Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

He really is that stupid.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

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

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

An almost top 10,000 blog!

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

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

No one could have predicted…

We still have time to mess this up!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Full Godwin

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Full Godwin

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You know who else got more people to vote?… No doubt irked that mere bloggish upstarts like Megan McArdle threaten his longheld place on the Worst People in the Media World list, George F. Will goes there:

[Voting] turnout has not increased as the electorate has become more educated and affluent and as government has become more involved in Americans’ lives…. The stakes of politics are agreeably low because constitutional rights and other essential elements of happiness are not menaced by elections. Those who think high voter turnout indicates civic health should note that in three German elections, 1932-33, turnout averaged more than 86 percent, reflecting the terrible stakes: The elections decided which mobs would rule the streets and who would inhabit concentration camps….

Via Mr. Charles Pierce, who gets paid (not enought) to Read These Idiots.

Reader Interactions

48Comments

  2. 2.

    Calouste

    This obsession the American right has with the Nazis, you’d almost think they admire them or something.

  4. 4.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    “Glenn Beck in a bow-tie”

    Ever since he blurred the media lens by helping RWR prep for debate, this cradle-robber has been attempting to over-arch the bona-fide conservatory of William F Buckley, with his small-penis world-view. He, like Cheney and Dubya, suffers from the verbose minutiae of hamster-hands and Clint Eastwood’s empty chair of accuracy, and certainly owns a bevy of Bushmaster .223’s.

  5. 5.

    ? Martin

    Actually, wasn’t the real damage done in 1935 when Germany passed their voter ID laws? Or are we not talking about voter ID laws any more?

  7. 7.

    Turgidson

    Did I miss an announcement at some point this fall that there was to be a months-long competition to see which conservative nutjob could say the dumbest, most ignorant, most offensive thing possible?

    I mean, this crowd of braindead dipshits has been saying ridiculous, awful things for a long, long time now. But it seems like there’s some sort of nuclear arms race of dickishly idiotic assholery underway on an even grander scale of stupid than we’re accustomed.

  8. 8.

    WereBear

    @Calouste: I have long thought they really really envied the Communists for all that fanaticism and control. Why can’t they get the American Right to be all purgey and put people in dungeons?

    Then I saw Jesus Camp, and discovered that they do envy the Muslims their fanatical suicide bombers…

  9. 9.

    CW in LA

    I’m fond of pointing out that George Effing Will is as dishonest as the rug on top of his head. He’s also nowhere near as intellectual as he’s hyped up as being. But, man, can he push corporate fascism with a bow-tie, a thesaurus, and Bartlett’s Quotations.

  10. 10.

    Calouste

    Btw, national elections in Western Europe tend to get 75-80% turnout. The most recent French presidential election had a 78% turnout for the first round and a 77% turnout for the second round for example.

  11. 11.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    “Glenn Beck in a bow-tie”

    Ever since he blurred the media lens by helping RWR prep for debate, this cradle-robber has been attempting to over-arch the bona-fide conservatory of William F Buckley, with his small-p3nis world-view. He, like Cheney and Dubya, suffers from the verbose minutiae of hamster-hands and Clint Eastwood’s empty chair of accuracy, and certainly owns a bevy of Bushmaster .223′s.

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne

    Those who think high voter turnout indicates civic health should note that in three German elections, 1932-33, turnout averaged more than 86 percent, reflecting the terrible stakes: The elections decided which mobs would rule the streets and who would inhabit concentration camps….

    Er, no, George, right-wing German elites decided which mobs would rule the streets and put the leader of a minority party that never got a majority of the vote in charge of a coalition government, and he consolidated his power from there. The power that he was undemocratically given by elites:

    The absence of an effective government prompted two influential politicians, Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg, along with several other industrialists and businessmen, to write a letter to von Hindenburg. The signers urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as leader of a government “independent from parliamentary parties”, which could turn into a movement that would “enrapture millions of people”

    If anything, it sounds creepily like the Americans Elect “movement” sponsored by millionaires who felt like they didn’t have enough influence already.

  15. 15.

    ? Martin

    Oh good God. Not that I should be surprised, but Boehner asserts his dictatorial powers over legislation, scraps a plan that with a bit of extra work could pass both chambers and get signed by the President, punts to Plan B that was supposed to pass on a straight-up GOP vote in the House in order to shame Obama (which it wouldn’t), and then he brings it up to a vote and doesn’t have the votes even in his own caucus?

    Will someone just pants this guy on CSPAN and put us out of our misery?

  16. 16.

    SteveinSC

    Second. George Will’s intellectual “credentials” other than a bow tie, are based, at least in part, on the fact that he served as Ronald Raygun’s secret debate coach and Carter stand-in before the presidential debates. Afterwards, he then wrote glowing Reagan reviews. That should pretty much calibrate his intellectual stature.

  17. 17.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    We all know that Joe Biden is a national treasure but his lady wife comes a close second. From a tweet

    Dr. Jill Biden ‏@JillBidenVeep

    If the world ends tomorrow I need to get this off my chest: Michelle and I once made out. She was drunk, I was curious, it just happened.

    I love that woman.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    @Turgidson:

    Did I miss an announcement at some point this fall that there was to be a months-long competition to see which conservative nutjob could say the dumbest, most ignorant, most offensive thing possible?

    I don’t remember an announcement, but I’m pretty sure that there’s been an informal competition to see who can say the dumbest thing for quite a while. There’s a reason for the “I read these morons so you don’t have to” tag.

  21. 21.

    dmsilev

    @? Martin:

    Oh good God. Not that I should be surprised, but Boehner asserts his dictatorial powers over legislation, scraps a plan that with a bit of extra work could pass both chambers and get signed by the President, punts to Plan B that was supposed to pass on a straight-up GOP vote in the House in order to shame Obama (which it wouldn’t), and then he brings it up to a vote and doesn’t have the votes even in his own caucus?

    You have to admit, it’s sort of amusing to watch. Or would be, if the stakes weren’t so important. When was the last time that we had a Speaker whom nobody respected?

  22. 22.

    jl

    I have never before read an argument against citizen participation in democratic government made in such detail or with such care.

    It is a slam dunk. Kaiser Wilhelm’s increasingly anachronistic authoritarian state turned out so well. And nothing in Germany happened between 1918 and 1933 except changes in voter turnout in elections. Everyone knows that.

    On other hand, Jefferson thought everyone should participate in government in some way, from his hobby horse of precinct level local wards up to the national government. He cooked up a scheme to get everyone a little land, so he could couple his desire to give only property owners the franchise with his belief in democratic majority rule. Even he was not such a hypocrite to think that, given the bigotry of the day, majority (white) rule didn’t mean much of most (white) people didn’t vote. But say what you want about Jefferson, he was no George Will.

    And Hamilton observed in the Constitutional Convention, with apparent approval, that if voter turnout dipped too low, compulsory voting laws might be necessary, if unappealing, measures.

    But who are those crazy egghead radical nincompoop social engineers, anyway, compared to a George Will, and his glorious history of integrity and accuracy?

  24. 24.

    ? Martin

    @dmsilev: It would be more amusing if the whole nation came crashing down on the recognition that he’s utterly useless. And I don’t really blame him – he’s stuck in a parliamentary situation, representing two distinct parties, one of whom seems to be utterly detached from reality, and the other likely to sign onto the Dem proposal with minimal changes.

    Can we just make the Tea Party a formal 3rd party and get this shit over with?

  25. 25.

    jl

    Pierce is a little inaccurate, though. Will has been on this case for years. Just, like I said above, Will has never made his case in such detail or with such care before. Will joined the debate long ago, and has beat this drum, albeit softly and briefly, for years.

  28. 28.

    BruinKid

    I don’t even… now the Ron Paul fans are claiming the entire Sandy Hook massacre was made up, and that the children aren’t really dead. I mean, how fucked up in the head……………..

  29. 29.

    Suffern ACE

    I for one was always disappointed with the Nazi failure to put the concentration camps up for a referendum.

  30. 30.

    dmsilev

    @? Martin: Well, he’s caught because of that “majority of the majority” thing that the GOP House imposes on itself. Passing a bill with a bunch of Democrats and a couple dozen Republicans, just a week or so before the elect-a-new-Speaker vote, he might as well cut his own throat. An actual strong leader would have found a different path, but that’s not John Boehner.

  33. 33.

    Comrade Jake

    All these media folks in my Twitter feed are acting like it’s some major fucking coup for CNN to have stolen Jake Tapper from ABC. Why the heck do these people think Jake Tapper is any fucking good?

  34. 34.

    jl

    Johnny Bones and House GOP caucus is the Mayan apocalypse?

    The Inca are correct, this Mayan calendar thingee is second rate BS.

    I didn’t even get a lousy T-shirt.

  35. 35.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Saw a cartoon today, it was one Mayan to another “hey the taquila is ready you want some” second Mayan “well I really have to finish this calendar but if I don’t it’s not going to be the end of the world”. I LOL’D

  37. 37.

    Patricia Kayden

    If you can stand it, you should read Will’s entire article. Quite ridiculous. Pretty much equates Holder’s argument that registering to vote should be automatic to Nazism.

    WOW.

    But not surprising. I’m sure Will is still having nightmares about Romneybot’s loss on November 6th. Wasn’t he one of the Rightwing nutters who predicted a Romneybot landslide? Poor thing.

  40. 40.

    dmsilev

    @scottinnj: From that link, Boehner’s statement:

    The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass. Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff. The House has already passed legislation to stop all of the January 1 tax rate increases and replace the sequester with responsible spending cuts that will begin to address our nation’s crippling debt. The Senate must now act.”

    Temper tantrums are mildly cute coming from three year olds. From the Speaker of the House, not so much.

  41. 41.

    Mike in NC

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Will is still having nightmares about Romneybot’s loss on November 6th. Wasn’t he one of the Rightwing nutters who predicted a Romneybot landslide?

    “The Odds Against Obama: Why History and Logic Make the President a Likely Loser” was an actual book published in August by wingnut imbecile Michael Medved. I don’t think he’s come out with an expression of embarrassment yet. He makes Jonah Goldberg look like an intellectual.

  44. 44.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The elections decided which mobs would rule the streets and who would inhabit concentration camps….

    Oh, this one is easy. Dipshits like George Fucking Will need to be in the KZs.

  47. 47.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @Bob In Portland:

    But doesn’t he like baseball?

    No… just the owners… probably can’t stand the actual game or the players…

    And that’s got to be one of the worst comb overs imaginable in that picture over at Chas’ column… why do they ever bother? Just admit yer hair gone and get over it, George…

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