church-lady
@Ruckus: Well, true. The surgeon got a grand. From what I understand the hospital and the anesthesiologist would have split something over another 2 grand somehow, but through a process that remains a mystery to me, that bill was made to disappear. The Massachusetts systems works in strange and mysterious ways.
OK, so even if I had paid the whole thing out of pocket, outpatient laparoscopic surgery would have still cost less than two crowns. I could live without those two teeth, but I eventually would have died had the mesh not gone in.
And by the by, having now had direct experience with the Massachusetts system I think I can safely say that nearly everybody who spouts off about it, or the ACA, simply doesn’t know what the fuck they are talking about. And I mean that whether they support it or oppose it. It’s a bunch of yap yap yap with nearly no idea of how it really works. (Hell, the people who *work* in it hardly know how it works.) The supporters don’t want to acknowledge how impossibly bizarre, frustrating and Byzantine it all is, the detractors ignore how it actually helps people, and the system itself is more interested in scaring you into compliance than explaining the ways it can save your ass.
ETA: the reason I know what the out-of-pocket costs would have been is because I actually priced it out that way before entering into the state system. Yes, do your homework and you can get a workable estimate out of these situations.
vheidi
Feh. Was at the NY Hilton for a non-profit event, Ryan was charging $5K for a photo event. The crush at the escalators was hysterical, I’m surprised no one got run down.
Steeplejack
@SectionH:
Any comment from a new handle automatically goes into moderation until a front-pager releases it. After that you can comment freely with the new handle.
Don Beal
I’m an old geezer whose mouth was full of bridgework that suddenly went south in the year after I lost dental coverage. My solution was to pick up and fly to Costa Rica for implants. Highly recommend it. Cost is about half or less and the work is top notch.
opie_jeanne
@Brachiator: They’re in Seattle on Wednesday night!
opie_jeanne
@different-church-lady: Yeah, the paperclip thing. That was terrible.
I love my current dentist. He’s in Anaheim, (California) where I lived for 9 years before moving to Seattle 2 years ago, but I still go and see him twice a year. We still own a cabin in the mountains near Lake Arrowhead and our son lives near the dentist’s office, and until a month ago we went south at least four times a year because my dad lived in Upland, not too far from our cabin.
SectionH
@Don Beal: Woo, and one would be in Costa Rica too… there’s a huge amount of “it’s cheaper to fly to ___ for ___ X medical thing” isn’t there? Does anyone ever point that shit out, I mean as yet another way our criminally insane medical system fails, and costs the entire country $ daily?
@Steeplejack: I seem to be able to post again. Good on you for taking the thought to help.
+ 90 minute round trip to meet Mr. S at airport, only to find airport is fogged in. So I get to get up and do it again. Also too, +some Cider. Some Strongbow, and some Julian.