My guest bathroom tub just blew up. Seriously. We (THAT WOULD BE ME AND MY SECRET LOVER WHO HAS BEEN ENGAGING IN NONSTOP SECKYSTIME WITH ME FOR THE PAST WEEK- or maybe not) were sitting on the back porch and heard this sound like a kettle boiling. I said “Ehh- It’s probably the tv.” She said “No, something is wrong, clown prince of Bethany.” She was right. The tub had just started running and could not be shut off, so I had to use the shut-off valves. Weird. I’m going to have a glass of wine and pretend this is not going to cost me hundreds of dollars.
But while I am here, one of the enduring mysteries of the 2012 campaign is how no one in our news media has managed to notice the similarities between Paulie Walnuts and Mitt Romney. I offer the following as proof:
This really bothers me. We spent whole elections discussing Al Gore and Naomi Klein and earth tones, yet here is this right in front of the media shills, and they don’t notice.
And at least Paulie Walnuts was in danger of taking a bullet when he robbed you.
Mike in NC
Willard’s hair has always creeped me out, as has every other fucking thing about the guy.
Rafer Janders
And why does no one mention that he obviously dyes his hair? Romney’s, what, 65 years old? He should be completely gray by now. No way that’s his natural hair color.
PsiFighter37
Booked my ticket. Flying to Columbus instead of Cincinnati (the flight was cheaper by $80) and probably driving out to Dayton. I know I’ll mainly be focused on GOTV during the weekend, but anyone have recommendations on breakfast / lunch / dinner spots? I will, after all, have to eat at some point (and have a drink too, undoubtedly).
AT
Don’t dispose of all your dirty sexytime used rubbers in the toilet. Problem solved!
Hill Dweller
The media’s behavior during the last month has been shocking. After 2000, 2004 and the Bush administration, I didn’t think the media could sink an lower, but they’ve done it.
Romney completely changes his positions but still shits the bed in the 3rd debate; and the media doesn’t bat an eye.
I wonder if this is how Romans felt near the end.
CW in LA
@Rafer Janders: That’s just Willard being Reaganesque. Remember how that old fucker used to soak his head in brown shoe polish, judging by how his hair looked?
PsiFighter37
@Hill Dweller: They’re still seeing starbursts after playing flag football on the beach.
Frankly, whatever Mark Halperin and his self-proclaimed Gang of 500 Idiots think at this point is irrelevant. GOTV, GOTV. No matter what the polls show, they will keep braying like the jackasses they are that the race is tied.
Fuck them. Keep giving coin to the campaign until it hurts. Pick up the phone. If you live in a non-swing state like I do (NY) and feel like taking a trip, haul thy ass to a swing state and GOTV.
This is it. Fuck the media, fuck what anyone else says. Horse race, shmorse race – bullshit. We have the better ground game, the better GOTV infrastructure; now is the time to deliver.
amk
@PsiFighter37: +1.
ratio
Good point, but I think you mean Naomi Wolf, not Klein.
dance around in your bones
Should we start calling him Willard Walnuts now?
JoyfulA
Or Naomi Wolf? My husband is forever mixing up the Naomis.
oldswede
I have been imagining what an encounter between Mittz and Vladimir (the Impaler) Putin would be like. Mittz is an oily liar and Putin came up through the KGB, ultimately running the Russian intelligence operations. I wonder how many interrogations he ran. Just think what could happen.
oldswede
Corner Stone
Are you sure?
Alison
Holy crap, that is a really creepy resemblance. Although I don’t think the man could outsmirk Mitt. Nor could anyone, really. Ugh.
On another note: anyone here interested in buying the Game of Thrones season 1 DVD box set off me? I’m going through all my crap looking for stuff to bring in some extra funds, and I realized as much as I like the show, I’m just not likely to watch them again. It’s unwrapped but other than that it’s brand new – has a “Creating the World of Westeros” bonus disc with it. Say $30 including shipping? First come, first served – email me at arparker711 AT gmail
joel hanes
It’s the tub faucet that’s running, right?
Even though it’s turned off?
Faucets are designed with replaceable parts.
Sgt. Cole, replacing a faucet core is 1st-level maintenance, the responsibility of the operator.
I realize that you personally have the rare ability to break your arm while brushing your teeth, but there must be _someone_ in the vast array of friends and relatives you feed and entertain who can operate hand screwdrivers and a couple of adjustable wrenches.
Keith
THANK YOU for bringing the uncanny resemblance to the forefront. Like shivering after urinating, I thought this was just me.
Joey Maloney
Man, I thought you meant the tub literally blew up, like, exploded into shards of porcelain (or for the modern world, shreds of fiberglass). Now that would cost you hundreds of dollars. But you have to admit it would be pretty darn cool.
Not that I know anything about plumbing, but if it’s just that the faucet valve failed it shouldn’t be that expensive to fix – unless there’s some systemic reason that made it fail, like ridiculously high overpressure in the pipes, or tiny metal-eating alien larvae in your water.
Chris
@Mike in NC:
The guy’s appearance, demeanor and everything remind me of Bill Whittle of PJMedia, whom I still rate as the most loathsome sack of shit in any political blogosphere ever. That may be part of the reason why I hate Mittens. But he’s done more than enough to earn the hate on his own.
(The guy’s “me and my kids are serving the country in our own way, just like our soldiers” also reminds me of one of the opening lines from Senator Kinsey in Stargate SG-1, but that’s another story).
karl
Actually, it was Naomi Wolf (in her pre-vagina incarnation) but who’s counting.
And it’s good to know that your beard, at least, knows what what in your house.
amk
@efgoldman:
wasn’t that the root cause here ?
suzanne
I think Paulie was more ethical. Lived by a code more advanced than IGMFY.
ranchandsyrup
@JoyfulA: I never get past the Naomi = I moan thingy. All I know is that someone wrote No Logo.
Violet
That’s one creepy resemblance. Ugh.
Sorry about the tub, but hopefully it’s easy to fix. Hope you are your lady friend are having fun.
Corner Stone
This is baffling to me.
kamalokitty
Valves? Valves you say? If you need valves and can’t get valves, or if you get some counterfeit Chinese valves, it’s Obama’s fault because valves and China and shit. This is why we need to raise the taxes on the middle class, because you can’t get forreal valves as opposed to that counterfeit China Disneyland valves. Or something. Sweat, Sweat. Cough. Cough. Swallow. Gulp.
longtime lurk
Paulie would drool at Obama’s body count. I mean, sure, Paulie shot a waiter in a restaurant parking lot over a tip, and strangled an old lady in a nursing home to steal the cash under her mattress, but what Obama has done with women, children, oldsters, and “militants” in the Mideast and north Africa is truly astounding, rivaling even LBJ’s and Nixon’s exploits in SE Asia. Really, no comparison.
Relatedly, I’ve noticed that no front pagers here seem to have commented on the fact that Obama and Romney appear to have the exact same foreign policy views. I wonder why that is?
Violet
@efgoldman: Someone had to.
Davis X. Machina
from BBC. Remember, Thatcher came before Reagan… these things tend to travel.
BGinCHI
Pauli only changed his position when he had a gun to his head.
Also, too, Boca. If you know the Sopranos you know what I mean.
CW in LA
@longtime lurk:
Oh, bullshit.
jibeaux
I know the troll is tempting, people, but no DRONEZ no treat, mmmkay?
longtime lurk
@CW in LA: Right. I forgot to mention: first responders, funeral-goers, and wedding parties.
dance around in your bones
J.G.Cole, are you getting some?
Wait, wait, don’t tell us. But if you are, don’t break your dick by accident ;)
karl
@Rafer Janders: (1)Yes, Romney is 65; (2)not all 65 year-olds are gray (I’m old enough to know that, you might not be); (3) there is so much evidential phoniness about the guy and his campaign that we don’t have to make things up.
amk
@longtime lurk: Better to have lurked and thought as an idiot than to have delurked and have it confirmed.
longtime lurk
@efgoldman: What is my realistic alternative? Not to support any candidate that will send flying killer robots to blow up innocent brown people (and the occasional teenage U.S. citizen).
Violet
@longtime lurk: Because they don’t have the same foreign policy views. Romney’s “I would do what Bush advisers tell me to do and start a war on every continent” foreign policy wouldn’t be popular with the electorate. So he shape-shifted yet again during the debate and his foreign policy became Obama’s, only More! Better! Faster! Stronger!
Liberty60
@longtime lurk:
As of 9:07 EDT last night, Willard had the same foreign policy as Obama.
Several hours later, of course, its anybody’s guess.
Chris
@efgoldman:
Well after all, there is a solution to all these burdensome undesirables, you know.
It may not be pleasant, but it is final.
longtime lurk
Just for the record, I’m no troll, just a fed up liberal. But you guys can feel free to treat me as one if it makes you feel better. I won’t complain.
Although, I have to admit that, even though it’s a free country and you folks are entitled to your opinions, the fact that you play-act as liberals around here really pisses me off. But aside from that, cheers and carry on.
Hill Dweller
@karl: Romney dyes his hair.
lamh35
@Hill Dweller: it’s gonna continue. the bog story tomorrow will be POTUS talking to Des Moines Register completely off the record, which DMR agreed to. the reporters at DMR posted a blog post about the off the record interview & the buzzfeed crew & the NBC crew, including Andrea Mitchell have been tweeting all night about it. Seems transperancy only matters for stuff like this, Mitts tax forms…not so much
TheMightyTrowel
OT: are there any MA people who can point me to good info on the ballot questions? I’ve just (finally!) gotten my ballot and I want to answer well. Q1 and Q3 (medical marijuana, yo!) I’m ok with, but I’d like more info on Q2 (physician assisted suicide). In principle I’m pro PAS, but only if the law is carefully structured to prevent abuse. Apparently the WA law is really good, how does the law proposed in Q2 stack up?
hells littlest angel
I can easily imagine Romney ineptly murdering a waiter for complaining about the tip.
ranchandsyrup
@longtime lurk: One man’s liberal is another man’s firebagger.
You have the victimization and subterfuge of a classic concern troll, though.
metalgirl
@PsiFighter37: Good luck and God’s speed (if you need it) :) Thanks for what you’re doing :)
Political Observer
Word on the street? A shock poll from Ohio is coming out tomorrow from a very reputable polling firm.
It’s showing Romney surging.
The Republican bandwagon rolls on through the midwest…NEXT STOP WISCONSIN!
pseudonymous in nc
@karl:
His daddy was greying at 55.
YellowJournalism
“I’m going to have a glass of wine and pretend this is not going to cost me hundreds of dollars.”
I’m doing this about my car’s dashboard lighting up like a Christmas tree and my speedometer going dead. Only minus the wine.
I should have some wine.
CW in LA
Dear Moderators,
You risk this board becoming useless if you don’t get a handle on your troll infestation. And if it’s true that one or more of them is a sock-puppet, then shame on you.
Hill Dweller
@Political Observer:
Still desperate for the validation that is never coming.
Political Observer
@pseudonymous in nc:
Who is winning North Carolina this year?
FlipYrWhig
@longtime lurk: Are you also appalled by the existence of bullets, bombs and missiles? Because those also sometimes land where they’re not supposed to. And no president has yet taken their use off the table. So if you’ve ever voted, you’ve been complicit in that. For shame, sir, for shame. To call yourself a liberal after all you’ve done.
Political Observer
@CW in LA:
I’ve been banned seven times, I think. My former screen names are unmentionable in comments (mention them and your post is auto-deleted).
Yet I’m still here.
Suck it.
longtime lurk
@ranchandsyrup: Troll, firebagger, whatever. You can call me any name you like — it won’t change the facts.
khead
Hundreds of dollars?
We just had a plumber come in and fix several pipes in Dad’s house to prevent the shitter(s) from dumping into the basement.
Total cost? $100. Only in small town WV.
sacrablue
@PsiFighter37: Sorry, I left Dayton in 1994, can’t imagine anyplace that I hung out still exists. Longest seven years of my life.
Political Observer
ROMNEY ROLLS ON baby, Ohio is ripe to fall into his column. Incredible momentum from debate season building. Obambi needs a miracle to stay in the race!
Political Observer
@longtime lurk:
Don’t bother. The O-Bot commentators here hate patriotic, realistic liberals like yourself. They’ve bought in the the O-Cult lock, stock, and barrel.
Hill Dweller
@lamh35: Did the Des Moines Register post a transcript of the interview after saying it would be off record?
longtime lurk
@FlipYrWhig: Do you really think I wouldn’t be here saying the same things if Obama were killing all those people with bombs and missiles instead of drones? (Also, just FYI, drones fire missiles.) Or if he had soldiers on the ground shooting people with rifles or stabbing them with knives or braining them with clubs or what the fuck ever. It’s not the manner of the the death and destruction I’m complaining about, you moron, it’s the fact of it. Jesus.
Xecky Gilchrist
@Hill Dweller: Still desperate for the validation that is never coming.
I’m just gobsmacked they ever moved on from “Oh yeah well ANY MINUTE NOW the ideal nominee will show up and shove Romney aside and trample all over Obummer you just WAIT AND SEE bookmarkitlibs”
Xecky Gilchrist
@longtime lurk: longtime lurk
Not long enough.
Piefilter.
ranchandsyrup
@longtime lurk: I think I stopped short from calling you either. You have a definition of a what a proper liberal is. Others have theirs.
I’m not sure what you are but your behavior, not your beliefs, scream concern troll. So if that’s not what you’re going for, change it up.
TheMightyTrowel
Stop whining. Pie them.
Mnemosyne
@longtime lurk:
Really? Obama has killed more than 2 million civilians in just four years?
Those sure are some powerful drones.
Lancelot Lurk
Just think of all the innocent Germans that FDR murdered!
FlipYrWhig
@longtime lurk: no, it is the manner of it, or you wouldn’t be caterwauling about “flying death robots.” You would be complaining about “civilian casualties.” Which would be a reasonable point, except for the fact that Obama has thousands fewer civilian casualties on his hands than any president in memory. Which kind of ruins your little po-faced self-righteous stroke session, don’t it?
longtime lurk
@efgoldman: Good try! “[G]et the job done”! Kill the “bad guys”! That’s a very convenient way of thinking about it. Good luck to you.
Yutsano
@YellowJournalism:
When all else fails, one should always resort to the Coug solution.
pseudonymous in nc
PO, still totes adorbz, if a little repetitive about the whole pie thing.
? Martin
@longtime lurk:
Uh huh. What would you put Obama’s body count at? I’ve seen it estimated at about 800 civilians. What was it under Clinton? 1000-2000 in Bosnia? Carter’s was low. Do we want to talk about Johnson’s? Kennedy’s? Do you really believe that this isn’t straight-up the unfortunate nature of being a superpower?
Because Romney has no foreign policy views, recognizes that Obama’s are widely accepted if not popular, and knowing that he could only make things worse just adopted the status quo?
CW in LA
@Mnemosyne: Thanks for spelling it out, as I was too exasperated to do. The ignorance of these blowhards is extraordinary.
blahblah
The only thing I wonder about is OkCupid or blog reader?
But he’s ashamed of something, and she’s from out of town.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne: It’s perfectly possible to raise a legitimate complaint about drones, civilian casualties and unchecked presidential authority. Yet somehow 999 of 1000 people who attempt it fail, and flail wildly while trying.
FlipYrWhig
@longtime lurk: War, bang, bad! isn’t exactly a well-developed critique either, dude.
longtime lurk
@FlipYrWhig: You can call it “Civilian casulties” or “collateral damage” or whatever other euphemism you can think up. I hope it makes you feel better. But, if you’re interested in a better world, a more peaceful planet, you might want to ask yourself what it’s all for. Why are we doing it? Why are you supporting it? Why do you take every opportunity to defend it, and insult and belittle those who oppose it?
lamh35
@Hill Dweller: Here is the post from editor:
Register editor: Obama off-the-record comments deserve to be shared with voters
8:22 PM, Oct 23, 2012 | by Rick Green
Mnemosyne
@longtime lurk:
Still waiting for you to present your proof that Obama has killed more than 2 million civilians in the past four years, which is the number of civilians who were killed in Vietnam.
Websites. Links. Articles. Hop to it, sonny.
muddy
I don’t need pie, when simple ignoring will do. I don’t even read its gabble.
Violet
@longtime lurk:
Hilarious and pathetic. If people’s posts on a message board really piss you off, you might want to talk to a doctor about blood pressure medication should you ever decide to visit the real world. A veritable cornucopia of things that might really piss you off awaits.
Spaghetti Lee
@? Martin:
I’d rather it be zero, and it would be in a better world. But this ain’t a better world.
I think the parameters were hashed out here a while back: if you accept the premise that we need to attack enemy combatants in a foreign country, drones are statistically speaking the least deadly way to do it. The argument is really over whether we should be fighting at all. I’d rather we weren’t, but that’s not my only consideration when it comes to who to vote for.
amk
@Mnemosyne: Idjit firebagger trolls are gonna be just that.
fleeting expletive
Replying to #2, why does Romney dye his hair? Because he is the reanimated corpse and corpuscle of Saint Reagan, of course.
suzanne
@sacrablue:
Did you at least get to see GBV a bunch of times? That might have made it worth it for me.
Political Observer
@longtime lurk:
They support it because Obama does. Obama is a pure, white dove who loves us all and died for our sins, don’t you know. So if he does it, it MUST be right. QED. Did I mention Obama DIED for us?
longtime lurk
@FlipYrWhig: Ok, sure. I’m a dirty hippie and a Pollyanna. No need for you to worry your little head about such things. I’ll leave y’all to whatever important stuff you were doing before I pissed in your punch bowl.
CW in LA
@FlipYrWhig: Especially when they act as if Pres. Obama invented these things, while never seeming to mention his blood-drenched predecessor.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Obama hasn’t cured cancer yet either. I wanna’ healthier planet and I wannit now. And, what about that coal stuff, also, too?
suzanne
@Spaghetti Lee: Truth. I may disagree with you about football, but re: drones, concur 110%.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@CW in LA: With all due respect, horseshit. I watched DKos ruin itself, turned into a giant circle-jerk echo chamber because of their idiot moderation system and sheeplike commentariat who couldn’t deal with the HURTFUL, HURTFUL WORDS THAT MEAN TROLLS WOULD SAY. Fuck that. If you can’t deal with the entertainment-level concern trolling of lightweights like Political Dipshit or this new “longtime jerk” imbecile, you’re going to be lost at sea when you go to your local school board meeting to support the sane people and have to listen to teabaggers doing the same shit IRL with real life consequences.
You’d probably shit your pants with terror when one of them grabs your shirt collar and starts screaming in your face, like one of them did to me last board meeting. I learned what to do from years of posting here. I laughed at him. Broke his fucking will to live. They can’t handle being mocked.
Better to practice dealing with idiots who won’t conform to your views here, because if you do it wrong in the real world there can be some pretty shitty consequences, like getting your schools, city hall or church overrun by these tools. And if you can’t deal with this, go to Daily Kos. You’ll never be challenged, have to defend your viewpoint, or read anything mean. Just join in the “me too” chorus and wallow in your own irrelevancy.
SatanicPanic
Oh great, now our trolls are blowing kisses to each other.
Political Observer
@longtime lurk:
OBAMA is the PRESIDENT your God, thou shalt have no other Gods before him.
FlipYrWhig
@longtime lurk: If your gripe is that Obama is doing something uniquely terrible, well, thing is, that isn’t true. If your gripe is that America has a military that uses too many big loud machines, well, thing is, that’s been true for a century. If your kvetch about Obama could just as easily be a kvetch about Clinton, Johnson, Bush, or Nixon, then it becomes a bit, shall we say, diffuse. And yet you seem particularly exorcized about it anyway. You don’t even know how to make the argument you think you want to make. And it’s not even difficult. That’s worth belittling.
Mnemosyne
@longtime lurk:
In other words, you made your stupid, hyperbolic comment about Obama killing more people than Johnson and Nixon, and then realized that a two-second Wikipedia scan proved that you were full of shit, so now you’re going to run away and pretend to yourself it’s because you’re more moral than we are.
suzanne
@Political Observer:
He isn’t white. Your boy is, but he fails miserably at the “and delightsome” part.
Please stick around on the evening of the sixth. I’ll so enjoy your company.
amk
@SatanicPanic: more like sockpuppets doing each other.
Political Observer
@suzanne:
So Romney is a “boy” now?
Mike in NC
Romney is surging in Delaware!
FlipYrWhig
@longtime lurk: Oh my fucking God. It’s always about who gets to call himself a hippie so he can whine about being punched. You’re not a hippie. You don’t deserve that tag. You’re just a whiner with a martyr complex.
Political Observer
@suzanne:
And I’ll be right here on Election Night. Rubbing your noses in the shit of your defeat. Making you feel the pain of supporting a loser like Obama.
Obama will join McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry in the Democrat Losers Hall of ‘Fame’.
Hill Dweller
@longtime lurk: Then don’t vote for Obama.
We’ve had the drone argument/discussion many, many times on here. I don’t think anyone wants to have it again right now, especially with everyone on edge about the election.
FWIW, I hope we start winding down Afghanistan sooner rather than later. Once we get out of there, I think(hope) the drone strikes will be, at the very least, limited.
Political Observer
@Mike in NC:
Who is going to win YOUR state, Mikey?
Political Observer
@Mike in NC:
Who is going to win YOUR state, Mikey?
? Martin
@Spaghetti Lee: I’d prefer it be zero as well.
What’s so offensive about Lurks line of thought is that of the 6 billion people on the planet, they seem to believe only Americans wish to harm other people. It’s a kind of reverse American Exceptionalism, and it’s every bit as wrongheaded as the neocon’s line of thought that we have exclusive moral right to kill others.
SatanicPanic
@Forum Transmitted Disease: Maybe you won’t read anything mean at DKos, but whiny, pedantic, nitpicky, histrionic, sanctimonius…
But I agree with the rest of it. These trolls are clowns, especially VICTORY guy. What a joke. Still convinced he’s a parody troll.
Mnemosyne
@FlipYrWhig:
I’m still convinced that a big chunk of the problem is that there were a lot of pacifists on the left who thought that liberals were against the Iraq War because they had finally come around to being pacifists themselves.
They were terribly disillusioned to discover that, to paraphrase PBO, liberals weren’t against all wars, they were against stupid, poorly planned wars. And, frankly, a certain number of them will never, ever forgive us for being (by their light) apostates who only hate some wars and are okay with others.
Violet
Can we get back to speculating about Cole, his bathtub, his lady friend, and what wine is being enjoyed? And what about Lily, Rosie and Tunch?
suzanne
@Political Observer:
Those are some quality men of intellect, integrity, and character you just listed there.
CW in LA
@Forum Transmitted Disease: Oh, horseshit yourself.
muddy
John keeps taunting us with talk of his sexytime houseguest, I think he is a bit disappointed that the smutty speculation has not caught fire. And the guest bath blew up? Maybe she set it up so as to shower with John instead.
I am mostly interested to know if Rosie has bitten her or Tunch jumped on her head as she slept.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Those who complain about the civilian casualties caused by drones overlook the the hundreds of civilian casualties caused by give-a-shit suicide attacks and car bombs. Killing non-combatants is never moral, but the hippier-than-thou types always imply that we’re the only ones who do it or who’ve ever done it.
Read some history then get a grip.
FlipYrWhig
@? Martin: You can say violence is always wrong. That’d be consistent. You can say that weapon X is unconscionable — nukes, land mines, mustard gas, maybe even drones. But you had better have a good answer to why “drones” are such a special case, and not, you know, a kind of ballistic projectile on the continuum with many others that people who proudly call themselves liberals never say “boo” about. And if the issue isn’t “drones” as as kind of weapon, STOP FUCKING SAYING “DEATH ROBOTS” and instead talk about misuse and itchy trigger fingers and flawed oversight and all that. And yet the number of people capable of talking about it that way is, somehow, smaller the number of cars in Mitt Romney’s elevator.
SatanicPanic
@Hill Dweller:
Speak for yourself :P I don’t want to sound like the mirror image of numbskull PO, but Obama is not going to lose.
Redshift
@Forum Transmitted Disease: Oh, bullshit. There’s a difference between people with opposing views and trolls who are just trying to derail any real discussion. I’ve dealt with people who were basically trolling in person, and the guy screaming in your face isn’t it. (Oooh, you’re so tough to handle that, no one who complains about a troll could possibly do that!)
I don’t come here to learn how to deal with assholes; there’s no shortage of places to do that and I’ve done it. I’m here for real discussion (among other things.) Having a real conversation requires a certain amount of good faith, and granting it to those who don’t deserve it works out about as well for discussion as it does for government.
AnotherBruce
@longtime lurk: Yes it’s quite unfair that us faux liberals have sullied your unassailable purity, but it’s really hard to see you clearly when we have to wear glacier glasses so we wont be blinded by your halo.
Spaghetti Lee
@Mnemosyne:
I’m more sympathetic to that argument than some of the others. If I was someone who was fervently anti-war during the Bush years and felt like much of the country had gone mad with bloodlust, and then when you finally get out of that nightmare, you see a lot of them making excuses for the sort of thing they were condemning Bush for, I wouldn’t like it. Arguments about the injustice and suffering of war suddenly turn into arguments about what’s politically possible and realistic and everyone calling you an idiot and a troll even for bringing it up. I don’t agree with them on policy and facts all the time, but I can see why people who are sincerely pacifists and opposed to all military action feel like they’ve been betrayed. It shouldn’t be hard to see that point of view.
I agree with your argument about assumptions of pacifism on their part where none really existed. And I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault, per se: minority coalitions have to stick together more than majority ones. When your party’s in charge, you feel the ability to say what you really think more, because there’s often less at stake.
I think being anti-war under all circumstances is not by itself a bad thing to be, and I wish they weren’t used as punching bags so often. I mean, sure, some people are trolls looking for attention, but automatically branding someone a troll just for thinking a certain way is idiotic. Wait and see, at least.
Ultimately, I think the problem is Republicans. Our politics is at a point where all the non-crazy people, who have some pretty serious divisions themselves, have to band together just to barely stop the crazies from dragging us back the Dark Ages and starting WWIII. However ‘realistic’ you think this is (and I think it’s a pretty realistic assessment) it’s not good. If the modern Republican party collapses, I think one of the big underrated developments will be different types of liberal being able to talk to each other without constant accusations of dishonesty and ratfucking. I understand why people are so on-edge, but the sheer levels of paranoia are just ridiculous. It’s not right.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne: I can see that a pacifist would abhor drones. would a pacifist abhor drones more than any other deadly weapon? Seems like a bit of a philosophical conundrum. I don’t have a problem with pacifists. I do have a problem with people who argue this badly.
Hill Dweller
@SatanicPanic: I don’t think Obama will lose either, but the Village is doing their best to make it happen.
After 2000, 2004 and the Bush admin, I didn’t think the press could sink any lower, but they’re proving me wrong.
CW in LA
@Redshift: THANK YOU! It’s tiring and frustrating seeing thread after thread hijacked and derailed by the same nonsense coming from the same few names.
dance around in your bones
♩ ♪ Scrolling, scrolling, over the bounding trolls, PO and LL, over the bounding trolls ♫ ♬
Really, not worth engaging.
Michael
I would love to see a nice bar graph of civilian casualties at the hands of the American military by President. Obama would undoubtedly be one of the lowest.
Everyone get exercised about it!
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne: BTW, I think Obama could have said, when drones came up in the debate, that when drones kill innocent people it is always tragic; he could have talked about safeguards and oversight; and, you know, I wished he had, even when he didn’t have to. I appreciated that he told Jon Stewart that he still wanted to close Guantanamo.
SatanicPanic
@suzanne: Carter has a better record of winning elections than Romney has. He got elected Prez on his first attempt, unlike Romney who has been running since before there were I-Phones for crying out loud.
FlipYrWhig
@Michael: it really is one of the damnedest things to complain about, comparatively speaking. It’s like complaining that Obama wears a suit and tie too much.
Mnemosyne
@Spaghetti Lee:
I can understand that point of view, but IMO that point of view is (or should be) “they’re all the same,” not bizarre, fact-free claims that Obama has killed more than 2 million civilians in the past 4 years and we’re just too blindly partisan to admit it.
Hyperbole about how Obama is the Worst! Warmonger! Ever! doesn’t get us anywhere.
JoyfulA
@Rafer Janders: My father didn’t start graying until he was in his 80s. I would tend to think your accusation was silly.
HOWEVER, the other day, I saw a picture of Romney from the back with his head tilted down, and there was an obvious fringe of white hair between his head and his neck. It’s possible he has an unusual pattern of graying I’ve never seen before, but it looked to me like evidence of a dye job and need for a touch-up.
Mnemosyne
@Michael:
That’s why people like LL are getting all “au contraire, mon frere!” and trying to claim that Obama has killed more civilians than were killed in Vietnam and we just don’t know about it because of the MSM, maaaaaaan.
It’s certainly possible to have a moral stance that violence is not acceptable, ever, but when people start making shit up out of thin air to try and bolster their moral claims, I get kinda pissed.
master c
Right below your post-the headless Rove.
Are you Drudging?
Sign of the *tie* mofo
Both sides do it.
Look good and win.
suzanne
@SatanicPanic:
Carter has a better record than Romney at pretty much anything. Well, I guess Romney does have more foreign bank accounts.
Forum Transmitted Disease
CW in LA: That’s 100% on the commentors who respond. If they could just stop themselves replying to obvious trolling, the threads would not be hijacked. There are obviously a lot of good-faith posters here who have jack shit for impulse control. They’re doing the troll’s work for them, they know it, but they can’t help themselves. In all fairness to them, that’s a problem that exists on every discussion board on the internets. XKCD did a great comic (“someone is wrong on the internet!”) a while back that captures this obsession with correcting our fellow posters perfectly.
There are some tech issues that allow circumvention of banning with any blog platform, and this particular one doesn’t have the ability to selectively ignore posters. But the biggest problem with moderation or banning of trolls is this: John Cole does not want to do it, has been pretty adamant he’s never going to do it, and it’s his blog.
Mike in NC
@Political Observer: Obambi, you stupid cocksucker.
SatanicPanic
@Hill Dweller: Yeah, but every year people are paying less attention to the big media pundits. If anything, they’re just making it more obvious how irrelevant they are.
ranchandsyrup
This close to the election, my default position is that droners on are just wingers trying to sow discord and peel off voters.
Ripley
Cole, your blog just exploded. I think it’s a valve problem. Cheapest to fix it yourself.
sacrablue
@suzanne: No, I knew people who knew people, but I was too wrapped up in my third incarnation as a college student, working, parenting while having a spouse that travelled all the time. Somehow, free time and fun never seemed to be in plentiful supply. Now I think I’m too old to appreciate good times.
CW in LA
@Forum Transmitted Disease: It just seems to me that expecting a whole lot of people to exercise better impulse control is more of a long shot than kicking out a couple of jackasses.
Yep, it’s John Cole’s blog. Whether it continues to be one worth visiting is more of a question.
Narcissus
If I knew anything about Java or HTML I’d make a Magic Mitt-Ball website. Every time you click on the Mitt-Ball it spits out a new position.
I got ideas
1badbaba3
So JG is having, like, real sex? Cool. Take it easy on the house though, dude. It could cost hundreds in repairs.
Also too, how’s Lord Tunch? Pics plz.
? Martin
@FlipYrWhig: Exactly. I actually do have a concern about drones – and that is that they lower the marginal cost of targeting an individual to a very low level.
25 years ago, to kill a single overseas target (like a Bin Laden) required a special ops team violating some nations sovereignty, and that hung off the back end of a lot of human intelligence, spy planes, satellite overflights, and so on. That was a long and costly effort, and you had to get really lucky with timing – and that was if you could do it at all. The planes that could get past air defenses were really expensive and exclusive.
15 years ago, we could replace the special ops team with a Tomahawk, as Clinton attempted. It reduced the risk to human life, bypassed the air defense issues in most cases, reduced the sovereignty violation (somewhat), at the cost of a million dollars per strike or thereabouts.
But now, we can stick a drone up there to loiter for day after day. They’re relatively cheap to build and very cheap to operate. Where before the target would have to be VERY significant to warrant the effort, now, well, it’s cheap and easy enough that maybe we could go after some lower-level people in the same way. We’ve reserved the technology for Al Qaeda and Taliban, but would we consider using it against Mexican drug cartels (with permission from Mexico, of course)? Would we use it to track down an Eric Rudolph? What about at a situation like Waco?
There’s a debate here worth having. There are some trying to have it, but not many. Lurk certainly isn’t trying to have it.
Hill Dweller
@SatanicPanic:
It’s still appalling. They’ve given Willard a free pass for the last month to say and do anything without any push back, while simultaneously doing their best to ensure a horse race.
Stewart had a montage of the various talking heads using the phrase “plausible commander-in-chief” when talking about Willard’s goal in the third debate. Obviously, Willard’s campaign sent that talking point out before the debate even happened, and the media dutifully repeated before and afterwards.
Willard gave them the criteria to judge his debate, and the Village used it, while ignoring all the lying and ignorance. The shamelessness is breath-taking.
DPS
@longtime lurk:
My assessment is that the country would be better served by having Barack Obama as president than Mitt Romney. I disagree with your assessment that it would be better to have Mitt Romney, or any Republican, as president. That has nothing to do with my thinking you’re a hippie. I just think that your calculation that a Mitt Romney presidency is preferable in any sense is totally wrong.
Geoduck
@? Martin:
Or everyday police use. You want your local cops to have a spying robot buzzing around overhead 24-7?
Radio One
I keep watching CNN to try to understand why anyone would watch this train wreck of s cable news station to stay informed. Based on the evidence, I’ve come up with two key constituencies for CNN. Pathetic political masochists who would love to see Piers Morgan get Beau Biden to say on prime time that he, along with Tagg Romney, would love to take a tag-team swing at Barack Obama. And then we have the undecided voters.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@CW in LA: It’s been like this for years, it gets bad around election time and then for some magic reason gets better pretty much the day after. I think those who theorize about paid trolls are likely correct.
Stay if you like, go if you like, hope you stay, but I’ve got to say, the commentariat here is the sharpest by far of any political site I’ve been to, and they’re what keep me coming back. I’ve learned a lot here, especially about how to deal with wingnut crazy and people who derail discussions for their own benefit, and I really think that dealing with the occasional troll here has been very helpful in developing my ability to do so. YMMV and all that, but I can tell you with no reservations that this site will be a lot different on November 10th then it is now.
Hill Dweller
@Radio One: Maddow’s show is the only cable news program I watch regularly. I also watch Hayes and MHP, but not regularly.
More than five minutes of cable news and I’m looking for the Drano.
? Martin
@Geoduck:
We kinda already do. Not many lack helicopters nowadays. How much difference is there if you take the person out of the helicopter?
Spaghetti Lee
@? Martin:
I kind of agree with you. To the extent that drone warfare is different than conventional warfare, I have pondered the idea that killing combatants with a self-piloting robot makes death cheaper and makes it easier to say, “just take him out” in situations that might not merit it. It’s old-fashioned, but I think it matters. The decision to kill someone shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@efgoldman:
Why? Soylent Green works too.
@Political Observer:
Hey guys, get a room.
Geoduck
@? Martin:
More centralization, more impersonalization, more anonymity, particularly if the things are actually armed. Plus it’s my understanding that a typical drone can stay airborne a lot longer in one stretch and a lot more stealthily than a helicopter.
I should add I’m not opposed to the use of drones period, they certainly have their uses.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@CW in LA:
I’ve been commenting here (under a different name admittedly) since Schiavo (which I admit makes me a youngster in BJ terms). There have always been trolls, although admittedly the quality varies particularly in the lead up to an election, just as there have always been commenters claiming that the trolls will destroy the place.
It doesn’t seem to have happened yet – in fact a great little community has grown here, trolls be damned.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@longtime lurk:
Lessee… America stops all ‘hostilities’ around the world and the world suddenly breaks out in peace? No? What do we do then, send flowers and candy to the bad guys to romance them into seeing the error of their ways? What happens if they decide to come over here and kill people, do we send them more candy and flowers? What happens when they invade neighboring countries and start killing their civilians, send them even more candy and flowers?
I’m not intrigued by your ideas and I do not want to subscribe to your newsletter.
Yutsano
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Our troll bans have been exceptionally rare. I find this to be a mostly positive thing. Let them think they bother me. They don’t.
Oh and hi dear. It’s only Tuesday and I’m exhausted. How you?
WaterGirl
@lamh35: That stupid article was about 25 paragraphs too long. Just a temper tantrum, it seemed to me.
? Martin
@Geoduck: I agree. And I’d add that the lower cost of the drone means more of them can be deployed. But some years ago police departments never had helicopters, and their addition took us from zero aerial surveillance to what we have now. What causes the next step to be a line too far? I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be – I’m just trying to to determine how this isn’t just an endless sequence of people struggling to keep up with an evolving world, always declaring the next step to be a step too far, and then growing accustomed to it.
At the same time, the broad deployment of helicopters has been a HUGE financial drain on cities and states that never existed before. Its brought certain benefits with it, but if drones could do the same job at lower cost, would we be able to argue for a reduction in local spending or would we lose that argument and just wind up with more drones? These things present opportunities that with a proper discussion we could probably chart a reasonable path, but any discussion of police drones and budget would invariably degrade into some ‘weak on crime’/’cut public spending’ kind of shitstorm, resulting in politicians demanding no cut in spending and doubling the volume of overhead surveillance.
brashieel
Does anyone else still feel kind of serenely confident that Obama will win this election? I just can’t see Romney winning this thing.
I’m not using it as an excuse to be lazy or anything. I’ve stuffed envelopes, called an awful lot of phone numbers, done some canvassing, and tossed some chump change into the war chest. Maybe that’s actually why I feel so secure. The campaign seems massive, well organized, and competent. I feel like I’m part of something that will win by default.
Polls come, polls go. Pundits blather. Nate Silver runs a huge amount of numbers. And I still just feel that the GOTV ground game plus the obvious advantage of incumbency is going to provide a totally predictable victory.
Donald G
Well, John, with regard to your plumbing, in the immortal words of former Governor Gaston Caperton, “Welcome to West Virginia.” (Yeah, I know you’re a Mountaineer born and bred, but that’s the traditional Appalachian fatalistic response to a tale of woe in the Southern part of the state.)
Now with regards to the trolling of “PO Plenty” above, I figure if he’s paid by the Republicans to stir up crap in blog comments, then his purpose is the same as Axis Sally, Tokyo Rose, Lord Haw-Haw, and Baghdad Bob– to try to demoralize us and depress turnout through outrageous lies, spin and propaganda. Real “Your wives are sleeping around on you while you’re at the front dieing for a lost cause” stuff. Or “Legions of American troops are killing themselves at the walls of Baghdad. There are no American troops coming around the corner of the building. What you see are holograms cast by our elite Republican guards” shit.
The lies are so outrageous as to be laughable.
On the other hand, if PO is DougJ trolling us, it’s to get us angry to motivate us to go out and vote so our guy’ll win and we can vicariously smash PO’s face in as he tries to get a rise out of us on Election Night by making increasingly untenable claims of a Romney victory as the poll results come in.
Remember PO’s guaranteed predictions regarding the passage of the Mississippi Personhood Amendment in comparison to the actual result? Yeah, I’m hoping to see a repeat of that performance on November 6th but more lopsided to our benefit ‘cos the stakes are higher and the catharsis will be greater.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Yutsano:
I’m quite well. A little throat infection but nothing serious. I do wish the election was over. I’m still confident we are gong to win – I’m just sick of the endless analysis, most of which (other than here and Mr Wang’s House of Numbers) is pointless and dumb.
Why are you exhausted?
Hill Dweller
@brashieel: I’ve always had a hard time believing the country would elect a bumbling plutocrat like Willard, especially on the heels of people like him nearly destroying the country. Plus, Obama has always run a great campaign, this election being no exception.
That said, the media has had their finger on the scales for the last month or so. They’re not even pretending to be objective at this point. Consequently, Willard has been allowed to pretend he is something that he isn’t.
Hopefully, the voters see through Willard’s bullshit, but this country elected Bush twice.
Redshift
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: I am always pleased that JC’s laissez-faire policy seems to work here. I am always nervous about whether it will continue to work, because there is almost nowhere else where “just ignore the trolls” has worked, so I don’t see any particular difference here that would explain why it should work.
But since I’ve been wrong about it before, I guess I should chill out and hope that if a tipping point happens, it will be recognized soon enough.
TheMightyTrowel
I just had to explain to my boss (without sounding crazy) that he shouldn’t actually believe anything that the major US networks (especially CNN) say about the election. Sigh.
After the last 18 months of fail there is about one thing left that would get me to find CNN feeds online and watch them: a tearful episode of Anderson 360 with one of the Romneys (personally, I prefer Starey) coming out of the closet and immediately getting gay married to Aaron Schock.
fleeting expletive
Donald G, I remember when the Iraqis, I think, said that Bart Simpson was going to seduce all those American soldiers in Kuwait. Point is, I don’t think all of the ME really has a handle on the US zeitgeist. I could be wrong, but I remember it and it was a hoot at the time.
Redshift
@brashieel: I still feel confident, but not exactly serene. And of course it will only happen if we continue to make it happen, but I’m doing all I can in that regard, so I won’t have any regrets on Election Night.
Herbal Infusion Bagger
@Political Observer:
That’s 5-6 comments in about an hour. Is that your quota? Seems a bit light.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Redshift:
I do sympathise (empathise?) with the PO haters and your nervousness. He’s a sharp pain in the behind and I do like my trolls to be at least a little clever. We will see. In two weeks or so it may be a non issue again for a while.
brashieel
@Hill Dweller:
I’ll grant the media is trying to stretch this out for reasons of ratings and probably class loyalty. I just doubt they have the power to swing things all that much anymore.
Now voter suppression… that might do it. That one worries me a bit. I’m from Houston, where a good chunk of the latest incarnation of this bs started.
Lancelot Link
If the GOP doesn’t have a fake purity troll trying to bring down the turnout on every single blog even slightly to the left, they’re missing an opportunity for a dirty trick. They never miss an opportunity for a dirty trick.
A Humble Lurker
I wanna know how your house guest is handling Tunch, seeing how she’s allergic to cats. Is our great feline overlord showing mercy on her?
Joey Maloney
@1badbaba3:
Cole and friend, artist’s conception
James E. Powell
@brashieel:
Does anyone else still feel kind of serenely confident that Obama will win this election? I just can’t see Romney winning this thing.
I never feel serenely confident about anything. I’m from Cleveland, the Land of the Late Game Losses. It’s bred in the bone.
But that aside, over a year ago, one of my right-wing, Obama-hatin’ co-workers demanded to know how I could possibly believe that Obama had any chance of re-election. I said he would win every state he won in 2008, minus Indiana and North Carolina. I stand by that prediction.
Fuck ALL the chickens! (né Studly Pantload, t.e.u.u.)
I wonder if said Ambiguously Romantic Friend/Friend Perchance With Privileges realizes that the secksie time for the next few days could consist of nude mopping?
That said: yeah, I’d be about the wine-induced amnesia as well. I’d also say I hope you get the Rad Dyke Plumber to fix the faucety-sounding problem, but since you’re not in the People’s Republic of Seattle, I’m reckonin’ you’ll be dealing with Johnnie Redneck McAsscrack. But I’m sure you’ll remember that seeing the Great Vertical Groove is like gazing toward the sun; you must immediately look away, lest ye go blinde.
sharl
From the always prescient Thers comes this detailed analysis of the recent Preznitshul debate:
And as astutely noted by kamalokitty at #28 above, Cole “just happens” to have a water valve problem.
Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!
Lojasmo
@longtime lurk:
The supidest chick on the board is with you, so you’ve got that going for you.
Seriously, JG, a faucet valve costs $15 and only takes a screwdriver to put in (and maybe a vice-grip)
Man up.
Ash Can
Tunch sabotaged the plumbing because he wasn’t getting enough attention. Pet the kitty (extra treats couldn’t hurt eIther) and your plumbing problems will go away.
Ash Can
@Lojasmo: How do you know P.O. is female?
Alex S.
While I was watching ‘I love you, Philipp Morris’ I thought that Jim Carrey might make a good Romney.
1badbaba3
@Joey Maloney: Yikes! Those were dark times, indeed. Dark, but cool. Is Cole that cool?
Well, JG. Are you? Are you that cool?
Dan
After a hundred and eighty odd comments I almost forgot what the thread was supposed to be about. Anyhoo…I know Wonkette always called McCain “Walnuts” so maybe that’s why it never took off around these parts. (Also, too, Paulie Walnuts was kinda lovable.)
Cassidy
@longtime lurk: Because you lurk and don’t read. It’s been mentioned.
You know how they say there is no such thing as a stupid question? You, my friend, dug deep and found one.
rikyrah
Don’t insult Paulie like that.
Paulie had a code. You might have not liked his code, but the man had a core set of principles.
That puts him far and ahead of Willard.
jprfrog
I never watched the Sopranos so Paulie Walnuts (I love the name) is not a ready image for me. But Joe Isuzu is — and I can just hear Full-of-Mitt intoning “You have my word for it!”
The only way I was able to get through watching the debates (and couldn’t take it all the way) was to imagine Mitt getting hit in the face with an enormous custard pie.
Cassidy
Only for you.
Maude
Re: bathtub. Could also be the washers wore out.
Mnemosyne
@Geoduck:
I live in Los Angeles. Maybe drones would be quieter than the goddamned helicopters that are constantly buzzing by my window as soon as the sun goes down every night.
As I’ve said before, because I live in Southern California where it’s not unusual for inexperienced hikers to think their cell phones will work in the Angeles National Forest, I can see a lot of ways that drones would be very helpful for stuff like search-and-rescue, scouting the progress of our frequent forest fires, etc. If you live in a flat state without mountains or forests, I can see that it might be more difficult to think of non-military or non-police ways to use them, but they are very useful here in California and other mountainous states.
Jay in Oregon
THAT WOULD BE ME AND MY SECRET LOVER WHO HAS BEEN ENGAGING IN NONSTOP SECKYSTIME WITH ME FOR THE PAST WEEK- or maybe not
Methinks thou dost protest too much.
patrick
@Rafer Janders:
in his defense…my dad is 62 1/2, and only in the past year has he started getting a little grey in his temples….
Ohio Mom
@PsiFighter37: What to do in Dayton? We lived there from 98-02. It is the rust belt to the nth degree — it’s kind of moribund, frankly. I think the only thing keeping it going at this point is the Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
But back to your question.
Dorothy Lane Market (three branches, all on the south side) is a gourmet grocery. It has FABULOUS bread and lots of freshly prepared foods in the deli section, if you want to take something back to your room. We don’t ever drive past Dayton without stopping in for a loaf of the sourdough.
The Air & Space Museum is huge & the most frequently visited place in Dayton. On the edge of the base, naturally.
Yellow Springs isn’t too far away. The Winds is a very nice upscale-hippieish-lots-of-vegetarian-options-type restaurant, if a little pricey. A few miles out of town, Young’s Jersey Dairy has homemade ice cream. And goats to feed.
Famous Daytonians include the Wright Brothers, Erma Bombeck, Charles Kettering (he invented the car starter, which replaced the front crank-thingie. In doing so, he saved countless lives. People used to get run over by their cars a lot, it seems), the guy who invented the cash register, and the guy who invented the pop-top for cans.
Good Luck! You’re doing God’s work.
Tata
Mitt. Paulie Walnuts. Elsa Lanchester.