I’ve got posts in binders but I’m too lazy to get them out right now.
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by DougJ| 225 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I’ve got posts in binders but I’m too lazy to get them out right now.
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kindness
How does one work in a ‘Get me a sammich’ snark into this?
Lolis
WTF with Gallup’s crazy numbers?
BGinCHI
From now on instead of grading I’ll just tell my students I have their papers in a binder.
The new GOP Responsibility. So simple!
nogo postal
Here is Bruce singing today in Ohio..
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/18/watch-live-clinton-and-springsteen-campaign-for-obama-in-ohio/
jgaugust
@Lolis: Kos did a breakdown yesterday. Obama leads in the West, East, and Midwest. Romney leads by like 45+ in the South (something like 70+ to 25+). Effectively that Southern number has been growing, while the others are not changing or minimally changing.
Bottom line: Gallup polls suck. Then again, we knew this already.
Frankensteinbeck
Is Obama really going to be on The Daily Show tonight? I don’t think I can handle another jackass interview blaming Obama for partisanship in Washington like the last one.
beergoggles
News from HRC: Catholics lead in anti-gay funding. Knights of Columbus alone have so far donated over 6 million to anti-gay causes.
In good news: 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rules DOMA unconstitutional. Wheee.
BGinCHI
@jgaugust: The South will rise again! Through Mormonism and outsourcing and down-trickling!
FlipYrWhig
@Frankensteinbeck: Yeah, I’m a bit leery of how that’s going to go.
red dog
I’m so old that the term binders replaced those horrible loose leaf notebooks and their little paper circles from hell, for boys anyway. Con any girl you could into putting those things on pages instead of fingers, shirts, pants, face etc.
Steve
@Frankensteinbeck: I watched TDS last night for the first time in a while. Jon was pretty much killing Romney on the debate stuff, aside from the predictable jabs about how the President actually showed up this time. He didn’t seem to be in a “both sides do it” frame of mind.
Randy P
I’m working in El Paso this week and my hotel has Fox News running full time. So I learn all kinds of new stuff while eating the mediocre free breakfast. Today I learned that Romney’s advantage with women is widening. They also are still banging the Benghazi drums and have lots of killer talking points for Romney to use Monday.
Enhanced Mooching Techniques
@Frankensteinbeck: well, the only way to win the tote baggers over is to listen them.
flukebucket
That damn “women in binders” thing must have really stung because Limbaugh is out there talking about how pathetic it is.
amk
@Lolis: southern whiteys are the only voters?
Hill Dweller
@Lolis: Their likely voter screen is laughable.
The Red Pen
Fixed for Limbaugh.
Cassidy
You didn’t put any posts in binders. Those were given to you by a bipartisan group of posts who who passed it on to all the Fpers to promote diversity.
Haydnseek
An open thread, so I’d like to know the wherabouts of Randinho. The U.S. is playing World Cup qualifiers, and I really would like his take. Anyone?
ruemara
@Frankensteinbeck: Yes. I’m surprised he even gives Jon Stewart the time of day, considering how rude he was to his face the last time. I’m starting to detest that man.
Yutsano
@Cassidy: Sshh…we can’t reveal all the plans just yet…
jgaugust
@BGinCHI: Indeed. All those new job creators entering the markets with their new ideas that they have been refusing to implement until our dear savior Mitt Romney comes in and lowers their corporate tax rate so that they aren’t paying too much for their brilliant ideas.
/snark off
Additionally, I overstated the numbers a bit regarding the Kos post from yesterday’s 51-45 poll, but the point still stands:
“For those unfamiliar, it shows the President ahead of Romney by 4 or 6 points in the East, Midwest, and West; and down by a whopping 22 points in the South . . .”
“Romney can be up huge in red non swing states (Utah, Alabama) but behing in swing states.
He could also be doing better in blue states (WA, Maryland). Gallup showed that Obama had around +4 in all regions EXCEPT the south where he was getting crushed. A reason for this is that swing states have viewed Obama’s ads, and if his ads are very very effective that would be sufficient enough to explain it . . .”
Soonergrunt
Speaking of binders…
Amazon.com product reviews of binders
Brachiator
I mentioned in another thread that the Boy Scouts sex scandal may be about to erupt again
More here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/boy-scouts-perversion-files.html
And on the other side of the pond, serious concerns about a coverup of allegations that British comedian Jimmy Saville abused young girls for years, and many people looked the other way
more here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/18/jimmy-savile-bbc-investigate-institutional-sexism?newsfeed=true
dmsilev
@Soonergrunt: I’m sure there’s someone at Avery who has as part of their job description keeping an eye on product reviews of their stuff.
Whoever that person is, their life got a whole lot more interesting in the last 36 or so hours.
Omnes Omnibus
You didn’t bind that.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@flukebucket: I have never seen anything light up my Facebook feed like that did. There’s some dogwhistle there that I didn’t hear, but all the women sure did!
Romney did himself no favors with that comment.
Hill Dweller
Keep in mind, Gallup was probably the worst major pollster in ’08. They missed the final outcome by 5 points.
Gallup also had Dubya up by 13% in late Oct. 2000.
RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
Still stuck in Hermosillo. 11 days away from home and it’s going to be 3 more, best case. Worst case, 10 more.
I give up on trying to follow politics on this slow WiFi. I’l lsift the ashes when I get home.
dmsilev
@Omnes Omnibus: Nobody puts Baby in a binder.
PaulW
What’s all this about Romney being on an audio tape discussion encouraging business owners to tell their employees to vote for Romney lest they lose their jobs?
That would be voter intimidation, dear Mitt: US Code Title 18 Ch. 29 Sect. 594: “Whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, at any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing such candidate, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”
lol chikinburd
What’s worrying about Gallup isn’t that its outlier result is all that credible, but precisely that it is such an outlier, among wildly-divergent outliers from wildly-divergent polling universes. And polling chaos could give cover for shenanigans that would look fishier if they produced results that varied suspiciously from more consistent polling.
That’s all I’ve got in the emoprog anxiety department. Right-wing lawlessness generates anxiety like naught else, though.
peach flavored shampoo
I cant see how Romney’s numbers went up after Tuesday. Then again, I’m not a undecided voter. Maybe Romney wore a color tie that Obama didnt, and that makes him totally more ready to be Preznit than the Negro.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@ruemara: Because if Obama rejected people just because they were rude to him – the first black President with Hussein as a middle name, a white mother and a black father from Africa, who sleeps in the White House and is not a servant – he would have even more trouble being president. And, for a large segment of the population, Stewart is a reporter, and sometimes being rude is one of those things you have to expect from a reporter. It’s not like we didn’t enjoy Stewart’s being rude when he was on Crossfire.
Hal
I’m actually surprised at how humorless the right is being about the binders thing. I expect the war on caterpillars mentality when talking about Romney’s stance on women’s rights, but geez, talk about having no fucking sense of humor what so ever.
And speaking of polls, has the Romney camp ever released any internal polling? I find it odd they haven’t either backed up or refuted polling with some of their own, unless I just missed it. Makes me wonder what the internal numbers they have are showing.
Omnes Omnibus
@dmsilev: Money for nothin’ and chicks in binders
Fwiffo
There’s crazy anonymous website promising an October surprise. From the blurry document scans posted, it’s clearly the long awaited whitey tape.
jgaugust
@PaulW: It’s not entirely clear after Citizens United how that particular statute would be enforced by the courts anymore. Effectively the idea is that if unions and corporations have unlimited speech rights through money, that discussing the economic impact of an election with employees is effectively the same thing.
I’m not entirely sure I buy the similarity, but many experts on both the right and left are saying that the actions are legal. Obviously it’s not moral, ethical, or in any way keeping with American tradition. But you know, fuck that if it gets lower taxes.
Michael
No frontpage thread on DOMA getting struck down? Sheesh. Asleep at the wheel.
PaulW
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
There’s some dogwhistle there that I didn’t hear, but all the women sure did!
The “dogwhistle” is the fact that Romney had to get a binder (or list) of qualified women candidates for political appointments rather than knowing right off the bat any number of women colleagues within his own circle of business/social activity who could fill those jobs. It points back to his history with Bain Capital where there were almost NO women in that type of “venture capitalism” and he didn’t even have any women working for his company at leadership roles until 1996 (more than a decade into the company’s existence).
Let’s say I run for governor of Florida (I’m tempted to, just to make sure Rick “Fraud Forever” Scott goes away) and I win. I already know about 4-5 women I can call right up with qualifications and interest in taking any of the appointed posts in my administration (meanwhile, I know about maybe 6-8 guys who would, so there is a rough balance there). Romney is talking like he didn’t know a single woman. Hence the blowback.
P.S. compare this to Obama, who’s filled key Cabinet positions and both SCOTUS openings with women. Obama’s got a better track record of hiring women.
presquevu
Does anyone on Romney’s foreign affairs team who doesn’t think that Dr. Strangelove had a happy ending?
Hal
@Hill Dweller:
NY Magazine reminded me that they had Dukakis 54-37 over George H the week after the Dem convention, and Bill Clinton’s 28 point! post convention bounce. Which I guess doesn’t mean they were wrong at the time, but the hugeness of some of those numbers compared to the eventual realities are pretty telling.
Amir Khalid
@Soonergrunt:
I’m worried about this. Someday, someone at Amazon.com is bound to notice that their user-written product reviews have become an online open mic for comedy. Granted, some products do deserve mockery, like the 5-foot length of CAT-5 cable that Denon was selling for US$500. And here it’s not binders that are being mocked, rather that silly man Mitt Romney. But I fear that n some killjoy in amazon’s management might decide to Take Action, shutting down an outlet for some very talented wiseacres, and then how are we to have our fun?
PaulW
@jgaugust:
There are examples – the Seagate CEO for one – of owners being more “threatening” about job losses than mere “suggesting”. Intimidation is still intimidation regardless of wording. If any workers do lose jobs if Obama wins, I hope to God most of them file the criminal complaint against the owners who intimidated and then carried out that threat.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@peach flavored shampoo: Take a look at the chart in this kos post. I think it’ll help you understand.
Gordon, the Big Express Engine
All – my local public elementary school publishes a weekly newsletter. Mostly run of the mill school news stuff. There is a small section where they quote famous people. The last issue ran a quote from James Dobson and included a link to his website to learn more. We’re meeting with the school principal today to discuss how this quote got in there. We’re pretty sure that the principal exercises editorial control. We don’t plan to go in guns blazing, as much as my wife would like to. Any suggestions on what to ask/how to conduct ourselves?
Omnes Omnibus
@presquevu: The doctor recovered his ability to walk; of course it was a happy ending – look, I’m not saying people didn’t get their hair missed….
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Soonergrunt: Don’t forget the Bic Pen for Her reviews.
amk
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
BS. stewart couldn’t find much material to mock at with this prez and the admin. Hence he replaced mockery with rudeness. Fuck him.
schrodinger's cat
DougJ@top
Are the posts in 3 ring binders or 5 ring binders?
Villago Delenda Est
The Obama people really need to slap together an ad that states that OvenMitt’s pension fund was created by stealing the pensions of thousands.
This criminal needs to be punished.
Brachiator
@ruemara:
Stewart has a sizable, politically engaged viewing audience. It ain’t personal, it’s business.
The Red Pen
@Brachiator:
Can we not use “erupt” in the same sentence as “Boy Scouts sex scandal” please?
Some of us haven’t had lunch.
Yutsano
@Gordon, the Big Express Engine: Just calmly ask why a religious quote and website was included in a public school document. Then inform the principal that he works in a public school and shit like this don’t fly. And if he tries to dispute that Dobson is a religious nut, give him a few choice quotes about how Dobson advocates corporal punishment for children. If all else fails say if it happens again you’re yanking your child and suing their asses off.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@jgaugust: The most obvious reason it’s legal is that it’s not a government entity. To me, it’s highly unethical, but so is adultery.
jgaugust
@PaulW: As I said, I personally don’t agree with the similarity being made by many legal experts. Admittedly, they are for more intelligent than I am in the arena of election law and intimidation (I’m a 3rd year law student), so I generally take their word for it.
All that this comes down to is to get Citizens United overturned or that we get an amendment passed to ban unlimited corporate contributions. Whether or not either of those two will ever happen remains to be seen (not looking particularly positive for anything in the short- or medium-term future)
Punchy
@Fwiffo: Those look suspiciously like tax dox.
Cassidy
@Gordon, the Big Express Engine: Just ask them to explain how that quote got in there, who selected it, etc. Now, the sectret to dealing with school administrators is being quiet and letting them talk. He/ she will have a pre planned response, so let them run through it and when you get to that point where you’re expected to chime in with an “oh, okay”, you just sit there and let the awkward silence happen. Then after they fidget or start filling the space with noise, you read off some other choice quotes from Dobson. Then you ask for the contact information for the district superintendent and what it takes to get a meeting.
jgaugust
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): True, although my understanding of the statute is that it applies both to government entities and individual entities. That was why voter intimidation statutes were passed to outlaw people pressuring others within certain distances of polling places, etc.
Again, if we had an elections lawyer here, this could all be explained more clearly.
ruemara
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): He was never that rude to any neocon idiot who showed up on his show. Last time Obama was on, Stewart gave him a mug to drink from, one Stewart had already drunk from. This has nothing to do with Stewart’s usual M.O. He has a real disdain for Obama that comes through. You ask me, he has as much of a bias against blacks in leadership of this country as any teabagger. It just comes with the whole liberal “So why aren’t you so awesome and doing it in the way I would” baggage.
@Brachiator: I’m in media. I know that. Send a fucking surrogate, that’s all he deserves. I say this fully understanding that since Obama has done The View, Letterman and Leno, it would be perceived as a snub. and it might finally prove to some of Stewart’s fans just how Villager he is. Obama should go on Colbert.
? Martin
@Michael: Won’t be struck down until SCOTUS says it’s struck down or Congress repeals it. It’s good news, but we’ve already heard this news.
penpen
@Punchy: Leftys claim the long hidden 2009 Romney returns and/or amnesty for Swiss accounts. Wingers claim Obama’s financial aid forms for college or something.
schrodinger's cat
Tunch has been missing from this website for far too long. Is he in a binder too?
Soonergrunt
@Amir Khalid: I think that we will find ways. I can’t imagine them shutting it down, because it brings new people to their site, who might then make purchases.
But even if they do shut it down, we will find a way to continue mocking the eminently mockable, and that category would necessarily include Amazon at that point.
ruemara
@schrodinger’s cat: Are there binders that large?
Michael
@? Martin: Disagree. The 2nd Circuit decision decided the issue differently the 1st Circuit, so its not the same news. One court used rational basis, the other said homosexuals deserve quasi-suspect classification and used heightened/intermediate scrutiny. That’s a big deal, as it creates a Circuit split and basically guarantees SCOTUS review in a way that the 1st Circ. opinion did not.
Felonius Monk
I’d post my binder, but my binder post is stuck and there’s no women around to do it correctly. ( I was going to say “get it unstuck”, but that sounds too sexist!)
The Red Pen
@schrodinger’s cat:
Maybe instead of a calendar, Balloon Juice should publish a “Binder full of pets.”
Shawn in ShowMe
@amk:
Exactly. Stewart wants to be an equal opportunity court jester but the problem is both sides don’t do it. The only options left for comedians these days is to mock Obama’s enemies or do skits that underline how calm and logical Obama is. Bill Maher figured this out a long time ago.
Southern Beale
Your tax dollars at work, y’all!
It’s all fun and games if you’re private security contractor Jorge Scientific in Kabul … unless you’re one of the unfortunates to have drunken company executive vice president Chris Sullivan shove a gun in your mouth and call you “my nigga.”
Remind me why we can’t cut the Pentagon’s budget and pull out of Afghanistan?
Bobby Thomson
So is this October Surprise going to be “al Qaeda determined to strike in Libya,” or Willard paying less in tax than he said, or TANG Dump II, Electric Boogaloo, or a big nothingburger?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@amk: That may be true, but you still didn’t counter my argument, which is that there are places that the president has to go no matter how rude some people are. And Stewart is one of them because there are a large number of people that go to him for their political coverage, which are therefore potential voters.
Bobby Thomson
@Michael: Yep. Heightened scrutiny is a BFD. It was when the administration said so, and it’s even more so now that a Court of Appeals has agreed.
kindness
Hmmmm. I don’t get the Jon Stewart hate here. I love the show. So what if he makes fun of Democrats once in a while. There are occasions we deserve it.
One of my more leftist friends refuses to watch Colbert. I keep telling him he’s parodying right wing talking heads. He doesn’t care and refuses to watch.
Soonergrunt
@Gordon, the Big Express Engine: Start by saying that you note with concern that the school is sending out quotes from and endorsements of a religious leader, and also that you are concerned that this particular religious leader endorses corporal punishment, or the use of violence against children. You should ask if it is the school district’s intent to endorse a specific religious position with respect to child rearing. If the answer is negative, you should then ask if there was a reason that this wasn’t made clear in the newsletter.
You should also point out that Dobson is well outside the mainstream of professional child psychologists in his positions on child rearing, discipline, human sexuality, the role of parents, and the roles of church and society in the psychological development of children and adults.
You also might want to record the conversation, if it is legal for you to do so.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
There is no way hell President Bush or President Romney would allow themselves to be lectured by Stewart. President McCain, maybe, but only because he had been Jon’s BFF for years.
Edit: Even if you want to cater to the TDS because of the liberal audience, you could send a surrogate like Uncle Joe or Michelle not the Pres himself.
Princess
I know Romney has a woman or two who acts as a spokesperson, but does he have any senior advisors who are women? i can’t think of a single one, but I may be wrong. If true, that is petty telling. Maybe he needs another binder.
MikeJ
@kindness: It’s not that he makes fun of Dems. It’s his conflation of one guy with a sign at a protest somewhere with a sitting member of congress. See, both sides said something bad, both sides are equally awful!
He’s a fucking moron.
slag
This online video taking issue with the marshmallow test: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/videos/2012/10/classic-%E2%80%98marshmallow-test%E2%80%99-flawed made me think of you, DougJ.
Not being a book, this video is, of course, absolutely worthless, so, I’m considering sending a note to the Univ. of Rochester to scold them for defiling their institution in such a plebby manner.
ranchandsyrup
Ann R. is saying that if Mitt loses, he won’t run again. Do not believe but as Mcmegtard frequently sez, YMMV.
amk
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Nope. I countered your false equivalency here.
The last episode he did with obama was totally dickish and unwarranted. His usual politeness with his guests, even the republican ones, was totally missing in that.
As for the point of Obama doing this, I agree he has to do this. That is all business as brachiator put it. I may not like it, but I get it.
I just hope he does not pull his dickish act again.
trollhattan
I may be the last person in the kool kidz klub (self-appointed) to learn of the @PaulRyanGosling twittertwat thingie, but it’s funny and perhaps to be completely shut down, by twitter. Nevertheless, it’s had an excellent run.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/meet-the-mom-bloggers-behind-paulryangosling.html
amk
@kindness: To each, his/her own.
Shawn in ShowMe
@kindness:
We’re not talking about the humor. We’re not talking about applying the bullshit both sides do it standard, and adopting right-wing talking points like “Harry Reid was out of bounds” and rushing to judgment on Presidential decisions only to sheepishly backtrack later. We’re talking about kissing the ass of Republicans that agree to come on his show but being rude to the President.
schrodinger's cat
@The Red Pen: Can you imagine the size of the binder that can contain Tunch?
PreservedKillick
@ruemara:
I’m not. Obama is from Hawaii. A very small place. You get along. You have to.
I think the last debate pretty much cured him of that. Not because he personally was attacked, but because his team was attacked.
trollhattan
@ranchandsyrup:
His brand will be well and truly destroyed (taking a moment to savor that delightful occasion) and the party ass-covering rhetoric will be “insufficiently conservative.” He’ll go off and spend some quality time with his money, and pen another insufferable memoir.
amk
@Shawn in ShowMe: He was mocking the 1st debate freak-out at msnbc while at the same time he too was freaking out over it, which by the way continues till date. I was stunned at the CD.
Colbert is way smarter and more nuanced than stewart.
kindness
I don’t know man. If Obama was all that bent out of shape of Stewart being a dick last time, and Stewart was a dick, Obama wouldn’t go on. Having said that I find TDS more valuable for insight than any news program you can name. For comedy value alone it is one of my must sees…unless a Presidential debate is on, or a Giants playoff game or 49er game or …well, you get the idea.
Guess I just cut Jon more slack than many of you.
schrodinger's cat
@ruemara: Then we will have to just build one, imagine the employment opportunities it would create.
Gordon, the Big Express Engine
@yutsano, Cassidy and soonergrunt: thanks, our plan is to play it cool and get him talking and see where it goes. We have the ammo ready from dobsons profile.
Paula
@kindness:
Cuz people are clueless.
Seriously. Jon Stewart — for those of you who “haven’t watched in a while” — has done a more effective job skewering right wing memes than your average bloggy bloviating over the last decade and has pretty much kept it up during the Obama era, and yet because he occasionally slaps liberals on the wrist he’s the greatest enemy ever.
Also, yes, he gave Obama a mug he drank from as a joke. That’s probably a lot more respectful than when he directly laughs at actual policies that right wing tools bring to shill on his show. The idea that he “kisses Republican ass” is fucking delusional. He (and his audience) openly laugh at their bullshit.
patrick II
@flukebucket:
Does he call it “sluts in binders”?
Shawn in ShowMe
@Shawn in ShowMe:
Fix’d.
PreservedKillick
@trollhattan:
Mark my words: this will be exactly what happens, even if he (FSM forbid) wins.
amk
@Paula:
Rrright. Very convenient insult isn’t it?
The Red Pen
@schrodinger’s cat:
All your binders are belong to Tunch.
someone ashamed to admit she reads astrology websites
Amazon did not become the behemoth they are today by neglecting any way to advertise themselves for cheap. Everyone who looks up a Three Wolf Moon t-shirt also sees the ‘what other people bought’ links, drives site traffic, and is a data point for their data collections.
In my more cynical moments I wonder if some of the pile-on sarcastic reviews aren’t Amazon employees looking to drum up free publicity.
Kane
Piers Morgan and Jonathan Chait are concerned that Democrats focusing on binders of full of women “trivializes” the campaign. And Joe Scarborough and Mark Halperin think the issue is silly. And Imus is yelling and swearing on air after a guest says that she was offended by the binders comment.
I haven’t seen members of the media so united since they were opposed to the Democrats going after Romney’s Bain record.
FlipYrWhig
@Shawn in ShowMe: I think Stewart sometimes gets lulled into right-wing / Fox News viewpoints, I guess because he watches their shitshow as much as he does. O’Keefe and Fast and Furious come to mind; then there was the “Obama won’t meet with foreign leaders at the UN session” thing that came straight from the heart of Fox Bullshit Universe. He starts to think their questions are valid. I’m still a big fan, but I cringe when he falls into that mode. He’s been doing a bit of Benghazi Fail lately, which is what I’m mildly on edge about for tonight.
Anoniminous
Exercising my Powers of Punditry I note no sitting AA president has ever been re-elected. Therefore & etc. etc. etc.
Getting a grip, this thing is exactly where it has been all along: Romney has to win both Ohio and Florida. If not, not. And I don’t care how many goobers in Alabama vote for him.
trollhattan
I’ll join the “JS jumped the shark” club when he airs the equivalent of this about Obama.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/fri-september-5-2008/john-mccain–reformed-maverick
How many times has McCain appeared on TDS since this was aired?
gelfling545
@PaulW:
This is a man who can only talk about women being in the workforce conditionally “if we’re going to have women in the workforce”. No, I doubt he knew any women he would consider qualified (i.e. equipped with a y chromosome).
Shawn in ShowMe
@kindness:
So does Obama. Which is part of why we love him — he’s cool as the other side of the pillow. But no other President has ever been as generous with the poutrage crowd. Check the record.
FlipYrWhig
@Gordon, the Big Express Engine: I’m pretty sure there’s a Dobson quote about how the way to make sure your young son doesn’t turn out gay is to shower with him and let him see your bigger pen1s. It won’t be fun to have that in your browser cache, of course, but it ought to be just the right level of horrifying for a school administrator.
Paula
@amk:
Want me to say it again?
People who call Jon Stewart a Republican shill are clueless (especially since many of them openly admit they haven’t watched him in a while). People who think he “really” thinks both sides are the same are clueless (anyone who’s watched his coverage of teacher’s unions’ busting and the Republican tax policy would probably agree).
Jon Stewart is the Barack Obama of political satire. He may do all he can within certain confines, but he’s never good enough for the pure of heart. And this comparison strikes me as particularly ridiculous, because it’s like I’m reading a bunch of conservatives during the Bush era who got their nose out of joint because Stewart didn’t provide “fair and balanced comedy”. Like it’s his fucking job to promote any kind of politics.
Laura
@kindness: The problem is not making fun of Democrats, of course Dem politicians do stupid crap. The problem is that he and his writers often latch onto the most inane stupid crap to exemplify the BOTH SIDES DO IT!!! stuff. Notice how no one in the audience ever laughs when he does that, because it’s not funny, it’s done solely to cover his ass.
The most egregious example is when he went off on Obama going on The View instead of meeting with foreign leaders at The UN. The King of Jordan (I think) was on the show that day and told Jon that no one cared, and he was making a big deal out of nothing.
The Moar You Know
@Gordon, the Big Express Engine: My wife’s been a schoolteacher for decades. I know how this game can be played, but honestly, Cassidy beat me to it. I would follow that advice to the letter, including who you escalate the complaints to.
Brutal truth is that parents hold all the power. Now, for a variety of reasons I’ll spare you, this is what is wrecking the public school system. But it can work for you, and this is one of the instances where I’d wholeheartedly approve of you using your power as a parent to the fullest.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@beergoggles:
Ya know, for a bunch of old white men who won’t STFU about their rights and liberty, they sure seem to spend an awful lot of time and money depriving others of theirs.
Fuck the K.O.C.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anoniminous: On the other hand, no AA president has been defeated for re-election.
Glass half full.
presquevu
95% tax rate on Ratfuckers United and other corporate dark money sound about right? Too low?
ranchandsyrup
@trollhattan: the winger victimization may be too strong. It’ll turn into Mitt can’t fail, he can only be failed.
ranchandsyrup
@Omnes Omnibus: you see this yesterday? http://xkcd.com/1122/
I loved it.
Paula
@trollhattan:
Yeah, I also doubt that Jon Stewart has ever aired the equivalent of “Chaos on Bullshit Mountain” for Obama/MSNBC.
He makes fun of them for … well, mostly for the bloviating white men like Olbermann, Matthews, Scarborough, and Schulz, but how can you not?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Movie question: I have a small fragment of a movie stuck in my head, and I need to know if anyone can remember the move it came from.
The basic setup is that a husband and wife go to a resort. I don’t remember if they had kids. Their marriage isn’t doing too well. The scene in my head is one involving a man hitting on the wife. In the scene they are outside: he’s on the ground, she’s either on the balcony or top of some outside stairs. He opens his coat like he’s flashing her, and in response, she flashes him showing her bra.
What movie is this from?
jibeaux
@ranchandsyrup: Yeah, I doubt the third time is going to be the charm.
burnspbesq
@Amir Khalid:
Oh jeez, don’t get me started on audiophiles and cables. I mean, I spent USD 80 on an eight-meter length of Audioquest CAT-7, and that’s bad enough, but some of these folks have a lot more money than brains. USD 20K for two eight-foot speaker cables? Yikes!
That said, the price may be cost-justified depending on how much silver is in the conductors.
Cassidy
@The Moar You Know: I want to add something that how I treat teachers vs. administration is vastly different. Teachers, the vast majority of them, are a fucking national treasure.
Laura
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Couples Retreat? I didn’t watch it but it sounds like maybe it would fit.
Soonergrunt
@schrodinger’s cat: You could probably get two or three women in that one.
Cassidy
@FlipYrWhig: And this is why we need a “like” button.
? Martin
@Michael: How does that disagree? I said it’s not decided until SCOTUS decides. You just said the same thing with more detail added.
SCOTUS, as always, will do whatever the fuck it feels like.
gelfling545
@The Moar You Know: This is so true. Principals & their minions will offer you their first born child if you come into the office & are insistent enough. They really do not want complaints going beyond their office so if the principal turns out to be a religious nut of the Dobson ilk just intimate that you will be taking it to the superintendent’s office. Sadly, this works whether you are there to make a reasonable complaint as in this case or to get a kid who attended school about half the time a passing grade for a class he was never in.
Todd
@amk:
Southern whites have done a great job of making it difficult for blahs to prevail, primarily through gerrymandering and felony convictions.
? Martin
@burnspbesq:
How much do you think silver costs? It’s $500 per pound now. You could make the whole cable out of .999 silver and it wouldn’t cost $500.
burnspbesq
@schrodinger’s cat:
DougJ’s totally unAmurkin, so the posts are on A4 size paper (a Commie plot if there ever was one), and the binders are from Germany, like these bad boys.
http://www.empireimports.com/defi.html
The Red Pen
Special commendation for wingnuttery beyond the call of unreason:
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/10/17/cnn-and-the-obama-administration-weapons-of-misdirection/
This post lays out what is quite possibly the stupidest take on the stupidest nontroversy ever. It claims that not only was Candy Crowly in on Mitt’s public trip-up, but so was the questioner, and possibly the Pope (I couldn’t make it all the way through, truth be told).
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Laura: Sorry, I should have mentioned that the move is at least 10ish years old, maybe a lot older.
Joel
@Shawn in ShowMe: Stewart has been flirting with the rightwing side on Benghazi, which even affected his commentary on the second debate. I don’t know who is in his ear putting him on these issues, or if it is just the man’s own foolish judgement. But he has considerable flaws and they’re worth discussing. Still like him myself, just a lot less than I did ten years ago.
japa21
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: FWIW, our local parish chapter of the K.O.C. has a higher percentage of AA’s and hispanics in it than is in the congregation as a whole.
Tom Q
@Paula: The point some of us are trying to get across to you is, we don’t see Stewart as simply finding the comedy in the foibles of both sides, but of balancing his absolutely true lacerations of GOP behavior with ginned-up/concocted criticsms of the Dem side. As has been pointed out above, he bought into the O’Keefe/ACORN thing, Solyndra, Fast and Furious and others I can’t call to mind right now — all of which were being debunked in real time online. Colbert was smart enough enough not to buy into most of these (his coverage of Fast & Furious made Stewart’s look shallow and uninformed).
No one is saying Stewart is a GOP shill. We’re just saying he tends to fall for alot of GOP/Fox News frames when he opts to go after the Dem side, and he’s often wrong when he does. In that way, his “fairness” has a touch of the Broder in it. (And I say all this as someone who’s still a fan of the show)
Cassidy
@Joel: JS went from skewering the villagers to becoming one of them. He’s a totebagger.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@? Martin:
Yeah, this. Try not to get too excited.
Nino the Magnificent has already telegraphed his decision, before hearing a single argument.
Soonergrunt
@FlipYrWhig: Yes, he actually said that.
askew
@Frankensteinbeck:
I am guessing that is exactly what happens. JS is so very, very concerned about being fair-n-balanced and he takes great pride in his cynicism so Obama’s Hope campaign always pissed him off.
Joel
@Shawn in ShowMe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHEvkHZ71k
ranchandsyrup
@jibeaux: I hope mitt is once, twice, three times a faaaaaailure.
Juju
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): There is a huge difference between Tucker Carlson and President Obama.
TooManyJens
@Shawn in ShowMe:
I love that.
Lojasmo
@Gordon, the Big Express Engine:
“What in blazing fuck do you think you’re doing with this goddamned shit?” would be my initial offering.
Ash Can
@Randy P:
If Romney is going to double down on Benghazi and make it the centerpiece of what he says on Monday, that’s awesome. The idiots on the right, desperate for something to ding the prez with, are making themselves look like complete idiots with their Hoekstra-ism and parsing of plural nouns and prepositions. Romney’s already at a disadvantage with his lack of foreign relations experience, with the sole exception of a foreign tour earlier this year that Obama will be champing at the bit to hang around Romney’s neck at the debate. Basically, the only thing Romney can do about his own lack of experience is to go on the offensive against Obama, but he needs to do so intelligently, and I don’t think he’s up to that.
@Gordon, the Big Express Engine: Late to the party here, but I would go into the meeting assuming the principal doesn’t actually know who Dobson is, let alone how odious he is. Definitely focus on all the unhealthy anti-child stuff that Dobson has spewed; if you and the principal have common ground on anything at all, it’s the welfare of the kids. And in the unlikely event it turns out that the principal does know about Dobson and endorses his drek, it’s better that you find out sooner rather than later.
Paula
@Tom Q:
Yeah, and I’m saying that makes you no better than the conservatives who complained about his “liberal bias” during the Bush era.
This is ridiculous. I like The Daily Show, but I apparently don’t respect its political acumen enough to believe it has to conform to my particular ideas of right and wrong. Which means that if Stewart et al do something I don’t agree with, I’m probably going to let it slide given that 90% of the time, the editorial slant goes mostly like this:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/?term=wisconsin+union+walker&start=0%5D
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-september-19-2012/chaos-on-bull–t-mountain—video-distractions
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: Obot.
Michael
@? Martin: Its a “disagree” because this ruling is completely new legal ground, and you suggested that its actually old hat. That’s just factually incorrect; the 2nd Circuit did something entirely different (and more meaningful) than prior courts that have held DOMA unconstitutional. They recognized homosexuals as a protected group for equal protection purposes. That is a big deal, as its the first court to do so.
Brachiator
@Tom Q:
We? Is there a Balloon Juice consensus on this? For that matter, is there a site that fact checks his show as though it were actual news reporting?
He’s a comedian. And granted, he gets more attention because he hits the mark better than many supposed legitimate journalists.
But where is it written that he is supposed to be “fair” or to consistently conform to anyone’s desires and expectations?
The Red Pen
So was can conclude that conservatives who don’t shower with their sons have tiny penises?
kindness
@? Martin: Expensive cables & audio/video stuff.
Honestly some stuff makes a difference and some stuff is just ego dressing. Full disclosure: I sold audio gear for quite some time in the 70’s & 80’s. At one point I was an audiophile without the assets to buy the really good stuff. Now I’m less versed but still keep somewhat current. The prices you see for people paying $1000+ and more for patch cords, power cables and connectors are absurd. However, given a good system you can hear the difference between high end Monster Cable speaker wire and regular 12 gauge stuff. You can also hear an audible difference with the better patch cords. Mind you it is more apparent with analog than with digital but it does still make a very slight difference.
Is it worth it? Well, how much money do you have in your checking account and how depleted is your ego? Your call.
And yes I do have what used to be high end speaker wire, patch cords and stuff but the prices now are a magnitude of 10 to 100 times what I paid.
Dee Loralei
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Indecent Proposal? I only saw it once, so no idea how she first met Redford’s character
Calouste
@Kane:
Well, well, well, male Villagers thinking an issue that is important to women is ‘silly’ or ‘trivial’. Who would have thought.
schrodinger's cat
@askew: He is a cynic and cool kid, to be cool in the Village you have to take potshots at the Democrats, and subscribe to the motto, that both sides do it.
He was nice to the torture apologist Yoo, but rude to the President.
Cassidy
@Paula: Oh horseshit. When Stewart is on, he’s spot on. When he descends into “both sides do it” fuckitude that has been patiently explained to you, he continues to promote one of the foremost memes that has driven our politics off the fucking cliff. The problem is that he picks inane bullshit that a Democrat somewhere may have said or done and puts it on par with Akin’s statements regarding rape, RW marriage and fucking around hypocricy, etc. You see Anthony Weiner taking pictures of his dick is exactly the same as Newt’s well documented indiscretions and complete dickishness….both sides do it.
So, you like the show. We got that many comments ago. But, seriously, take that both sides do it shit and blow it out your ass. It’s wrong, factually inaccurate, and JS has become one of the major problems in our media.
Laura
@Brachiator: Don’t be stupid, you know perfectly well the “we” in that comment was referring to the people making similar arguments.
artem1s
@Fwiffo:
I thought the October surprise was Mitt going the whole two weeks between the debates without stepping on his dick again. That stretch from Big Bird to Binders was something of a record for him, no?
Omnes Omnibus
@Yutsano: Today is my mom’s b-day and she is going to see the First Lady tomorrow. Happy f-Ing birthday to her, huh?
The Moar You Know
@Cassidy: I and my wife thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
@gelfling545: I cannot share my opinion of high-school principals at this time.
Change “passing grade” to “A-Plus” and you’ve nailed it. And the schools bend over backwards to do it. If the teacher refuses to participate in such an atrocity (and they have the legal right to do so) an administration, hypothetically, could leave that teacher to face the lawsuit by herself, with no legal aid, defense fund, backup, or advice forthcoming from the district. At that point, the union HAS to step in. That’s usually too late, the teacher has arrived at the “fuck this” point for obvious reasons and leaves the profession.
Not that I would know anything about that.
You (the collective Ballon Juice you) know kids who have graduated from high school with an “A” average who have never done any work in high school. They and their parents won’t tell you that, however. They can usually bully their way into a college, but not out of one. For obvious reasons, they tend to perform awfully in the workforce.
No, I don’t have a solution.
Tom Q
@Brachiator: I used “we” because multiple people in the thread were making the point, to which Paula seemed impervious.
And it’s not a matter of being “fair”, it’s matter of giving credibility to false stories, which I think he too often does. If that doesn’t bother you and Paula, we come from different angles.
Calouste
@Ash Can:
One other thing that will probably come up in the debate is Syria. Ryan said in the VP debate that R/R would do things differently from O/B (of course) but didn’t specify how (of course). Except that the decision would be made on national interest and not humanitarian grounds. Of course, the national interests he means are Israel’s, not America’s.
Tom Q
@Laura: Thank you, Laura.
Hill Dweller
Yes, the Broder-esque slant has become annoying, but Stewart’s biggest sin is letting the quality of the show plummet in the last couple of years. Granted, they’ve lost a lot of both on-air and off-air talent, especially some vital producers, but mediocre shows consistently outnumber good shows these days.
Colbert had been better for years, but now it’s not even a fair fight.
Calouste
@artem1s: Mitt hasn’t been in public much in the last few weeks. He’s probably been practising the tango on his own dick in private though.
Paula
@Cassidy:
No offense, but what Anthony Weiner did WAS dickish in A LITERAL SENSE.
It FORCED HIM TO RESIGN. Which meant that “your side” lost an effective liberal legislator in Congress.
If anything, focusing on Newt Gingrich is dumb, because he’s an unemployed has-been.
(Also, this is a real weird example because Weiner is actually a friend of Stewart’s and to date is still the only politician Stewart has ever given money to. Stewart — of all people in the media — had some cause to freak out about it.)
But ok, fine, dropping it.
Hill Dweller
@artem1s:
Willard stepped on his dick during that time frame, but the media ignored it.
If Obama had used a dead former SEAL as a campaign prop, earning a rebuke from his family, the media would hammer him.
If Obama had favorably compared said late SEAL’s sacrifice to his campaign, the media would pummel him.
askew
@Hill Dweller:
Colbert has been kicking Stewart’s ass in quality since at least 2009. It makes me crazy that Colbert doesn’t get the credit for it.
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: DUDE!! You’re not going with her??
Cassidy
@Paula: Didn’t get back to edit in time. Should have been less rude. I’m tired and grumpy. Not an excuse.
The point re: Weiner is that Stwerat lets his “both sides do it” schtick create false equivalence. Weiner taking pictures of his dick is not the same as the former SOH having an affair while persecuting a Democratic POTUS for the same thing. Weiner never claimed to be a family values candidate. Weiner never tried to make others into second class citizens due to anything involving sex. Both sides most definitely do not do it. One side makes mistakes on occassion, as is expected. The other side is batshit crazy and goes out of it’s way to be mysoginistic, bigoted, and hateful. But in JS’s world, they are the same.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Bobby Thomson: The October Surprise countdown is a nothingburger. I’ve been watching the crowdsourced detective work at Fark since last night. Gawker has updated their article with a summary. It looks like the same guys are behind this that did the Radiohead rickroll a few years ago.
MikeJ
I find it hilarious that Jon Stewart is above all criticism because he occasionally says something true about Republicans. That doesn’t mean he’s on your side.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yutsano: I don’t have a fucking ticket, do I? Mom and her sister have the tux and are going together. Her sis is the one who stood in line to get the tickets, so I think it is fair that she get to go.
Chris
@Joel:
I suspect the man feels that liberal need for fairness and balance in criticizing both sides, so he hops onto the opportunities to criticize Obama when he sees them whether or not it’s accurate.
kindness
Damn folks. Stewart skewers MSM conventional wisdom. Somethimes (all the time) that CW is a Fox vision of Democratic actions and ideals.
You don’t like that TDS runs with that stuff? It isn’t Rachael Maddow! It’s comedy for god sake and some of you are coming off just like firebaggers. You do see that don’t you? Purity trolls are morans.
Cassidy
Oh, since an open thread:
1) If you like your rock n roll of the hard rock bent and dig a chick who can sing your balls off, you should be listening to Halestorm. I recently got into Dead Sara and found my way there. I’ve also added in some Icon for Hire, but there a little more nu metal than the previous two. And of course, some Paramore.
2) Manmakers. I have found my new favorite exercise. Get a set of dumbbells, drop down into a pushup, then do a single arm row with the db (each arm), squat up, do a curl into an overhead press then back down, then a one legged squat (each leg). That’s one rep.
Cassidy
@kindness: And you’ve missed the point entirely. It has nothing to do with purity. If he’s got a legit criticism to make, then FSM bless him, he’s good. It’s the false equivalence he peddles that is being criticized. But go ahead and keep ignoring that and telling yourself he;s only a comedian even though a sizable part of the population relies on TDS for its news.
gbear
Can I make a joke that Romeny keeps his list of women safe by using a rubber binder, or is that too regional?
bemused
@Cassidy:
Silence. Worked quite well for Obama.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I was hoping Ann had been interesting on the View today, but apparently not.
Did see this down at the end of the article:
Soonergrunt
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I don’t know if that was an intentional, thought-out thing on Josh Romney’s part, but credit where credit is due–it’s a decent deflection and cool-down of the situation.
Shawn in ShowMe
@kindness:
Firebaggers? Purity trolls? We don’t want ponies from the man. We just don’t like when he embraces right-wing talking points. At least when Dem politicians do it, they’re trying to get Blue Dogs to vote the party line on legislation or back Republicans into a corner. What’s Stewart’s excuse?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@kindness:
I think you’ve missed the point, which is that on stuff like Benghazi, Stewart has uncritically adopted the Fox News talking points without checking to see if Fox’s criticism is, yanno, factual.
To me, ACORN was Stewart’s lowest point. He really should have known that it was a fake, ginned-up controversy, and yet he fell for it because the “pimp” photos were just too good.
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: I’d call that fair. She’s looking like she’ll be First Lady for awhile yet. You’ll get more opportunities yet.
The Moar You Know
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: If, God help us all, a Romney is going to be president, it’s going to be that one. That was SMOOTH.
japa21
@The Moar You Know: It may have smooth, but it also condones a threat of violence.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I don’t think it’s quite “uncritical,” exactly, but I think it’s in the spirit of “just asking questions.” Something like “Fox News is full of crazy idiots, but they raise an interesting point here. What really DID happen with ACORN/the ATF/Benghazi/etc.?”
I still wish he wouldn’t do it.
FlipYrWhig
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Yeah, that’s fairly funny, credit where due.
Paula
You guys might want to check out Adam Serwer’s post:
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/five-debate-questions-obama-libya
Whatever this focus on the Benghazi attack is, it’s not just a Fox thing.
Brachiator
@ruemara:
A surrogate would not generate the same amount of interest or ratings.
I don’t know that Stewart’s fans care whether or not he is a Villager.
And Colbert is too ironic for an Obama appearance to be as effective as an appearance on Stewart’s show.
@MikeJ:
Is he supposed to be?
@Tom Q:
It’s a comedy show, written by comedians. This is not to say that they are stupid or above reproach, but in the end they are going for the yucks, not gold standard journalism.
I am not looking for a high degree of credibility here. What other rational angle is there?
Hill Dweller
@The Moar You Know: Actually, he didn’t even address the threat. The power of Tarp’s punch is irrelevant.
The issue is Tarp’s utter lack of self control, and threatening the President.
Imagine Michelle Obama saying she wanted to take a swing at someone in Willard’s family. How do you think that would play in the press?
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
All these tales of brothers beating the shit out of each other make me very happy that I was an only child.
Hill Dweller
@Paula: That Sewer article is from Oct. 3rd. Why are you bringing it up now?
Maude
@gbear:
LOL. A prize for you.
I think if we make a Tunch binder, we’ll have to get a building construction permit. How much are they?
AHH onna Droid
@Cassidy: actually, the Weiner stuff was the funniest Jon had been in a long time. Hes a villager now, has kids, turned conservative, believes hisown damn press. The sad part is that he is a skilled interview er. But the show is just not as funny. The execrable, unfunny John Oliver is not helping matters any.
Oh, & fy android
AHH onna Droid
@Cassidy: actually, the Weiner stuff was the funniest Jon had been in a long time. Hes a villager now, has kids, turned conservative, believes hisown damn press. The sad part is that he is a skilled interview er. But the show is just not as funny. The execrable, unfunny John Oliver is not helping matters any.
Oh, & fy android
TooManyJens
@japa21:
I don’t think it completely does. He didn’t come out and say that Tagg was wrong, and for the sake of our degraded national discourse he should have, but mocking Tagg as somebody who thinks he’s a tough guy but isn’t is a punishment that probably stings him more.
TooManyJens
@japa21:
I don’t think it completely does. He didn’t come out and say that Tagg was wrong, and for the sake of our degraded national discourse he should have, but mocking Tagg as somebody who thinks he’s a tough guy but isn’t is a punishment that probably stings him more.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@japa21:
Do they support what their parent organization is doing?
If so, fuck them, too.
Brachiator
@Soonergrunt:
Yep.
Paula
@Hill Dweller:
Alright, there’s a post from Oct. 11 that’s you can look at. But I fear posting a link will somehow offend you more.
Also, are you actually reading this thread? Someone else brought up Benghazi, not me.
Brachiator
@Hill Dweller:
While the other jerk should apologize, this Romney spawn seemed to do what he could to defuse and deflect the issue. Totally understandable.
Actually, the issue is the personal insult to Obama as a man and as the president.
Everything from wild stories about how she sullied the dignity of the office of First Lady to how dare a savage Negress talk about assaulting a good, clean Real White American(tm).
The Obama’s have to display near super-human restraint. Anything that reveals them to be merely human is going to be distorted by fools and racists.
On the other hand, unless they say or do something extremely egregious, the Romney clan get an automatic Whitebread Elitist Free Pass.
kindness
Who here remembers when this blog was openly critical of the GOS because of the liberal pearl clutchers? How ’bout FDL? So why is it OKIYAABJ?
And hey I’m not saying I enjoy getting crapped on by TDS but for many of the posts here…that Jon is conservative, that Jon is a MSM Villager….man. I mean….Do you think Jon Stewart would ever be invited to a party of Sally Quinn’s? That man does more to expose & ridicule Republican ratfuking than anyone not running a dfh blog including DKos. His audience is significantly wider than BJ, DKos and all the progressive blogsphere combined.
I mean, I like you people but sometimes it’s a wee bit over the top. You have to be able to laugh at yourself some. Life isn’t so serious when you’re watching a comedy channel show.
catclub
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: KOC: funny hats, swords, and bingo. I somehow just do not understand them.
kindness
Who here remembers when this blog was openly critical of the GOS because of the liberal pearl clutchers? How ’bout FDL? So why is it OKIYAABJ?
And hey I’m not saying I enjoy getting crapped on by TDS but for many of the posts here…that Jon is conservative, that Jon is a MSM Villager….man. I mean….Do you think Jon Stewart would ever be invited to a party of Sally Quinn’s? That man does more to expose & ridicule Republican ratfuking than anyone not running a dfh blog including DKos. His audience is significantly wider than BJ, DKos and all the progressive blogsphere combined.
I mean, I like you people but sometimes it’s a wee bit over the top. You have to be able to laugh at yourself some. Life isn’t so serious when you’re watching a comedy channel show.
Hill Dweller
@Paula: If I get offended by an anonymous person on the internet, it’s time for counseling.
Considering I have multiple responses in the thread, having read it is pretty self-evident.
Yes, someone brought up Benghazi, but what does a nearly three week old Serwer article have to do with it? I’m sure there are lots of other articles talking about Benghazi, but it doesn’t change the fact that the public push is largely from wingnuts trying to score political points.
schrodinger's cat
@burnspbesq: But does he have ones that can fit foolscap size papers
Thlayli
Baseball spoiler:
Tigers got a run in the first; Scherzer is rolling.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@catclub:
In the abstract, I can understand the appeal to men of a certain age of ‘having a place to go’. And if this were 40 years ago maybe I’d have been in a lodge (actually, back then, I’d probably have to be, as it would be expected).
There are still a lot of Masons in my neck of the woods. They tout themselves as the direct intellectual descendents of Ben Franklin and Geo. Washington, though the modern variant just seems to be a place for (again, personal experience == one data point) old blue-collar white men to drink on Sundays in those difficult hours after church has closed, but before the VFW has opened the bar.
Mnemosyne
@Paula:
Wow. That was a post full of dumb-ass questions like this one:
So the only course that Serwer can see that the US can take against the attackers is to invoke the AUMF? If not, I’m really not getting what the point of this highly convoluted question is, other than “I want to ask about the AUMF and will shoehorn in any vaguely related subject I can in order to get to it.”
Soonergrunt
@TooManyJens: Not only that, but what are people expecting here–that Josh Romney should recommend that his brother be waterboarded?
This is about the best you’re going to get on this thing, and it was pretty good. I never thought the whole “Tagg Romney wants to punch the President” thing was worth any of the energy that’s devoted to it in the first place.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
AAAAARRRRGGGHHH! I just got into a huge argument with a friend who thinks Romney and Obama aren’t that much different, and is voting for Jill Stein. She was an Obama voter last time around. She seriously thinks he won’t repeal Obamacare, and that we’ll end up in a war in Iran with either President. What is WRONG with these people?!
Thlayli
Baseball spoiler:
Tigers now have 2 runs, which might as well be 12 the way the Yankees have been batting.
Paula
@Mnemosyne:
Personally: Adam Serwer took what I think is a really Villageresque mentality to the Benghazi thing, but that criticism is relevant because he’s an actual journalist. (It also matters because it bears repeating that paranoia knows no party and that both left and right have become addled into thinking every act of Middle East violence is about us.) OTOH, I take Jon Stewart much less seriously.
This conversation is just weird. I apparently don’t think enough of Stewart to feel like he owes me anything, and I don’t think he matters enough in the general political discourse that people should jump down his throat when he makes mistakes (evidenced by ratings share and the fact that he isn’t exactly influencing discourse the way Rush Limbaugh directs Republican talking points — excepting the 9/11 rescue workers). I’ve never believed that he was “on my side” in the past to feel like he’s “sold out” now or whatever. And I apparently don’t even think he was great/consistent enough during the Bush era to think that the quality of the show has “dropped off” somehow. And yet I’m the fangirl?
One of my main pet peeves in life is having people demand morality and ideology from artistic product. Conservatives do it all the time, but I expect better from liberals because you all are supposed to have a certain amount of tolerance for ambivalence and imperfection and supposedly hate art as tools for moral guidance. You also make fun of conservatives for not understanding exaggeration for the sake of satire, and for making the mistake of punching downwards when you should always punch up. Guess what happened in the last four years: a center-left liberal became president. Where and how did you think The Daily Show was going to punch? (And again, next to journalists like Serwer, TDS is practically a branch of OfA in how they have punked Republicans and given Democrats the benefit of the doubt in having their hearts in the right place if not fully competent. Stewart covering Obama’s dunking of House Republicans at their retreat is about the nicest love letter a sitting president could expect from this outfit.)
Jon Stewart is often wrong on MY personal scale or moral-political ideals, but it’s not his job to be right. His understanding of policy is often shallow, but how much do I expect of someone whose main expertise is comedy? He’s got a large audience (but, again, tiny compared to major networks), but producing a popular artistic product does not mean that people to impose their views on what said product should be just for the edification of the wider public.
feebog
Took another look at that Gallup poll that came out a couple days ago. Makes no sense. Huge margin between rMoney and Obama in the South, but the East and West it’s only Obama by 4%? I took a little look at recent polling by state in the West and came up with this:
California (52% of the population); Obama up by 24 in the most recent Field Poll.
Washington (about 8% of the population) Obama up by 20% in the most recent poll.
Combine California, Washington, Oregon and New Mexico and margin is still near 20%. Add Arizona, Nevada and Colorado and you only lose another point or so.
Whats left? Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, about 8.2 of the West’s population. Even if the numbers are overwhelmingly in favor of rMoney (Montana was +9 for rMoney last month, no recent polls for the others) there is no way the West is anywhere close to under 10%, more likely closer to 12%.
I suspect the Gallup poll, like last week’s Pew poll way oversampled Southern voters.
Villago Delenda Est
@feebog:
I suspect they’re being paid to do EXACTLY that.
In order to keep up morale amongst the wingtards.
Thlayli
Baseball spoiler:
Cabrera 2-run homer. Tigers now 4 up.
Mnemosyne
@Paula:
I’m not demanding morality or ideology. I’m demanding factual accuracy. I don’t make excuses when Rush Limbaugh lies because “he’s just an entertainer,” so I don’t have any sympathy for Stewart when he decides to distort the facts about ACORN or Benghazi just so he can have something anti-Democrat to talk about.
I am, of course, doing Stewart the favor of assuming he and his writers were not stupid enough to fall for the right-wing spin on those two subjects and deliberately chose to use the right-wing spin on them. If they really did think that ACORN was advising pimps on how to avoid legal trouble based on a video that came from Andrew Breitbart’s operation, then that’s a whole other problem.
Morbo
@Thlayli: And now 6 with Big Jhonny’s.
Thlayli
Baseball spoiler:
Peralta 2-run homer, same inning. Sabathia is out, 3.2 innings, six runs.
shortstop
Yanks going down. On the same day that the equally repulsive Dinesh did. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!
Jay in Oregon
@The Moar You Know:
Both sides do it!
Paula
@Mnemosyne:
I do them no such favor. Stewart et al might be “dumb” enough to fall for things like the ACORN hoax because they’re “dumb” enough not to do actual investigative journalism. (And, quite frankly, they can be dumb enough to fall for right wing memes because many people who see themselves as non-partisan are dumb enough to fall for right-wing memes, which after all are just the reflection of the power structure that surrounds us.) But unless you can point to something in their actual job descriptions that demands that they do actual journalism and “report” “accurately”, I don’t see how this is inherently wrong.
Paula
Much like Glenn Greenwald, Stewart et al are the recipients of the Bush Era Liberal Bump. Just because you happen to have been sane and awake during the Bush years doesn’t mean you’ve actually taken the time to understand progressive politics.
Again, though, I don’t consider Stewart any particular master of that and it’s only the utter decrepitude of the rest of the news media that makes him seem more knowledgeable than he actually is.
Joel
@Paula: I think
1) the daily show is more of a news organization than you give it credit for being
2) satire is art as politics, so yes, it falls within the political sphere and can be treated as such
3) jon stewart forfeited his “i’m just a simple comedian!” credibility when he (righteously) destroyed tucker carlson.
4) i still like stewart even though i disagree with him on certain things. much like with my family, who to a one would be criticized as totebaggers.
5) i think tonight’s interview is going to be a puff job because the election is in a few weeks and i think stewart genuinely likes obama despite what some here say to the contrary.
Gwangung
Oh, they don’t HAVE to be accurate.
But to be FUNNY, the parody has to be as close to the mark as possible. Straw men don’t work in comedy either.
Gwangung
Oh, they don’t HAVE to be accurate.
But to be FUNNY, the parody has to be as close to the mark as possible. Straw men don’t work in comedy either.
Joel
@Paula: fywp ate my last comment. summary:
1) satire is art as politics, so it is fair game for political criticism
2) the daily show has more influence than you give it credit for having
3) stewart destroyed his “i’m but a comedian” defense when he went on tucker carlson’s show and righteously dismantled him.
4) i like stewart, even though i sometimes disagree with him
5) given that the election is near, i think stewart will be magnanimous to obama tonight
JustRuss
@Paula:
You can’t see how providing a megaphone to someone who’s obviously lying is wrong? Look, when O’keefe refused to release the ACORN raw footage, it was obvious to anyone with two brain cells–which evidently doesn’t include most of our media, congress, or Stewart–that we were being played. As a broadcaster, Stewart has an obligation to vet the accusations he’s repeating. Whether it’s in his job description or not.
kindness
So Jon was cool with Obama. He did ask him actual questions, Bengazi, warrantless wiretaps, not softballs. Still it was good. I was switching between the Niner game and TDS. Both turned out fine. I’m glad for that. Didn’t like the angst that developed earlier and I am sorry I played a part.