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You are here: Home / Completely Out of their Gourds

Completely Out of their Gourds

by John Cole|  December 13, 20122:56 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Sociopaths

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Here’s Grover Norquist predicting that President Obama will be so upset by Republican restraints on spending that he will murder people for shits and giggles:

NORQUIST: We got lots of things Obama claims to be for, and we will make — we, the Republicans in the House and Senate — will make him actually make those spending restraints, in order to get the continuing resolution out [for] a week, two weeks, a month. Obama will be on a very short leash, fiscally speaking, over the next four years. He’s not gonna have any fun at all. He may decide to go blow up small countries he can’t pronounce because it won’t be any fun to be here, because he won’t be able to spend the kind of cash he was hoping to.

These people have just lost the damned plot.

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Reader Interactions

122Comments

  1. 1.

    Butch

    December 13, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    Grover was interviewed on NPR last night. The man is an incredibly accomplished liar.

  2. 2.

    japa21

    December 13, 2012 at 2:59 pm

    This is insane. First of all, I am pretty sure that Obama knows how to pronounce the names of “those countries” better than Norquist does. But even more, he seems to be implying that if Obama wants money to blow up small countries, Congress will give him that, but no money for anything else.

    I think this last election destroyed what few brain cells Norquist had. But then, they may have committed suicide from loneliness.

  3. 3.

    Hill Dweller

    December 13, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    The Republican party is a collection of gullible half-wits and fascists. They are radicals by any modern political standard.

  4. 4.

    doctortecate

    December 13, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    “we, the Republicans in the House and Senate”

    He really does think he’s an elected official.

  5. 5.

    SmallAxe

    December 13, 2012 at 3:02 pm

    Notice how he drops the mask and includes himself as one of the Repubs. This unelected little prick really has been disastrous for our country. I loved it when he had the attacks from the loony right (Frank Gaffney & Co) on his closet muslim hood through his wife a little taste of his own medicine but Gaffney hasn’t cranked that wurlitzer in months.

  6. 6.

    clone12

    December 13, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    On the other hand, Grover Norquist’s Republican Party would never blow up a small country or invade some foreign land just for the fun of it.

  7. 7.

    c u n d gulag

    December 13, 2012 at 3:05 pm

    ZOINKS! ! !

    Grover thinks that Democrats are all like Republicans!

    That when they’re frustrated, angry, or made to look like fools, they look to blow some poor country up – SOMETIMES EVEN THEIR OWN – ECONOMICALLY!

    This is so far out of bounds, he’d be playing Canadian Football, if Canada wasn’t a much smarter nation than we are.

  8. 8.

    Zifnab

    December 13, 2012 at 3:05 pm

    Projection, still the name of the game among Republicans.

  9. 9.

    handsmile

    December 13, 2012 at 3:05 pm

    It’s not the plot these people have lost. (But would they were soon interred in their own.)

  10. 10.

    ppcli

    December 13, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    Since Saint Ronaldus Magnus invaded Grenada to distract people from the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Norquist must figure that this is something presidents have to do.

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    December 13, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    The problem is, he’s still waiting for someone to prove him wrong. An election happened, and that’s fine. Now what?

  12. 12.

    Gravenstone

    December 13, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    Projection, its ot just a room at the local google-plex.

    Oh, and I think Grover meant to say, “He may decide to go blow up small countries Ican’t pronounce …”

  13. 13.

    Warren Terra

    December 13, 2012 at 3:11 pm

    “he can’t pronounce”? I’m guessing Grover loved him some Dubya, even though he regularly lost his ongoing struggle to master the English language and spelled “Afghanistan” I-R-A-Q.

    (The fact that Dubya also failed basic arithmetic, as Krugman memorably, repeatedly, and despairingly pointed out during the 2000 campaign, would of course be an asset in Grover’s mind, not a disadvantage)

  14. 14.

    MattF

    December 13, 2012 at 3:11 pm

    You think politics has anything to do with policy? Ha ha. It’s about irresistible impulses, it’s about resentment, it’s about those evil people who keep you from doing what you want. And so sayeth The Divine Grover, who should know

  15. 15.

    blondie

    December 13, 2012 at 3:11 pm

    Yet further proof that no one should listen to a damn thing Grover Norquist says.

  16. 16.

    Mnemosyne

    December 13, 2012 at 3:12 pm

    This is different from what mclaren has been spouting here how, again? I mean, other than the fact that mclaren claims to be from the “left” and Norquist is from the “right.”

  17. 17.

    Turgidson

    December 13, 2012 at 3:16 pm

    @japa21:

    he seems to be implying that if Obama wants money to blow up small countries, Congress will give him that, but no money for anything else.

    Tragically, he’s probably right about that. There’s always plenty of money for the righteous cause of blowing up brown people in faraway lands.

    But not a cent can be spared to shore up programs that prevent granny from starving. Because sokulism.

  18. 18.

    Gravenstone

    December 13, 2012 at 3:16 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Shhhhhh! You’ll summon it if you say the name one more time.

  19. 19.

    Dave L

    December 13, 2012 at 3:16 pm

    @clone12: Bingo! Always remember that projection is what conservatives do best. Grover’s just letting us know how anyone from his side of the political spectrum would react to being fenced in.

    Oh, and notice that in Groverland, blowing up unpronounceable small countries gets an automatic free pass from the Republican expenditure vigilantes.

  20. 20.

    Tonal Crow

    December 13, 2012 at 3:16 pm

    As usual, the comments section at Yahoo doesn’t disappoint: “Gimme Obamaphone” romneys:

    In January 2013, Obama will inherit an economy in far worse shape than the one he inherited in 2009.

    Yes, I did just coin the word “romney”, which means to lie with conviction against all or virtually all of the objective evidence.

  21. 21.

    Scotty

    December 13, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    Maybe it was a metaphor.

  22. 22.

    MattF

    December 13, 2012 at 3:21 pm

    @Tonal Crow Hmm.

    To Romnurbate:to lie to yourself
    To Romellate: to lie without gagging

  23. 23.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 13, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    It’s projection.

    After all, this is the sort of thing these guys get off on. You know, every so often, you throw a shitty little country against the wall as an example for all the others.

  24. 24.

    Tonal Crow

    December 13, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Norquist is not from the air-quotes right. He is a full-fledged member of the right, period. How can you doubt it?

  25. 25.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    @doctortecate:

    He really does think he’s an elected official.

    Political bosses don’t run for office, but they control those who do…

    @c u n d gulag:

    Grover thinks that Democrats are all like Republicans!

    I think, like the teleprompter meme, this is just something that was thrown at George Bush (deservedly so) for years while he was in office, made them seethe with anger at the humiliation of being so insulted by their inferiors, and now they’re trying to get us back by flinging the same insults back at the current President – never mind that it makes no sense in that context.

  26. 26.

    piratedan

    December 13, 2012 at 3:24 pm

    Grover Norquist’s Republican Party sounds eerily similar to Monty Python’s Flying Circus, granted the themes are still there, stupidity, sexism, juvenile responses to authority and only a fleeting reflection of sanity… only it’s not as funny and their tag line “No Tax Hikes” isn’t nearly as good as “… and now for something completely different”.

  27. 27.

    Malaclypse

    December 13, 2012 at 3:24 pm

    He may decide to go blow up small countries he can’t pronounce because it won’t be any fun to be here, because he won’t be able to spend the kind of cash he was hoping to.

    Grover’s right about one thing – Republicans will never fail to authorize spending, as long as the spending is on abysmally stupid wars.

  28. 28.

    some guy

    December 13, 2012 at 3:24 pm

    letting the Pied Piper lead the Teabaggers in an open revolt against the GOP House leadership is fine by me, as polling shows large majorities blame the GOP for the fiscal conditions we are facing. Make the Norquist Brigade own the austerity regime, and win back the House in 2014.

    not a problem.

  29. 29.

    mclaren

    December 13, 2012 at 3:24 pm

    Why is this statement insane? Obama is already blowing up small countries. Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and now anti-terror ops in Africa. He can pronounce them, though.

  30. 30.

    Maude

    December 13, 2012 at 3:25 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    This.

  31. 31.

    Tonal Crow

    December 13, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    @MattF:

    @Tonal Crow Hmm.
    __
    To Romnurbate:to lie to yourself
    To Romellate: to lie without gagging

    Good, good.
    Romnonanism: To lie to oneself habitually, such that hair grows on one’s palms.

  32. 32.

    catclub

    December 13, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    @Tonal Crow: Wow. I guess it will be worse because taxes on rich people might be higher.

    Losing 500k jobs/month, economy compressing at 6% annual rate, stock market almost cut in half, are not nearly as bad as:
    economy growing ( slowly), jobs increasing, stock market at near record highs.

  33. 33.

    Misterpuff

    December 13, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    Target Number One: The Heart of Teabagistan and Mr President can certainly pronounce it, Norbert.

  34. 34.

    anibundel

    December 13, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    @Butch: He was on Newshour the other night and they were talking to him like he was some intellectual heavyweight.
    I was appalled.

  35. 35.

    clayton

    December 13, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    Doesn’t Grover have a little war experience in Angola?

  36. 36.

    Tonal Crow

    December 13, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    It’s projection.
    __
    After all, this is the sort of thing these guys get off on. You know, every so often, you throw a shitty little country against the wall as an example for all the others.

    It’s propaganda, with some projection thrown in.

  37. 37.

    Chyron HR

    December 13, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    That’s “True Progressive Firepup Grover Norquist” to you, bub.

  38. 38.

    dmsilev

    December 13, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    How about we declare war on Dumbfuckistan and its allied state DamnedLiaronia? God knows that would actually be in our national interest. It would, of course, require precision drone strikes against the leaders of these terrorist states.

    Look to the skies Grover, look to the skies.

  39. 39.

    Richard

    December 13, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    Projection indeed.

    GOP operatives, funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, love to talk about how the billionaire Soros is pulling the Dems strings.

  40. 40.

    catclub

    December 13, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    @Tonal Crow: I could not find this in the link. “In January 2013, Obama will inherit an economy in far worse shape than the one he inherited in 2009.”

    maybe a different yahoo article? or maybe edited since you read it?

  41. 41.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    @Malaclypse:

    Grover’s right about one thing – Republicans will never fail to authorize spending, as long as the spending is on abysmally stupid wars.

    I think they might if a Democratic president wanted the war.

  42. 42.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    December 13, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    Huh. This election was the end of Norquist’s career, everyone knows that, including him.

    However, I was not counting on him being as mentally unstable as he’s showing himself to be. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

  43. 43.

    White Trash Liberal

    December 13, 2012 at 3:35 pm

    Grover was elbows deep in the affairs of Nicaragua and Angola. Coincidentally, Nicaragua applied Grover’s patented fiscal policies under his supervision. As you can plainly see, WIN.

    What’s important is that the same apparatchiks who applied Friedmanomics/guns and butter to South America and Africa have weakened the United States politically to the point that they are trying to implement them here. The reason why they want to destabilize and gut the strongest economy in world history is the great untold story of our generation.

  44. 44.

    Tonal Crow

    December 13, 2012 at 3:35 pm

    @catclub: Comments get added very quickly there. Get a sick-sack, scroll back to the Yahoo comments posted about 2 minutes before my post, or click this link.

  45. 45.

    pseudonymous in nc

    December 13, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    @doctortecate:

    He really does think he’s an elected official.

    No, he thinks he owns them all. And to some extent, he does.

    Absent a drone strike, I don’t know how he’s to be dealt with, because the Village lurves him. A sane press would say “who the fuck elected you to anything?”

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    December 13, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    Obama will be on a very short leash, fiscally speaking, over the next four years. He’s not gonna have any fun at all.

    Again, this hateful little weasel suggests that Obama is not a president who is to be respected, but a barely controllable “other” who must be kept on a leash.

    You also get variations of this stuff from Boehner, who keeps implying that he isn’t so much negotiating with Obama, but simply waiting him out until the president can be made to do what the Republicans want.

  47. 47.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    December 13, 2012 at 3:37 pm

    Grover Norquist seems to be misinformed about who controls spending in Washington or maybe he’s just confused about the difference between buying something and paying for it.

    At any rate, he might benefit from an adversarial press that could, for instance, point out that the debt limit has to be raised to pay for the Medicare Part D expansion that Republicans bought ten years ago on terms. Terms of 15 trillion dollars in deficit over the next 50 years.

  48. 48.

    jl

    December 13, 2012 at 3:37 pm

    @Chris:

    ” I think they might if a Democratic president wanted the war. ”

    Wouldn’t have to be even a war. Remember how they accused Bill Clinton of wagging the dog when he did some missile strikes against terrorist camps.

    I don’t remember off top of my head whether the missile strikes were a good idea, but I think there is no evidence that Clinton did them for political purposes.

    But the GOP howled and the corporate media went along with them.

  49. 49.

    ? Martin

    December 13, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    No, he thinks he owns them all. And to some extent, he does.

    To a large extent he has. The GOP has had a constituency of 1 for years on tax policy. Nobody else even was offered a voice on the issue.

  50. 50.

    jl

    December 13, 2012 at 3:41 pm

    And I don’t think Norquist has changed. I’ve seen him a few times on TV over the years, and every time he comes off like a hateful slanderous delusional loon.

    Last time I saw him, he basically called everyone who draws a government paycheck from local cemetery grave digger to cops and firefighters and school teachers parasites and thugs who would like to smash down our doors and take our kids milk money and steal grammas jewelry if they thought they could get away with it.

    Every time I have seen the guy, he yells chatters and froths like deranged lying maniac.

  51. 51.

    jibeaux

    December 13, 2012 at 3:42 pm

    True story, for reasons that are unclear to me, Grover Norquist was invited to attend the opening of a new public university library (among others, there’s going to be some sort of panel or other wankery), which has resulted in my hubbie working lots of resentful overtime. It’s a lovely library, did I mention this was a public university, and it’s way way too big to drown in a bathtub, so God only knows 1) why he was invited to speak, and 2) why he was interested.

  52. 52.

    catclub

    December 13, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    @Tonal Crow: Ah, nutpicking. I thought it was in the article.

  53. 53.

    PaulW

    December 13, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    query: why are people still interviewing Norquist? at what point do the networks realize Grover is a sh-t for brains Stalin-worshiping con artist and cut off the mike?

  54. 54.

    ? Martin

    December 13, 2012 at 3:44 pm

    @jibeaux:

    God only knows 1) why he was invited to speak, and 2) why he was interested.

    1) He was invited because the Econ faculty recommended him
    2) He came because he’s a whore

  55. 55.

    Tonal Crow

    December 13, 2012 at 3:44 pm

    OT, but Teh Stupid, it burns with the heat of ten thousand suns:

    CHICAGO (Reuters) – Nearly four in 10 U.S. residents say the severity of recent natural disasters such as Superstorm Sandy is evidence the world is coming to an end, as predicted by the Bible, while more than six in 10 blame it on climate change, according to a poll released on Thursday.
    __
    …Most Catholics (60 percent) and white non-evangelical Protestants (65 percent) say they believe disasters like hurricanes and floods are the result of climate change.
    __
    But nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of white evangelical Protestants say they think the storms are evidence of the “end times” as predicted by the Bible.
    __
    Overall, 36 percent point to end times and 63 percent to climate change.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    December 13, 2012 at 3:44 pm

    @Turgidson:

    There’s always plenty of money for the righteous cause of blowing up brown people in faraway lands.

    I’m sure there would be even more money for blowing up brown people here at home if they thought they could get away with it. Since they can’t, there’s just unlimited money for arresting them and throwing them in jail- though not, of course, for keeping the jails they’re thrown into fit for human occupancy.

  57. 57.

    PaulW

    December 13, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    @jibeaux:

    True story, for reasons that are unclear to me, Grover Norquist was invited to attend the opening of a new public university library

    Was Norquist an attendee of that public university, or have family members attending?

  58. 58.

    Mouse Tolliver

    December 13, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    Breaking: Susan Rice withdrew her own name from consideration for Secretary of State. President McCain gets his scalp. MC Rove’s back up dancer in on MSNBC now presenting the Republican case against Rice as if it’s the mainstream view.

    Holding your breath until you get what you want works if you’re a Republican.

  59. 59.

    ? Martin

    December 13, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    @PaulW:

    at what point do the networks realize Grover is a sh-t for brains Stalin-worshiping con artist and cut off the mike?

    When Grover commands less influence with lawmakers than the networks do.

  60. 60.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    No, he thinks he owns them all. And to some extent, he does.

    Like I said. He thinks he’s the William M. Tweed of the Tea Party Movement. And to some extent, he is. Or was. The next two years will show us which of these is the proper tense.

    @jl:

    As I recall, no, they didn’t accomplish much. Hit a couple of al-Qaeda camps back when they were beginning to be a nuisance, but didn’t do much damage. But no, I don’t think there was any intention of using that against the GOP.

  61. 61.

    Southern Beale

    December 13, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from SoS consideration.

  62. 62.

    Southern Beale

    December 13, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    …He may decide to go blow up small countries he can’t pronounce….

    Is this a reference to George W Bush blowing up Iraq?

  63. 63.

    Corner Stone

    December 13, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    @Mouse Tolliver: This is fucking bullshit. Fuck this.

  64. 64.

    Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God

    December 13, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    @White Trash Liberal:

    The reason why they want to destabilize and gut the strongest economy in world history is the great untold story of our generation.

    Grover Norquist, son of a Polaroid VP, has never worked a real job in his life.

    Fuckers like him know damned well what they’re working towards: Feudalism. Grover’s daddy was rich, yours wasn’t, so just STFU, be glad you have your daily bowl of gruel, and don’t you dare question your betters (or even dare to look them in the eye).

    “Makers vs Takers” indeed.

  65. 65.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    @Mouse Tolliver:

    I would seriously have loved it if she, Obama and the entire administration had held firm on this point. The entire Benghazi “scandal” has been a farce from start to finish, but no part of it was more ridiculous than hers, where she was accused of the grievous crime of reading the facts the CIA put in front of her.

    (Petraeus, of course, is still a tragic little hero).

  66. 66.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 3:54 pm

    @White Trash Liberal:

    I never knew he had anything to do with foreign policy. Yeccchhh.

  67. 67.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    December 13, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    Glad to hear Susan Rice withdrew herself from consideration for the SoS job. She seemed to be a flashpoint for controversy and I’m sure there are equally qualified white candidates for the position.

  68. 68.

    Phoenician in a time of Romans

    December 13, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    @Tonal Crow:

    Rombie – a political lie that won’t fall over and die no matter how many facts you shoot at it.

  69. 69.

    Mouse Tolliver

    December 13, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    @Chris:

    The entire Benghazi “scandal” has been a farce from start to finish, but no part of it was more ridiculous than hers, where she was accused of the grievous crime of reading the facts the CIA put in front of her.

    This is what pisses me off about David Fucking Gregory. He just completely glossed over this point. That she was reading the approved, unclassified talking points. GOP-water-carrying toolbag.

  70. 70.

    japa21

    December 13, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    @Tonal Crow: Well, it could be representative of both, the end times being the result of climate change. It just isn’t going to be the end times that that 36% thinks it is.

  71. 71.

    danimal

    December 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    The assumption that Grover makes is way too common with conservatives, that Obama/Dems/liberals live to spend money, especially money coming from rich white people.

    I don’t care about how big or small the government is, I just want a government that effectively and efficiently works to improve the lives of its citizens. Damn, does that concept really belong to the crypto-Kenyan Islamo-anarchic-social-communist-nazi fringe now?

    Grover needs to be retired to the Ronald Reagan Home for the Politically Obsolete.

  72. 72.

    NR

    December 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    Time for more bipartisanship! And if they don’t respond to Obama’s relentless attempts at compromise, he’ll just bipartisan them even harder!

  73. 73.

    jibeaux

    December 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    You guys inspired me to research this a little more, and the event will be held at the brand new library but isn’t really in connection with it except that the library will house this Emerging Issues Institute, and that’s who’s doing the panel talk. It’s the kind of thing where they invite one liberal, one conservative, and two mushy middles and just wank away. Not very interesting story link here. But hopefully one of them will bring up some benefits of the public university library other than allowing space for people to wax rhapsodic on “redesigning democracy.”

  74. 74.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 3:59 pm

    @Mouse Tolliver:

    Yep.

    They need to push back hard on Benghazi and this would’ve been the perfect place to do it. Oh, well.

  75. 75.

    Tonal Crow

    December 13, 2012 at 3:59 pm

    @Phoenician in a time of Romans:

    Rombie – a political lie that won’t fall over and die no matter how many facts you shoot at it.

    Nice one!

    rombie master: A person who creates many rombies, such as Karl Rove or Grover Norquist.

  76. 76.

    Phoenician in a time of Romans

    December 13, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    @jibeaux:

    You need to stick a sign over it – “This is a publicly funded library. All who enter these doors are enjoying the benefits of socialism”.

  77. 77.

    NR

    December 13, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    @Mouse Tolliver: Good to see that Obama is still letting the Republicans run the country.

  78. 78.

    Ash Can

    December 13, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    This is why these guys lost to Obama — they convinced themselves that he’s someone he’s not. They ran against the fake Obama they constructed, and the real one kicked them to the curb.

  79. 79.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 4:02 pm

    @danimal:

    I don’t care about how big or small the government is, I just want a government that effectively and efficiently works to improve the lives of its citizens. Damn, does that concept really belong to the crypto-Kenyan Islamo-anarchic-social-communist-nazi fringe now?

    This.

    And it’s why I don’t vote Republican. Not the only reason, there are millions of others, but at the end of the day, that’s the simplest one: putting people in charge of the government who have dedicated their entire careers to the proposition that government doesn’t and CAN’T work, is the equivalent of building a Red Sox team out of Yankees fans. Even if you assume that they’re honest and won’t actively try to sabotage the government, the best you can hope for is people who won’t even have the idea to send in FEMA when a natural disaster hits, because by their ideology FEMA can’t do anything.

  80. 80.

    PeakVT

    December 13, 2012 at 4:02 pm

    Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from SoS consideration.

    Argh. Not only did I want that showdown for petty, selfish reasons, it was also another bit of pressure for reforming the filibuster.

  81. 81.

    pat

    December 13, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    Given Rice’s financial involvement in the XL pipeline, and her cozy relationship with an African dictator whose name escapes me, I am fine with her withdrawing. It’s just too bad it gives that stupid turd McCain the feeling he won.

  82. 82.

    Darkrose

    December 13, 2012 at 4:05 pm

    @NR: Huh?

  83. 83.

    Alex S.

    December 13, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    @mclaren:

    Oh come on, he can probably spell Libya.

  84. 84.

    Ruckus

    December 13, 2012 at 4:08 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    though not, of course, for keeping the jails they’re thrown into fit for human occupancy.

    Why do the jails need to be fit for human occupancy if there are no humans in them?
    /conservative.

    Of course if you expand on the concept of jail to be much more inclusive, the reasoning they use is still the same.

  85. 85.

    Alex S.

    December 13, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    @pat:

    Yes, when I heard of that I was having doubts as well.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    December 13, 2012 at 4:14 pm

    Uzbekibekibekistanistan, here we come!

  87. 87.

    Ash Can

    December 13, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    @Darkrose: Making up fake Obamas isn’t a pastime limited to the GOP. Then again, who’s to say that NR isn’t just a Republican ratfucker trolling this site?

  88. 88.

    PaulW

    December 13, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    If Susan Rice is off the nomination list, I hope Obama puts up a liberal gay Palestinian next.

  89. 89.

    Napoleon

    December 13, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    @Mouse Tolliver:

    WTF – why is it so tough for the Obama administration to stand up to those clowns like McCain?

  90. 90.

    gocart mozart

    December 13, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    @mclaren:
    Only in the alternate universe you inhabit

  91. 91.

    Ash Can

    December 13, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    @Napoleon et al.: So what’s Obama supposed to do? Nominate her anyway even though she doesn’t want to be? Force her into the job against her will?

    Very apropos title to this thread, considering how delusional some of the comments in it are.

  92. 92.

    Chris

    December 13, 2012 at 4:41 pm

    @Napoleon:

    You’re assuming it’s the Obama administration. Rice could very well have decided, after the last few months of what an absolute clusterfuck this was, that “screw this shit, I’m going home.”

    Can’t say I’d blame her. Confirmation hearings are a fucking cesspool. Congresspeople use them to grind their axes not only against the person up for confirmation, but against all their real or perceived political allies as well. Thus, people are routinely used for target practice for reasons completely beyond their control, just because they’re associated (or even just seen in the media or in Official Washington gossip as being associated) with “the wrong people.” Which is exactly what’s happening here.

    More than a few career public servants choose to simply retire when they reach the levels that would require Congressional confirmation, rather than put themselves through that entire shit-show. I’m really disappointed that she won’t be the next SecState, but if it was her decision, then I don’t blame her one bit.

  93. 93.

    Darkrose

    December 13, 2012 at 4:41 pm

    @Napoleon:

    WTF – why is it so tough for the Obama administration to stand up to those clowns like McCain?

    Oh, for fuck’s sake.

    Why is it so tough for people to understand that after having your integrity, intelligence, and attitude questioned before you were even nominated, you might possibly think “Fuck this shit”? That maybe Susan Rice decided that being Secretary of State wasn’t worth spending four years dealing with asshats like McCain and not being able to say “You chose Sarah Fucking Palin to be your running mate, Senator, and you have the fucking gall to say I’m not bright? Fuck you and Huckleberry Closetcase and your Designated GirlPal from New Hampshire, and kiss my black ass!”

    On the other hand, I would totally have applied for the job as Susan Rice’s Anger Translator.

  94. 94.

    eemom

    December 13, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    @gocart mozart:

    Perhaps you may sympathize with my longing to have at least ONE post on this topic titled With A Grover On My Shoulder.

  95. 95.

    Corner Stone

    December 13, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    @Ash Can: Unless Amb Rice has been boning underage boys, IMO, Obama should have asked her to hold tight.

  96. 96.

    Corner Stone

    December 13, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    @Darkrose: What would’ve been the ultimate revenge for their senseless defamation and intransigence?

  97. 97.

    scav

    December 13, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    Then again, Warren did a tactical retreat and look where she’s managed to insinuateherself / barge into. They might remember to be careful what they wish for — more than one position in an administration if critical elements decide to play that way.

  98. 98.

    pseudonymous in nc

    December 13, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    @jl:

    don’t think Norquist has changed. I’ve seen him a few times on TV over the years, and every time he comes off like a hateful slanderous delusional loon.

    He is a creepy sociopathic fucker who eats tuna from the can in public. Which makes him the toast of the Village.

  99. 99.

    jp7505a

    December 13, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    It doesn’t seem to matter how crazy they are, they still win in the end. Susan Rice has withdrawn her name as next Sec. of State because of the possible nomination fight. The d*** GOP gets another scalp. This is government by terror.

  100. 100.

    Hill Dweller

    December 13, 2012 at 4:54 pm

    If Donilon becomes WH chief of staff, Rice could replace him at NSC.

  101. 101.

    Darkrose

    December 13, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    @Corner Stone: That’s a nice idea, but if you have a stroke from carrying barely suppressed rage for so long, they still win.

    I’m not in a particularly high-visibility line of work, and the constant drip of microagressions has pushed me to the brink more than once. I can easily see a smart, accomplished black woman deciding that she doesn’t want to fight this fight along with trying to do her job.

  102. 102.

    Corner Stone

    December 13, 2012 at 5:07 pm

    @Darkrose: What do you mean, “they win” ?
    Do they win by nominating and ultimately defeating Rice?
    Do they win by shoving her into the garbage pile before she can be nominated?
    Do they win if Rice is our next SecState?

  103. 103.

    Tone in DC

    December 13, 2012 at 5:16 pm

    @japa21:

    LULz.

    He kind of reminds me of Breitbart. Without the wit and charm, though. ;-)

  104. 104.

    ruemara

    December 13, 2012 at 5:17 pm

    @NR: Grow the fuck up. Susan Rice is perfectly capable of making a goddamn decision without your moronic view that it’s Obama forcing her.

  105. 105.

    Darkrose

    December 13, 2012 at 5:22 pm

    @Corner Stone: I mean exactly what I said: that if the toll it takes on her health and well-being is too high, then they win because they’ve succeeded in creating an environment where she can’t do her job.

    There is only so much you can take of constantly having your qualifications and intelligence questioned simply because your brown and have a vagina. The point where it becomes too much is different for everyone. I’m guessing that Rice decided that the effort to keep biting her tongue was going to be too damaging to her personally to keep fighting a battle she might not win.

    And I don’t blame her one bit.

  106. 106.

    Hill Dweller

    December 13, 2012 at 5:23 pm

    Kilgore, over at Washington Monthly, has an interesting take on the Rice withdrawal. He rightly points out they did this in the most showy way. Obama could have just nominated another candidate, and been done with it. Instead, Rice releases a letter and gives an interview on the same day, highlighting Republicans’ partisanship and pettiness.

    There is some evidence of Senate Dems not being too thrilled about confirming Rice. If Rice couldn’t get confirmed because of Dems, but Rice and Obama make a show of withdrawing her name and blaming it on Republicans, it would be pretty clever.

  107. 107.

    Mike G

    December 13, 2012 at 5:23 pm

    He may decide to go blow up small countries he can’t pronounce because it won’t be any fun to be here, because he won’t be able to spend the kind of cash he was hoping to.

    There’s more projection here than at a 21-screen mutliplex.
    That’s what Idiot Son Bush would have done, to the lusty cheers of impotent right-wing assholes.

    This country would be better off if Republicans honored their pledge to the people that hired them as much as their pledge to this sociopath.

  108. 108.

    scav

    December 13, 2012 at 5:26 pm

    @ruemara: it’s also just as plausible that she wanted to with-draw earlier and he was the one arm-twisting to hang on until now so as to have another high-visibility “concession” / “compromise” /”bipartisan” card in his hand going up against the Gooper Cliff tantrum. We know nothing of all sorts of things that may be lurking underneath timing etc.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 13, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    So why am I getting the regular site on my phone? How do I get the mobile site back? Halp!

  110. 110.

    Brachiator

    December 13, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    Kilgore, over at Washington Monthly, has an interesting take on the Rice withdrawal. He rightly points out they did this in the most showy way. Obama could have just nominated another candidate, and been done with it. Instead, Rice releases a letter and gives an interview on the same day, highlighting Republicans’ partisanship and pettiness.

    I don’t think this much resonates with the public, especially since this comes in advance of Hillary Clinton’s upcoming testimony next week. And it’s a damn shame if the Republicans count this as any sort of win.

  111. 111.

    Ben Franklin

    December 13, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    but Rice and Obama make a show of withdrawing her name and blaming it on Republicans, it would be pretty clever.

    Could be. But I don’t really care that much about a corporate girl, not getting the job.

    I just pray the replacement is not Kerry, even if Scott Brown doesn’t get the Senate seat.

  112. 112.

    Suffern ACE

    December 13, 2012 at 5:48 pm

    @Tonal Crow:

    In January 2013, Obama will inherit an economy in far worse shape than the one he inherited in 2009.

    This is why I think Obama should just double the tax rate, nationalize major league baseball and the twinkies factory. What difference does it make what he does when people don’t even know what goes on outside their own heads?

    @Tonal Crow: N

    early four in 10 U.S. residents say the severity of recent natural disasters such as Superstorm Sandy is evidence the world is coming to an end, as predicted by the Bible, while more than six in 10 blame it on climate change, according to a poll released on Thursday.

    This is why I think Obama should just…oh, never mind.

  113. 113.

    J. Michael Neal

    December 13, 2012 at 5:49 pm

    @NR: Have you considered possibly contemplating Susan Rice without the patronizing assumption that she had no agency in writing the letter? I think she’d be entirely justified in thinking that she had better ways to spend the next two years than being the target of every cheap shot the GOP can throw at her.

  114. 114.

    g

    December 13, 2012 at 5:59 pm

    the disrespect Norquist shows by referring to the President of the United States as being on a “leash” deserves nothing short of a horse-whipping.

  115. 115.

    TenguPhule

    December 13, 2012 at 6:14 pm

    He may decide to go blow up small countries he can’t pronounce because it won’t be any fun to be here

    Or maybe he could order drone strikes on Republicans who piss him off and save the frequent flier miles.

  116. 116.

    El Cid

    December 13, 2012 at 6:31 pm

    Maybe the country of “Youfuckinglostia?”

  117. 117.

    El Cid

    December 13, 2012 at 6:32 pm

    Django Unchained!

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    December 13, 2012 at 8:17 pm

    @NR:

    I didn’t realize you were such a fan of the Keystone pipeline that you were okay with our Secretary of State being a major investor in it.

  119. 119.

    Patricia Kayden

    December 13, 2012 at 8:42 pm

    @Mouse Tolliver: Let’s see if it works with the fiscal cliff fight. I doubt it. President Obama has enough leverage to get what he wants. But we’ll see.

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    December 13, 2012 at 9:07 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I didn’t realize you were such a fan of the Keystone pipeline that you were okay with our Secretary of State being a major investor in it

    major investor…..

    Susan Rice and her hubby have 40 million in investments..

    how is the 500k in Keystone a major investment?

  121. 121.

    Mnemosyne

    December 13, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Shh. I’m trying to see if I can get NR’s head to explode from the competing narratives. “Keystone pipeline and all associated with it is evil … but Obama threw Rice under the bus … does … not … compute …”

  122. 122.

    Nickws

    December 14, 2012 at 4:16 am

    @rikyrah:

    Susan Rice and her hubby have 40 million in investments

    The Rice news is bad, but this little tidbit here makes me want to make this digression: one reason I thought she might be a better choice than your generic US senate types (cough–John Kerry–cough) was the basic impression I had that she wasn’t a moneyed overclass type. Another Biden for the admin, if you will.

    Have to revise that part of my opinion about her…

    (NB: I’m a soshulistic non-American, this is why this stuff sticks out for me.)

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