• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

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

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

So many bastards, so little time.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Come on down, you got it in ya

Come on down, you got it in ya

by DougJ|  January 22, 201311:32 pm| 97 Comments

This post is in: Both Sides Do It!, Our Failed Media Experiment

FacebookTweetEmail

Quite possibly the dumbest BOTH SIDES DO IT paragraph ever, in a Washington Post piece on the Virginia GOP’s redistricting plan (via):

Shame on the witless Democrats for not anticipating that Republicans, given the chance, would resort to dirty tricks. And shame on Republicans for continuing their campaign to transform the General Assembly into a nasty, underhanded clone of Congress.

The Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans; while Democratic Sen. Henry Marsh (who worked in the Civil Rights movement) was at the convention, Republicans used their temporary majority to push through a redistricting plan that would give the GOP likely control of the State Senate.

So shame on the Democrats!

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « After a storm there must be a calm
Next Post: The Sun Shines, And People Forget »

Reader Interactions

97Comments

  1. 1.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 22, 2013 at 11:34 pm

    ‘Blame the victim’ is the favorite thought process of the domestic abuser (and the co-dependent victim). Just keep an eye out for how often you see it in politics.

  2. 2.

    Ronbo

    January 22, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    Is the media owned by the rich or the poor?

    There’s your answer.

  3. 3.

    MikeJ

    January 22, 2013 at 11:40 pm

    Did you see the way he was dressed? Really, he was asking for it.

  4. 4.

    amk

    January 22, 2013 at 11:41 pm

    That’s why Mr. McDonnell, who professes not to have known about his fellow Republicans’ subterfuge until it was carried out, should immediately announce his intent to veto the map. Failing to do so will only invite legislative paralysis, subvert his own proposals and inalterably stain his legacy. The sooner he acts, the better.

    wapo’s concern for vagina meddler’s ‘legacy’ is so touching. Fuck the blatant power grab. It’s the “legislative paralysis” (which is of course due to democrats’ intransigence) that is the problem.

  5. 5.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 22, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    Shame on the witless Democrats for not anticipating that Republicans, given the chance, would resort to dirty tricks.

    Come on, Doug, how can you not agree with this statement? The author is one hundred per cent correct.

    The idea that Dems are poor innocent victims in this and many similar situations is incredibly lame.

    Republicans are ALWAYS pulling sneaky bullshit and part of the Dems’ job is anticipating that and preventing it and lashing back. To expect less is to buy into the ongoing Dems as codependent, abused partners in crime with the Republicans. Which, come to think of it, they are.

  6. 6.

    Bowser's Clown Copter

    January 22, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    The best part, per TPM’s report on this:

    “On motion of Senator Stosch, the Senate adjourned in memory or [sic] General Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson at 4:10 p.m. to convene Tuesday, January 22, 2013,” read the official minutes of the legislative day.

  7. 7.

    Linnaeus

    January 22, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    Shame on the witless Democrats for not anticipating that Republicans, given the chance, would resort to dirty tricks.

    So there was this frog and a scorpion…

  8. 8.

    mclaren

    January 22, 2013 at 11:44 pm

    SHAME on those dastardly Democrats for using their honesty to make the thieving grifting Republicans look bad!

    This stuff is so ludicrous it makes the Onion look Foreign Affairs.

  9. 9.

    Doug Galt

    January 22, 2013 at 11:44 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    This is more audacious than what Delay did in Texas. I was surprised to hear they had tried it.

  10. 10.

    Linnaeus

    January 22, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    @Bowser’s Clown Copter:

    Gotta love the Confederacy…

  11. 11.

    Hill Dweller

    January 22, 2013 at 11:47 pm

    The redistricting, should it stick, was just the first step. Step two will be Virginia joining the other swing states that Obama won in distributing their electoral votes based on the congressional districts they rigged in 2011.

    The Republicans are fascists.

  12. 12.

    Short Bus Bully

    January 22, 2013 at 11:49 pm

    “If those dems hadn’t drunk the drink we bought for them they wouldn’t have got roofied!”

  13. 13.

    Neil

    January 22, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    Agree 100% with Ted & Hellen here. If you are the tie vote in 2013, there is no such thing as a personal day.

  14. 14.

    PhoenixRising

    January 22, 2013 at 11:52 pm

    @Linnaeus: Thank you and goodnight.

    Note to VA Dems: They told you the truth about who they are.

  15. 15.

    burnspbesq

    January 22, 2013 at 11:54 pm

    Get a fucking clue, Doug. This is a stupid, self-inflicted wound by the Virginia Democrats.

    Fuck Henry Marsh for putting his selfish personal interests before the interests of the people he was elected to represent.

    God damn, you’re dense sometimes.

  16. 16.

    Robin G.

    January 22, 2013 at 11:55 pm

    So the official MSM line is that if the Dems wear a short shirt don’t assume at all times (including MLK’s birthday/inauguration day) that they’re about to get hosed, then they wanted it are really the ones at fault?

    Do these people even hear themselves when they talk?

  17. 17.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 22, 2013 at 11:56 pm

    @Doug Galt:

    This is more audacious than what Delay did in Texas. I was surprised to hear they had tried it.

    All ‘tude aside, I don’t see why.

    I know you’ve been paying attention the last few years. State level Repubs are more insane than the ones in D.C.

  18. 18.

    SatanicPanic

    January 22, 2013 at 11:56 pm

    Why are you punching yourself Democrats?

  19. 19.

    Doug Galt

    January 22, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Two points:

    1) You honestly expected something like this? I’ve never heard of anything quite like it. TX was the opposite, Ds went awol to avoid having a quorum.

    2) That’s a bit extreme blame-the-victim, especially for a lawyer.

  20. 20.

    Mark S.

    January 22, 2013 at 11:58 pm

    And shame on the citizens of Pearl Harbor for not anticipating that the Japanese, given the chance, would bomb their city.

    Washington Post, December 8, 1941

  21. 21.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 22, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    @Short Bus Bully:

    “If those dems hadn’t drunk the drink we bought for them they wouldn’t have got roofied!”

    So after how many times being roofied and gang-rusty pitch forked in the ass, lubeless, by the same crab-infested psychos do you begin to place a smidgen of the blame on the dems?

  22. 22.

    eemom

    January 23, 2013 at 12:00 am

    I do not really live in this state. I have not lived in this state 22 years.

    I do not really live in this state. I have not lived in this state 22 years.

    I am going to wake up, find this is all a bad dream, and I am still an innocent New York City schoolchild who fell asleep reading Gone With the Wind……

  23. 23.

    Short Bus Bully

    January 23, 2013 at 12:06 am

    @Ted & Hellen:
    The exact same number of times I blame the victim in a rape case; namely, never.

    FUCK those assholes for pulling this shit, and it is NOT, nor will it ever be the fault of the civil rights activist who took a day to go to Obama’s inauguration.

    Anyone who claims for a fucking second that this “blame the victim” shit is legit can kiss my lily white ass.

  24. 24.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 23, 2013 at 12:09 am

    @Short Bus Bully:

    May I remind you that YOU are the one who made the absurd comparison to a rape.

    Yes, it IS PARTLY the fault of the civil rights activist for not working with other dems to make sure something untoward like this would not happen.

    AGain, people, these are REPUBLICANS. They will do anything! Wake up and quit playing the innocent!

  25. 25.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 23, 2013 at 12:10 am

    @eemom:

    Hey eemonster!

    I will be in Richmond for the next five and a half days. Where are you?

    We could meet up and have a slap fight. :D

  26. 26.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 23, 2013 at 12:10 am

    @burnspbesq: Wait, so VA Democrats must camp out in the legislative building 24/7? Occupy State Senate?

    I guess VA must not have a quorum rule for their state senate or the rest of the Dems would have walked out. Maybe they ought to make one. You know, most organizations have quorum rules to prevent t0p sekr1t meetings.

  27. 27.

    JasonF

    January 23, 2013 at 12:12 am

    Exhibit A: The highly gerrymandered Congressional districts which have led to a situation in which Democrats earned a substantial majority of the popular vote in House races, yet have a minority in the House.

    Exhibit B: The concerted effort underway to transform blue states from “winner take all” to apportioned states in the Presidential election.

    Exhibit C: This nonsense in Virginia.

    What is going on is nothing less than a slow-roll coup. The Republican Party has found that its message no longer resonates with the American people. Rather than change their message, they are choosing to take any steps they can to take power away from the voters.

  28. 28.

    Hill Dweller

    January 23, 2013 at 12:14 am

    @JasonF: Don’t forget the largest voter suppression effort since Jim Crow.

  29. 29.

    Violet

    January 23, 2013 at 12:14 am

    @Doug Galt: Just because you’ve never heard of it before doesn’t mean some Republican somewhere isn’t thinking about it. Any Democrat who isn’t expecting Republicans to dick them over any chance they get isn’t paying attention.

    That’s not blame the victim. That’s recognizing that you’re locked in a room with a crazy person and unless you stay one step ahead of them, you’re the one who is going to get hurt.

  30. 30.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 23, 2013 at 12:14 am

    What is going on is nothing less than a slow-roll coup. The Republican Party has found that its message no longer resonates with the American people. Rather than change their message, they are choosing to take any steps they can to take power away from the voters.

    Yes. And where is the push back from PBO and the dems?

  31. 31.

    I am not a kook

    January 23, 2013 at 12:21 am

    @Doug Galt: This is the same lawyer who calls Aaron Schwartz a felon. Before trial.

  32. 32.

    Joel

    January 23, 2013 at 12:24 am

    @Ted & Hellen: I’ve finally figured it out.

    Lanny Davis.

  33. 33.

    Joel

    January 23, 2013 at 12:24 am

    @Ted & Hellen: I’ve finally figured it out.

    Lanny Davis.

  34. 34.

    Joel

    January 23, 2013 at 12:24 am

    @Ted & Hellen: I’ve finally figured it out.

    Lanny Davis.

  35. 35.

    Mandalay

    January 23, 2013 at 12:24 am

    Some pretty selective quoting going on there, and I call bullshit.

    Firstly, the shame on Democrats was for not anticipating that the Republicans would be devious and underhand, and the shame on Republicans was for being devious and underhand. That is absolutely not “BOTH SIDES DO IT” (nor “blaming the victim”) at all. [ ETA: I see several other posters making the same point. ]

    Secondly, the whole article shreds the Republicans for what they did, and the only criticism of the Democrats was in the poorly worded sentence that you carefully selected and misrepresented.

    What happens next will be very interesting. McDonnell can veto the dirty power grab, and he will get pounded by one side or the other regardless of what he decides to do. My guess he will tell the Republicans to go fuck themselves, but wrap it up with some lofty bullshit about “doing what is right” that he can churn out when he starts running for president three years from now.

  36. 36.

    I am not a kook

    January 23, 2013 at 12:25 am

    @Ted & Hellen: Of course it’s *Obama* who slapped us under the bus, again! Because presidenting doesn’t fill his days, he needs to start commenting on every state’s politics too!

  37. 37.

    Violet

    January 23, 2013 at 12:29 am

    @Mandalay: It actually serves it up for McDonnell pretty well. He gets some “stood up to his own party” cred, which will serve him well in a national election. Not the primary, of course, but a southern white guy who supported rape-by-ultrasound-wand ought to stand a good chance in the primary.

  38. 38.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 23, 2013 at 12:30 am

    @I am not a kook:

    Oh give it up.

    He’s the head of the Democratic party. He ought to set the tone, I’d think.

  39. 39.

    Mandalay

    January 23, 2013 at 12:31 am

    @Violet:

    Any Democrat who isn’t expecting Republicans to dick them over any chance they get isn’t paying attention.

    This. The Democrats screwed up. They can hardly argue “Nobody could have predicted….”.

  40. 40.

    Violet

    January 23, 2013 at 12:35 am

    @Mandalay: And now that it has happened, ALL Democrats in ALL state legislatures need to be paying attention. Republicans in state houses will have seen this happen too. They’ll be itching to try it, or something similar, in their own states.

    If it happens again in some other state, Democrats have only themselves to blame. This is a pretty big warning shot.

  41. 41.

    Mandalay

    January 23, 2013 at 12:42 am

    @Short Bus Bully:

    “If those dems hadn’t drunk the drink we bought for them they wouldn’t have got roofied!”

    Hardly a valid analogy. Try this: “If those dems hadn’t left their wallet on the seat with the windows open and the keys in the ignition they wouldn’t have got robbed!:”.

  42. 42.

    I am not a kook

    January 23, 2013 at 12:42 am

    @Ted & Hellen: Yeah, he didn’t have anything else going on in the last days, he shoulda been monitoring statehouse shenanigans and setting The Tone. His conspiracy of silence (no mention of this atrocity in the inaugural address!) shows that he’s just a Republican stooge and stabbed us in the back, again!!!!!Eleven!!!

    Thanks for the comic relief again. Keep it coming!

  43. 43.

    I am not a kook

    January 23, 2013 at 12:43 am

    FYWP, why am I in moderation?

  44. 44.

    gwangung

    January 23, 2013 at 12:44 am

    @Ted & Hellen: Sorry, you’re NOT thinking. You’re just being stupid again.

    Being a contrarian is hard work. You need to apply some.

  45. 45.

    Triassic Sands

    January 23, 2013 at 12:47 am

    @Mandalay:

    Fact: The Modern Republican Party is made up almost entirely of anti-democratic (small “d”) thugs who will stoop lower than the seventh level of Hell to win elections, gain power, pass legislation, etc.

    Given the above, if I were a member of the Virginia General Assembly nothing — not MLK day, not an inauguration, not hurricane Sandy times ten would get me to leave my seat if there were any chance the Thugs would make a move. If I had to, I’d live in my seat.

    The Republicans are playing for keeps. Sometimes it seems like the Democrats are just playing.

  46. 46.

    Suffern ACE

    January 23, 2013 at 12:48 am

    @Another Halocene Human: And if they don’t have quorum rules, then they need to be vigilant. A lot of our state democratic parties are anemic and wouldn’t mind becoming Florida democratic parties. I believe that would be the goal. The tradition of bi-partisan gentlemen’s agreements of how things are done is over. When the republicans can, they take steps to destroy the Democrats.

    @burnspbesq: I think you’re being a bit hard on Marsh, though. The first Democrat that got the flu would have been enough.

  47. 47.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 23, 2013 at 12:50 am

    @I am not a kook:

    FYWP, why am I in moderation?

    Cole installed a new Moron Filter.

  48. 48.

    Suffern ACE

    January 23, 2013 at 12:51 am

    @Violet: Yes, but they probably think their republicans are different…

  49. 49.

    amk

    January 23, 2013 at 12:52 am

    @Ted & Hellen: Idiot troll will be idiot troll.

  50. 50.

    Countme-In

    January 23, 2013 at 12:52 am

    Yes, yes, shaHame on the Democrats for bending over with a courtesy bend-over for one New York minute to pick up some confederate hanky and be f8upeked the ass.

    Maybe they vaginas be issuing forth with countervalin’ rapey poisons.

    If John Lewis had guns, as Rush Vermin Limbaugh said the other day, the Virginia State House would be in flames right now, and the vermin Republicans would be picked off from the treeline as they scuttled for the baseboards.

  51. 51.

    SatanicPanic

    January 23, 2013 at 12:57 am

    @Another Halocene Human:

    Wait, so VA Democrats must camp out in the legislative building 24/7? Occupy State Senate?

    Yeah, let’s not jump all over the Democrats here. I’ve known a few sociopaths, and it’s not easy anticipating what they’ll do next.

  52. 52.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 23, 2013 at 1:02 am

    @Suffern ACE: A lot of our state democratic parties are anemic and wouldn’t mind becoming Florida democratic parties. I believe that would be the goal.

    Trudat. Thankful for the netroots and the labor movement. Depending on a party is a good way to get screwed.

  53. 53.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 23, 2013 at 1:03 am

    @Countme-In: Somebody call Django. We have a little job for him.

  54. 54.

    handy

    January 23, 2013 at 1:13 am

    So what now? It seems the VA dems have more options at this point than to sulk about how tricky those mean Republicans are. Or maybe that’s just people on this blog.

  55. 55.

    boss bitch

    January 23, 2013 at 1:44 am

    Shame on the witless Democrats for not anticipating that Republicans, given the chance, would resort to dirty tricks.

    Lawd, how many times has a liberal commentator said this about Dems/Obama?

  56. 56.

    gene108

    January 23, 2013 at 2:37 am

    @Another Halocene Human:

    Wait, so VA Democrats must camp out in the legislative building 24/7? Occupy State Senate?

    If the state Senate is in session, you should be expected to be there in person.

    The state constitution specifies that the General Assembly shall meet annually, and its regular session is a maximum of 60 days long in even-numbered years and 45 days long in odd-numbered years, unless extended by a two-thirds vote of both houses.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_General_Assembly

    The state legislatures in a lot of states, Virginia included it seems, are part-time affairs. The legislatures are paid a few grand per year for their time, but it ain’t enough to quit your day job.

    This isn’t Congress, which is in session most of the year. A state legislature meets for only a few weeks each year and you know when you are in session.

    For those comparing this to rape, WTF?

    Your employer isn’t closed on MLK day. You choose to not show up to work. Some shit goes down that you don’t approve of, but since you weren’t there tough titties because everyone else showed up to work and you were the only one absent.

    That is the analogy you are searching for.

    Marsh’s employer was working on MLK day and he decided to take the day off. He needs to deal with the consequences.

  57. 57.

    Short Bus Bully

    January 23, 2013 at 2:37 am

    @Mandalay:
    Oh bullshit.

    Are you trying to tell me that if you had been in that statehouse you would have predicted the GOP vote and warned everyone that no one should leave town in the next few days?

    Your analogy sucks as badly as your concern trolling.

  58. 58.

    gene108

    January 23, 2013 at 2:46 am

    @Short Bus Bully:

    Why did the 39 of 40 other state Senators not take the day off?

    If you are the only person taking a day off, when the rest of your “company” is working, do you really expect everyone else to adjust their agenda to meet your vacation schedule? Especially, if you know half the people you work with are dicks, who want to get you fired.

  59. 59.

    TR

    January 23, 2013 at 5:19 am

    “So shame on the Democrats!” Well said.

    I don’t see any problem only a solution. Make a list.Post it to the world & Boycott all Republican Businesses.No signs,placards,marches or permits necessary. No civil disobedience= No pepper spray,no arrest, no bail, no trials. Sit back & see how long they can tolerate loss of revenue.Did someone once say:”Vote with your dollar.”?

    Forget it! I’ll just complain in comment sections on that there interwebs.

  60. 60.

    SpaceSquid

    January 23, 2013 at 5:45 am

    It seems to me that the really egregious part of that quote isn’t the blaming of Democrats for Republican actions, it’s the blaming of Democrats for Marsh’s actions.

    To be clear, I’m 100% in the camp that says trying to pin any part of this on the Democrats for not concluding they can never take a day off in case Republicans in the Virginia Senate do something vicious is just crazy – in no small part because it’s too damn easy to tell other people they should give up their ability to take personal days, but also because the likely result of this action is that neither side dare take days off anymore, and I can see why an explicit or implicit assumption that a bunch of old white dudes wouldn’t want to give up their golf days might have seemed reasonable at the time. Anyone coming up with “unlocked doors attract burglars” analogies over this are too busy needs to know their metaphor is unsound unless they finish it with “but the burglar knows he has to leave his own keys and address at the scene”.

    So I don’t blame Marsh. But the Post does, and is trying to hide that by pointing fingers at the Senate Dems as a whole. IMO, that’s because they’re fully aware that saying “it’s this black guy’s fault for watching the country’s first black president get sworn in for the second time whilst a bunch of white dudes were fucking him over” would come across as spectacularly offensive. So instead, they suggest that a white-majority caucus is responsible for letting one of their black colleagues do what he fucking well likes with his personal days.

    That strikes me as problematic, to say the least.

  61. 61.

    SpaceSquid

    January 23, 2013 at 5:53 am

    @gene108

    “Why did the 39 of 40 other state Senators not take the day off?”

    Because people are individuals, maybe? This is obviously an argument that goes nowhere, because we can easily substitute “Obama’s Second Inaugural” for “daughter’s wedding” or “spouse’s funeral”. Either the Democratic senators (and now Republican senators, in all likelihood) can be forgiven for taken personal days, or they can’t. Doing anything else is suggesting anyone other than Senator Marsh gets to decide what’s important enough for Senator Marsh to want to have a personal day, and that’s a route better not taken.

    “If you are the only person taking a day off, when the rest of your “company” is working, do you really expect everyone else to adjust their agenda to meet your vacation schedule?”

    Whilst I’m in the business of tearing down obviously inaccurate analogies: Marsh did not expect anyone to adjust their agenda. He expected the agenda would remain the same as had been agreed to. We can argue as to whether this was naive, but it quite obviously wasn’t unreasonable.

  62. 62.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 23, 2013 at 6:35 am

    @Another Halocene Human: Yes, according to some commenters, Virginia Dems can never take a day off, even to see their duly elected President sworn in on Dr. King’s B’day, or they’ll be stabbed in the back by the Rethugs.

    Wow. Just wow.

  63. 63.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 23, 2013 at 6:37 am

    @I am not a kook: I love your Nixonian nym.

  64. 64.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 23, 2013 at 6:41 am

    @Triassic Sands: Was there any hint before Monday that VA Republicans were planning to do this? I think this was a blindside to VA Dems. I’m sure if they thought something like this would happen, they would have camped out in the legislature. I can’t blame the Dems for this.

  65. 65.

    bmoak

    January 23, 2013 at 6:48 am

    The only reason this was not a day off, as it was for state governments in may other states, was because the Virginia state legislature was off on Friday to honor Lee/Jackson Day. What a state.

  66. 66.

    Jack the Second

    January 23, 2013 at 7:09 am

    @SpaceSquid: This.

    A tie or near tie in a legislative body where you do not set the agenda does not give you veto power. Anyone thinking the Democrats could have prevented this if-only is naive. If it hadn’t been Monday, it would have been the first time someone had to skip for chemo.

    Pushing through their legislative coup on Obama’s Inauguration Day was just their icing on the cake. If there wasn’t cackling going on somewhere as they stuck it to Obama, the absent civil rights leader, and all “those” Democrats they disenfranchised, I’ll eat my hat.

  67. 67.

    Hank

    January 23, 2013 at 7:40 am

    Fact: The Modern Republican Party is made up almost entirely of anti-democratic (small “d”) thugs who will stoop lower than the seventh level of Hell to win elections, gain power, pass legislation, etc.

    Sounds to me like you’re advocating simply slaughtering them all.

  68. 68.

    El Cid

    January 23, 2013 at 7:44 am

    Caveat: it’s okay if Democrats assume that Republicans will act as democracy-despising tyrannical scoundrels, and it is their solemn responsibility to use their power to protect the citizenry from this well-known threat; however, we establishmentarians will be highly outraged and scream bloody murder if those Democrats dare to speak of these things so clearly publicly, and we will accuse them of selfish and immature partisanship.

  69. 69.

    Napoleon

    January 23, 2013 at 7:45 am

    Shame on the witless Democrats for not anticipating that Republicans, given the chance, would resort to dirty tricks. And shame on Republicans for continuing their campaign to transform the General Assembly into a nasty, underhanded clone of Congress

    I 100% agree with this author. The day after the election the Ohio SOS was already talking about messing with the allocation of Electoral Votes in Ohio to benefit the Republicans. If every single elected Dem does not spend every waking moment thinking that the people across the isle will pull stuff like this they are idiots. Likewise every Dem leaning commentator should be screaming up a storm every time something like this is even suggest (yet all we have had to date is nothing but crickets).

    Prediction, by next general federal election the Republicans will have effectively removed the right to vote for President and the House from the people of this country.

  70. 70.

    Napoleon

    January 23, 2013 at 7:46 am

    @Hill Dweller:

    The redistricting, should it stick, was just the first step. Step two will be Virginia joining the other swing states that Obama won in distributing their electoral votes based on the congressional districts they rigged in 2011.

    Exactly, and that is why they did it.

  71. 71.

    lou

    January 23, 2013 at 8:07 am

    Let me get this straight. Sen. Marsh was head of the Virginia Martin Luther King Committee. He is a civil rights leader. And you’re telling him he’s a lazy bastard or something for going to the inauguration?

    Really? REALLY?!

    Traditionally in Virginia, the state legislature only takes action on minor bills and members give speeches praising Martin Luther King. This was attached to a minor bill at the last minute.

  72. 72.

    Lurking Canadian

    January 23, 2013 at 8:10 am

    Couldn’t the VA Dems who were present have managed to delay the vote (even by the old-fashioned “read the yellow pages” fillibuster) for the few hours it would jar taken to get Marsh from DC to Richmond?

  73. 73.

    Emma

    January 23, 2013 at 8:13 am

    So let’s see. Democratic politicians are now in the position of never being able to have a personal life; neglect wife, families, and important personal occasions, just in case some Republican dickhead pulls some nasty trick. And if the nasty trick succeeds it’s totes the fault of the Democrat.

    You’re the kind of guy who says “if she had cooked dinner the right way I wouldn’t have had to use the belt.”

    And yeah, the girl in the short skirt? She had it coming. She should have known better.

  74. 74.

    brantl

    January 23, 2013 at 8:13 am

    @Ted & Hellen: I hate to have to agree with T&H, buttwipe that he/she usually is, but he’s right that the guy should have anticipated this.

  75. 75.

    rea

    January 23, 2013 at 8:35 am

    You know, for a political figure, going to the inauguration is not exactly taking a personal day off.

  76. 76.

    gene108

    January 23, 2013 at 8:56 am

    @SpaceSquid:

    Doing anything else is suggesting anyone other than Senator Marsh gets to decide what’s important enough for Senator Marsh to want to have a personal day, and that’s a route better not taken.

    It’s a part-time job, which you decide to do knowing you’ll only work a few weeks a year, when the legislature is in session.

    This isn’t the 9-5 grind that pays the bills for these guys. They know when they’ll be in session and so should know, when they need to be at work.

    Marsh did not expect anyone to adjust their agenda. He expected the agenda would remain the same as had been agreed to. We can argue as to whether this was naive, but it quite obviously wasn’t unreasonable.

    I don’t think there’s much of argument about, whether it is naive or not. Clearly Marsh was naive to think the Republicans aren’t a colossal bunch of dicks, who wouldn’t pull this sort of shit, if they’d gotten the chance.

  77. 77.

    Closeted epistemic (formerly Lojasmo)

    January 23, 2013 at 9:15 am

    @I am not a kook:

    Engaging the contrarian dipshit will do that to a person.

  78. 78.

    SpaceSquid

    January 23, 2013 at 9:20 am

    @gene108

    “This isn’t the 9-5 grind that pays the bills for these guys. They know when they’ll be in session and so should know, when they need to be at work.”

    That’s a reason why fewer personal days would be appropriate. It’s totally irrelevant to the suggestion that senators should forgo those personal days they do have, to be used in the ways important to them, because you don’t think their reasons are good enough.

    “I don’t think there’s much of argument about, whether it is naive or not. Clearly Marsh was naive to think the Republicans aren’t a colossal bunch of dicks, who wouldn’t pull this sort of shit, if they’d gotten the chance.”

    Actually, there is an argument that he wasn’t naive, and I know that because I made it one post above the one you’re quoting from. If one side decides to ram through crap when someone from the other side is taking a personal day, then it’s not hard to see that they’ll have to guard against the same practice being used against them.

    I realise that this is an asymmetric relationship, since the governor of Virginia is Republican (I’m happy to be corrected here, but I don’t think Senate redistricting maps need to approved by the House), but the fact remains that all that stops the Democrats from turning the tables the next time a Republican senator heads off to their grandchild’s birthday, or whatever, is Bob McDonnell (himself up for re-election next year, I believe). Claiming Marsh was clearly naive to think the Republicans wouldn’t want to go down that particular road is a dramatic overstatement.

  79. 79.

    A Humble Lurker

    January 23, 2013 at 9:56 am

    @Ted & Hellen:
    Can’t be. You’re still here.

    I suppose your position on this should have been expected. You’re the guy who said we should go easy on pedophiles, because the kid probably liked it, right?

    Actually, that blame-the-victim attitude explains a lot of what you post here, really. It’s not the Republicans’ fault they punched Dems in the face, it’s the Dems fault for having such punchable faces. Just like it isn’t a pedophile’s fault he assaulted a kid, it was the kid’s because he just WANTED IT so fucking much.

  80. 80.

    Paul Harrington

    January 23, 2013 at 10:28 am

    If you can’t find equivalence, you’re not doing journamalism right.

  81. 81.

    Will

    January 23, 2013 at 10:29 am

    I guess I’m torn in two different directions over this. In any reasonable world, should the head of the Virginia MLK Jr. Committee get to go on MLK Jr. Day to see President Obama sworn in for a second time? Without a doubt, absolutely. Should he be surprised when the Republicans use that opportunity to do something like this? I don’t think so.

    I don’t blame Marsh for what happened but I don’t think anyone can use the “How could we see this coming?!” card. In any state that’s closely divided – and, to a lesser extent, in Congress as well – I think the assumption must always be that any loophole the Republicans can exploit or dirty trick the Republicans can pull will be carried out. Is it fair? Not at all.

    It seems that most Republicans today are playing a different game than Democrats. Republicans view governing as a war; Democrats still attempt to govern within the bounds of decency. Appeals to comity and to tradition are laughed at. It’s why we Congress more or less operated normally during the last years of G.W.B., with the Democrats in the majority, while the Republicans do all they can to bring government to a halt under Obama; only Republicans are willing to pull stunts like these. These Republicans are not concerned that the Democrats in the chamber would do something similar should an opportunity arise again.

    It’s not like rape. It’s not blaming the victim. It’s just knowing what the current state of the game is and adjusting accordingly, either by changing the rules the chambers operate under or remaining vigilant for these types of situations.

  82. 82.

    gene108

    January 23, 2013 at 10:36 am

    @SpaceSquid:

    That’s a reason why fewer personal days would be appropriate. It’s totally irrelevant to the suggestion that senators should forgo those personal days they do have, to be used in the ways important to them, because you don’t think their reasons are good enough.

    My point is the VA state legislature meets for a maximum of 45 days on odd numbered years and 60 days on even numbered years, per the Wiki link I posted up thread.

    This isn’t something you sign onto to do, if you can’t be there for the 6-8 weeks required of your time, i.e. there’s no reason to take a personal day off, unless you are sick, death in the family, etc. because it’s a part-time job with a fixed duration and I assume you make the commitment to your constituents to be there for the duration of the legislative session.

  83. 83.

    Mandalay

    January 23, 2013 at 10:50 am

    @Short Bus Bully:

    Are you trying to tell me that if you had been in that statehouse you would have predicted the GOP vote and warned everyone that no one should leave town in the next few days?

    I am saying that:
    – The Democrats should have predicted what would happen.
    – The premise of the thread is complete bullshit. The article Doug cited was not saying both sides do it at all.
    – Your analogy about being slipped a roofie is nonsense.

    Pointing out lies and bullshit is not concern trolling.

  84. 84.

    Mandalay

    January 23, 2013 at 10:55 am

    @gene108:

    Clearly Marsh was naive to think the Republicans aren’t a colossal bunch of dicks, who wouldn’t pull this sort of shit, if they’d gotten the chance.

    This. There are a lot of comments from Utopians on this thread.

  85. 85.

    NA

    January 23, 2013 at 11:00 am

    @rea:
    Absolutely.

  86. 86.

    Carl Nyberg

    January 23, 2013 at 11:00 am

    Isn’t the point of the Open Meetings Act and similar laws that one has to announce dirty tricks 48 or 72 hours in advance so the victims can organize their opposition to dirty tricks?

    If the Democrats knew that this bill might come up for a vote then it seems reasonable to spread the blame.

    But if the Democrats didn’t know the bill might come up for a vote then it seems like… it’s not reasonable to expect the people to spend their mental energy figuring out how Republicans and other evil people will abuse process.

  87. 87.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 23, 2013 at 11:05 am

    @A Humble Lurker:

    You’re projecting again.

    Find and talk to a certified mental health professional about your obsession with pedophilia.

  88. 88.

    brantl

    January 23, 2013 at 11:25 am

    @Ted & Hellen: No, actually, he’s not the head of the Democratic party. He’s the highest office holder, you dumbass.

  89. 89.

    A Humble Lurker

    January 23, 2013 at 11:25 am

    @Ted & Hellen:
    So this wasn’t you, then?

  90. 90.

    brantl

    January 23, 2013 at 11:28 am

    @Ted & Hellen: The idiot filter hasn’t worked very well, it hasn’t caught you.

  91. 91.

    Marshall

    January 23, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    (I’m happy to be corrected here, but I don’t think Senate redistricting maps need to approved by the House)

    In Virginia, they are regular bills which have to go through the House of Delegates and get the Governor’s signature.

    There is a definite asymmetry here in Virginia at present. if the Senate Democrats did something like this, it would go nowhere. What they can do is tie the Senate up in knots, which I wouldn’t be surprised to see.

    The real backstory here is the radical takeover of the Republican party in Virginia about 10 years ago. The old-line, thoughtful, Republicans were caucused out by much younger, ill-informed hacks who were well-financed, apparently by outside money. This lowered the collective IQ of the Va GOP quite noticeably.

  92. 92.

    Marshall

    January 23, 2013 at 12:19 pm

    I read the Wash Post piece before I saw this, and did not think it was at all “both sides do it” article.

    The Va Senate quorum is 21. The Dems could have just not showed up for one day and avoided this. So, yes, they should get a little bit of the blame.

  93. 93.

    Marshall

    January 23, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    A question : who paid for this ? This was a 30 page redistricting plan, prepared in secret. They are not easy to prepare. I bet it was done by some consultant – who paid for that consultant? Follow the money, and I would also bet that you would find this whole plan came from and was funded by one of the usual suspects, such as the Koch brothers.

  94. 94.

    Marshall

    January 23, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    Another thought here – Va Senators are expected to be present at meetings. I am sure that some take “personal days,” but I bet mostly they remain in the Richmond area. The bill was given 30 minutes for debate. If Marsh had been at the dentist, say, he could have rushed to the Senate floor before the vote. They (I am sure deliberately) didn’t give him enough time to do that from DC – it would be a 2 hour drive on the best of days. On Inauguration day, it would probably be 4+ hours, depending on just how far from his car he was, and which side of Pennsylvania Ave his car was on, and whether his car was in the locked-down zone. Even taking a cab would be a similar duration, if there were cabs available. He was stuck, and they knew it.

    This stinks, and I regard it as incredibly politically stupid. There will be consequences.

  95. 95.

    TenguPhule

    January 23, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    @Carl Nyberg:

    Sssshh! You can’t go bringing facts here, there’s an emo-prog self-loathing hatefest going on.

  96. 96.

    Ted & Hellen

    January 23, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    @A Humble Lurker:

    I stand by every single word.

    The real issue now is your obsession with the topic and your lack of reading comprehension.

    You are attempting to shame me with words of which I am very much unashamed. But keep trying, Ahab. The way you keep dry humping that whale is very revealing of your mindset. Fascinating.

  97. 97.

    bryan

    January 23, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    I think that shame on the democrats is a fool me twice, shame on me type shaming.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Image by MomSense (5/10.25)

Recent Comments

  • RandomMonster on Open Thread: Creativity Is inherently Non-Conservative (May 20, 2025 @ 12:41pm)
  • Chief Oshkosh on Open Thread: Creativity Is inherently Non-Conservative (May 20, 2025 @ 12:40pm)
  • BigJimSlade on On The Road – robtrim – A terrace in France (May 20, 2025 @ 12:37pm)
  • Geminid on Squishable Tuesday Morning Open Thread (May 20, 2025 @ 12:34pm)
  • Paul in KY on Monday Morning Open Thread: Another Week (May 20, 2025 @ 12:30pm)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!