Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The willow is too close to the house.

He really is that stupid.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

This fight is for everything.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

This blog will pay for itself.

Let’s finish the job.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

We still have time to mess this up!

Let there be snark.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / The Flames are All Long Gone But the Pain Lingers On

The Flames are All Long Gone But the Pain Lingers On

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Sweet jeebus. Someone please check on DougJ. Mark Halperin is on Charlie Rose talking about pain for the middle class and the fiscal cliff post-election, and I don’t know any heroin or coke dealers to fix me a lethal speedball. He just quipped that this election would have been better and there would have been more specifics if Bloomberg had run to put pressure on Romney and Obama. He now just said the key to the election (while dismissing Nate Silver) is “who is going to vote?”

I’m going to go chug a liter of vodka, beg my neighbors for Xanax, and fall asleep in my running car in the garage while listening to Jane’s Addiction. Lily, I always loved you.

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  1. 1.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    If you can’t check on DougJ how can we? And why are you watching Halperin on Charlie Rose? Do you want to be suicidal? Some DBT can help you with that.

  2. 2.

    suzanne

    I’m going to go chug a liter of vodka, beg my neighbors for Xanax, and fall asleep in my running car in the garage while listening to Jane’s Addiction.

    AGAIN?! This trick never works!

  5. 5.

    Spaghetti Lee

    Try not watching Charlie Rose. Swear to god, Cole, you Village-watchers are just as bad as people who say they hate Jersey Shore/Honey Boo Boo but watch anyway because ‘I just can’t look away.’ I’ve been looking away my whole damn life! It hasn’t even been a struggle, really!

    You’re the ones keeping them in business by watching. Even villagers understand the concept of ‘low ratings.’

  6. 6.

    piratedan

    pain for the middle class? naturally it must be all those inhabitants of sociopathic Punditville who seem to believe that it’s only right for middle class America to be denied its tax deductions so that rich can feel that much richer. If only there was a media empire that actually gave a crap about reporting the news instead of treating the day to day politics as some sort of unscripted soap opera that they were addicted too and that they keep rooting for all of the villains because they make it “interesting”.

  9. 9.

    SFAW

    John –

    Look, in seven-plus more days, it will be President-Elect Obama, and you can do a couple of slugs of vodka or some other rotgut, set the DVR to freeze on a shot of Halperin, and laugh at his while flipping him off. Repeat as necessary with Chuck Todd, Rick Sanchez, and whoever else deserves it.

    If you croak yerself now, who the hell will post pics of Tunch, Rosie, and the rest of the crew?

    And do you REALLY want any of this crew to offer to come over to comfort Ladyfriend in her sorrow?

    So, if not for yourself, think of the kids and Ladyfriend. Now come in off the ledge (which I guess is one way of referring to your front porch).

  10. 10.

    Hill Dweller

    People were ridiculing wingnut pollster Glengariff Group’s MI poll on the twitter machine, and Politico’s Jonathan Martin threw a tantrum.

    Chuck Todd whitewashed all of Willard’s bullshit on the nightly news.

    They are desperate to keep the horse race going.

  13. 13.

    Jeff Spender

    @Hill Dweller:

    It’s all well and good when they get to vomit words onto a webpage, but once you put them into a public forum where people can challenge them they’re like little toddlers whining for mommy. It’s sad and it is pathetic.

    All of this is, of course, a sad, sad commentary on the state of the media in this country. A bunch of intellectually dishonest cowards, thieves, and liars.

  15. 15.

    Shalimar

    When do the rich have to feel their share of the pain? I have been waiting my entire life, and all they ever get is more tax cuts.

  16. 16.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    You do know that staring at dog crap drying on the sidewalk on a hot summer day is more intellectually stimulating than watching “Dick” Halperin bloviate, right?

    It’s less smelly too.

  17. 17.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @John Cole:

    forgot to change channels.

    Hell, Cole, you’ve got to pay attention! Take better care of yourself. It’s dangerous out on that cable thing, there’s stuff you really don’t want to see, it will drive you bonkers.

  19. 19.

    dead existentialist

    @John Cole: Well I was watching the same thing and it made me want to kill somebody, too. Just not myself.

    That said, either Rose and Halperin are the hemlock of our political discourse, so I sympathize.

  20. 20.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Shalimar:

    all they ever get is more tax cuts.

    Duh. Cuts are painful. Didn’t you ever get a paper cut? The rich, they suffer so. We should be grateful that it’s not us.

  22. 22.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Shalimar: They have the pain that comes from fretting that not everyone respects and values their important work, which hurts their feelings.

  24. 24.

    some guy

    absolutely UNPOSSIBLE! I was assured that there would be NO Grand Bargain agreed to by President Kill List

  25. 25.

    YellowJournalism

    Step away from the booze! With your luck, John, reincarnation is real and you’d come back as Donald Trump’s hairpiece as penance for leaving poor Lily behind.

  26. 26.

    cbear

    Typical Halperin and Rose discussion—-

    Halperin: “Charlie, does this look like dogshit to you?”

    Rose: “Hmmm, sure smells like dogshit. What does it feel like?”

    Halperin: “Feels like dogshit. What does it taste like?”

    Rose: “Yep, tastes like dogshit.”

    Halperin: “Good thing we didn’t step in it.”

  30. 30.

    handy

    I’m going to go chug a liter of vodka, beg my neighbors for Xanax, and fall asleep in my running car in the garage while listening to Jane’s Addiction.

    I would go with Morrissey or Nine Inch Nails myself, but it’s your GBCW moment so I won’t quibble any further.

  31. 31.

    Hill Dweller

    Speaking of Nate Silver, he has Obama at 77% to win the election. He hasn’t been that high since late Sept.

    In other news, the new Quinnipiac poll has Obama +5 in OH and “essentially tied” in FL.

  34. 34.

    some guy

    @FlipYrWhig:
    Hoping to line up a few more Senate allies before those looming negotiations over a “grand bargain” on deficit reduction, which could include cuts to Social Security, one progressive group has decided to back Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley in the Nevada Senate race.

    The Progressive Change Campaign Committee had already started phone banks to push four other Democratic Senate candidates: challenger Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Rep. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, and Rep. Mazie Hirono in Hawaii.

    The group committed to Berkley, who is facing GOP Sen. Dean Heller, after she committed last week to opposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits.

    Neil Sroka, a spokesman for the group, said its Call Out the Vote initiative has already logged more than 1 million calls.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/shelley-berkley-nevada-senate_n_2045761.html

  36. 36.

    gwangung

    @some guy: Just saying…if we’re to be seriously go after more progressive ideas, the Progressive Caucus needs to be a lot larger than it is…doing these things are absolutely necessary.

  38. 38.

    some guy

    @gwangung:

    no doubt, but getting as many Progressive Senators on board before the election is key.

    the AFL-CIO Campaign against Cuts to SS and Medicare begins on November 8th. hopefully it will get lots of press and popular support.

  40. 40.

    dr. bloor

    @Hill Dweller: I don’t know how Nate resists the urge to just throw some silly numbers up (“Obama now has a 1,453,345% chance of winning”) to see how many wing nuts he can kill off by inducing strokes and heart attacks.

  42. 42.

    Redshift

    @amk: Can’t remember where, but I read recently that in 2008, it took six days of early voting on FL before the Dems erased the GOP advantage in absentee ballots. This time it took 48 hours.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne

    Sorry, JG — modern low-emissions engines mean you could sit in your garage with the engine running for a week and you’d freeze to death before the carbon monoxide killed you.

  49. 49.

    blingee

    @Hill Dweller: I prefer PEC. He has Obama at 93-98% with 305 EV and historically he has been extremely accurate. I really like those odds.
    http://election.princeton.edu/

    I think Nate is going to have egg on his face this time. The fatal flaw with his method is that he uses National polls. PEC does not.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @some guy:

    I didn’t realize Mark “Dick Whisperer” Halperin was now an Obama campaign spokesperson instead of a Republican mouthpiece. When did that happen?

  55. 55.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @some guy:

    Assuming that Warren beats brown, Murphy beats McMahon, and King wins in Maine (all quite likely at this juncture) the Senate is already looking less aggravating. Berkeley or Carmona (or even Donnelly!) snatching up a Gooper’s old seat would be even better.

  56. 56.

    DPS

    @blingee:

    Silver has it at 299 EV tonight. That’s about half of Virginia from Wang’s 305. If Barack gets the swings minus FL and NC, that’s 303. I don’t see egg on anybody’s face in that event.

  58. 58.

    DaddyJ

    I’m sure Halperin would have raised my blood pressure too, and props to Cole and all liberal bloggers who subject themselves to this crap on a daily basis to keep us informed.

    But can I just say that I would like to see the backside of the “this makes me want to drink bleach/gouge my eyes out/huff paint thinner/jump off a bridge” joke? Lots of liberal bloggers use this gag, even Charlie Pierce, may his fingers never tire. But I bet our conservative visitors laugh the most at it.

    The rabid right has been pretty effective catapulting the propaganda for thirty years, but I don’t think it’s because they project their outrage inward.

  59. 59.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Hill Dweller:

    In other news, the new Quinnipiac poll has Obama +5 in OH and “essentially tied” in FL.

    I’d want to see the crosstabs on that, because it’s being described by Q as a “swing-state poll” of FL, OH and VA — and as I’ve said before, “swing-state polls” are a bit bullshitty. If it’s basically three separate state polls, then they can go into the pile, but if it’s one poll conflating numbers on all three, not so much.

    Again, repeating myself, but we’re at the point now where the press is waiting for the Designated November Surprise. There will be one story seized upon to be the “Could This Alter the Election?”, following the example of the Bush DUI or the Bin Laden tape or something else, and it’s probably going to be a nothingburger that gets chewed over for a few days, especially given the role of early voting, but this means that no other reporting of substance — on Rmoney’s bullshit ads and pathetic photo ops — is permitted to make headlines.

  60. 60.

    1badbaba3

    Hey, I attempted to reply to someone, hit the ‘submit comment’ thingee and my reply disappeared. Thrice. And I haven’t seen hide nor hair of that person since early tonight, er, last night now. Has that someone been banned? I am not clear on the protocol. Please inform.

  62. 62.

    Hill Dweller

    @blingee: I like PEC too, but the Village/wingnuts haven’t gone after him the way they have Silver.

    As long as Obama wins, Silver will be able to tell the Village to go f**k themselves, even if his numbers are a bit off.

  63. 63.

    Redshift

    @pseudonymous in nc: We’ll see. I think Sandy may have sucked up all the oxygen that might have gone to that. And since a competent disaster response can only reflect well on Obama, the Village can’t possibly focus on that as political news.

  64. 64.

    James E. Powell

    @DaddyJ:

    I will have to think about what you said. But I just want to note that in many ways, and particularly in the way they typically express anger, I do not wish to be like right-wingers.

  66. 66.

    DaddyJ

    @DaddyJ: Replying to myself here. John, having just read your tweet to that twerp Rick Sanchez in the previous post, I take it back. You are entitled to however many hyperbolic suicide jokes you wanna make if they make *you* laugh.

  67. 67.

    cbear

    @1badbaba3:

    ….I haven’t seen hide nor hair of that person since early tonight, er, last night now. Has that someone been banned?

    For God’s sake, rookie, we don’t talk about shit like that. Nobody gets banned around here, although every so often people kind of “disappear”, if you know what I mean. How do you think Cole’s cat got so fat?
    Now, STFU and try to look busy.

    AND, whatever you do—don’t reply to my comment!!!

  68. 68.

    Hill Dweller

    @amk: I saw where wingnuts were calling people and telling them they could vote over the phone.

    The shady stuff will just get worse before the election.

  72. 72.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    “… and fall asleep in my running car in the garage…”

    I bet John bought a Prius and this is his way of telling us.

  74. 74.

    piratedan

    watching the election time run down, the real sleaze ads are starting to surface… in AZ it’s smear Carmona time, we’ve seen something like five new anti-Carmona ads hit the airwaves…. tying him to President Obama as a handpicked candidate because the President asked and Carmona said yes…. then there’s the one with the Republican lady who was Carmona’s boss while he was Surgeon General who stated that she was in fear of her life due to his anger issues that mentioned that it was brought up before Congress (and everything dismissed, but hey, why ruin a good story?)… then the new one from the one female veteran that Flake happened to have helped, personally, never mind all those actual votes he took in Congress to deny them things like a cost of living increase, better medical care for their families and another four or five bills that were offered to help vets get care post their war zone contributions et al…. Then we’ve got the cactus Cuosins, McCain and Kyl…. outraged that Carmona is so lacking in integrity as to use their official statements of his capabilities in a campaign ad while they were offering his bonafides to be Surgeon General, now that he’s a Dem, well they didn’t really mean it and Carmona running as a Democrat after being an independent is a personal betrayal that simply can’t be condoned and the topper is the one where they blame him for personally bankrupting a County Hospital and thereby being responsible for an increase in property taxes and as a kicker, he’s such a petty pos, he even submitted to have his dry cleaning done on the taxpayers while representing them as Surgeon General, the cad!

    I think that they might just be scared about losing that senate seat…..

  76. 76.

    piratedan

    @Mandalay: sorry man, but I don’t read GG, anyone who goes to the extreme of setting up sock puppets to defend himself like he has, well I can’t be bothered to read…..

  77. 77.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @amk:

    Hundreds of people reported receiving strident, unsolicited anti-Obama text messages throughout Tuesday evening in an unusual spamming incident that had Twitter and Facebook users in an uproar.

    It was this GOP asshole, whose company has a history of it, and who did it for his own state senate race in VA last year.

  78. 78.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Mandalay:

    Awww, GG is upset that his buddy wuz picked on by someone on the internet. Get back to me when GG writes something worth printing out and lining the bird cage floor. GG’s past his expiration date and should be tossed in the trash with the rest of the garbage. BJ is the home of “Hot air and ill informed banter”, get over it Green Glen.

    GG is the home of the scratched album on the turntable that is skipping on the last song just before the end of the record.

  79. 79.

    1badbaba3

    :: Whistling, looking busy, clearing brush down on the ranch. Thinking: “Dang, can’t even ask a question around here. How’s a rookie ‘sposed to learn? Oh well, at least I’ll have the always dependable NHL to occupy my time. What? D’oh!” Doubly dejected sigh. ::

    Hey Cole, can we have the blog if you top yourself?

  81. 81.

    cbear

    @1badbaba3: Pssst, psssst… hey rookie….look, I shouldn’t even be talking to you, but I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to you so early in the game.

    Here’s what you do: subscribe to my newsletter at www.(my name spelled backwards 3 times) dot com.
    It’s only $29.95 and I’ll let you know how everything works around here.

    DO IT NOW, but be careful—Cole’s dogs didn’t get that happy and healthy looking on dry food alone. Comprende amigo?

    *

  82. 82.

    1badbaba3

    @Mandalay: Nah, more like don’t care. Fucking firebagging bitches, if you got something to say, come here and say it. I mean, what the fuck? First Freddie, now this from GG. Fuck that lame assed losing is the real winning bullshit. What are you, Republicans?

    Oh, right. Sorry. Never mind.

  84. 84.

    1badbaba3

    @cbear: Uh, thanks, person I’m not supposed to acknowledge. That sounds like a great idea. Let’s see, all I have is a c-note. Oh, and these magic beans. Will that do?

    Okay, seriously, did Spatula get the bum’s rush, or what?

  86. 86.

    Fuck ALL the chickens! (né Studly Pantload, t.e.u.u.)

    The Black Capsule. It worked for Hitler and Eva Braun.

  87. 87.

    kay

    He’s wrong even about that. The question in Ohio is “who has already voted?”

    I now want Nate Silver to win almost as much as I want Obama to win.

    Witnessing this embarrassing pundit pile -on of Silver has been amazing.

    God Almighty but these overpaid, pampered gasbags are thin-skinned. I’m pulling for Silver over Halperin, Fineman, Todd and Brooks. I hope he puts them all out of business.

  88. 88.

    Debbie(Aussie)

    NO John, don’t do it!!! Not only would Lily miss you, what about Ladyfriend, Rosie,Tunch and me :)
    Ok, now to read comments. The day always interferes in my ability to make timely comments.

  89. 89.

    Citizen_X

    @dr. bloor:

    I don’t know how Nate resists the urge to just throw some silly numbers up (“Obama now has a 1,453,345% chance of winning”) to see how many wing nuts he can kill off by inducing strokes and heart attacks.

    He’s just waiting for November 7th.

  90. 90.

    jamick6000

    I saw this too! Jeez it was horrible. The best part was when Halperin said something like, “I’m convinced one of three things is going to happen in this election: A close Obama win, a close Romney win, or a big Romney win.”

    So they can stop campaigning now because the only possible outcome is a big Obama win.

  91. 91.

    Napoleon

    Did Halperin really bust on Nate Silver on Rose’s show? God the villagers are like little children.

  92. 92.

    Napoleon

    @blingee:

    I prefer PEC.

    Why, his numbers have been transparently a joke this year. Weeks ago he had Obama at 90% and he had the chance the Dems would take the house by a bunch of seats at a real high %.

  95. 95.

    John PM

    No, you need to give Halperin the Xanax and then have him butt chug the vodka. The world would be much worse off without you…Halperin, no one would miss.

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