So, earlier this week, I (along with half the progressive blogosphere) mocked Erick Erickson’s dark hints that ‘somebody’ ought to primary that RINO Saxby Chambliss. Yesterday Erickson wrote an open letter to the other members of his political gated community’s HOA complaining (this may shock you) that national Republican Party operations are controlled by a cabal of professionals who have enriched each other even at the expense of Conservative goals. (“If money is the root of all evil, for the Republican Party evil is located on the fifth floor of 66 Canal Center Plaza, Alexandria, VA 22314.” More like 666 Canal Center Plaza, amIright?!?)
However, while the RedState commentors were enthusiastic about the idea of a purge, or purges (anybody who thinks the Obots-v-firebaggers civil wars are overwrought has never read Redstate), reaction to Erickson’s make-me-an-offer primary fandancing was… less than encouraging. Today Politico (via Paul Constant) reports:
RedState co-founder Erick Erickson said Friday he won’t challenge Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss in a GOP primary.
“Were I to run for the Senate, it would be a terribly nasty campaign,” the well-known conservative blogger wrote on RedState. “It’d actually be really awesome, but it’d be really nasty. I have a seven year old, a soon to be four year old, and a wife who does not like being anywhere near a stage. I’m not putting my family through that when the best outcome would mean a sizable pay cut in pay and being away from my kids and wife all the time huddled in a pit vipers often surrounded by too many who viewed me as a useful instrument to their own advancement.”…
In its role as the racing form tipsheet for political bookies, Politico thoughtfully includes side-by-side headshots of Chambliss and Erickson, offering an unwritten assessment that the smug-faced fresh-faced young challenger would be eaten alive by the hard-eyed pro (and I’m not entirely sure that’s a metaphor). But then Politico goes on:
… Erickson joins former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain in passing on a challenge to Chambliss. Karen Handel, the former vice president at the Komen Foundation who sparked a national controversy by moving to defund Planned Parenthood, has been mentioned as a potential challenger.
What are these Georgian GOPers trying to do — out-crazy South Carolina?
Yutsano
Adjusted to reality. Although also applies to Utah and Delaware.
KCinDC
Wow, 12 years ago I worked on the second floor of 66 Canal Center Plaza. We also had the fourth floor part of the time I was there. I don’t know if all those right-wing shell organizations were on the fifth floor then.
Schlemizel
THANK YOU!
I posted this in a thread early today & it was promptly ignored.
This could be a very bad sign if the morans finally wake up to the fact that they are owned by a bunch of grifters. If they figure that out & do something about it those lousy candidates with really bad ideas might run better campaigns & that would not be good
dmsilev
I took a brief dive through the comments, and the one that amused me the most was the comment lamenting that Awesome Biznessman Romney should have prevented this from happening.
It still hasn’t dawned on them just what sort of leech Romney was in his business career. Attack of the Killer Consultants is *exactly* the Romney business model.
Evolving Deep Southerner
Georgia. South Carolina. I was born in the former and lived in the latter for a long time.
I’ve never been to Arizona, but they sound crazy as hell out there. Oklahoma, too.
Those are about the top four on the crazy list, near as I can tell, though I can personally vouch for only two.
Now I live in North Carolina, in the most “enlightened” area of the state possible, and, still, sometimes I swear I bring the crazy with me wherever I go.
Yutsano
This is geg6 bait, but I’m certain she’ll appreicate it.
arguingwithsignposts
You mean that goat-fucker Ericksonsonsonson isn’t going to run? Damn!
Liberty60
Couldn’t bring myself to click on the RedState link, but the title alone made me laugh-
“Self-Awareness Matters”
Full Metal Wingnut
A “sizable pay cut in pay”? Maybe Jeb Bush can nominate him for Secretary, of the Department of Redundancy Department.
Felonius Monk
AA+ Bonds
Yes, hurry, Democrats! Now is the perfect time to attack your own base!
Quickly, we must divide this house!
Keith G
Georgia and Alabama exist so that we Texans can have someone to smirk at.
BTW, I’m thinking the witty rhetorical device, “amiright/amirite”, has passed it’s expiration date.
Joe Falco
Of course, Son of Erik would pass on this. Same reason our other talk radio blowhard in Georgia, Neal Boortz, won’t get into campaigning no matter how much their fans want otherwise: because they would have to face actual consequences for all the vile statements they’ve spouted off over the years. That and it would be a paycut for these guys even if they did win.
But then again, Georgians does have a tendency to let the crap float to the top like Rep. Paul Broun. I did actually call his office and asked the nice lady intern to pass on the message to my representative he ought to support the Senate tax cut extension for those making under $250k. A whole heap of good that would do, but I live to struggle in vain, it seems.
I recall a couple of years ago, the pastor at a local church I sometimes frequent had asked Rep. Broun to come
proselytizespeak to the congregation about how he votes and how much the Lord Jesus Christ is a big part of it. Keep in mind that this pastor took part in a group defiance of political speaking at the pulpit a tad earlier and later on left the church (supposedly to devote more time to his radio show) only to run for Rep. John the Fair Tax Co-Father Linder’s old seat two weeks later. And the pastor probably would’ve won if Linder’s own anointed Rob Woodall wasn’t in the race.I’m not sure if we are trying to out-crazy those South Carolinians. We just all have our particular brand of crazy to deal with. The flavors may be different, but the brand is still the same.
slag
Speaking of L’Etranger, the puppy wars they’re having with another non-Georgian blog are getting pretty hairy. Apparently, cats have now joined the fray. Cats and dogs fighting together side by side…the end is nigh.
amk
Talk about hubris. How many rethug pols gave a shite about what erickkk had to say ?
KCinDC
@dmsilev, I keep wondering if it’s going to come out that Mitt was getting kickbacks from these grifters consultants. There’s a reason he only put $150k into his own campaign, even though previous candidates who aren’t nearly as rich have spent or lent millions to theirs.
Yutsano
@amk: Who does he think he is, Grover Norquist or something?
Bago
When is the Wall Street Journal like a strip club?
When they trim out the Bush
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324205404578147733746228610.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Seriously, they cut both bushes out of the graphic.
Mike in NC
Um, you simply cannot out-crazy South Carolina.
RepubAnon
So let me get this straight – the folks who insist that health care and public education should be privatized because the invisible hand of the free market will result in awesome awesomeness are now complaining because they spent too much money on political consultants and didn’t receive good advice?
Folks, if knowledgeable, experienced candidates for national office can’t pick good political consultants (and trust me, the Democrats have some loser consultants as well), can we really expect the average consumer to make rational, informed choices on health care and/or their children’s education?
Sounds to me as though Eric thinks greed is bad outside of Wall Street, and that the free market doesn’t work so well. Obviously he’s been infected with the hippyvirus.
Alison
Hey, iPeople, I have an iQuestion.
So, the iPod Touch is basically an iPhone that doesn’t make phone calls, yeah? But as far as comparing storage, is there a difference between them? Like…could I store the same amount of music on a 32GB iPhone as a 32GB iPod, or does the phone have other shit that takes up storage space?
Because I was thinking about getting an iPod touch but then I thought…why not just get the phone? But THEN I though, but what if the phone can’t hold as much music? AND THEN I THOUGHT, I don’t know, let me ask BJ people to enlighten me.
I wouldn’t be loading it up with a lot of apps, if that matters. But if my main usage would be for music, does it make sense to get the iPod, or should I go for the phone? HALP.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Yutsano: Let’s run over Rick Reilly with a tank.
Yutsano
@The prophet Nostradumbass: I concur with this sentiment on general principle.
Villago Delenda Est
Hey, at least they have an ambition!
jl
So Erik is down on them professional hucksters destroying the GOP from the inside, and boy oh boy is he going to clean house… with the help of Herman Cain.
Is there something hilarious about that, or have I been misinformed?
I would like a pic of Erik and Herman together. I’ll bet Cain has that ‘I smell a big fat pigeon coming my way’ look on his face.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike in NC:
“South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.” — James L. Petigru, 1860.
Gin & Tonic
@Alison: If your primary use is music, then the phone costs you more upfront plus an extra $30/month forever for your carrier’s “data” plan (assuming you aren’t already paying for some smartphone plan.)
I’m pretty retrograde on this, so my iPod is just fine for my music-listening needs.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
O’Brien coach of the year? Bullshit. David Cutcliffe is coach of the year.
Duke is going to a bowl game. Need I say more?
Alison
@Gin & Tonic: Hmm, that’s true. And I barely use my cell at all anyway.
Bago
@Alison: how many devices do you want to carry?
The prophet Nostradumbass
@burnspbesq: San Jose State are going to a bowl game.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: Evidently there is just nothing out there to make you happy is there?
burnspbesq
@Alison:
You can probably store more on Touch, but the difference is likely to be immaterial.
The real determinant of how much music you can put on a portable device is the file format you use, and the tradeoff is capacity vs. sound qualify. I only carry CD-resolution or higher Apple Lossless files, so I can get about 150 albums on a 64 gig device. If you carry low-bit-rate mp3s, you can carry a lot more of them, but you pay a price I’m not willing to pay.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
Au contraire, mon frere. I practically came in my jeans when I heard about the Wright deal. Now Alderson has to sign Dickey.
burnspbesq
@The prophet Nostradumbass:
And their head coach is going to be short-listed for every open job at a BCS school.
Alison
@Bago: Well…for now it hardly matters, as I barely leave the house. I’m thinking of the who-knows-when future when I might be working again and be out and about, and at that point, I feel like I’d only want the one, which is why I was considering the iPhone, rather than get an iPod now and then at some later point find myself wishing instead I had the phone…but again, I have no idea when that might be.
Alison
@burnspbesq: I mean…is the sound quality that drastically different? I’m not that much of a music nerd, so I honestly don’t know
Gin & Tonic
@Alison: The vast majority of people with the vast majority of popular music can’t tell the difference. Some can, but they generally know who they are, and with some types of music the compression artifacts (if you know what to listen for) can be noticed.
Gin & Tonic
Adding, that if you’re not spending at least as much for your headphones as you are for your music player, you’ll never notice the MP3 compression.
amk
@Alison: Not really.
burnspbesq
Crap. Every time I think we’re starting to get enlightened, something like this happens.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8695613/vcu-rams-volleyball-coach-james-finley-says-was-fired-gay
Gay coach’s team goes 25-6 and he gets fired by a new AD? Yeah, I’m sure this is about nothing but performance.
The only good thing about this is that VCU is a public university, so if there is litigation we can hang it around the neck of wingnut AG (and presumptive Republican nominee for governor) Ken Cuckoocinelli.
burnspbesq
@Alison:
Once you go ALAC, you’ll never go back.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Alison: My understanding is that if you’re usually listening to music in the car, the road and wind noise drown out the differences.
I’ve got an iPod nano, 5th gen, with the little wheel thingie before they messed it up with a touchscreen. 16GB, very small, works fine. I think the Touch is too big to carry around just for playing music.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: Yeah I read that and tried not to puke. It seems to be going through the university’s processes first but I’m terrified it will end up in court. Then Kookcinelli will have a demagoguing target to chase after. Which with any luck that will backfire.
Note to self: if I’m ever transferred to DC, live up north.
Mnemosyne
@Alison:
If you have lots of easy (preferably free) access to Wi-Fi, the iPod Touch might be worth it to you — I had one for a long time before I bought my iPhone and since I have Wi-Fi at work, home, and most places I hang out (like Starbucks), it was quite handy.
I did eventually break down and buy an iPhone to reduce the clutter in my bag. Someone on here clued me in to the Virgin Mobile pre-paid iPhone — you have to pay full price for the phone itself (about $600!) but you get 300 minutes and unlimited internet and messaging for $30 a month (as opposed to the $70+ a contract phone would cost for the same service).
Keith G
@burnspbesq:
The comments are a pool of toxic invective.
Very sad.
burnspbesq
@Mnemosyne:
If you have reliable Wi-Fi, the physical memory limitation of the device becomes irrelevant. You can use a cloud service or subscribe to something like Mog or Spotify. I loves me some Mog for discovering new music.
Alison
Thanks for all the info, folks. Going to have to think about what I can afford monthly, of course…
burnspbesq
@Keith G:
Not surprising. It’s ESPN. The home page of a gazillion mouth-breathing Neanderthals.
Gin & Tonic
@burnspbesq: I think the point is if you have wifi everywhere you go, then the Touch is pretty much like an iPhone without the extra monthly charges, and you can run apps that would otherwise require a phone.
ranchandsyrup
once a prison colony, always a prison colony.
Jerzy Russian
@Bago:
That is pretty amazing. Orwell’s 1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual.
TruthOfAngels
Snorf. Shorter Redstate bloke:
‘Calling someone a goat-fucking child molester is one thing. Having that pointed out to me in a primary would be entirely unfair, so watch me hide behind my wife and child, you great big meanies! Debased political culture, can’t think how that happened, waaaaaaaah!’
Jesus Christ, what a dick.
amk
@Bago: Amazing. Fucking fifth columnists. Tweeted.
A Farmer
The fact that Erick Erickson makes more than a U.S. Senator is reason enough for me to support higher taxes on the wealthy.