Some pre-debate reading from Sad Bastard Bar:
Liberals, you need to get your goddamn shit together. The President lost a debate. He didn’t lose Texas. For four years, this President has faced off one of the most obstructionist parties in modern American political history. He did this in the center of an economic collapse. He has delivered on too many promises to count, even in the dead heat of this. He’s been running ahead in an election where the opposition was fairly incompetent, where the leading opposition candidate told half the country to go fuck themselves with a stolen rusty tire iron. He has one debate where the opposition is competent, and that’s it. You’re done. You have bad polling days, and you’re done. Let’s just call off the election and use that time to apply for foreign passports. I mean, holy shit, what a bunch of spineless bastards you turned out to be.
I’ve spent the last few days talking to you motherfuckers, and I have several questions, beginning with: did you motherfuckers watch the same debate as me? Cause for the last few days, I’ve heard people saying ‘why didn’t he point out that Romney was lying?’ He did. ‘Why didn’t he tie the economy to education or healthcare?’ He did. He made much of the same case for his Presidency as did Bill Clinton. He just didn’t do it with the bullshit flourish that is Clinton’s specialty. But shit, for the last four years, he hasn’t done the flourish. He’s been tired almost every day. He’s been tired at every press conference. He’s been tired at every speech and every state of the union with the exception of a handful of incidents. And all of a sudden, you’re surprised he comes off tired? Fuck yes, he’s tired. For four years, for four years while you were antsy that he was playing the adult in the room, while you thought he was being too nice, he fought daily for every reform at every impasse. Bill Clinton, for all his talents, didn’t do what Barack Obama did. Not for the uninsured. Not for the poor. Not for college students. Not for women. Not for the children of illegal immigrants. Not in a recession. This President has wound down two wars. He gave the kill order for Osama Bin Laden. He has promoted genuine efforts at democracy in the middle east, in a region that is in the middle of a revolution that came under his watch. While everything he does gets fucked daily by the tidal wave of shithead that is the Republican Party, the Israeli Prime Minister, the European economy, probably the whole of the Middle East, some douchebags with Youtube accounts and the state of Arizona, we ask if his heart is in it? Really? If he really wants to be President? For four years, we sat at his left flank just pissing and moaning while he delivered what none of his predecessors could. He did this against a party that is objectively crazy. And now, one debate, and the question is, is the President’s heart in it?
What happened to chess? Yeah, fuck chess, we had a few bad poll days, time to go beat our own brains in with an ice pick. You know what? Fuck the President’s heart. I know his heart’s in it because while you and I have been fucking around amongst ourselves, bullshitting into the ether as to what it would mean for the campaign if Obama came off like an angry black man for a second, he’s been there bleeding for us and our progressive policies every goddamn day. You know whose heart isn’t in it? You know who needs to take the blame right now? You know who is letting everybody down? We are. We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for, and we surely are a huge pile of superstitious assholes. For four years, this President has made good on his promises even with the shit-storm that has become the political process in America. And he deserves, if not our support, then our resolve. So stop fucking panicking because you had a bad poll day. You know how many bad poll days the President has had? You might know better than he does, because he’s been too busy trying to keep Iran and Israel from becoming the dust and ash filled lands formerly known as Iran and Israel. So, for fuck’s sake, get your shit together. This is our President. He needs us. He needs our support. He needs our resolve. He needs us to beat Mitt Romney, because that asshole, despite what he said in the debate, would do exactly the damage that George Bush did, and we literally can’t afford that.
Open Thread or whatever.
LanceThruster
Gott.Mitt.Uns.
debit
Hell yeah.
ericblair
Testify, brother.
debit
Hell yeah.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I’ve been hearing about the Rayn soup kitchen photo op debacle and one thing comes to mind…
Why are Rmoney/Rayn pretending to care about poor people getting a hot meal when their plan is to offer meatless cold cuts to them?
eemom
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I too have thought the “Obama lost” the first debate was bullshit from the get go and have nothing but disgust for every single asshole in the emmessemm and the blogosphere, including and especially on this blog, who has fed it like a flesh-eating zombie ever since.
I will also add that there is one SURE win coming out of tonight’s circus: FINALLY THEY WILL ALL STFU about the first one.
debit
Weird double post. The hamsters must be tired again. FWIW, I hit “submit comment”, it hung up and I backed out of the thread.
dmsilev
@eemom:
Optimist. Even if this gets scored by the airheads as an Obama victory, that will just let them pivot to a week’s worth of “the tie-breaking debate is coming!” accompanied by constant replays of moments from the first two.
gnomedad
Yeah, we’re stupid motherfuckers. The trouble is, Obama has to convince even dumber motherfuckers to vote for him.
Frankensteinbeck
Does anyone know if there will be a livestream I can use to watch?
Enhanced Mooching Techniques
What he said.
I don’t exactly see Mittens running around doing victory laps in his underwear over his poll surge so maybe it’s not a done deal from his POV?
FlipYrWhig
I feel like something truly stupid is going to happen, like Obama has a booger in his nose or something, and it ends up being the only thing anyone talks about for two weeks.
The Dangerman
Roughly 50% of the country has; how the Stooge isn’t laughed off the stage as a sad joke is beyond me. George Bush II, Tax Returns (only 2), 47% can go fuck themselves, and on and on.
I think the thing that may be in Obama’s favor is the first debate had a moderator that was, for all intents and purposes, brain dead…
…and, more importantly, the first debate was his weak spot (the economy, which Mitt should have been be pretty damned good at, and he was). This debate and the foreign policy one should show Mitt’s soft, exposed underbelly (hopefully, not too exposed).
gogol's wife
That’s good stuff. I hate everybody except Obama. And Biden.
Tom Hilton
Also, too: What Chait Said.
gogol's wife
And thank God there’s a new thread. They’re all arguing with PO down there.
Baud
@The Dangerman:
It’s too late to do anything about it now, but if a Republican had turned around the economy the way Obama has, their entire side would have been all “Morning in America 2.”
Maude
@Frankensteinbeck:
I read in another thread C-SPAN.
@gogol’s wife:
I’ve gotten that way, also too.
Spatula
So it really IS true: The president cannot fail. He can only BE failed.
By all the dumb “motherfuckers” who don’t deserve the golden sphere of light and goodness that is his flawless presence in the White House.
Oh and, poor thing, he’s TIRED. So very, very tired.
How he has suffered for our sins.
We are all unworthy.
Tom Hilton
@The Dangerman: The biggest favor Jim Lehrer did for Romney was not deeming reproductive rights (or any women’s issue–equal pay, for example?) worthy of a debate on domestic issues.
Maybe all that stuff is foreign to him? I dunno.
the Buhjaysus
ahhh…a beautiful little rant.
this whole spin that the President shit the bed in the last debate has been annoying, but not unexpected. sure, i wish the press had run front page headlines calling Romney/Ryan Lying Scum, but wish in one hand, shit in the other.
thanks for the little pick me up before the debate.
JoyfulA
I understand that our president spent the day of the last debate trying, successfully, to avert another war in the Middle East, as Syria launched some stuff toward Turkey (our NATO ally) that killed three people, and Turkey retaliated. He didn’t get any credit for his work that day, or for his serious, sober approach to the debate that night.
(To me, Romney appeared to have just downed his first high-caffeine espresso ever at the last debate.)
Zifnab25
Preach it!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Also, too, I hope people have read this article:
Petorado
Spent part of the afternoon coloring in little boxes on a piece of paper and handing it in to the County Clerk. Feeling pretty damn good about politics at the moment.
Chyron HR
@Spatula:
You should have stuck with “Don’t Re-Nig”. Much pithier.
eemom
@gogol’s wife:
You know, much as I’ve always thought “don’t feed the trolls” is useless and contrary to human nature, it totally baffles me that people argue with that spambot.
Omnes Omnibus
Let’s have more of this.
Also too, my mom has a ticket to see the First Lady on Friday. Cool, huh?
Ben Franklin
@eemom:
I too have thought the “Obama lost” the first debate was bullshit
I remember the hand-wringing post-debate right here in River City.
But, I also witnessed the same group walk it back in subsequent days.
Look. It was the perception that he lost, that is at issue. Maybe he did answer Romney, but it didn’t seem so. The over-arching psyche of the event was that he lost. Now, if he didn’t lose, then let’s just hope that he handles this debate in the same fashion. That is all.
Hal
@Spatula:
In this case, yes. The point many are arguing is simply that Dems/Liberals/Progressives react in a way so massively self defeating it almost makes it worthless to be a Democrat. Why bother if people can’t roll with the punches? Criticize Obama all you want, but how about a little more levelheadedness?
SatanicPanic
@Spatula: Considering debating is only important in presidential campaigns, not in their actual job, I don’t really care if he fails at them or not. If poor debate performances mean he loses the election, then fine, but I just don’t see that happenening.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ben Franklin:
Without getting too inside Tweetyball, I think the first Dem surrogate I saw was Martin O’Malley, who basically said, “Well the president was off his game, but…” Which was true, but doesn’t anybody there know how to play this game?
CaliCat
I agree with all of it. I’m livid over the unprecidented amout of disrespect shown to this president. Hmmm, I wonder what it stems from…I bet Jackie Robinson could shed some light if he were still around.
PeakVT
I just felt a second earthquake in less than a week. WTF?
ETA: today’s quake.
beltane
I see the wailing and rending of garments is already happening in the thread below because that is always so helpful. Probably the worst thing about Democratic politicians is the fact that their so-called supporters are unreliable and very, very easily panicked. I will make every effort to avoid the DKos liveblog lest I get banned for abusing concern trolls.
Davis X. Machina
4.5 magnitude, preliminary.
SW Maine epicenter
27 km depth
beltane
@PeakVT: Is that what it was? My room was shaking and I thought “Wow, that must have been some big gust of wind.”
Randy P
@Frankensteinbeck: I watch from the C-Span website. No commentary, no extras. Very peaceful.
Ben Franklin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
but doesn’t anybody
therehere know how to play this game?Panic is what Dems default to, and with historical reasons. If you aren’t worried, you’re delusional.
Dream On
That excerpt is perfect for my workplace!
Seriously, I really hope WordPress/this site works during this debate. Last one with Obama/Romney the site crashed repeatedly. Kind of emptied this blog’s barstools of talk.
Make sure it works.
Mnemosyne
Just in case people decide they can ignore this because it’s “black thing,” there’s also this:
“A Letter to My Allies on the Left”
some guy
Go team, yay team, rah rah rah.
Spaghetti Lee
@Ben Franklin:
Maybe you’ve got the cause and effect there in the wrong order? Republicans seem to have that whole ‘don’t get mad, get even’ thing down to a science. There was that quote from a pollster awhile back-“When I run a poll Republicans don’t like, they want to kill me. When I run a poll Democrats don’t like, they want to kill themselves.” ‘Each other’ would also work.
PeakVT
@PeakVT: The id was changed, so here’s the new page.
geg6
@Tom Hilton:
Good article. It says exactly what I’ve been feeling since the debate and its aftermath. It was a self-fulfilling thing, in that the prominent Dems and Obama supporters among the punditry lost their shit and it was contagious. I watched the debate and didn’t see it as being as bad as everyone said. I felt like I was in bizarro world when I saw Sully’s live blog later. I did not see what he saw. Obama answered every question with honesty and answered back to Rmoney’s lies. Yes, he seemed tired but jeebus…
some guy
@Omnes Omnibus:
we saw her a few weeks ago. she is a very motivational speaker.
Davis X. Machina
Earthquake data, updated:
4.6 magnitude
5 km depth
5km W of Hollis Center, Maine, about 20 mi. away.
Mrs. Machina “That was…. interesting”
Spectre
Let’s be real. The only reason things have gone so badly since the debate, is because the media has basically gone out of its way to fulfill their own prophecy. This is especially true of perceived allies like Matthews and Sullivan.
Thus, no matter what happens tonight, there must be a united front. Obama cannot survive another media assault like after the first debate.
ANYONE who tries to spin tonight as an Obama loss, is NOT a friend.
ericblair
@some guy:
See. Was that so hard? Besides, sackcloth and ashes aren’t very flattering and irritate your skin.
weaselone
Felt it in Boston.
some guy
why even watch the debate, as he has already won, eh?
better morons, please.
The Other Chuck
Looked at the polls? It’s not us liberals who are the shallow, fickle, simple minded sheep you should screaming at. Not sure sheep really respond to screaming either. Barking and nipping more like.
Ben Franklin
@Spaghetti Lee:
they want to kill themselves.”
I know how they feel. But if I’m going to die, I’m not going out with a whimper
Go down fighting, hammer and tong; tooth and nail. Damn the fucking torpedoes..
some guy
@ericblair:
Irony deficiency, sweeping the nation one lapdog at a time.
kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I saw they’re bringing in Ted Strickland. He’s a good advocate.
Well, he knows the difference between advocacy and his personal opinion at any moment in time.
In other words, he knows that it isn’t really about HIM, his inner thoughts, his feelings, etc. :)
hep kitty
If you have confidence in your position, you shouldn’t feel the need to shout down people who are still on your side on most issues.
Spectre
@some guy:
I’m not saying he’s going to win. I’m saying that any coverage that frames it as a loss, is fatal.
So there’s your test as to whether MSNBC truly is the liberal fox news. If they cover it as a loss again, then the ship is pretty much sunk.
Biden pretty much curb stomped Ryan, but most media tried to give it a toss-up narrative.
KG
I’m fairly certain if Obama were to walk on stage tonight, get a stupid question and just answer it with “you know what? fuck this, I’m out, y’all have been ungrateful whiny bitches the past four years, so fuck it, I’m going to go make a few hundred million dollars giving speeches and then spend the rest of my life surfing the North Shore, fuck you all.” that the person who would be most horrified would be Mitt Romney, because he’d actually be getting the job and he has to know (because no one is that dense) that half the country will hate him no matter what he does.
Elizabelle
Hilary Mantel won a second Booker Prize for her sequel to “Wolf Hall”, “Bring up the Bodies”.
That’s awesome.
The New Yorker had a very interesting article on how she works; lotta research.
She’s got an earlier book on the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror.
FlipYrWhig
My analysis of the last one is still that Romney was way better than anyone thought he’d be, and Obama was slightly worse. That’s just not the same thing as “Obama was terrible.”
Matt McIrvin
I just got robopolled. I’m not sure who it was, but it pretty clearly an actual robopoll and not a push-poll or a cruise-in-the-Bahamas scam. Did my little bit to swing that number, I guess.
Baud
@KG:
I’d want this for him if I didn’t actually care about the country.
SatanicPanic
@some guy:
Debates are just a chance for the candidates to announce and defend their positions. They’re not a contest in themselves. No trophies will be awarded at the end of them. If you want your candidate to win, there is no rational reason to offer public critiques.
Shakespeare
Well, maybe we don’t know Obama will “win,” but we damn sure know that Romney will LIE, and that should be the post-debate narrative.
As it should have been after the FIRST debate.
Shakespeare
Well, maybe we don’t know Obama will “win,” but we damn sure know that Romney will LIE, and that should be the post-debate narrative.
As it should have been after the FIRST debate.
Yutsano
I need a cigarette.
Hill Dweller
@Spectre:
That ass kicking even got Jon Stewart to break his Broder impersonation for a night.
ericblair
@some guy:
I dunno, look up the difference between sarcasm and irony in your Useless Hipster Doofus dictionary. We’ll only validate your precious fee-fees with a $25 purchase, though.
Lojasmo
@Frankensteinbeck:
politico will stream live.
Porco Rosso
If we could just get Romney to say the word Macbeth whilst on stage
geg6
@some guy:
And right here we have the reason that the left sucks.
Too many of us have no idea how to play the game. They come to the Super Bowl and hit the field in tennis whites and carrying ping pong paddles. I hate that it’s a game, too, but it is what it is and if you want to win, you have play with intensity and a will to do what it takes. And that’s by standing by your guy, no matter what. Took me many years to gain that wisdom.
TheMightyTrowel
Totally OT…
Just got the most amazing and incomprensible spam ever in the history of spam:
weaselone
@KG:
If this were to occur, I give it a 75% chance of sinking the campaign and a 25% chance of assuring victory.
Spatula
@CaliCat:
Really? You think he has been more disrespected than Bill Clinton?
I’d call it close, at best.
Spaghetti Lee
@TheMightyTrowel:
Jack Gladney, is that you?
CaliCat
Either way, it will be over in a few weeks. If PBO wins, the tantrum brigade will whiter away into irrelevance. If he loses, I’ll laugh because now they’ll have to live with Mittens for the next 4-8 years. Joke’s on them. Now, the millions of Americans who will suffer because of these bird-brained liberals and our demented media is another story all together.
gogol's wife
@some guy:
He doesn’t have any irony deficiency. Your brilliant, sparkling wit was crystal clear to him, and he was making fun of it.
Donald
I didn’t watch the 1st debate, because it doesn’t interest me to watch third rate theater and I know who I’m voting for, but everyone who did seems to agree that Obama “lost” it by the standards that the country seems to use to judge these things.
The problem is not whiny liberals who haven’t been worshiping Obama–the problem is that those standards by which we judge debates in this country are stupid. Romney won by lying, by all accounts, but I heard a reporter on “Washington Week” refer to his performance as “masterful”. The idiot Gwen Ifill spoke as though it was partisan Democratic demagoguery to point out that the Republican tax plan is bullcrap. If we had a sensible press that did its job, this sort of garbage wouldn’t be acceptable.
blingee
What he said.
Nice rant!
gogol's wife
@geg6:
The person you’re talking to is not an ally.
some guy
@geg6:
you have no fucking clue about me, or my relationship to the Left, to even make that specific assessment, and given your prior statements you are clearly incapable of making ANY realistic assessment about the Left in America, or elsewhere.
the level of mindless cheerleading by the Center-Right BJ Fight Club is to be expected, but the political cluelessness by some here is what truly staggers me. too funny.
TheMightyTrowel
@Spaghetti Lee: I’m not sure what the pitch for money would be if you emailed back, but if you’re curious he included both an email address and a phone number and i’m happy to share them with you for a small fee of $300. ;)
Paula
@some guy:
Do you have a list of these pet names hanging by your computer every time you post at Balloon Juice? It’s like your little “thing”, I notice.
maven
Is it just me or has the Daily Kos site just crashed?
PsiFighter37
@Shakespeare: This x1000. Repeat it early, repeat it often. Fucking call Romney out on his bullshit no matter what happens in the debate.
I’m glad to see that the O-team brought along a bit more support in the spin room tonight. He needs street fighters like Deval Patrick who are going to speak truth to power.
Going over to a buddy’s place to get my drink on and hopefully watch Obama toast this motherfucker. See you all afterward.
SatanicPanic
@some guy:
Oh jeez. Jill Stein is the ’92 Dream Team!
FlipYrWhig
@Donald: It’s all very poorly done theater criticism. Who looked believable, not who told the truth. Who projected confidence, not who knew what they were talking about. Etc. They’ve been doing it that way since these fucking things first hit television, but I think they’ve been getting worse over time.
That said, Obama has to know that coming in. It seems fairly evident that he did worse by that standard than Romney did. At the same time, I just can’t believe that he was so lousy that he lost votes.
jwalden91lx
I want to take that post out back and get it pregnant.
Ben Franklin
The person you’re talking to is not an ally.
This, exactly, is the reason many of you don’t read what you consider to be, counter-intuitive columns and blogs. The truth is like iodine. It has to hurt to help. You think it’s loyalty.
I say, it’s enabling behavior.
beltane
@maven: Yes, it is down. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
some guy
@Paula:
nope, that’s pretty much it. I find a small pleasure in mocking all the center-right types around here who fancy themselves liberals.
gogol's wife
@Ben Franklin:
Oh, yes, I really have a lot to learn from “some guy.” I’m just hiding from the truth he has to offer!
CaliCat
@Spatula: Clinton was never disrespected by liberals the way PBO has been. No comparison at all.
gogol's wife
@CaliCat:
This is absolutely true. (With the exception of Maureen Dowd, if you consider her a liberal.)
FlipYrWhig
@Ben Franklin: Well, see, here’s the thing. It’s like with “hippie-punching.” That’s a real phenomenon. But just because people want to punch you doesn’t make you a hippie. And just because the truth hurts and the point of leftism is to offer permanent critique, that doesn’t mean that everyone who comes around here acts like an abrasive dicknose is a brave truth-telling lefty.
Paula
@some guy:
The sad thing is that I don’t doubt for a minute that this is actual fun for you.
RSA
Awesome rant.
For those who like noisy, inconclusive data, my local TV station’s Web site is hosting an application that monitors estimates of sentiment derived from Twitter traffic about the debate.
hep kitty
I think everybody should just chill about other people not chilling.
Ben Franklin
@gogol’s wife:
I’m just hiding from the truth he has to offer!
Counter-intuitive ideas en masse, is what I said. Some guy is just one of them.
SFAW
@some guy:
“Lookitmeeee! I’m the only true liberal here! So fuck all of you who only THINK you are, ’cause I know the TROOTH!”
Does that about capture it? Good.
Now sod off, purity boy, since we’re clearly not good enough to sniff your post-workout jock strap.
ETA: Per FlipYrWhig – I’m an abrasive dicknose, can I play too?
maven
Is Kos ‘off line’ intentional?
OK. Time for a twitter account…………….
FlipYrWhig
@CaliCat: I’m less confident about that. The 1990s left had a ton of issues with Clinton, including themes that are evergreen like “compromises too much” and “is more like a moderate Republican” and “coddles bankers and millionaires.” The difference, if there is one, is that the left expected more of Obama than they did of Clinton, so there’s more of a sense of letdown.
Spaghetti Lee
RNFFFFF I’ve got a big project due tomorrow and I CAN’T CALM DOWN. Could they move the debate to tomorrow? Could someone get on that?
Spatula
@some guy:
Seriously…this is some creepy, Orwellian shit; even for BJ Obots. Wow.
Hill Dweller
@CaliCat: Clinton certainly had to deal with his share of bullshit investigations, but he still got his executive and judicial branch nominees confirmed at a fairly good clip.
Conversely, Obama has faced a level of obstructionism no one has ever seen. Republican shattered the filibuster record in Obama’s first two years. They also set some sort of record for holds. I won’t even get into the debt debacle. Wingnuts were willing to tear down the government if they thought it would hurt Obama.
Both had to endure a lot of insanity, while the media fed it, but being African-American seemed to ratchet up the crazy a bit more during Obama’s term.
trnc
Frankly, I’d rather he had lost Texas.
Ben Franklin
@FlipYrWhig:
that doesn’t mean that everyone who comes around here acts like an abrasive dicknose is a brave truth-telling lefty.
That straw is not what I spun. I am talking about a generalized disputation of anything which might derail the common thread of delusion. Enablers keep the short-term peace but lose the fight for perspective in discourse.
Political Observer
It’s good to see there are finally a few honest and patriotic liberals who are calling out Obama and his creepy personality cult.
Bruce S
Masterful Anti-Hysterics Hysterics!
He and Sullivan should get a room…
Political Observer
“During Obama’s term”
Term. Singular. I love it.
SFAW
@hep kitty:
I think YOU should just chill about other people not chilling about still other people not chilling.
Norman, coordinate!
Political Observer
Face it: Obama is finished. Done. Over.
Romney starts his transition to the Presidency tonight. You may as well start getting used to the phrase “President-Elect Romney” now, maybe it won’t sting so badly for you then.
some guy
@SFAW:
nope, plenty of “true” liberals around here. what amazes me is, given the left-liberal inclinations of all the front pagers around here, why are there are so many conservatives among the commenters?
a conundrum
BethanyAnne
Couple of things on my mind. I can just hear Tweety already “Obama came back, but was it enough?” I really expect that to be the dominant spin for the next few days.
Also, I remember someone saying that undecided voters think of the election like a dentist’s visit. Unpleasant, low chance of good result, and best put off and out of mind for as long as possible.
Political Observer
@some guy:
Don’t even bother trying to talk sense into personality cultists. Obama is the pure, white lamb who shed his blood for our sins, remember.
Ben Franklin
@Political Observer:
What does that mean?
SFAW
@Political Observer:
I don’t think he can be elected to his second term for another three weeks. Or is he going for his third term now?
Political Observer
@Ben Franklin:
Trust in OBAMA, and lean not upon thyne own understanding.
FlipYrWhig
@Ben Franklin: There’s a thin line between “counterintuitive” and “troll.”. And then there’s “dick.”. We get all kinds here. Probably some of the honestly counterintuitive people get caught in the crossfire. It’s issue by issue, though. The civil liberties (drones, drug war, etc.) people are too numerous to be written off purely as trolls or dicks, f’rinstance.
some guy
@Political Observer:
well, at least the Obama supporters around here attempt to cling to reality, whereas your 50 cent a post trolls are just silly silly horseshit.
do you even believe 1/10 of the manure you spread around here?
Bruce S
@Ben Franklin:
It means “I’m batshit crazy and it’s lonely here in Mom’s basement.”
Comrade Jake
I’m just thankful we’ve assembled a group of “undecided” voters to ask questions and judge the candidates. Three weeks from the election, and these people are undecided. So they’re either idiots, or they haven’t been paying attention, and they’re the ones asking questions. What a joke.
Political Observer
@some guy:
Clinging to reality? He still can’t accept he lost, that their Demi-God is more of a pin-up.
Ben Franklin
@FlipYrWhig:
The civil liberties (drones, drug war, etc.) people are too numerous to be written off purely as trolls or dicks, f’rinstance.
That is encouraging for this discussion. I hope to see it for myself.
MikeJ
I will give a brand new shiny dime to anybody who can disable my next door neighbour’s computer to such an extent that I wouldn’t be asked to fix it.
I’m a nice guy. I don’t mind helping out a neighbour. Some people just shouldn’t own computers. When the software you install asks for a serial number, you should be able to figure out on your own that you need to type in the serial number that is sitting on the goddamned desk next to the keyboard. Argh. When I’m in your email program and say I need a password to send email, you should know that I need your email password, not your login password. And you should especially know that when somebody is nice enough to repeatedly fix your shit that you shouldn’t talk about the “resident” and how he’s the worst thing ever.
+1, but not for long.
pseudonymous in nc
Oh, Very Ass is here to celebrate Romney’s impending public bowel-loosening.
Since Very Ass is a coprophiliac, it’s especially exciting for him.
CynDee
Imani for president 2016! Whatta gal!
FlipYrWhig
@some guy: You have no idea what these labels even mean. You just draw a line randomly on the ground and then call your side the “left” or “liberal” one. It’s kind of like a bird displaying plumage.
Political Observer
@pseudonymous in nc:
Utterly delusional. It’s almost cute.
Get ready to live in a red state again, Pseudofuck.
Darkrose
I’ve been focusing on the MLB postseason for the past couple of weeks, so I was surprised to come back and find that the election was apparently over after the first debate.
SFAW
Pule-itical Absurder –
I’d ask you to bring your “A” game once in awhile, but that would be like asking Rmoney to tell the truth. Can ask ’til I’m blue in the face (or for your benefit, until I have blood in the face), but it ain’t gonna happen.
CaliCat
@FlipYrWhig:
Yes they did but they didn’t abandon him the way they have PBO. Melissa Harris-Perry wrote an excellent article on the bias against this president from the white liberal left.
Political Observer
The Republican Party is the Green Bay Packers, and the Democrats are the Detroit Lions.
It’s been like this in Presidential politics for decades. And will be forever and ever, amen. You think you losers would have learned that by now.
Hill Dweller
@Political Observer:
Do you have an ounce of self-awareness?
Jesus. You are voting for Romney. A bumbling plutocrat who has never shown the ability to accomplish much of anything without the game being rigged for him. Do you think he’d be anywhere near the position he’s in now without daddy’s money and connections? But “R” is all that matters, amirite?
Soonergrunt
David Gergen just tweeted from the debate site:
PeakVT
some guy = spatula = political observer.
Sock puppets, or just equally stupid?
cckids
@Spatula: Clinton asked for the worst of what he got. For such a smart guy, he was a complete asshole to not keep it in his pants, especially with a 20 year old intern. While he KNEW Gingrich & co were out for his blood.
The only thing Pres. Obama has done is working while black.
PopeRatzo
@KG: Man, do you misunderstand Mitt Romney.
He doesn’t care about the job of president, he only wants to BE the president. He’ll be as disconnected as second term Reagan. And he’ll have a ball with it. Four years of blaming the “Obama Recession” and three Supreme Court appointments and then he’s gone.
Romney would love it if the Prez quit on him.
Baud
@Soonergrunt:
Dude, following David Gergen is not something I’d publicize. ;)
FlipYrWhig
@Ben Franklin: Some people trash-talk, some argue. Some arguments devolve into trash talk. “I knew Obama would blow it, and also I’m still dismayed because of the public option and drones, so I’m actually kind of happy” is not going to help anyone.
Soonergrunt
@cckids:”The only thing Pres. Obama has done is working while black.”
I keep hearing about how “Obama has to be respectful to Romney.” I don’t hear anything about how Romney should be respectful to the President of the United States.
Bruce S
@Comrade Jake:
Yeah, that’s insulting to the electorate, to put it mildly. It also will skew the questions toward…uh…stuff morons are worried about. Obama will do fine, but this “Town Hall” is more likely to be a “Clown Hall.” It’s wildly skewed sampling of questioners.
Soonergrunt
@Baud: somebody else retweeted him.
Yutsano
@Political Observer: As opposed to White Horses?
SFAW
@Soonergrunt:
Well, it’s not like Obama is the REAL President. I mean, he’s blackity-black and all.
1badbaba3
Ah yeah, bring the motherfuckin’ noise, y’all! Sound off like you got a pair! This is what needs to be said. Early, often, and turned up to eleventy.
Less attention to the Henny Pennies, more to the election of Obama.
Let’s do this.
cckids
@Political Observer: Please, stop in on Nov. 7th & give us your observations on Romney’s loss. Guy’s got no ground game, he’s a clueless entitled ass, he will go down.
pseudonymous in nc
Oh, Very Ass, we can smell you from here, and you’re out of Depends. The fear, it is palpable.
Face it, there’s not going to be much work out there for pasty mediocrities after November, so make sure you save all those nickels.
Comrade Jake
Why do you guys pretend that Political Observer is here to to do anything besides troll? I’m all for punching the clown, don’t get me wrong, but I think anything beyond “go fuck yourself with a rusty pipe” or some variation thereof is probably a waste of space.
Baud
@Soonergrunt:
That’s cool then.
Re: bar stools, remember when Al Gore was pilloried in the press for consulting with Naomi Wolf on earth tones.
Good times.
Political Observer
@cckids:
He’ll go down just like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, amirite?
Morons.
SatanicPanic
@Spatula: Neither of you guys seem able to explain why it makes any sense to critique a campaign event for the candidate you want to win. Debates are political ads, not real contests. No one wins anything by “winning” the debate. There’s not even a generally accepted metric to judge debates by.
Spaghetti Lee
@Bruce S:
You want the candidates to be on their toes? Get super-partisans to ask the questions, not undecided milquetoasts. I’m sure the right-wing nuts would dig up some cracked-out blogger to yell about anchor babies and the UN stealing everyone’s guns. For the left, I’d volunteer the BJ commentariat. And for the candidates, “fuck off” isn’t really a viable answer.
I’m not sure if it would be the greatest night of political comedy ever, or just a dreary slog through 100 variations of “So when did you stop beating your wife?”
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Throw it out a window. That should cover it.
FlipYrWhig
@CaliCat: Meh. I think because of the blogosphere we _hear_ more angst from marginal crackpots than we used to. But it was always there. I have a garage full of old issues of The Nation to document it. My friends used to have pitched battles about the appropriateness of “humanitarian intervention.” Fuck, I voted Nader in 1996. There was a lot of disgruntlement back then. There just weren’t as many avenues for disseminating it beyond grad student bars.
Hill Dweller
@Soonergrunt:
I honestly believe being respectful would cause Willard problems with his base. That said, Willard is a cynical scumbag, who doesn’t need any help being an asshole.
SFAW
@Political Observer:
As Comrade Jake might say: Go fuck yourself with a rusty pipe, you imbecile.
Darkrose
Is there a livestream of the debate anywhere?
Elie
@eemom:
Yes M’am — agree with you 100% …WTF happened to folks supposedly “supporting” Obama????? Ok — I get he may have had a less than perfect showing but to fucking just go all the other way??? Folks don’t support sports teams on teevee with that kind of weak shit. Truly — WTF???
SFAW
@MikeJ:
Put half a cup of sugar in the gas tank.
FlipYrWhig
@Baud: Which, of course, was inaccurate on every level, insofar as Gore didn’t change his clothing, Wolf didn’t advise him on image or gender performance, and any number of other stupid components to a stupid story. That Big Media swallowed hungrily.
Soonergrunt
@Darkrose: http://www.c-span.org/debates/
Ben Franklin
@Spaghetti Lee:
I just pray there is a plant, or a spontaneous “You lie” directed at Romeny.
some guy
@FlipYrWhig:
I’ll be sure to share your insights with my students.
idiot
Odie Hugh Manatee
@BethanyAnne:
Shit, Chuck Todd is saying that tonight is is for the President, he wins or loses the election with this debate because it’s too close to election day for him to recover. I wish Chucky would stick his horse race up his ass.
Sideways.
FlipYrWhig
@Elie: Depends on the sports team. “I knew they’d fuck it up somehow, and I was just waiting for it to happen, holy Christ, fire everyone already!” is a quite common sentiment for a fan of every Philadelphia sports franchise.
Ben Franklin
@SFAW:
To do what you suggest it would take 5 lbs in a twenty gallon tank.
Soonergrunt
@FlipYrWhig: You have to remember, the media hated Gore in the first place. There was nothing he could have done to have gotten a fair shake from them.
Baud
@FlipYrWhig:
Just about everything the media said about Gore was untrue. He was living post-truth before post-truth was cool.
Soonergrunt
Dave Weigle on Twitter just now:
SFAW
@Ben Franklin:
I remember it as being less, but I’ll defer to your (hopefully) superior knowledge in this endeavour.
Comrade Jake
@Odie Hugh Manatee: who knew Chuck reads Sully’s blog?
Elie
@geg6:
Amen.
FlipYrWhig
@some guy: You teach classes in something? Lord have mercy. Was that part of your plea agreement?
McJulie
@PeakVT:
I was just noticing that. They have a whole rapid-fire rah-rah right-on-brother thing going on that is starting to seem kinda suspicious.
For the record, re: Obama v. Clinton, it’s kinda hard to compare the anti-Clinton stuff to the anti-Obama stuff because the media has changed so much. But it’s weird watching old Simpsons DVDs, because they pick on Clinton all the time. They characterize him as kind of an unserious fratboy womanizer. They seem really embarrassed about this on the commentary tracks.
I was disappointed in Clinton early on, for things like the failure of any kind of healthcare reform, and for wimping out with that DADT business. But as the right wing attacks on him grew more and more fervent, I came more and more to his side, so that by the time of the Lewinsky scandal I was running around defending Clinton to all my right leaning friends and relatives.
Some will call me an O-bot. He’s my favorite president of my life so far. But the nutty right wingers of the Gingrich era are what started making me more partisan, a trend that has only accelerated. I used to think Republicans were merely incorrect on a number of issues, and now I want to crush them like ants.
Elie
@Shakespeare:
this too – Amen…
Soonergrunt
The chat room is live
ThresherK
@MikeJ: Hypothetically, one might imagine what kind of emails might arrive in Person X’s inbox if someone put Person X’s email address onto some not-trustworthy internet sites. That might destroy a system beyond a friendly neighbor’s ability to fix it.
Of course, that depends on Person X being the too-trusting sort who would click on things they shouldn’t.
Hypothetically.
CaliCat
@FlipYrWhig: I do agree that the age of the blogosphere has changed everything.
Citizen_X
@SatanicPanic:
Fucking Bingo. NOBODY “WINS” OR “LOSES” A DEBATE. There is no score. The quality of the performance, which gets endlessly dissected, is completely subjective. “Oh, Gore sighed!” “He said, ‘There you go again!’ Oh, Swoon!” It’s all bullshit.
So yeah, showing up and waving your pompoms for your team no matter what happens, and telling all the Debbie Downers to STFU, are completely called for. It’s political theater by its nature, so make the most of it.
Brachiator
Decided to skip the debate.
I look forward to the post debate backbiting and second guessing.
But, like another poster here, I hope Obama crushes Romney like an ant.
Now to catch up with last week’s episode of “Grimm.” Maybe stream some “Wallendar.”
Mike in NC
@Soonergrunt:
Tomorrow there will most likely be lots coming from the pundits about how uppity Obama appeared tonight.
General Stuck
Why there will only ever be one FDR.
Omnes Omnibus
@Political Observer: Step the fuck off.
Spatula
GO B.O.
Uncle Cosmo
@Political Observer: Go fuck yourself with a rusty chainsaw. And that is the only sort of comment you’re worth, fuckface.
Spatula
@Mike in NC:
YOu do know this is not a monarchy, right?
When George W Bush was occupying the WH, I sure as shit did NOT respect him just because he had managed to assume the title of president.
Where do you get this shit?
Ben Franklin
@Citizen_X:
Again. The debates are perceived, as important. Ergo; the reality of the masses, metastacizes.
General Stuck
Some feel good poll results. BO on the rebound, state by state. Taegan Goddard is the bees knees for concise info.
Omnes Omnibus
@Spatula: Yeah, whenever I have an etiquette question the first thing I do is say to myself, “What would Spats do?”
Another Halocene Human
live stream of debate?
SFAW
@Spatula:
It would help if you were able to read Soonergrunt’s original comment in that regard.
Which you probably did, and are now just being willfully fucking stupid, because you can.
Of course, the alternative is that you couldn’t read it on your own. Perhaps we can get Soonergrunt to read it to you, I’m sure he’d be more than happy to accommodate you.
ShadeTail
He’s only just noticing that? Has he not been paying attention over the past 15-to-20 years?
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
What a sad, pitiful life you must lead.
Most people with REAL lives go to either Charlie Pierce or The Rude Pundit for that shit.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Brachiator: I am watching the Yankees-Tigers, I am already going to vote for President Obama, so it’s no skin off my ass about the debates.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: I use it as a Costanza.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
Sorry, I only watched about 15 minutes of Seinfeld, total, so I don’t get the joke. (Yes, I know who George is/was, I just don’t get the usage of his name in this context.)
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: Do the opposite.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: Do the opposite.
T. Bombadil
@CaliCat: I’m sorry, but MHP’s essay is lacking in at least two important areas.
One, she doesnt show disaggregated polling data. Her claim is “lost white liberal support”, but in the end she only mentions white support overall. So her primary claim has no metrics shown in support.
Two,if indeed librals are actually frustrated at the man, she spends next to zero time comptemplating issues pther than race that might be causing friction.
Dr. Perry would expect more from her students.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: Do the opposite.