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Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

The words do not have to be perfect.

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Battle won, war still ongoing.

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Reader Interactions

314Comments

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    Let’s have a “Most Inane Question” pool. I’ll take “Mr. President, in the interests of bipartisanship, will you offer a Cabinet position to either Mitt Romney or John McCain?”.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    I think I am now inspired to write a letter to the president. He seems to always mention one during every speech.

  8. 8.

    Quaker in a Basement

    Surprise, mfers! The birfers was right all along! Too late to stop my army of Zulu warriors now!

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    Obama never has to run for election again. Any odds that he will tell one of these hacks, “That’s a clown question bro.” ?

  11. 11.

    Sterling

    “Mr. President, how can you reconnect with Main Street now that the race is over? And by ‘Main Street’, I mean white people.”

  18. 18.

    hep kitty

    OT, I’m sorry, but since I have been giving to the USHS and ASPCA, these targeted ads with the chained pups and stuff are killing me! Makes me want to open my entire bank account, such as it is.

  19. 19.

    Laura

    If anyone is unemployed like me and needs something to do, I recommend watching The Island President. Interesting and also depressing as fuck.

  20. 20.

    EconWatcher

    Seriously, among the many things I’m grateful for, I’m very glad that PBO was willing to take one for the team and sign up for another four years of this clown show. I mean, really, how many times a day does he have to suppress an eye roll?

  23. 23.

    Surreal American

    “How accommodating will your administration be with President-Elect Romney’s transition team?”

    /Dick Morris-Peggy Noonan-Unlimited Trolling Guy

  25. 25.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Jewish Steel: You are my favorite Tampa socialite, Betty!

    Seconded!

    And the cranky, old white people in your district lost! Something to celebrate. Not sure exactly who to thank, but there’s the Boricuas in Orange County and of course some very pissed off African-American voters from Miami to Port St. Lucie.

    I was hoping Duval County would go blue this time but at least it was very close.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    @Poopyman: Yeah, she didn’t ambush him or anything but the use of the word “respectfully” was the chair shot to the head and then she launched with the phrasing of “cave”.

  28. 28.

    red dog

    Sit down Luke now that Nonna Pelosi has shamed you. Go join the movement with Ryan, Cantor and the other youngsters who have hollow ideas and are running for cover.

  29. 29.

    vayama

    @hep kitty:

    Strongly advise against giving to USHS. They have nothing to do with state/regional Humane Societies. They are a purely ideological group (very close to PETA) who gives next to nothing to actually help animals.

    ASPCA, though, are top notch.

  31. 31.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @blingee:

    Everytime Petraeus gets mentioned god kills a puppy

    The fault, dear Petraeus, is not in ourselves,
    But in our stars, that we are generals.

  34. 34.

    JPL

    It was nice of the President to speak about running against Ryan, but not sure what Romney thinks about that.

  37. 37.

    hep kitty

    @vayama: Well, I wondered about it, I looked it up on the charities thingie. I figured ASPCA was the better choice, based on what I had read, and planned to start just giving to them but I did give a little to USHS for the hurricane rescue efforts.

    Don’t give much since I don’t have much, so it’s best to put those dollars to the best possible use.

  38. 38.

    gwangung

    It was nice of the President to speak about running against Ryan, but not sure what Romney thinks about that.

    Do we really need to care about that?

  40. 40.

    ? Martin

    @Poopyman:

    Telemundo gets Q#3! Wonder why, eh?

    Obama is playing this very smart. Rewarding the voters who actually turned out is a rare thing. Usually everyone just focuses on the one they didn’t get and forgets to dance with the one that brought you.

  43. 43.

    Corner Stone

    C’mon Chuckles Todd. Just break free one time and don’t be the toady they want you to be.

  47. 47.

    LGRooney

    My mother-in-law gifted us with a chinchilla this weekend for my son’s ninth birthday! Cute little thing but what are we supposed to do with a nocturnal rodent?

    And I hate the idea of keeping an animal in a cage!

  53. 53.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Sterling: “Mr. President, how can you reconnect with Main Street now that the race is over? And by ‘Main Street’, I mean white people.”

    Motherfuckers, check the exit polls. The only white people I didn’t win are the senile and the inbred. Next.

    Seriously, though–Obama lost the most votes in the Appalachian region. Apparently it took them that long to figure out the President was blahhhhh because a lot of them voted for him in ’08. News travels slowly up there. Also they blame Obama for market forces driving down demand for coal because that’s logical. I mean, attacking him for “allowing” fracking would be more internally consistent, but, you know, whatever.

    Left coast, New England, and this amazing rural stretch of IA/WI/MN/IL all voted Obama, never mind any city that didn’t have a CCC in the 60s and a few that did.

    I’m tired of this narrative about demographics. It’s unsurprising to anyone but delusional idjits who wanted to go back in time to a more favorable electorate. If anything, their antics got a lot of Latinos off their ass about voting, maybe sooner than might have happened otherwise.

    You know what interests me? Why so many rural counties are red but then you have this blue outbreak up north, like a rash, across a four state area. Sure, it’s rural, not a lot of people, not electorally significant–but it would be fascinating to know why that crew is not going for the white supremacy death metal march with all the loonies to the south of them.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    “Mister President, among reparations, reinstating the Fairness Doctrine and confiscating America’s ammo and guns(pbut), which is first on your agenda?”

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    Now someone asking about Obama not reaching out sufficiently to Congress. Because it’s all that Obammer’s fault.

    I think he should do another meetup, a la on healthcare. That worked out great for them.

  61. 61.

    Another Halocene Human

    @EconWatcher: Seriously, among the many things I’m grateful for, I’m very glad that PBO was willing to take one for the team and sign up for another four years of this clown show.

    Me too. God knows it hasn’t been easy. When he gave that tearful speech to his volunteers you could get a sense of how insanely frustrated he is.

    But hey, he won, we won, decisively, and now he’s pissed off and taking names. Fuck yeah.

  63. 63.

    Democrat Partisan Asshole

    Palin has lost a serious amount of weight lately. She looks borderline anorexic.

    @hep kitty: I have said this since her crazed speech in Alaska a few years ago and will stand by it: Palin is a methamphetamine addict. If you’ve ever had the misfortune to be around them, you’d know.

  66. 66.

    Elizabelle

    Benghazi again.

    And President McCain and VP Lindsey Graham have said they cannot support Susan Rice.

  72. 72.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL:

    And all that golfing without purpose!

    Great smackdown of Gramps and Huckleberry Hound.

    Stop picking on Rice. Bring your problems to me.

  79. 79.

    Mouse Tolliver

    SNL should do a character called Second Term Obama where he’s played by Samuel L. Jackson.

  85. 85.

    YellowJournalism

    Oh my god…no way they’re using the families of the dead to justify this stupid questioning.

  86. 86.

    Corner Stone

    I’m not sure I can quantify it to any real level, but I may despise Ed Henry the most of any media person.

  89. 89.

    cckids

    @JPL:

    The President doesn’t spend his evenings in a bar with Boehner

    Sigh. Saw Tweety the other day, he came out & said that Pres. Obama should suck it up & forget about seeing his family every day & have 10-20 Congresscritters over every night for dinner and/or cocktails to schmooze them, & that will make everything better.

    Because, of course, the wingnuts biggest problem with this President is that he doesn’t socialize enough with them. They’d just love him if he’d cut loose a bit more.
    Jesus wept.

  92. 92.

    quannlace

    Cute little thing but what are we supposed to do with a nocturnal rodent?

    Had the same problem when I owned gerbils. Some nights I had to move their cage out into the hallway. There they could run on the wheel and rip up empty toilet paper rolls to their heart’s content.

  93. 93.

    Poopyman

    Ladies and Gentlemen of Balloon Juice, is this really the press corps we deserve?

    (Might be a tad rhetorical, I guess.)

  94. 94.

    Elizabelle

    Good.

    Obama is pivoting from Benghazi, which the DC press corpse wants to discuss, so that they have a future on Fox News

    to the economy and conditions facing average Americans.

    Obama’s real audience.

    I wish they’d have an actual town hall for WH pressers instead of these Benghazi-centric careerist zombies.

  98. 98.

    Punchy

    Oh shit….Obama is fucked…

    From the bit:

    On Oct, 29, 2012, the Citizens Grand Jury, after having evidence presented to it, voted unanimously on a true bill to indict President Obama and Vice President Biden on charges of treason for their having intentionally leaked classified national security information to boost their political fortunes in the Nov. 6 elections. This month, I will be returning to Ocala to seek the indictment of Obama for his having defrauded the American people with regard to his eligibility to be president. And, after that the Citizens Grand Jury will set its sights on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan for Roberts having violated his oath of office in rendering a willfully illegal ruling in the case upholding the constitutionality of Obamacare and not disqualifying Kagan, given her conflict of interest. Kagan will be indicted for violating her oath of office and refusing to recuse herself from the case as required by the Judicial Canons of Ethics.

    Say goodbye to Obambi, Osambo, Obummer, Nobama, and Balack Obrahma.

  102. 102.

    PeakVT

    I’m pleased the President has the capacity for it, but a little less public self-criticism would be better.

  103. 103.

    Poopyman

    @Elizabelle: It seemed like he fell back onto platitudes for a moment to help him regain his composure from dick Henry’s question. Interesting.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    I like the journalist from Illinois.

    “I’ve never seen you lose …. except that one time.”

  107. 107.

    Platonicspoof

    @Cassidy:
    Let’s ask McCain and Graham and the reporter that asked about a select committee to investigate Susan Rice.

    Apparently the President doesn’t think the UN ambassador is in charge of State Dept. security in Benghazi.

  109. 109.

    dmsilev

    @cckids: Tweety still hasn’t figured out that Mythological Tip O’Neill and Legendary Ronald Reagan don’t have much relevance 30 years later.

  113. 113.

    dmsilev

    @Elizabelle:

    I like the journalist from Illinois. “I’ve never seen you lose …. except that one time.”

    Bobby Rush, my Congressman for a while until redistricting, who will now forever be the one person who defeated Barack Obama in an electoral contest.

  114. 114.

    Quaker in a Basement

    Obama mentioned “being inspired by the grit and determination of hardworking people all across the country,” or something like that.

    He might as well have been speaking in Urdu. The Villagers have no clue what he’s talking about.

  115. 115.

    mai naem

    We just need to put some real hot hot guy in front of Lindsay Graham and proposition him and get him in a compromising situation. Then, he’s your bitch for at least this term.

  116. 116.

    Democrat Partisan Asshole

    Eliminate the filibuster for presidential appointments – straight up-or-down vote. That will render these blowhards irrelevant.

    @divF: Get rid of that “secret hold” shit too while we’re at it. This is a democracy. The legislative process is supposed to be transparent.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    @LGRooney:

    Man, I hate it when people give live animals as surprise gifts. It really is one of the rudest things you can do.

    There’s a lot of information on the web, and it looks as though a second chinchilla might not be a terrible idea since they’re social animals. Make sure you get one that’s the same sex since most vets don’t spay or neuter chinchillas and you don’t want to become an accidental backyard breeder.

  118. 118.

    ? Martin

    @some guy: He’s said that before. Fuck, it’s posted on the White House website as a policy of this administration, including an offer to help them pursue both energy production and medical needs.

    It hasn’t dawned on you that the word ‘enrichment’ comes up an awful lot as the primary issue with their program?

  119. 119.

    quannlace

    Citizens Grand Jury

    And after that, they’ll indict Ming the Merciless for intergalactic crimes.

  120. 120.

    John O

    Regarding climate change, that horse is running around in the field already.

    The only responsible political thing to do is prepare for it.

    I like my POTUS a lot.

  121. 121.

    Corner Stone

    @catclub: IMO, If Gramps McCain and that other clown think they’re going to use some sound byte from S Rice to angle in at the president they just got bugled on national TV.
    They’ve been doing their damndest to impeach Holder as a way to proxy Obama. Now they are trying it on for S Rice. They got Van Jones and Shirley.
    I’m not a big fan of drawing urban conspiracies but this doesn’t take a cracker like me to figure out too damn much.

  122. 122.

    Elizabelle

    @dmsilev:

    Indeed. Makes me wonder what PBO envisions in his future, although it may just be getting through the next 4 years and raising that beautiful family with Michelle.

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    Thank goodness the last question was on something important. Not something we’re actually doing fuck all about, but at least Syria matters to some degree.

  125. 125.

    David Koch

    He hasn’t mentioned the Public Option once!

    He’s SOLD US OUT!!

    DrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooneS!

  126. 126.

    lonesomerobot

    I’ve been going about this all wrong. If only I were a republican, I could fail miserably and get a promotion like Big John Cornyn did, in spite of losing two seats in the Senate as the NRSC chair in a year where they were supposed to take back the majority.

    And here all along I thought being successful was kind of an important metric for advancement.

  127. 127.

    ? Martin

    @Quaker in a Basement:

    The Villagers have no clue what he’s talking about.

    Don’t be hyperbolic. The villagers understand perfectly that grit, determination, and hard work means drinking your martini while ruminating over Benghazi, rather than just drinking it at the local strip club.

  128. 128.

    LGRooney

    @Mnemosyne: That means investing in another, larger cage which I’m willing to do. Obviously, we attached pretty quickly – I grew up with animals, my son has never had one and has no siblings… We can’t give her away because she is already ours. I agree that surprise gifting a live animal is extremely rude but we’ll get revenge when we have to go away on a trip and mother-in-law has to take of her.

  129. 129.

    Elizabelle

    PBO looks well rested. Glad to see he got a little time to decompress, in between the Petraeus soap opera and continuing issues.

  135. 135.

    Another Halocene Human

    @mai naem: We just need to put some real hot hot guy in front of Lindsay Graham and proposition him and get him in a compromising situation. Then, he’s your bitch for at least this term.

    I’m pretty sure Lieberman is Graham’s idea of a hot guy.

  136. 136.

    Elizabelle

    What was the question the last guy shouted?

    Because I think PBO said, in advance, that Syrian question would be his last.

  137. 137.

    David Koch

    Oh, immediately after the presser Brian Williams starts asking David Gregory about the Real Housewives of CENTCOM.

    Very serious people, indeed.

  138. 138.

    Allen

    I’m eagerly awaiting the first press conference after the inauguration next year and Obama gets introduced as the POTUS. I’ll probably hear Romney groaning all the way hear in Western Oregon.

  139. 139.

    Corner Stone

    Oh Chuckles Todd. Why would Obama punch down at Gramps McCain? They are NOT peers. Obama put that senile fool in his place and said, “I’m daring you Billy.”

  141. 141.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Corner Stone: Now they are trying it on for S Rice. They got Van Jones and Shirley.

    And it still didn’t give that other sack of Vilsack enough whitey cred to beat George Wallace Jr Steve King Peter King. Huh.

  146. 146.

    jibeaux

    @LGRooney: My seven year old daughter has requested for Christmas a mountain bike, an iPad, and a chinchilla. Kids today, huh? Did I mention that we have a terrier mix mutt?

  150. 150.

    trollhattan

    @Elizabelle:
    I’m guessing he’s smart enough to leave the whole mess behind and get a new CIA head confirmed (which may be the guy currently filling in). General Allen might present more of a problem, although I don’t see that he’s done anything wrong other than not rebuffing a far-too-persistent socialite.

  151. 151.

    Lurking Canadian

    Has he announced the FEMA re-education camps, yet? What about the gun confiscation? His intention to declare himself President-for-Life? Nationalization of banks and oil companies? The Amero? Reparations for slavery?

    Any of the good stuff? What’s he waiting for, now that the election is over?

  152. 152.

    Elizabelle

    Lindsey Graham statement: blames Obama personally for Benghazi.

    There’s a presidential temperament for you.

  153. 153.

    some guy

    @? Martin:

    Even as we intensify our pressure on the Iranian government, we hold open the door to diplomacy. Iran can choose to abide by its international obligations, honor its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and prove that its intentions are peaceful. The United States remains committed to a diplomatic solution, but the onus is on Iran. If the Iranian government continues it defiance, there should be no doubt that the United States and our partners will continue to hold Iran accountable.

    yup, those economic sanctions against a country for acting within it’s legal rights sure makes sense. idiot.

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne

    @LGRooney:

    As far as keeping her caged goes, from what I can see online chinchillas are perfectly happy living in a cage as long as you keep it clean, so I wouldn’t worry about that part of it. If the cage is big enough, most prey animals find it less stressful than free roaming because they don’t have to worry about what might come along and eat them when they’re out in the open.

  159. 159.

    trollhattan

    @jibeaux:
    The new “it” pet? Sheesh. I’m not worried about my 10YO asking, as wife.gov’s folks tried raising them “for profit!” because they once were advertised in comic books and cheap magazines as an easy path to wealth. Because the womenfolk were all clamoring to wear coats fashioned from pet pelts.

    You could look it up.

    Their nocturnal ways and the family dog put an end to that sceme.

  160. 160.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    What happened? Did the President come clean about Benghazi, Fast & Furious and Solyndra and promise to fulfill Mitt Romney’s mandate?

  161. 161.

    Corner Stone

    @Elizabelle: His district was redrawn and a real wingnut won the seat against former Congressman Nick Lampson.
    He was retiring anyway but the R party did everything they could to shove him out the door and into oncoming traffic.

  162. 162.

    JPL

    TPM has this statement from Graham.

    “Mr. President, don’t think for one minute I don’t hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi. I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack.
    “We owe it to the American people and the victims of this attack to have full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate. Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.”

    now I am typing as calmly as possible…this fucking asshole defended Bush’s handling of 9/11 when thousands of Americans died.

  164. 164.

    mds

    @quannlace:

    And after that, they’ll indict Ming the Merciless for intergalactic crimes.

    Based on my cursory perusal of the 2012 GOP platform, they’ll more likley be offering Ming the Merciless the 2016 nomination. Sure, there’s that whole “Calling upon the great god Dyzan” business, but I’m sure Franklin Graham will have no problem declaring those to be Biblical values, too.

  165. 165.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @LGRooney:
    By the way, chinchillas are very funny about keeping their fur clean. Dust baths and they don’t like to be petted in the normal ways. Read up on that, get better information than my distant memories of working in a zoo.

    Also, they’re fast and athletic to put squirrels to shame, and absurdly randy. Do not be surprised if it backflips and bounces off the ceiling to mount the back of your hand. Yes, personal experience.

  166. 166.

    ? Martin

    @some guy:

    yup, those economic sanctions against a country for acting within it’s legal rights sure makes sense. idiot.

    You don’t need enrichment programs for nuclear power or medicine. You only need them for weapons. We’ve even offered to give them the nuclear material they need for power plants if they eliminate their enrichment programs.

  168. 168.

    Elizabelle

    @trollhattan:

    I’m wondering if the Petraeus scandal flushes out some rightwingers and works to Obama’s benefit, in the long run.

    If nothing else, that FBI shirtless guy might find himself in the private sector sooner than he thinks.

  170. 170.

    Corner Stone

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Yep. Obama used solar panels to distract the guards while he then wiped out the Ambassador with clean weapons from the F&F program.
    I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again. Someone needs to remake the 1985 movie Clue.

    Or maybe Back to the Future with the Doc running from the Iranians with his Flux Capacitor.

  172. 172.

    WereBear

    @LGRooney: From what I know from friends who had them, the males are very big on Solitary Pleasuring. Something you might have hoped the nine year old would not be stressed with too much knowledge of until around twelve or so.

    Cages they don’t mind so much. But yes, they would love a companion.

    Who was this person who gifted, and what is wrong with them? Unplanned pets are not a good idea. My best friends from high school got married, were given a pair of finches, and were still caring for them almost twenty years later.

  174. 174.

    blingee

    “Mr. President, are you concerned that blah blah BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI ”

    –Serious fox news reporter Ed “birth certificate” Henry

    “Mr. President are you concerned that blah blah PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS PETRAEUS”

    –Chuck “Mittmentum” Todd

  175. 175.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Mike E:

    Get a brown chinchilla and strap it to yer head, and walk around the neighborhood saying, “This thing is pretty fucking golden!”

    “It’s HYOOOOOGE!”

  177. 177.

    Corner Stone

    @WereBear:

    Who was this person who gifted, and what is wrong with them? Unplanned pets are not a good idea.

    Yeah. My ex-MIL tried to give my son a kitten as a bday present one time. Guess who has the cat now? It’s not dad and my son.

  178. 178.

    PeakVT

    @JPL: Republicans would be better off letting the Benghazi thing drop because of how it compares to Bush’s outright failure before 9/11. But as many have said, it’s all they have on the President. It’s the start and the end of the list of things that could discredit Obama. One weak entry. They’re going to cling to it until Blimpbaugh tells them to let go.

  179. 179.

    John O

    Lindsay G. would suck my dick, but I won’t let him ‘cuz he’s not my type, so I’ll just say Lindsay Graham can suck my dick.

    What a wanker. And good on the POTUS for taking him and bitter ol’ Gramps on.

  180. 180.

    Redshift

    @lonesomerobot:

    And here all along I thought being successful was kind of an important metric for advancement.

    This is the party that gave a promotion to the person who was National Security Adviser on 9/11. Hard to “fail upward” any more spectacularly than that.

  181. 181.

    trollhattan

    @jibeaux:
    Tell you what, Apples’ scheme to get their cultputers into our schools is fricking brilliant. My redhead.edu is…”requesting” a Macbook for Christmas loaded with whatever the simple word processing program they come with is, because that’s what they’re using in fifth grade.

    As if.

    I’m guessing instead of Clippy they have a pink unicorn host.

  182. 182.

    Jade Jordan

    @hep kitty:

    Probably Crack or Meth. Alaska is the Meth Capitol and one of the Anti Palin books said she snorted coke off of a drum.

    The good news is that after 100 more pounds she will disappear and be gone forever (except the wig and glasses).

  184. 184.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Elizabelle:

    If nothing else, that FBI shirtless guy might find himself in the private sector sooner than he thinks.

    I think the whole intent was to get into someone’s private sector.

  185. 185.

    Redshift

    @PeakVT: Not true, they have the Petraeus affair, too! Though that one is a little inconvenient as an Obama Administration scandal, since it appears that absolutely everyone implicated in it is a Republican.

  186. 186.

    mai naem

    @Elizabelle: Grifters gotta grift. According to Roger Stone(yeah yeah I know) the whole Ron Paul/Rand Paul libertarian crap is a massive grifting operation. Apparently family members make $$$ off the campaign donations. I am shocked.

  187. 187.

    japa21

    If, in late 2001, any Democratic office holder had said what Graham said, Graham would be the first to condemn him as a traitor.

  188. 188.

    Mnemosyne

    @some guy:

    It’s not really a secret that Iran started working towards getting a nuclear weapon right around the time the US invaded Iraq. Frankly, they would have been idiots if they hadn’t since the main difference between Iraq and North Korea seems to be who had a nuke and who didn’t and got themselves invaded.

    The big diplomatic problem is that Iran signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and is now trying to break their commitment. Whatever you think of Iran’s attempts to get a nuke, it’s very bad form to let treaty signatories break treaties whenever they feel like it.

    (North Korea had originally signed the treaty, but they official withdrew from it in 2003. Iran has not withdrawn, so they are currently in violation of the treaty.)

  189. 189.

    Schlemizel

    @PeakVT:

    Ah – NO THANK YOU. Just the thought of it could soft boil a hard on

    @PeakVT:
    OH – OK thats different. might I suggest something in our chainsaw line?

  192. 192.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @? Martin:

    You don’t need enrichment programs for nuclear power or medicine.

    Yes you do.

    The fuel for nuclear reactors has to have a higher concentration of U235 than exists in natural uranium ore. This is because U235 is “fissionable,” meaning that it starts a nuclear reaction and keeps it going. Normally, the amount of the U235 isotope is enriched from 0.7% of the uranium mass to about 5%.

    Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

    The isotopes used in nuclear medicine are produced by research reactors. Here’s an excerpt from the World Nuclear Association on research reactors.

    Research reactors are simpler than power reactors and operate at lower temperatures. They need far less fuel, and far less fission products build up as the fuel is used. On the other hand, their fuel requires more highly enriched uranium, typically up to 20% U-235, although some older ones use 93% U-235.

    You don’t know what you’re talking about. Fuck off.

  196. 196.

    LGRooney

    @Frankensteinbeck: We’re using corn starch right now because I haven’t had a chance to get to the pet store and buy the real dust bath but she seems perfectly content with that for now.

    She is fast and it is a nuisance when it’s time for us to do something besides watch her because getting her back in the cage is a nightmare. And the nocturnal bit… I sleep little enough as it is and last night after making it to bed she started making sounds for the first time. of course, I had to get up and run to the living room to make sure she was okay. She just wanted some more food. Sheesh!

    @Werebear – don’t you know that puberty hits early these days. Hell, at 9 y.o., the boy is already 2-3 years experienced in the art. Doubt a chinchilla doing the same would alarm him. Alas, we have a girl so control will be maintained.

  197. 197.

    trollhattan

    @mai naem:
    Colbert’s double-transfer of his superPac into his complete and hidden control, at the direction of Trevor Potter, was a brilliant end to a brilliant running bit of political ed-you-ka-shun.

    IIUC Potter is part of a campaign finance reform effort. He gets my “10” vote for being much more than just a convenient Colbert foil.

  198. 198.

    Mouse Tolliver

    @blingee: “Mr. President, since you more than anyone else is responsibly for Ambassador Stevens’ death, do feel his tormented soul can ever forgive you?”

    “Mr. President, why didn’t you stop Gen. Petraeus from cheating on his wife?”

  201. 201.

    ? Martin

    @trollhattan: Don’t diss Apple’s Pages program. It’s simple in the sense that it lacks some of the power features in Word, but it’s also vastly more powerful in other ways because it doesn’t treat documents as an endless scroll of text and then try to shoehorn in things like headers, tables, and so on. Once you do anything like that in Word, it tends to start to lose its shit on you. Alas, nobody managed to get a better considered word processing/page layout app to succeed in the consumer space.

    But when it comes time to do the science fair project, it’ll get done WAY faster in Pages than in Word, and with fewer tears. Word is just a mess for so many things.

  202. 202.

    Paul

    @JPL:

    How about Lindsay Graham demanding answers from the GOP House that voted to cut funding for US embassy security? Good grief Graham, whose fricking side is your party on? What the hell were you people thinking when cut the security?

    And by the way, since Graham is holding Obama personally responsible for Benghazi, when the hell is Graham going to hold GWB personally responsible for 911???

  204. 204.

    WereBear

    @LGRooney: Sounds like it is working out for the best, good for you kind-hearted folks. (Here’s a link about lifespan.)

    I used to go to the local pet store every week to get mealworms (don’t get a lizard, they aren’t any fun unless you are a cat who will watch him every moment of the day in case he moves) and every single time I saw the male chinchilla in his cage, he was getting jiggy with it.

    I hope you all have fun!

  206. 206.

    Elizabelle

    @Schlemizel:

    Ah, yes. And he with that medical degree and professional experience with ladyparts.

    BTW, did you see that Tampa hostess Jill Kelley and her husband ran a cancer charity, in between giving parties, and that the 2007 tax filing (last one obtained by the reporters) showed contributions about $100,0000 in excess of disbursements? Think the NYTimes had a lead on that …)

  207. 207.

    catclub

    @some guy: Well, it worked in Afghanistan to oust the guys we disliked even more.
    Why change what Sainted Ronnie did over a bit of spilt airplane fuel.

  208. 208.

    Corner Stone

    @Mouse Tolliver: “Mr. President, parents of soldiers who you personally betrayed indicate you should have a spike driven through your body from asshole to appetite. Are you ultimately guilty for their deaths or merely supremely guilty, and what do you say to tax rate changes?”

  210. 210.

    MazeDancer

    Gotta love Mr. Obama doing his best Andrew Shepherd/Aaron Sorkin “let’em come after me” defense of Susan Rice in the presser. Very strong and impressive.

    Also admire Ambassador Rice.

    But do not want a fall-on-sword, media field day, let’s turn Benghazi into Watergate hearings, line-in-the-sand about Susan Rice. John Kerry would make a fine Secretary of State.

    Aren’t there enough unavoidable and hard battles without setting up another that will take all media focus and all energy away from everything else? Not seeing how creating a Susan Rice Sideshow helps anything. No matter how wonderful she may be. Feels like giving the wingnuts an open invitation to control the media even more.

  211. 211.

    some guy

    like clockwork, Obama wins election and the terrorists attack the Gaza Strip. like fucking clockwork.

  212. 212.

    trollhattan

    @? Martin:
    I know nothing of the program beyond the kid liking it–which is fine by me. It’s the overpriced hardware I’d have to plunk down for to get it, that assures its non-starter status.

    Like I said, those Cupertino boyz is wicked smaht.

  214. 214.

    danimal

    @JPL: Holy Cow, that’s a real quote. GOP better be ready, cuz their pistol called Obama/Benghazi is nothing compared to the nuclear bomb called Bush/9-11. If they really want to open up that can of worms in a serious way, I think they’ll be sorry. This issue still gets my blood pressure up.

    Lindsey, It’s ON, bitch.

  215. 215.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @LGRooney: I had a pet chinchilla once – long story, but the local humane society called me and asked if I’d rescue the one they had.

    Anyway, if you need some advice, email me and I’ll give you whatever I learned…

    They are very smart, btw, but for a cage? It kinda needs to be floor to ceiling tall (not very wide, but they’re climbers and get sad/sick if they can’t climb).

  216. 216.

    some guy

    18:48 GMT: Israeli army has reported a rocket from Gaza has hit a shopping center in a southern Israeli city, reports AlJazeera.

  219. 219.

    Gadsden Flag Burner

    John Kerry would make a fine Secretary of State.

    True, but let’s leave the Senate alone. I couldn’t handle dipshit Scotty Brown returning.

  220. 220.

    Elizabelle

    @MazeDancer:

    Ooh, I say leave John Kerry in the Senate. And Mark Warner: you stay there too. No waffling about wanting to be governor of Virginia again.

    Senate campaigns are so expensive, and why chance an off year one? All that Citizens United money floating around, looking for any way to improve their gains so far. (And they got nowhere to go but up.)

  222. 222.

    MazeDancer

    @? Martin:

    Love Pages. It allows me to work with clients who cling to Word, without having to buy Word. (Plus they’re all PC and I’m all Mac.)

  223. 223.

    Robert Sneddon

    @? Martin: Where do you think power reactor fuel pellets (2.5 to 3% enrichment) and research reactor fuel elements (up to 20% enrichment) come from if not from enrichment plants? In fact little if any weapons-grade nuclear materiel is made in enrichment plants any more since all the nuclear weapons powers have more than enough HEU and Pu-239 (which comes from breeder reactors) to satisfy their stockpile needs for centuries to come.

    The West and other nations have refused to actually supply the Iranians with fuel for their medical/research reactor. Every now and then they do a Kabuki dance of saying that they will supply them under certain circumstances then change their minds later. The Iranians decided that enough was enough a while back and produced their own 20% enrichment fuel elements as they are fully entitled to do as a sovereign nation. As signatories to the NPT they are also entitled to help from other nations for nuclear materials, technology etc. but the sanctions regime predicated on rather iffy intelligence reports prevents this.

  225. 225.

    Matt McIrvin

    @trollhattan: It could happen. Elizabeth Warren ultimately won by a healthy margin, but Scott Brown is still very popular in the suburbs, and a worse/less-famous candidate than Warren in an off-year election might get beat just like Martha Coakley.

    Especially if it IS Martha Coakley, a possibility I’ve actually heard raised.

  226. 226.

    LGRooney

    @TaMara (BHF): Apartment dwellers. We’re not supposed to have pets but we’ve been there long enough it will probably slide. In any event, I can’t do construction in the place to suit my pet although I have seen some decent-sized cages.

    I’ll send an email when I get home and have a photo to include (of the chinchilla, not a shirtless me).

  233. 233.

    Bokonon

    To apply the bitch-slap theory of American politics to this Benghazi thing: the GOP wants to use this as on occasion to collect some scalps from the administration.

    Right now, McCain and Graham are floating the idea that sacrificing Rice will spare the administration of “Watergate style hearings”. But we have all seen this game before – the bully move that the GOP would do next would be to continuing mau-mauing the Benghazi thing, and have the hearings anyway. CHUMP!

    Obama isn’t going for it. He fell for this during his first term … and it got him nothing. Except smirks from the GOP and claims that Obama was the new Jimmy Carter.

  235. 235.

    MazeDancer

    @trollhattan: @Elizabelle:

    Having just voted for Elizabeth Warren, I, too have a bit of “they’ll give him the consolation prize vote” about Scott Brown.

    Being new to the area, I know zip about MA politics, too. But rumor has it that Brown wants to be Gov.

    Also thinking maybe Deval Patrick might run for Senate if there is a special election. And Gov Patrick and his wife just visited their friends the Obamas this past week it has been reported.

    Pretty sure Deval Patrick could torpedo Brown.

    But weighing the considerations, the easiest confirmation process is nominating someone in the Senate. And if Kerry’s getting Defense anyway, it’s still creating a MA situation, but not avoiding the downside of the Rice fight.

    Susan Rice hearing will be the only story there is for weeks. It won’t help the country. It’s not worth spending all of Mr. Obama’s newly won clout on her. That clout needs to be about more important things.

    Please may the Senate pass filibuster reform.

  237. 237.

    Mouse Tolliver

    Reuters is reporting that Paula Broadwell did have substantial classified data on her computer.

  238. 238.

    lacp

    @Mnemosyne: They’re trying to break their commitment to the treaty? How? Last I heard there was no evidence they had been working on a nuclear weapon in years.

  239. 239.

    Paul

    @JPL:

    It’s my understanding that a Senate appointment in MA would hold that seat until 2014. Why couldn’t Deval Patrick run in 2014?

    He could. But 2014 is a mid-term and a fair number of Democrats can’t be bothered to vote in midterms and thus Patrick could have a fair chance of losing.

  240. 240.

    some guy

    @Ash Can:

    yes, the IDF has been assassinating different folks over the last few weeks, and Hamas finally had enough and replied with some rockets earlier this week. The IDF is bombing Gaza now from sea and from air, but Hamas has been hitting back. The began by assassinating the deputy military commander of the Resistance, and are preparing for another ground invasion of the Strip.

  241. 241.

    hueyplong

    I can only assume that Lindsey Graham’s pathetic attempt to look butch today means he’s up for re-election in the next cycle and has to hold off a primary challenge from Beauregard Jackson Lee Stuart Kirby-Smith of the South Carolina Tea Party.

    But just for fun, we might as well dig up some 2001 or 2002 footage of Graham calling a traitor anyone who dared to question Bush’s handling of 9-11.

  243. 243.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Mouse Tolliver:

    Reuters is reporting that Paula Broadwell did have substantial classified data on her computer.

    No way The Man Called Petraeus had anything to do with that. He was prolly hornswoggled by the devilish Miss Broadwell while he was lookin’ after his horse.

  244. 244.

    Mnemosyne

    @lacp:

    The IAEA and the UN Security Council disagree with you. I believed the IAEA when they said that Iraq had no nuclear weapon capability, so I believe them now when they say they’re worried about what Iran is doing.

    I will say, though, that any kind of military attack on Iran would be the stupidest fucking thing a country could do at this point, especially now that Obama is safely re-elected and the Iranians are willing to continue to negotiate.

  245. 245.

    Ash Can

    @Southern Beale: I’d love to see that hospital get taken to the cleaners in court and the people involved get thrown in jail, but I don’t know how the laws in Ireland work.

  246. 246.

    BrianM

    @LGRooney: Chinchillas are cute but not very personable. Pretty much the only time our Inchy notices us is when it’s time for a grain donut or raisin. Then she gets very excited until she grabs it and then the world stops existing again. (You should feed them fruit very sparingly.)

    They can jump amazingly high.

    There’s not a lot to say about chinchillas.

  254. 254.

    Ben Franklin

    When Cluck Todd sought to make POTUS accountable, I watched Obama’s face for tics revealing derision and scorn.

    Poker Face

  255. 255.

    Ben Franklin

    When Cluck Todd sought to make POTUS accountable, I watched Obama’s face for tics revealing derision and scorn.

    He should play Texas Hold ’em

  256. 256.

    Maude

    @LGRooney:
    They bathe in sand, just fine. If you can find an old glass fish bowl, that does nicely. It will be a learning experience.
    We babysat one for a couple of weeks one summer. The chinchilla spent her days out on a picnic table in the back yard under a shade tree. She wasn’t in a cage and she had her sand bowl and other stuff. She was adorable. We didn’t have any trouble with her. There was other nearby captive wildlife to keep her from being lonely.
    Call a zoo if you have questions. They are the ones who know how to take care of chinchillas in captivity.
    Just be grateful they didn’t give you a Myna bird.

  257. 257.

    trollhattan

    @Maude:

    Just be grateful they didn’t give you a Myna bird.

    Knew someone who had one. No kidding (added bonus: they live a long time).

  259. 259.

    Robert Sneddon

    @trollhattan: Not debtors prisons but you could google “Magdalene laundries” sometime — the last one shut down in 1996. Ireland never had any coal so it burns peat as its only substantial native fuel source for electricity generation.

  261. 261.

    PeakVT

    I wonder if Obama is trying to bait the Repukes into promising to filibuster Rice. That would be one way to push filibuster reform.

  262. 262.

    Suffern ACE

    Intense discussion of “Whole Foods voters” vs. “Cracker Barrel voters” on CNN. Well, that’s timely. I guess wal-mart moms didn’t matter after all.

  263. 263.

    TooManyJens

    Today is the National Day of Action for the Violence Against Women Act. Please take a moment to call your Representatives and Senators and ask them to pass the Senate version of the bill. (The House passed a substitute bill earlier this year, but it doesn’t have the same protections for LGBT people, women of color, and Native Americans, and actually makes matters worse for immigrant women.) Let’s get this passed in the lame duck.

  264. 264.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @PeakVT:

    I wonder if Obama is trying to bait the Repukes into promising to filibuster Rice.

    I get that feeling. Having a couple of announced filibusters or holds on record before the vote on rules at the start of the session is a nice way to make the issues very concrete.

  265. 265.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @trollhattan:

    Most depressing thing I’ve read in ages. Am now presuming Ireland still has debtors prisons and the entire place runs on coal.

    Ireland’s a messy country. Since about 1990, there’s been a growing tension between smart young people who are done with all this bullshit, the nepotistic ruling classes (which includes the bishops, to some degree), and the “plain people of Ireland” who retain a 1950s sensibility. Also: lots of inbound immigration (EU and beyond) which has changed the face of the country.

    It was one of the most forward-looking in Europe in terms of embracing the internet (smart young people) but its politics, even after the recent election, are still incredibly parochial, as you might expect from a country of four million where everybody knows everybody else. And since a lot of the smart young people are fucking off abroad in search of work, the balance shifts again.

  267. 267.

    Chris

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    Ireland’s a messy country. Since about 1990, there’s been a growing tension between smart young people who are done with all this bullshit, the nepotistic ruling classes (which includes the bishops, to some degree), and the “plain people of Ireland” who retain a 1950s sensibility. Also: lots of inbound immigration (EU and beyond) which has changed the face of the country.

    “Among the best traitors Ireland has ever had, Mother Church ranks at the very top, a massive obstacle in the path to equality and freedom. She has been a force for conservatism… to ward off threats to her own security and influence.”

    Bernadette Devlin.

  268. 268.

    The Moar You Know

    (Reuters) – A computer used by Paula Broadwell, the woman whose affair with CIA director General David Petraeus led to his resignation, contained substantial classified information that should have been stored under more secure conditions, law enforcement and national security officials said on Wednesday.

    That’s all, folks.

  274. 274.

    trollhattan

    @Robert Sneddon:
    I know of the Magdalene laundries but I confess it’s only because of Joni Mitchell and the Chieftains recording her song of that title. Had to look them up, as the lyrics seemed too specific to have been conjured from thin air.

  275. 275.

    scav

    @The Moar You Know: If so, that would make a lot more sense of the wriggling down all the militery-social connections spreading out like one of the more aggressive cancers, althoguh it doesn’t make the general weirdness any less 4-star generally weird.

  276. 276.

    trollhattan

    @Maude:
    A friend has hearing loss from her parrot (which must be something like twenty-five by now). Hitchcock was onto something.

  277. 277.

    burnspbesq

    @Corner Stone:

    Obama never has to run for election again. Any odds that he will tell one of these hacks, “That’s a clown question bro.” ?

    We can dream.

  278. 278.

    R-Jud

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    And since a lot of the smart young people are fucking off abroad in search of work, the balance shifts again.

    My friend from Cork posted a link to that tragic story with the comment, “Why I left, part 457.”

  280. 280.

    burnspbesq

    I love Ireland, but I sure am glad my ancestors got the hell out in 1848. It’s easier to love it from afar.

  281. 281.

    Anoniminous

    Oh this is cool:

    17:25 GMT: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says it “will not allow the Palestinians to be subjected to Israeli aggression”.

  282. 282.

    BGinCHI

    Secession petitions filed in all 50 states.

    If they seceded all at once, wouldn’t that be a flash mob?

  283. 283.

    Culture of Truth

    There once was a man from Cork
    Who could be a bit of a dork
    He didn’t use a condom
    it was frowned upon
    So they got a visit from the Stork

  284. 284.

    LAC

    @EconWatcher: I know! I would be so bad at this. There would be a whole lot of “what the fuck are you talking about, bitch?” “Chuck Todd, got another dumbfuck question to ask?” “Did I tell him to go bang his biographer? No!” “Yeah, it was a shock, motherfucka, what do you think?” “Do I care about the opinions of a bitter old man and some closeted queen? Uhhhh…No!”

    Yeah, I would be really bad at the president thing…

  286. 286.

    Corner Stone

    @BGinCHI:

    If they seceded all at once, wouldn’t that be a flash mob?

    Spontaneous Jazz Hands? This sounds like a plot from an episode of Heroes or Alphas.

  287. 287.

    Lurking Canadian

    @MazeDancer: Why does it have to be John Kerry? Is he the only Democrat in the US who knows anything about foreign policy? If he needs it for his ego, or some shit, can’t they get him to wait until 2014 and avoid another Very Special MA Election?

  288. 288.

    Corner Stone

    @some guy:

    MenoMind thinks the IAEA says something it doesn’t say. Yes, he truly is a useful idiot.

    I think she’s a she but yeah, she’s a congenital liar that couldn’t point you down a one way street correctly.

  294. 294.

    Ash Can

    @The Moar You Know: Is this likely to lead to anyone serving time? (Sorry if this is a stupid question; I genuinely don’t know the legal ins and outs of this.) At the very least, it should spice up Petraeus’s appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow.

  295. 295.

    LanceThruster

    Barry-O should have messed with their heads.

    He could have said, “Now that the election is over, I can reveal that the birthers were right and the birth certificate was a forgery. But even though people questioned Governor Romney’s biological origins, he is indeed human.

    [pulls off skin of face to reveal iridescent reptilian skin like the aliens from “V”]

    I however, am not only not from Hawaii, neither am I from Kenya. My planet is on the opposite side of the sun in the same orbit as your earth. I came here many years ago destined to be installed as the leader of the free world Though many wise Republicans doubted my authenticity, I was able to maintain the illusion long enough to take control and by neutralizing most of those trying to sound the alarm, I as part of the advance team, am now ready to fully implement our blueprint for word domination. We had calculated several approaches, but have decided on Plan 9. Plan 9 will be put in effect immediately. Do not be afraid. Our plan is to serve humans…those humans of sufficient bulk and marbling. The so-called FEMA camps are more accurately what you would call a factory farm. We came close to being discovered, but by disrupting your weather patterns, not once but twice (the other at your RNC convention), you were distracted just long enough. It is ironic that if only you earthlings had increased your carbon emissions a little more, you may have repelled our invasion. Fortunately for our species, our galactic brother Gor-al was able to divert attention at a critical junction.

    Please turn in all your guns, surrender all assets so as not to be able to mount a counter-insurgency should there be places where great wealth was hidden beyond our reach, and know that we are allergic to prayers, but only if everyone prays to the right God. We prevented this by fooling enough people into doubting your one true God. Even your dreaded holy water has been too diluted to do us any harm. One bad bit of news for Governor Romney, we blew up Kolob on the way over as a sign of our power and commitment to pure evil. Since we cannot eat all of you at once, we’ll just continue to let the economy fester by our “adjustments” to keep you weak and jobless in order to sap you of any motivation, just as long as we provide enough of you with free stuff. How little did you know that the power to tax IS the power to destroy.

    I _am_ Starfighter Brrr’acko Hootsay’N from the planet OB’aMO, and I approve this menu.

    Rush will make a most delicious rumproast.”

    [hisses and flicks lizard tongue]

    There’d be more suicides than after War of the Worlds, and birthers and tea baggers would be riding around in the back of pickup trucks shooting in the air while hooting “WOLVERINES!”

  296. 296.

    Corner Stone

    @PeakVT:

    I wonder if Obama is trying to bait the Repukes into promising to filibuster Rice. That would be one way to push filibuster reform.

    Not really. Who gives a shit about S Rice?
    And I’m curious where the vocal support for E Warren was during a similar bashing situation. I would have 100% preferred her as head of the Consumers org than 1 of a 100 Senators where she has Chuckie Schumer whispering in her right ear.

  297. 297.

    Judas Escargot, Bringer of Loaves and Fish Sandwiches

    @trollhattan:
    I’d worry about the seat. First chance for the Angry White People to come out after Obama’s win? It’d be like Jan 2010 all over again.

    On the GOP side, Brown still has his 43% base of support and he wouldn’t be running against Warren this time around. There’s Tisei (an openly gay Tea Partier who just lost a bid for MA-6) and Former HMO CEO Charlie Baker (who came close to unseating Gov. Deval Patrick in 2010).

    On the Dem side, Coakley might run again (no, please Martha, no). There’s also Mike Capuano (who was defeated by Coakley in the Dem primary but chose not to run against Brown). Also a few others who were overshadowed quickly by Elizabeth Warren.

    Hell Aitch E Double-Hockey-Sticks, Mitt still votes in Belmont. No technical reason he couldn’t run for it, if he wanted (as unlikely as that is).

  299. 299.

    MCA1

    @Another Halocene Human: History. Those upper Midwest states are filled with Scandinavian Lutherans and Methodists, rather than Scots-Irish evangelicals. Differing ideas on government and the social contract that persist even now. The Progressive Movement had a strong presence in Wisconsin and Minnesota, especially, and that still informs party affiliation and political philosophy. Traditionally, at least in Minnesota, the Democratic Party (there, the DFL) is the one associated with the agricultural community, not the Republicans.

    Illinois is different than MN/IA/WI, though. Were it not for Chicago, it would be a red state.

  301. 301.

    Corner Stone

    @Scott S.:

    Lindsey Graham ultimately responsible for being a complete douchemook.

    Can we do this now? Take words like douche and just start appending awesome endings to it?
    Douchemook. Huh.
    Why did no one inform me!

  302. 302.

    Corner Stone

    @LAC:

    Yeah, I would be really bad at the president thing…

    I’d vote for you. And I’d be a perfect spokesperson for your campaign.
    “So, uh, douchebag. Are you going to just lie out of your stupid fucking face again or do you have an actual question someone with an IQ above 80 wants an answer to?”
    “Don’t stutter you bitchnozzle. You’re lying. You’re a liar. Now either ask a question about actual numbers or I am going to break this fucking podium over you and then take a pic with my balls in your mouth. Thanks.”

  303. 303.

    scav

    @Ash Can: Well, it’s not as though they messed with an iPhone prototype or anything. THAT gets doors knocked doen in these here 21stCies.

  305. 305.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Fuck. That “Citizen’s Grand Jury” would indict any fucking ham sandwich that was made with whole wheat instead of white.

  306. 306.

    slightly_peeved

    @trollhattan:

    Am I the only person who sees “Angus King of Maine” and reads it in my head as “Angus, King of Maine”?

    All hail Angus, ruler over the Maniacs!

  307. 307.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    @Ash Can:

    Is this likely to lead to anyone serving time?

    Oh my yes. Even if she’s authorized to access it, she’s most definitely not authorized to take it home or store it on a personal laptop.

  308. 308.

    Brachiator

    @The Other Chuck:

    There once was a man from Peru
    Whose Limericks stopped at line two

    That ain’t no limerick. That’s a couplet.

    @trollhattan:

    I know of the Magdalene laundries but I confess it’s only because of Joni Mitchell and the Chieftains recording her song of that title. Had to look them up, as the lyrics seemed too specific to have been conjured from thin air.

    If you have not seen it, you should do whatever you can to buy, rent, download or stream

    Peter Mullan’s The Magdalene Sisters.

  310. 310.

    MazeDancer

    @Lurking Canadian:

    Doesn’t have to be John Kerry, just think he’d be good at it. Can be anyone.

    So, maybe I went post-racial on Ambassador Rice? Was only thinking about the good of the country. And not wanting POTUS to squander political capital needed for bigger fights.

    But maybe I missed the bigger fight aspect of this – race.

    Rep. Clyburn is on Hardball talking about Susan Rice’s roots in South Carolina, and her noted father didn’t leave SC until he was 16, and how upset Rep Clyburn is that the senior Senator from SC is coming down on the innocent and gifted Ms. Rice. Clyburn is seeing this as racial.

    Seriously, I never thought about this being a racial thing. Thought the President might be a little caught up in Ms. Rice being friends with he and FLOTUS. But there is a racial element I missed.

Comments are closed.