Ever since the incredibly short-sighted decision to decommission and sell off the last of our Fleet Colliers, USS Nero (AC-17) in 1922, we’ve never had as many Colliers as we did during World War I. Last night, a man of singular vision reminded us all of the national disgrace of this critical shortage in coal transport capability.
We also don’t have a Presidential Yacht anymore. The Republicans in Congress voted $2mil to repurchase Sequoia, but that hasn’t been done yet. We are seriously falling down on the job here. I don’t think that the two 747s the USAF uses for Air Force One missions are enough. Of course, since we can cut off Iran’s route to the sea by interposing another country between Iran and Syria, maybe we don’t have an urgent need for naval colliers or presidential yachts. I’ll have to think about this.
And while we’re on the subject, we should bring back the Chauchat if we can’t have the BARfor the ground forces. After all, nobody in the world has a magazine-fed walking fire capability. We’d be the only ones. Even so, I don’t think that these are the proper technologies to use against the Soviet Union that Mr. Romney has been so worried about. But as far as Iran is concerned, we’re cool, because we’ll just have the World Court arrest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
On another note, Nate Silver’s 538 blog is predicting 290 EV for Obama on 6 November as of today. 70.3% chance of winning re-election with a 50.1% popular vote, and that the Senate will have a 52-seat Dem make up, by 87.6% chance.
Open Thread
Soylent Green
Zelig/Haskell 2012!
Joel
Yep, Silver has Obama at 7-3 and Wang has Obama at 9-1. Let’s split the difference and say it’s 8-2. That’s still a 20% chance of very bad things, but it beats the alternative.
flukebucket
DeMint/ D’Souza 2016!
SatanicPanic
Dude you’re gonna give them ideas. Hannity would totally repeat this stuff
Political Observer
Bottom line? Obama failed to move the needle last night. A draw is essentially a Romney win, since the moment continues to move in his direction.
Obama has already lost North Carolina and Florida for sure. He’s losing Colorado. He’s lost Virginia at this point, quite possibly going away.
With only FOURTEEN DAYS LEFT, is Ohio and Wisconsin next?
Southern Beale
BREAKING: A federal appeals court has ruled that Indiana cannot withhold Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood simply because it provides abortions.
MikeJ
In light of recent experience, perhaps Romney thinks we should build a successor to the Akron.
I actually worked at a place in London (in Angel, IIRC) that had a blue plaque out front telling about the zeppelin raid that had damaged the building.
schrodinger's cat
We need more horses and elephant, and mules, also too.
Omnes Omnibus
As I noted last night, our Navy is desperately short of triremes. I worry for our safety.
WereBear
I am still swinging between appalled and hysterical over Romney’s debate performance. My fifth grade teacher would fail him in geography, and he was sweating like a Turkish Bath fan.
Political Observer
Last time you morons said Obambi won the debate before it was even held. Predictable.
Cris (without an H)
Time for the Apple iPad Mini event, which is being livestreamed. Coincidentally, my shuffle play just landed on Rufus, “Tell Me Something Good.”
jgaugust
@Political Observer: How’s the chicken feeling these days? Still just as tight as before?
Trolls need banning or mockery. I vote for mockery.
Bulworth
All I know is Spending Is Out Of Control and Government Spending Doesn’t Create Jobs and we have a Debt Crisis but the Defense Sequestration Cuts are going to kill jobs and kill us all and Obama wants to cut defense spending to 0 and the deficit and the problem is too much spending and the Bush Tax Cuts Must Be Extended and Mitt will cut tax deductions which aren’t at all the same thing as increasing taxes, except if Democrats cut tax deductions in which case such cuts would be the Biggest Tax Increase In History.
[email protected]
This approached Tim F.’s levels of pithy. Well done, sir.
schrodinger's cat
@WereBear: It seemed like he was melting. Is the Romneytron made of wax?
Cris (without an H)
@Political Observer: I’ve decided you’re not actually DougJ, because DougJ’s trolling is kind of funny. You’re not even that.
Anonymous
@Political Observer:
I remember when you were less obviously a troll.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
I want Project Orion funded and I want it now. How can we be in a position to retaliate against aggression from the Moons of Jupiter if we don’t have heavy lift intra-planetary transport capacity?
Omnes Omnibus
@Anonymous: I note with interest that you do not say you remember when he used to be cool.
The ballista gap must not increase!
elmo
Why has this supremely idiotic notion of having the UN or the World Court arrest Ahmadinijad not made Mitt a national laughingstock today? I mean seriously WTF? That’s a five-year-old’s answer: “Have the police arrest the bad man.”
First of all, arrest him for what?
Second, arrest him WITH what?
Third, arrest him WHERE? In New York, when he addresses the UN? OH THAT’S A GOOD IDEA. Fucking bedwetters won’t even let us try Gitmo detainees there because of scary scary terra, so let’s arrest a sovereign head of state there instead. Blowback? What’s that?
And fourth – Since when do Republicans even BELIEVE in the World Court?
WTF, over?
rlrr
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
We need to fund a massive starship construction program so we’ll be prepared to face oncoming Klingon threat.
Chyron HR
Rember, predicting Obama winning a debate the day beforehand is bad, but predicting a ROMNEY LANDSLIDE IN NOVEMBER is an act of real true genius.
SatanicPanic
@elmo: It makes sense when you take into account the power they believe the UN has. Black Hellicopterz!
rlrr
@elmo:
First of all, arrest him for what?
Verbal genocide…
burnspbesq
My thinking (such as it is) is that you can have as many bayonets as you want, if I can have one M249 LMG. We’ll see who walks away from that fight.
kindness
Maybe the Navy needs to count every Zodiac they have in order to appease that asshole Mittens.
The thing that rubs me the wrong way most? That damn smirk on Mitt’s face. It looks so contemptuous & fake.
@jgaugust: I vote to ignore the idiot. Let him go pleasure himself somewhere else.
Omnes Omnibus
@rlrr: A better personal hygiene regime should solve the Klingon threat.
Bulworth
@elmo: Mittens said that? The same World Court and UN that conservative teabags think have a double super secret plan to take away American Freedom and Liberty?
Poopyman
@rlrr: Three. We need three starships: one for the One percenters, one for the Middle Class, and one for the hired help.
Cris (without an H)
ha ha, i got punked
So, no video for me from work.
rlrr
@kindness:
Maybe the Navy needs to count every Zodiac they have in order to appease that asshole Mittens.
That’s sort of how wingnuts come up with numbers showing the Chinese navy is larger than the US. They count river patrol and coastal defense boats…
Rock
PO may be a troll, but he’s right about the polls. So I’d withhold the mockery.
Napoleon
@MikeJ:
Hey, the Airdock is still in existance in Akron (it has only been open twice to the public, last time in 1992 when candidate Clinton spoke there – I attended).
PurpleGirl
@schrodinger’s cat: And camels. Didn’t one president want to use camels for pack animals in the southwest?
Southern Beale
I just read that the Log Cabin Republicans have endorsed Mitt Romney.
I swear to God, Republicanism must be a disease that appeals to masochists and psychopaths. Yes, let’s endorse the guy who doesn’t believe gays should have the same rights as everyone else, who thinks it’s fine for an employer to fire someone because of their sexual orientation over the guy who actually has ended discrimination against gays in the military. Yeah, let’s do that.
Dumb fucks.
dmsilev
@burnspbesq:
“Whatever happens, we have got.
The Maxim gun, and they have not”
Villago Delenda Est
Has anyone who passed geography 101 informed fuckstick that the Brits (our ally, of course, until fuckstick pisses them off again) control Gibraltar, therefore the Iranian “route to the sea” through Syria is limited, at best, as a strategic avenue to invading South Carolina?
The moron actually makes the deserting coward look only dull normal.
Poopyman
In PO’s defense (*) consider what he has to work with. At least Bahgdad Bob had some semplance of an army (for a while) to make his claims about. PO’s got
Mittensnuthin’.(* = I can’t believe I said that)
burnspbesq
@Rock:
Let’s see, one the one hand we have 538 and Princeton, with demonstrated track records, while on the other, we have one idiot troll.
Call me crazy, but I’m believing 538 and Princeton.
Scout211
@Southern Beale:
thank you for posting this
Maude
@elmo:
That was just so strange. Why bring that up? The US isn’t a memeber and after Bush, he brings this up?
mdblanche
Do we still have our autogyros? I need to mail something to Siam little later.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: Machine guns do jam. Absent that, yeah.
Villago Delenda Est
@Southern Beale:
They love their money, the gay mammonist fucks, more than they do their freedom.
They are wretched creatures who deserve no quarter.
schrodinger's cat
@elmo: Andrew Thespian Sullivan says that Mitt looked Presidential in yesterday’s debate while Obama’s first debate performance was catastrophic.
Beltway pundits seem to have in place an affirmative action program for the Republican candidate for President.
Michael Bersin
We’ve been hearing the same thing from right wingnut republicans for months:
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): comparing apples to navel oranges (February 16, 2012)
I am particularly worried about the current coast defense monitor gap.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@jgaugust: I hear PO likes it with a bayonet, which is why he’s so sad about Obama’s ridicule of Romney.
schrodinger's cat
@PurpleGirl: Good idea, will be good for all the action in the Middle East.
Ruckus
Sooner, how could you suggest that we go back to using the BAR?
As a heavy automatic rifle designed for support fire, the M1918 was not fitted with a bayonet mount and no bayonet was ever issued.
rlrr
@mdblanche:
The Prussian consulate anxiously awaits your letter via aeromail.
schrodinger's cat
Has Mitt checked whether the Army Corps of Engineers have enough slide rules?
Shawn in ShowMe
How many election cycles does Wang have to out-predict Silver before he becomes the new gold standard?
Villago Delenda Est
@rlrr:
We should toss in Coast Guard cutters, and police river patrol ships.
Plus the Bush Crime Family’s cigarette boat fleet.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@rlrr:
Well fuckme, if we are counting those then our tally will also have to include every aluminium-bottomed boat that some county sherrif’s office from Louisiana has ever contracted Sons of Guns to mount multiple crew-serviced weapons on. I always did wonder what the fuck they needed those floating fire platforms for? Now I know. It is to repel the Red Chinese Navy when they invade our swamps and rivers under the cover of docking up to the Keystone Pipeline. The sneaky bastards!
rlrr
@Villago Delenda Est:
While we’re at it, we should include the navies of our close allies.
gogol's wife
@jgaugust:
I vote for banning. It’s gotten really tired.
Omnes Omnibus
@Michael Bersin: A monitor lizard gap? Bring on the gila monsters!
SatanicPanic
@Rock: oh groan
The Dangerman
I’m feeling a bad mixture of 1992 and 2000 coming; 1992, when it was the economy, stupid, over a recently victorious War President and 2000, it all coming down to 1 state. Let’s face it, almost 50% of the country are seriously stupid fucks (hi and pie, PO) that can’t recall that it was the Republicans that fucked things up from 2001-2009 and acted to keep things fucked up from 2009 to current so they could get rid of the sitting President.
If I were the rest of the world, after electing Bush twice (well, maybe once) and perhaps Romney once, I’d be looking at the USA with a mixture of curiosity and disgust.
prufrock
And this is the one time I’ve seen the BAR mentioned in the same sentence as the Chauchat where the adjective “sucks” isn’t modifying “Chauchat” and “awesome” isn’t modifying “BAR”.
Villago Delenda Est
@burnspbesq:
Never bring a knife to a gunfight.
Just sayin’.
Something fuckstick would know if he had spent his missionary years in the Mekong Delta, not in Paris.
Mouse Tolliver
Don’t you love how implying Iran is landlocked and that it shares a border with Syria no longer counts as major, disqualifying gaffe. It’s the Palin effect. If a Republican can get through a debate without shitting his pants on live television, the press will say he held his own.
rlrr
@Villago Delenda Est:
“You’re forgetting the French were hostile back then.”
— actual conservative talking point (seriously)
Hill Dweller
@schrodinger’s cat: Sullivan and the rest of the apologists can try to spin that debate, but Willard was pummeled, and looked ignorant in the process.
The beltway narrative is morphing from Willard looked presidential(which is being relentlessly mocked) to Obama was too hard on him.
bubba
Shorter Joe Scarborough:
Yea, Romney was outclassed, formulaic and Romney seemed to be reciting scripts rather than debating foreign policy…..
But flip flopping to the middle, which is how I think he REALLY feels, was enough to get my vote.
? Martin
@Omnes Omnibus: Do we not still equip our troops with ka-bars? Or are Republicans arguing that unless the knife is mounted at the end of your gun it’s completely useless?
burnspbesq
@Omnes Omnibus:
Take care of your weapon and it’ll take care of you.
mdblanche
@Southern Beale: “We endorse the guy who didn’t punch us and cut off our hair. In fact, nobody punched us or cut off our hair. We walked into a door and tripped on a razor.”
@Villago Delenda Est: That will be cold comfort when the Iranians bypass Gibraltar all together and come by way of the Persian Gulf.
Villago Delenda Est
@rlrr:
Well, we can’t do that if fuckstick gets elected. He’s already managed to piss off our closest ally. Give him a week, and he’ll piss off all the rest.
Napoleon
@Shawn in ShowMe:
?
He hasn’t out predicted Silver as far as anyone can tell. Silver hit on all but one state last time and every senate seat. Plus they deal in percentages. In order to tell if they are off you need to build up enough results over time to see if they correspond to the percentages.
schrodinger's cat
@Hill Dweller: Oh noes pooh liddel Willard’s fee fees were hurt. Also too, MoDo will have another Obambi column coming up soon.
qwerty42
One of Sullivan’s readers makes an interesting point wrt the World Court:
…
Second, his team talk about the “World Court” but it does not exist to handle criminal charges against individuals, but rather, for the most part, claims amongst states.They mean the International Criminal Court – but wait: the G.O.P. has bitterly opposed the ICC ab initio. Now Romney wants to use it?! That’s a big policy reversal.
…
So, Romney is signaling a new GOP stand for the ICC?
rlrr
Maybe Romney will emulate his hero, Reagan and bring back battleships, which have been obsolete since the early days of WWII.
? Martin
@rlrr: Only Republicans are serious enough about foreign policy to still be afraid of the French.
Michael
@Shawn in ShowMe: Well, to be fair, Wang is predicting 290 EVs with 90% or certainty, whereas Nate is predicting 291 EVs, but only with 70% certainty. Not a ton of daylight between their actual predictions for the outcome, though. 1 EV.
scav
@bubba: Because the random flops which I can interpret as agreeig with my prejudices he totally means, unlike everything else out of his mouth or flopping pale scaley bod.
Ash Can
@elmo: Between that and the creative geography with Iran and Syria, I can’t believe anyone is treating him like a serious candidate for national office today. At least the NYT reacted appropriately. For cripes sake, I remember when Gerald Ford sunk himself in a debate with Carter by misspeaking about Soviet domination in Eastern Europe, then doubling down on it when given the chance to correct himself. The guy got excoriated for it. The fact that the national news media as a whole isn’t reacting today by alternating between uproarious laughter and declarations that Romney’s candidacy is dead shows just how far this nation has fallen.
rlrr
@Michael:
I’m guessing that the one EV is from Nebraska.
Anonymous
@Napoleon:
This isn’t quite right:
http://election.princeton.edu/2010/11/05/howd-we-do-2010-edition/
http://election.princeton.edu/2008/11/11/post-election-evaluation-part-2/
I was impressed the first time I saw this. Wang’s model builds in less uncertainty than Silver’s; it seems to be bearing results.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: I am an artilleryman. It is always the guns for me.
Soonergrunt
@burnspbesq: But you can’t mount a bayonet on an M-249!
Pwned! Suxxors, LOL!
ranchandsyrup
Can we have Sir Bedomir increase the production of giant wooden badgers?
j
Early voting started around here yesterday. I figured 10:30 would be a good time to go. WRONG! The line at the Courthouse was out the door, so I decided to try a different location. That place was packed too! It took me 45 minutes to get a machine (there were about 20 machines there). Unfortunately, they only had those touch screen slot machines, so who know who or what I voted for> The election judge told me that they couldn’t possibly keep ballots for every precinct there, so I could either like it or lump it. (Not her words, but I got the idea.)
The person in line ahead of me was talking to an election judge, and said he tried to vote on Monday but left because it was too crowded then too, and he had to get back to work. Even with the torrential downpour we had yesterday!
cckids
@Hill Dweller:
This. Also, “Romney was so agreeable”. Seems to be shorthand for how bipartisany he’d be. On Andrea Mitchell right now, some R-Money flack is insisting that “these have been the governor’s positions all along”, and she is just letting him talk. I watched for a while to see if she’d cut him off at the knees, but no.
No matter how cynical & jaded about the media I get, it seems there is still a further depth to which they can sink.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mouse Tolliver:
Well, Iran does share a border with Syria. Through it’s Shiite controlled Iraqi surrogate. Thanks to the fine efforts of the deserting coward and Darth Cheney.
JGabriel
__
__
Soonergrunt @ Top:
‘Tis true. We must have more boats to protect the Syrian Canal. ‘Twas a terrible error to leave the Route to the Sea open to the Mohammedan hordes of Persia. The Qajars and their tribes of dark savage merchants must never be allowed to dominate our sea trade! Pax Britannia!
.
MikeJ
@Omnes Omnibus: They do add dignity to a vulgar brawl.
CW in LA
@Mouse Tolliver: Hell, the Rethug could spend the full 90 minutes losing control of each of his bodily functions, concurrently and then simultaneously; the talking heads would still insist he looks “presidential”. Pres. Obama is less sharp than expect for one stinkin’ debate and it’s WE’RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…
@gogol’s wife:
Agreed.
KG
@burnspbesq: it’s not even that… the idea that Obama has lost North Carolina and Florida “for sure” is just flat wrong. In the last 10 days, we have 5 polls, 2 show Obama up, three show Romney up, all have it within five points. Three such polls in North Carolina, two for Romney, one for Obama, the biggest lead is a Rassmussen poll showing Romney up 6 with a 4.5 MOE. We see the same thing in Colorado.
In short, swing states are close.
Soonergrunt
@Omnes Omnibus: well played, Sir. Well played.
Chris
@Southern Beale:
I’ve said many times that conservatism was a subject for psychology rather than politics.
? Martin
@cckids:
I noted to my son at that point in the debate that when you have an 80% Democratic legislature, it’s really easy to be bipartisan, because they’re going to do whatever the fuck they want and override your veto every time.
That’s not bipartisanship – that’s getting rolled at every turn.
Rita R.
@Southern Beale:
This is what I don’t get about the Log Cabin Republicans —
If you’re gay and you’re a Republican, okay, maybe you put your conservative economic views, for instance, or foreign policy views ahead of equality for all people regardless of their sexuality, even though it hurts your own interests. And that’s fine. Everyone gets to self-sabotage and be self-defeating if they want to be.
But what I don’t understand is why go the next step and form or be part of an organization explicitly based on being gay, if you’re going to back candidates opposed to policies that stand up for the rights of gay people? What’s the point of your group then? You might as well be the Republican Lovers of Cats or Conservative Quilters of America for all the influence being gay has on your stances. Puzzling….
Bubblegum Tate
We must close the dirigible gap!
Citizen_X
I hope that Mr. Romney will, when he becomes President, outfit our Negro Cavalry with enough bayonets to repel the Dothraki hordes. I also hope he appoints Helen of Troy to be the Secretary of the Navy. That woman knows how to inspire shipbuilding!
And then, should the Persians finally gain a route to the sea via Syria, our new dreadnoughts shall bottle them up right quick. VICTORY!
Soonergrunt
@Ruckus: My shame, Sir. Springfield rifles for everyone!
chopper
@Political Observer:
it’s okay, scrot. there are plenty of tards out there living real kick-ass lives.
Paul
@Rock:
Really? You know what; even people in foreign countries show more respect for our President than PO does.
President Obama – I know he is not white, but is it so fricking difficult as an American to call him President Obama? Show some damned respect for the office!
Until then he deserves to be mocked.
Suffern ACE
@qwerty42: only for heads of state who are holocaust deniers. And say mean things.
GregB
Obama is at it again. Bowing is a sign of weakness!
Please stop bowing!
dmsilev
@Bubblegum Tate: Romney’s blimp nearly crashed the other day. He’s not helping.
Cacti
@Political Observer:
I don’t know?
Is they?
Hill Dweller
@cckids: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, MSNBC is every bit as bad as the other cable networks during the day.
Bashir, Madddow, Hayes and MHP are the only good shows on that network, but the rest of the time they try compensating for having four liberals on air.
Soonergrunt
@prufrock: Just give me a walking base of fire weapon from the WWI era. That’s the goal, not whether or not it’s a good idea itself, you know.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Napoleon:
2008
Wang: Obama 364 EV, McCain 174. Error:1 EV.
Nate: 348.5 EV. Error: 18.5 EV.
2004
Wang: Kerry 252 EV, Bush 286 EV. Error: none
Nate: He was knee deep in baseballs stats
KG
@Rita R.: I think the idea is to change minds from the inside of the party. Sort of a “look, we agree on this and this, now just hear me out on this other thing.” There’s some logic in that.
mdblanche
@Hill Dweller: “The beltway narrative is morphing from Willard looked presidential(which is being relentlessly mocked) to Obama was too hard on him.”
Yeah, that’s a winner. If I were them, I’d go with something less whiny. If he can’t stand the pressure from Black Metrosexual Abe, how is he going to stand the pressure from the Bond villain who rules Russia or his inscrutable Oriental business partners in China?
Villago Delenda Est
The problem our navy has is not enough 70 gun ships of the line.
Also, too, the press needs to be reimplemented, at once, in major port cities.
Mnemosyne
@Political Observer:
So the New York Giants didn’t really win the Super Bowl because some people predicted that they would win before the game happened?
Richard
Our Navy really needs more galleons.
rlrr
The US Navy’s first aircraft carrier was a converted collier.
Cacti
Here’s a word problem for your arithmetic and naval history-challenged Republican friends…
“Mitt has 50, three-masted ships of the line. Barack has 1 nuclear powered super carrier. Who wins a naval engagement between them?”
Cermet
@The Dangerman: What is it with you people? The key is the swing states and no matter what you think, the odds are far in President Obama’s favor still; the tightening of the race is normal and was never an issue except for people who want it in the bag ahead of time. If the turn out is good, Obama remains President. Get a grip panicking rabbits. People who believe in the President aren’t too worried at all so follow their example.
As for PO, a better handle would be BO becuse I can smell his fear like romney’s in last night’s debate – unbelievable now you people get the vapors when the swing states are still solid for the President. Please!
Rita R.
@Mouse Tolliver:
The soft bigotry of low expectations.
Also Halperin’s “Gang of 500” are a bunch of unprincipled hacks with overblown egos who think this is all a political game instead of real life with serious consequences because it will never, ever effect them in their cushy one percenter perches.
Rich (in name only) in Reno
“I’d make sure that Ahmadinejad is indicted under the Genocide Convention. His words amount to genocide incitation.”
Um, Mitt? Would this be carried out by the same World Court that one of your top “special foreign policy advisers,” John “Yosemite Sam” Bolton, openly derides as “illegitimate,” and the previous Administration you have harvested talent from contemptuously ignored for eight years?
Oh, and Mitt? Pretty much everyone besides you, FOX News, and Ahmadinejad himself, knows that he’s a little man in a big suit who wields limited power, and that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei runs Iran, not Lil’ Mahmoud.
And you’ve just given Ahmadinejad a big PR boost. Real shrewd move, there, Mitt.
Cacti
@dmsilev:
Hey!
That’s not a very nice way to talk about Mrs. Romney.
Citizen_X
@mdblanche:
Wait, what? When did the Persians get their own Gulf? BLAST YOU AND YOUR WEAKNESS, OBAMA!
gwangung
Jeezus. Don’t we want a President who is tough in the world arena? WHat a jackass sentiment.
We shouldn’t forget his boners about the USSR and Czechoslovakia. One gaffe I can see overlooking, but a WHOLE SERIES???
Idiiots.
Cermet
@Rita R.: Simple – these thug gays have to prove to everyone their own self hatred.
Soonergrunt
@Bubblegum Tate: Well, Rmoney certainly fucked us there, didn’t he?
Chris
@gogol’s wife:
I’m Chris and I approve this message. Seriously.
schrodinger's cat
@Cacti: Was it wearing a statement necklace with beads, if not that was not Queen Ann.
Maude
@Ash Can:
The media has hit bottom and I bet it stays there. It’s now infotainment without the info. They need a horse race or some kind of drama.
It has really gotten infantile.
I liked Obama’s bit about this isn’t a game of battleships. Oh, ouch.
Soonergrunt
@Cacti: Rarely is the question asked: Is our trolls learning?
Yutsano
@gwangung: The only conclusion to draw is they want an idiot at the helm so all the real important policy can be made behind the scenes. Willard is more than willing to act like a figurehead as long as his ego stays stroked and his “blind trust” keeps growing.
(Note to self: never mention stroking and Willard. Ever again.)
Suffern ACE
I read an article the other day about our new stealthy destroyers…designed to leave very little wake and give off the radar signature of a canoe. They only cost seven billion per ship. Which is about six Cowboy Stadiums or 5 Yankee stadiums. They must be made of diamonds.
nancydarling
I just posted this on my local state blog and it seems relevant here.
Soonergrunt
@rlrr: See, even the Navy was in on the conspiracy to cripple our naval coaling capabilities!
Paul
@Hill Dweller:
Are they joking? This is the same Mitt Romney who wasn’t exactly playing nice during the GOP primaries. Why was it OK for him to be hard against his opponents, but not OK for Obama to be tough on Romney himself? Seriously, this must be a joke.
By the way, don’t we want a President who is tough?
The Dangerman
@Cermet:
Don’t get me wrong; I agree, Obama is still the favorite to win…
…but I see this coming down to Ohio or Florida – and I’ve seen that movie before. The originals sucked; the sequel will suck worse.
I’ll use Silver’s numbers and say Obama is a 2 out of 3 favorite. Sounds about right. But, that’s playing Russian Roulette with 2 bullets loaded and how it is that close is really, really sad.
ETA: Fuck! The Digital Dungeon for a gambling reference. LET ME OUT!
Mnemosyne
@Rich (in name only) in Reno:
Okay, I just realized that Romney mocked the idea that an American-made anti-Muslim video could incite people to violence when Benghazi happened, but now he’s saying Ahmadinejad should be prosecuted for saying anti-Semitic things in public because they might incite people to violence?
I realize I should be used to the very high level of doublethink and hypocrisy from these guys, but what the fucking fuck, anyway?
Cermet
@KG: Those are NOT swing states. So, the issue is not Fl/NC but the real swing states: OH, NH, IA,CO,NV,WI,VA and except for two, the President is leading in all the rest and has a current narrow lead in VA (which is really too close.) The Pres has a firm hold on the real key – OHIO!
Yeah, romney is not just in trouble but losing.
scav
Well for that matter, I’ve suddenly noticed our utter and complete lack of the Biblically approved weapon, the slingshot! No Wonder we’re losing in the Holy Land(tm).
Chris
@The Dangerman:
I’ve been wondering for a while how long it would take before the rest of the world decided the U.S. was a sinking ship and they’d better untie themselves from it before it takes them down with it. Granted, many of the rest of the world’s elites share our MOTU’s delusions, but the public, not as much.
I think they’ve been hoping that the Bush years were a 9/11-induced aberration and that Obama hailed the return of sanity, but a Romney presidency might just convince them that the aberration is actually the norm.
Rita R.
@KG:
Yeah, I could understand that, but that’s not what they do. They’re backing candidates opposed to gay rights. So what’s the point?
It strikes me almost as a vanity thing. Like, You can’t define me. I’m an individual! Look at me, I’m gay but I’m a Republican!
Or maybe it’s just this:
@Cermet:
Ruckus
@schrodinger’s cat:
Beltway pundits seem to have in place an affirmative action program for the Republican candidate for President.
They don’t have it in place.
They are the affirmative action program for conservatives.
nancydarling
Temporarily lost my mind and forgot how to do b-quotes.
Soonergrunt
@Yutsano: (Note to self: never mention stroking and Willard. Ever again.)
I’d tell you to flog yourself in penitence, but I know how you people* are. You’d enjoy it too much.
*I’m referring here to IRS employees, of course.
Chris
@Cacti:
RARELY is the question asked; is our Political Observers learning?
Ruckus
@Mouse Tolliver:
If a Republican can get through a debate without shitting his pants on live television, the press will say he held his own.
And he did hold his own if he didn’t shit his pants.
Not quite the standard I go for in a presidential candidate but there you go.
scav
@Suffern ACE: Sorry, I can’t help wondering how many canoes are out patrolling war zones and wondering if that might not be a tell. (I know what they really mean, but my way is funnier and I need the giggle). “Enign! There’s that dratted canoe again!”
Napoleon
@Shawn in ShowMe:
Both Silver and Wang deal in probabilities. For example both are likely to tell you that the chance of a 1 coming up on a die that is thrown is 1/6. If it is thrown and the 1 comes up that does not make them wrong since you would need a statistically significant number of throws to test their predictions.
But for people like yourself who do not understand that a single data point is good enough.
gelfling545
@schrodinger’s cat:
That means “is a white guy”, doesn’t it?
Maude
@Ruckus:
What does “Look Presidential”” mean?
Calouste
@rlrr:
With Romney, there will be no close allies. (cf. Romney’s disaster world tour of three white, Judeo-Christian,right-leaning, European countries)
Hill Dweller
@Paul: Let them keep running with the ‘Obama was mean to Willard’ narrative. It’s a tacit admission Willard was pummeled and looked weak. For a Confidence Man like Willard, looking weak is devastating.
TOP123
@? Martin: The bayonet is more useful when forming infantry squares to counter the Sassanid cataphracts.
schrodinger's cat
@gelfling545: Probably, I for one thought that Obama looked Presidential, because he is the President while Romney looked like a melting wax figurine from the House of Wax.
Ruckus
@Soonergrunt:
No way man, it’s ball and powder flintlock muskets! None of them short rifles that can’t shoot a turkey at 25 feet without blowing it all to hell.
schrodinger's cat
BTW on a completely shallow note, is it just me or does anyone else think that Ann Romney’s godawful “statement” necklaces, do nothing for her and just make her look like she is trying too hard.
Cacti
@Cermet:
There really is no path to victory left for Romney, barring some unforseen last minute move in the state polling. The only true tossups at this point are CO and VA. NC and FL lean toward Romney, and NH, OH, IA, WI, and NV all lean Obama.
Even if Mitt pulls out both Colorado and Virginia, he still loses 282-256.
Ruckus
@KG:
Logic maybe but success? No.
Cacti
@Maude:
Middle-age looking white dude with broad shoulders, and a full head of hair.
Betsy
@flukebucket: D’feat of D’duct went over D’fense before D’tail.
blingee
The PEC also predicts 290EV today but they came about it in a more scientific and pragmatic way imho.
http://election.princeton.edu/history-of-electoral-votes-for-obama/
Ie, by mostly ignoring national polls. I think they have been very critical of Nate for his insistence on including national polls including all the BS Republicans ones. I will be curious how it all pans out. I think Nate may take a hit on credibility after this election.
They are saying 53 Dem senators. I still think we can get 54.
Calouste
@Rita R.:
I assume the Log Cabin Republicans are mostly about hooking up.
Omnes Omnibus
@scav: Trebuchets are basically slingshots.
Cacti
@Calouste:
The LCR think of themselves as conservative males who just happen to enjoy buttsecks. “Gays” are the twinks and rentboys of the world.
Kay S
Calling for more coal-carrying ships is just another Romney pander to his buddies in Big Coal…! Who represents the bayonet lobby? (We know who lobbies Mitt for the horsies.)
Ruckus
@Maude:
You talkn to me?
I’ll answer your question anyway.
The current one, President Obama. He looks and acts presidential. In the last 30 years? Actually I’d give the same answer. In the last 60? Not too many actually.
Soonergrunt
@TOP123: And you never really know when you’re going to need to do that these days.
Paul in KY
I would like a dreadnought or two. One of those cool looking ones with guns jutting out from all over the place, in about 5 or 6 different calibers.
Also, jodpurs.
Paul in KY
@burnspbesq: You don’t bring a bayonet to an M249 LMG fight (unless you tape a bayonet to a hellfire missile or two).
Shawn in ShowMe
@Napoleon:
Which goes back to my original question. How many times would be statistically significant? And if the answer is in the realm of what I think it is, we’d all be dead by then, right?
So clearly that isn’t the measure by which Silver and Wang’s accuracy is being judged by the many readers who cite them.
Maude
@Ruckus:
I agree with you and yeah, I was talking to you. Romney looked like a scared boy.
The Moar You Know
@Cermet: People talk about how Romney’s internals must be good. No way. That guy was terrified not ten minutes in. He knows he’s probably going to lose anyway, but one good-sized fuckup from him and he’ll be more done than my toast.
Which I prefer almost wholly black, like our President.
Maude
@Cacti:
I forgot about cable tv land. It used to be the Bush on aircraft carrier flight suit.
Hill Dweller
Good ol’ Ron Fournier has a piece over at National Journal saying Obama won the third debate, but Willard won the “debate season”.
So Willard’s campaign went 1-3 in the 4 debates, but they won the “season”. Now you see why Republicans can’t balance a budget.
MikeJ
@The Moar You Know: And my Lambo I prefer blue.
Ruckus
@Maude:
Romney looked like a scared boy.
It’s always nice when the outside reflects what the inside is. Makes it a lot easier to understand the situation.
Maude
@Ruckus:
Yes.
Napoleon
@Hill Dweller:
He is one of the 2 or 3 people in the MSM (which does not include Fox) that is all but a plant by the RNC.
Bobby Thomson
@Mouse Tolliver:
Fuckin’ A. That’s far worse than what Jerry Ford said off the cuff about Eastern Europe not “being dominated” by the USSR. He was thinking of psychological domination and didn’t realize how his answer would sound.
This was an actual rehearsed attack line by Romney, and it’s completely wrong. But Ford’s mistake was a crippling error and Romney’s shoulders looked
whitepresidentialsame thing.Bobby Thomson
@Cacti: Is our trolls learning?
Tonybrown74
Romney looked like he was trying his best to hold in a mean shit or fart. That’s how “nervous” (if I’m going to be generous) he looked.
Presidential, my juicy black ass!
El Cid
Romney didn’t say that Syria was Iran’s only route to the see; it’s just that Iran looks forward every year to a nice couple of days driving across Iraq and Syria, taking in the sights.
Roger Moore
@Paul in KY:
Strictly speaking “Dreadnoughts” were the ones that abandoned the idea of having guns of many different calibers sticking out from all over. One of the things that made the HMS Dreadnought revolutionary was that it abandoned the mix of calibers in favor of an “all-big-gun” layout, with all the main armament being the same caliber. They did have some 3″ guns for dealing with small boats (and later some AA guns) but nothing like 5 or 6 different calibers./pedant
Mnemosyne
@Mouse Tolliver:
Wasn’t “a path to the sea” one of the obsessions that people always had about the Soviet Union, that the Soviets were constantly seeking a warm-water port and would conquer other countries to get one? Though it’s probably even scarier to realize that Romney was just recycling an old Cold War line about the Soviets and thinking he could just re-apply it to Current Enemy X.
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
You might be able to make a plausible case that the Iranians are worried that all their ports are on the Persian Gulf rather than the Gulf of Oman, which makes them vulnerable to a major sea power like the US closing the Straights of Hormuz to their shipping. If they’re trying to get their oil out in the face of an embargo, they might be able to ship it to the Med through their patsies, Iraq and Syria. I don’t think it’s what Mitt meant, but it’s a vaguely plausible, not completely stupid alternative to believing that Iran is landlocked.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: Ah yes, memories of my Soviet foreign policy classes back in the 80s. IIRC, many aspects of SFP were continuations of two traditional Russian FP goals: a buffer zone to protect it from central European powers and a warm water port.
LAC
@Political Observer: worse news…even after Obama wins reelection, your dumbass will still be posting here under another name
Gravenstone
@elmo:
Mittens and his merry crew of morons masquerading as advisers clearly didn’t think their little fantasy all the way through. I mean, assume they somehow empower the WC or UN or whomever with that power, what stops that same body from arresting Bush/Cheney et alia for their proven genocidal invasion of Iraq?
Citizen_X
@Hill Dweller: Oy. .250 a winning season ain’t.
gene108
@CW in LA:
That’s because of the MSNBC freakout after the debate.
Watched Joe Scarborough this morning and he said, even though Romney lost 2 or 3 debates, Romney won the “debate season” based on his “tone”.
He had Michael Steele on, who agreed wholeheartedly.
I’m just sayin’, the era of objective reality is over. We live in George Castanza’s world now: It’s not a lie, if you (or the people you convince) believe it’s true.
flukebucket
@Betsy:
LOL! I have been trying to come up with some rhyme such as that for the DeMint / D’Souza team for over a week but I can’t make anything work.
miserybob
Spirit Airlines… today you win the Internet.
“Leave your horses and bayonets at home. We can SAVE our way out of this!”
Hahahaha!
Roger Moore
@Gravenstone:
Because we’re the good guys. SATSQ.
Cacti
First the Republicans came for Biology, but I didn’t care, because I wasn’t a biologist.
Then they came for Arithmetic, but I didn’t care, because I wasn’t a mathematician.
Then they came for Geography, but I didn’t care, because I wasn’t a geographer.
Then I woke up one day, and crops were being watered with Brawndo.
Tonal Crow
“That’s not true: it’s a Mitt!”
.
— Overheard over breakfast
Brachiator
Some posters have been bemoaning the lack of foreign policy substance in the debate. nothing to appeal to supposed high-information voters and observers. But here is some foreign policy stupidity from pundit Peter Beinart, from Sully’s site and his own Daily Beast posting:
This is beyond stupid. The Germany of the 1930s was not even remotely an economic power. The USSR of the Cold War era was largely an economic failure that used totalitarianism to punch above its fighting weight.
The dismissal of Al Qaeda just misses the point.
But the larger issue is that there is nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing that says that China, Brazil, or India will or should be viewed as antagonists. You don’t hear anyone with brains suggest that the UK, Germany or even Japan are inherently “against us” because of their economic successors.
But some serious, supposedly high-information pundits have a primitive need to create enemies, especially when those potential enemies might theoretically cause the nonwhite poor to rise up and not simply demand their fair share, but assert a simple right to compete on an even playing field.
So much for “serious” foreign policy discussion.
mds
@Poopyman:
As long as we load the One Percenters on the “B” Ark, and send it out first, I don’t have a problem with this plan.
@qwerty42:
Hmm. I originally figured that it was simply more of Mitt’s “Abruptly repudiate every modern Republican principle” strategery, since that’s been what’s worked for him. But when you put it that way, I wonder if it is actually a tell. If President Obama wins re-election, perhaps we’ll suddenly see the GOP become all outraged over putative “war crimes.” They’ve pretty much already pulverized irony’s corpse, so why not?
Yutsano
@Soonergrunt: Wink wink nudge nudge. :)
Paul in KY
@Roger Moore: That’s usually the kind of thing I say (ha, ha). You are correct, I should have said a pre-dreadnought.
Soonergrunt
@Roger Moore: Well, when you think about the fact that Iran’s most likely course of action in the event of war is to close the straits of Hormuz themselves, and by so doing deny hundreds of miles of their coastline to access by the US Navy, and also to place an economic choke hold on several of our regional allies, I don’t think they really think that much about Syria as a path to the sea.
Hill Dweller
@gene108: I caught the Maddow and Nicole Wallace segment on Kouric’s show, and Wallace was peddling that bullshit. Maddow smacked her down, calling Willard absolutely clueless on foreign policy, and ripping him for the Syria is Iran’s route to the sea nonsense.
gene108
@Cacti:
I think the broader issue at play is despite Mitt loss and McCain’s loss in 2008, Republicans will carry 20 or so states, so they can still be jackasses and have a shot at becoming President in 2016, if they can tip a few of the “swing states”.
We really need a historic beat down of a Republican candidate in a Presidential election to maybe force a change in the politics of this country.
Suffern ACE
@scav: yes. I’m guessing that is one of the reasons the navy went from ordering thirty down to ordering three. Yes, there is the cost. But there is also the whole “no one is fooled by canoes going 30 knots”. “Hey. Lets attack that aircraft carrier. It’s sitting there all by itself, only protected by a group of canoes!”
Omnes Omnibus
@Soonergrunt: I have just been in a FB discussion with someone who suggested that Syria provides a safe harbor for Iranian ships in the Med. Therefore, it gives them access to a SEA.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Maude: In my lifetime, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan, Bush the semi-Lucid, Clinton (on good days), and Obama had the “Presidential” look. Which is not to say that they were all great Preznits; they just fit my central casting idea of “Presidential” in appearance.
mds
@Suffern ACE:
The ruse could work, if enough people believed we actually had a 1913-era navy.
Omnes Omnibus
@scav: Inconceivable!
Patricia Kayden
@jgaugust: Trolls need ignoring.
So glad that the debates are over. President Obama won 2/3 decisively and hopefully he’ll get a slight bounce as we move towards November 6th.
Early voting begins this Saturday in Maryland. Exciting!
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
And of course that person meant an additional “sea,” right? Because Iran already has access to the Arabian Sea directly from their own coastline. Plus the Indian Ocean.
Unless this is some weird conspiracy-theory-that-cannot-be-named that the Iranians are somehow going to cross both Iraq and Syria so they can get to the Mediterranean Sea and conquer Europe, I still don’t get it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: At this point, in the discussion, I pleaded workload and backed slowly away while showing my hands to indicate I meant no harm. No reaching someone like that.
Shawn in ShowMe
@gene108:
If we had an electorate that was wise enough to turn their backs on the Republican candidate, we wouldn’t need a change in the politics of this country. First you execute a program of cultural transformation, then you get the votes. Republicans understand this.
Patricia Kayden
@Paul: Here here!! Why do some people feel that PO deserves respect when he gives none? All he’s here to do is mock our President.
Paul
@gene108:
Oh, that’s funny. I remember clearly when Joe Scarborough after the 2004 Cheney/Edwards VP debate claimed that Cheney “destroyed” Edwards.
Cheney’s “tone” in that debate wasn’t exactly VP worthy.
What the hell does hypocritical Joe S mean by tone?
Patricia Kayden
@Hill Dweller: You missed Sharpton, O’Donnell and Matthews. Perhaps on purpose?
Patricia Kayden
@Calouste: Actually, I thought they were instrumental in the repeal of DADT.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_Cabin_Republicans_v._United_States
I’m surprised that they’re endorsing Romney since many in the GOP would probably push him to reinstate DADT and support DOMA.
http://www.zimbio.com/Gay+and+Lesbian+Rights/articles/E13Zh-lFXlW/GOP+Still+Pushing+Reinstate+DADT+Romney+Wins
celticdragonchick
@Hill Dweller:
You should read Sullivans live blog of the debate before you make statements about what you think he said. Sully thought Mittens got blown out of the water.
Soonergrunt
@Omnes Omnibus: Did you point out to this person that the argument s/he just advanced means that the stupidity is systematic?
That Rmoney said it in the debate is laughable but not something one would linger on. Point, laugh, and move on. That this person has actually taken the time to think through a statement like “Syria gives Iran access to a sea” only makes normal people wonder what the fuck is wrong with Republicans as a group, and that it wasn’t some slip of the tongue but a systemic stupidity that allows such thoughts to flourish.
Best off to just say “yeah, he blew that one, but he was right about the need to get involved in Syria for other reasons, such as the need to protect Israel from the proliferation of armored vehicles and MANPADS systems to Hezbollah that would occur if the Syrian government fell, as well as the resulting instability in Lebanon.”
Instead, you get a dumbass statement that “Syria gives Iran access to a sea” and that person just permanently becomes marked as paste-eating stupid.
Soonergrunt
@mds: Yeah, but our lack of Colliers (as I noted up top) puts paid to that ruse.
celticdragonchick
@rlrr:
Not exactly obsolete. They had to change roles…and the role of shore bombardment hasn’t gone away. The Zumwalt destroyer was supposed to fill that gap. In any event, the 4 Missouri class BB’s where brought back to form the core of the new surface action groups that were meant to counter the Kirov class battle cruisers and assorted escorts that were expected to challenge control of the Atlantic and possibly cut off the convoy life line we would be sending to Europe in the event of a war. The Kirov’s were/are nasty surface ships and rather then try to make a new class to counter them, we merely updated something we already had which also had a shit load of armor to withstand anti ship missiles.
catclub
@Mnemosyne: “cross both Iraq and Syria so they can get to the Mediterranean Sea and conquer Europe, I still don’t get it.”
Isn’t that what the Persians did? When Homer was singing Ulysses?
Omnes Omnibus
@Soonergrunt: No, I did not. I did suggest that, if he believed hard enough, it would come true.
Democrat Partisan Asshole
@schrodinger’s cat: And to continue on that shallow note, she dresses like a Midwesterner. I’d expect something a bit more fashionable for the wife of one of the lesser members of our 1%. Doesn’t Mitt want to go anywhere in life? He won’t chained to a spouse that looks like she’s dressed by the local upholsterer.
burnspbesq
@Soonergrunt:
I’m reasonably confident that if I have an M249 and know how to use it, no enemy will get close enough so that a bayonet would be useful.
burnspbesq
@mds:
Perhaps. But I doubt that their sudden crush on the ICC will extend to dropping Cheney and Addington off in The Hague.
Maude
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
Warren Harding was a classic presidential look.
The man who really looked like he was from central casting as a Senator was Albert J. Beverage from Indiana.
I also agree with your take on who looks presidential.
FDR had his picture taken a few days before he died. He looked presidential. He did all they way through his presidency.
Democrat Partisan Asshole
@Maude: True. He also looked like he was about to die. Which he did. Blood pressure of 300 over 150, it’s amazing he lived as long as he did.
Death Panel Truck
@MikeJ: They did build a successor to the Akron. It was called the Macon.
Humanities Grad
@celticdragonchick:
Minor point of order. Those were the Iowa-class battleships, of which the USS Missouri was one. But the Iowa was the lead ship of the class.
Citizen Alan
@gene108:
If Obama pulls it out this year, I think we’ll get that in 2016. Biden will probably not run for president, which means we’ll have a vigorous primary campaign on the Dem side leading to the best possible candidate rather than a legacy. On the other side, the Teatards will finally get the candidate they want/deserve, probably Rick Santorum. And the Dem will beat him like a rented mule. And then, by 2020, a big chunk of the Teatards will be dead and the Republicans will have to become something … sensible. Probably resulting in all the Blue Dog types moving back to that side in exchange for the GOP becoming less religio-fascist.
TenguPhule
Point of order, facts clearly not in evidence.
Lojasmo
@Political Observer:
Fucking grammar, how does they work?
Lojasmo
@Political Observer:
Actually, last time I said President Obama won the debate, it was after he curbstomped mitt in the second debate.’
(gotta feed the trolls sometimes folks. SHe’ll be gone November sixth.)
jefft452
@gene108: “…have a shot at becoming President in 2016, if they can tip a few of the “swing states”.”
But that’s the fly in the ointment right there-If they can’t tip a few of the “swing states” this year, what would enable them to do it 4 years from now?
fuckwit
I like Nate Silver’s stuff.
But I have to ask, why doesn’t TPM use it?
I also have to ask, WHAT THE FUCK IS JOSH MARSHALL SMOKING OVER THERE?
Their numbers make no fucking sense. It’s as if they get their statistics from Reice Preibus’s Twitter feed.