(Pat Oliphant via GoComics.com)
.
Roger Ailes (the Good One) takes notice of the upcoming National Review cruise:
The lineup for the August 2013 National Review Cruise in Norway has just been announced, and it’s even more of a sausage fest than usual. Every one of the “guest speakers” on the cruise, from Jonah Goldberg to Dick Morris to John Podhoretz, is a genetic male. Not a single lady, or Maggie Gallagher, among them. I suppose this makes sense if your target customers are elderly widows and confirmed bachelors of a certain age….
Click over for the perfection of his title.
Ashley Judd, sadly, will not be running to replace Mitch McConnell.
And why (inquiring minds want to know) was Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Morlocks) lurking around the Lincoln Memorial well after dark, committing “Oversight of Park Service”?
Gravenstone
Did that “oversight of Park Service” come in a wide stance? Inquiring minds …
schrodinger's cat
This cartoon is ridiculous. As over the top as we are #1 chants from wingnuttia and the “historic” paintings by that Mormon artist whose name I can’t remember. The ones which show Jeebus and the founding fathers.
Baud
Wasn’t this the Sarah Palin starburst cruise? The sexism might be better for the country in this one particular case.
Chris
They’re cruising in Norway. Oh, that’s funny. Of all the countries…
schrodinger's cat
Moment of Zen
Higgs Boson's Mate
Because “oversight of the Park Service” sounds much better than “Helping that sheep over the fence.”
schrodinger's cat
@efgoldman: Live in a real third world country for a year and get back to me on that.
Rex Everything
Not too terribly obvious of a Python ref.
Omnes Omnibus
@Rex Everything: A parrot sketch reference is not obscure.
mclaren
Apropos of nothing in particular, profoundly powerful infographic about U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan here.
JCR
Will there be wetsuits involved?
RareSanity
HA HA…zing!
…searches for pic of ‘Maggie Gallagher’…
Oh…
JCR
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: LOL
danielx
Another day, another Republican schmuck – although I suspect this guy will end up being as well known as George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, SC.
Why is it always either South Carolina or Texas?
mclaren
@schrodinger’s cat:
Depends what part of America you live in and what your income is. If you’re living in the slums of Baltimore as someone on welfare, you’re in worse conditions than if you were living in slums in Ghana or Brazilian favelas.
If you’re an American living in what Chris Hedges calls the “sacrifice zones” in America turned into toxic 90%-unemployment wastelands by giant U.S. multinationals, you’re definitely worse off than you would be if you were living in the slums of Bombay or Guatamala.
MikeJ
re the cartoon, the old joke about if it’s better to live in the US is that at least that way you aren’t a victim of its foreign policy.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Appalling!
JPL
What was Gohmert doing there? Does anyone know? BTW, I do think Mike’s cartoon today was appropriate. link
I do love me some luckovich.
also, too.. from dallasnews.com about gohmert .. comments he is a Dem!! I dont care what he calls himself
mclaren
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Or “dragging that sheep away from the Republican.”
danielx
Trying to feel philosophical about this and failing completely…there is no disappointment like the disappointment of finding your child will not get out of the hospital when you expected.
Omnes Omnibus
@danielx: WTF?
@danielx: Sorry.
schrodinger's cat
@mclaren: Have you ever been to Dharavi? The largest slum in the world? No welfare either. It is literally a dog eat dog world.
smintheus
Why would Judd have been a good candidate, aside from the money she could raise?
Omnes Omnibus
@smintheus: Name recognition.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
And cuteness.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: I required my children to listen to Firesign Theater. Some of them picked up Monty Python on their own.
gogol's wife
@danielx:
I’m sorry. I hope it’s soon!
@schrodinger’s cat:
I’m with you on this one.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: That too.
Gin & Tonic
According to the linked story, Louie was on his way to a meeting on the Hill. At 11:00 pm.
Who wants to buy a bridge? I’ve got a good old one for sale.
R-Jud
@danielx: Sorry to hear it. It sounds like she’s having a really, really rough time. I hope she can leave soon.
mike with a mic
@mclaren:
That’s nonsense. Have you ever been to real slums in South America, Asia, or Africa? As someone who works in global development and global health even the poor here are the 1% compared to many places on the earth. And that’s just part of it. Just as we are kept poorer so the rich can have more, they are kept poorer so we can have cheap electronics, good, and our middle class lifestyle.
schrodinger's cat
@danielx: {{{danielx}}} Hoping for a speedy recovery. Keep us posted.
Anne Laurie
@schrodinger’s cat:
I’ll admit that part of the funny, for me, is that Oliphant is an immigrant. Off his lawn, those new kids should get!
mike with a mic
@Gin & Tonic:
Congress often works late, it’s doesn’t smell like bullshit right off the bat. And working your ass off at all hours, dinner being a work dinner, and then back to work is kinda a DC speciality that The Hill is known for.
It’s still no excuse to yell at people over a ticket. And he’s in for a surprise if he thinks “but I”m a congressman” gets you out of stuff like that. Now if he was a diplomat he could do it.
drkrick
@smintheus: And the opportunity to use the line “who cares if we’ve seen her tits, McConnell has been showing us his ass for years” early and often
Thor Heyerdahl
@JCR:
The dildos are already there – speaking on stage.
That triggered a thought. I just remembered watching this film with it’s “Dancing Dildos” scene.
Because it’s such a sausage heavy event – the following quote from the aforementioned movie is applicable: “The stunt-cock is here.”
Since it’s in Norway – I bet some of them will wish that Tom of Finland’s models will show up for some cruising.
Anne Laurie
@danielx: I’m sorry to hear that. Your family will be in my positive thoughts.
JPL
@smintheus: She’s bright and articulate but besides that I have no idea if she would have been a good candidate.
smintheus
@Omnes Omnibus: That cuts both ways. Reports had it that Dem internal polling had her as an extremely weak candidate with actual voters.
Suffern ACE
Wqxr in New York has been playing a Bach marathon since march 21. Everything that Bach has ever written (that has been recorded). Makes me a little relaxed. I spent most of the day today thinking it was Thursday, it’s been that kind of work week. I was so looking forward to Friday.
max
@Gin & Tonic: According to the linked story, Louie was on his way to a meeting on the Hill. At 11:00 pm.
GEE! Cute the guy some slack! He wasn’t doing some sick perverted thing like having gay sex or visiting the Lincoln Memorial! He was just trying to score some meth before the meeting. Just gotta burn the edge off beforehand, and running the entire length of the Mall works pretty good for that.
max
[‘And he was totally supervising – those dealers hanging around might be trying to sell product to kids or something instead selling to Official United State House of Representative Representatives.’]
JPL
@R-Jud: You’re up late..
mike with a mic
@efgoldman:
Having worked in downtown DC nope, doesn’t strike me as odd or all that uncommon. People willing work odd hours at many places in DC, it goes with the job. Working till dinner, working dinner, hang out for a bit and then back to work isn’t all that uncommon.
schrodinger's cat
@Anne Laurie: I will get off Oliphant’s lawn. And may be Australians are better off than Americans. But I wouldn’t make that into a sweeping statement covering all immigrants.
Most people have no idea what immigrants give up to make a life here. I don’t know this cartoon just touched a raw nerve.
Narcissus
Why are these people all so fuckin’ weird
And not in a good way
sm*t cl*de
What was Gohmert doing there? Does anyone know?
Readers of The Time Machine will recall that the Morlocks come and go through a statue of a sphinx. He was lost and had the wrong monument.
Heywood J.
Because people have asked for more pet photos.
Gin & Tonic
@mike with a mic: May not be uncommon for staffers, but I’d wager it’s pretty uncommon for the actual congressmen.
MattR
@mike with a mic: Why would Gohmert have parked by the Lincoln Memorial for a meeting on the Hill?
JPL
@Heywood J.: OOH, that is so sweet. Poppie needs some hugs and scritches.
mike with a mic
@Gin & Tonic:
Actually it isn’t. Late hour votes do happen. As does the actual “work” of congress. Aka hammering out everything that’s going to be done off camera and when CSPAN isn’t paying attention. All the stuff that happens during the day, is bullshit votes on really dumb stuff. That or bringing out what was worked on late at night, in secret, that they were told to vote for and getting it out of the way real fast.
We’d see them at Ruths Chris all the damn time drinking and eating with private sector guys from 7-10pm. Then they’d go back to the hill to craft legislation and do the real work, or vote on it.
The daytime is usually all bullshit stuff. The real slicing and dicing off stuff gets done when the cameras aren’t rolling after most peoples work hours. It’s one of the reasons the place is so fucked up.
I’m not saying he couldn’t be full of crap. But going to a meeting at 11pm, totally plausible and even likely. Just as likely he was out eating and drinking the good stuff prior with a bunch of “industry experts”. It’s just how DC works.
danielx
Thanks – really and truly and sincerely – for all the good thoughts. You find out weird things about hospitals, some of them unexplainable. Why, for example, in a hospital that is a level 1 trauma center, would planners put the pediatric critical care unit in a location overlooking 1) the ER ambulance bays below and 2) the landing pad for medevac helicopters? Try to get rest and the whole room starts vibrating…go figure.
patrick II
I am watching the Bulls play the Heat — the Bulls are up by 7 with about six to go in the fourth. I can’t believe they will hold on, but I am sitting here with my fingers crossed.
Heywood J.
@JPL: Poppie puts up with me, but absolutely worships my wife. Very good dog, great backstory.
different-church-lady
For thems who ain’t been following, Randall Munroe has unleashed his latest bit of jaw-dropping-ness over at xkcd. #1190 was published early Monday morning and has been updating itself ever… so… slowly… with a new frame every 30 minutes for the past 69 hours. It’s anyone’s guess how long it’s going to take to fully reveal itself.
It’s not much to look at in and of itself, but various xkcd fan sites have posted the individual frames for review. I’m not going to give the spoiler here, you’ll have to do your own Googling.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I may have mentioned this before, but I have ceased giving the benefit of the doubt to Republicans. They chose the R label; it has costs.
? Martin
@danielx:
Funny you mention that. Was just talking to someone earlier today about the need for more civil engineers and architects to participate in the medical profession. Why? Because engineers and architects that design hospitals need to understand what happens in those buildings at a very fundamental level. Case in point.
Best wishes to you.
KIlkee
@efgoldman: I knew my son was mine when, at 10, he was immediately enthralled by The Holy Grail one rainy afternoon at the lake.
RaflW
Can we chip in to send some Somali pirates to visit the Norse Steamer?
mike with a mic
@efgoldman:
Because it’s completely plausible he was out say, getting drunk with BP and then going to a backroom meeting on the hill to sell what they wanted in private meetings. Him being a crazy asshole does not mean that he doesn’t conduct his congressional business in just as scummy a way as the rest of them.
Nor does congressmen conducting their business in the style of congressmen give them a right to yell about traffic tickets and try to pull rank. But that’s not all that out of the ordinary as well.
Nothing about this who incident strikes me as anything more than business as usual and jerks being jerks.
Mike G
I guess it’s too much to expect them to actually learn anything from observing a prosperous social democracy with the highest living standard in the world.
Didn’t Norway accept a few Somali refugees? Can we get them to take up piracy one last time?
Ship of Fools
youtube.com/watch?v=ZHh0V7UjVXI
patrick II
Bulls up over heat by 9, under 4:00 to go, flagrant on James. The win streak may be over.
? Martin
@efgoldman: May not have been. But you don’t add helipads and relocate critical care units without major structural work. There are countless examples of building design that isn’t particularly thoughtful of the occupants of the building.
jamick6000
earlier today, dougj had a post about the epic spasm of contrarianism that will erupt after the supreme court rules on doma/marriage, no matter which way they rule.
Just went over to slate (shut up). The lead story is “CONSERVATIVES WILL EVENTUALLY COME TO LOVE GAY MARRIAGE, Here’s how it will happen by William Saletan”
IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING
smintheus
@efgoldman: It was outlandish the way the refs handed that game to the Habs. Awarding a goal, instead of a penalty, when Montreal had too many men on the ice is just bizarre.
smintheus
@jamick6000: Saletan is not the brightest contrarian in the stable.
dance around in your bones
@danielx:
I am so sorry. Been there – I don’t know your situation but my teenager popped an aneurysm and it was totally touch and go for a while. She ended up graduating with her senior class (albeit with a funny comb-over from the head shaving before surgery).
I’ve never been so scared in my life. {{{strength to you and your family}}
TooManyJens
Anybody got one of those famed Balloon Juice hockey puck-sized Valiums? I could use one right now. Time travel to about a month from now would be an acceptable alternative.
patrick II
Bulls up 9, 30 seconds to go. Heat win streak is over.
Bulls are without Rose, Noah, and Bellinelli. Hinrich played a great game, so did the rest of them.
Yutsano
@Heywood J.: Needs moar Tunch. :)
burnspbesq
@mike with a mic:
I’ll stipulate that everthing in your comment 58 is true. But it doesn’t address the following question: at 11:00 p.m., Gohmert can’t find any parking space other than a space reserved for NPS staff? If there is even one non-reserved space available, then Gohmert was either (1) going out of his way to pick a fight or (2) going out of his way to be a dick.
joel hanes
@Gin & Tonic:
I required my children to listen to Firesign Theater
me too.
The 60’s TV tropes in Dwarf didn’t survive well, and they all found that one incomprehensible — but the computer-geek son loved Bozos and understood it immediately, still quotes it. (He didn’t get Nick Danger until after we’d watched The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca.)
I bought the complete Python and made sure they all saw Grail and Life of Brian and SPAM and the cheese shop and the dead parrot and the twin peaks of Kilimanjaro, just as I made sure they saw Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles and GhostBusters and Galaxy Quest and Airplane
patrick II
Final, Bulls 101, Heat 97.
danielx
@efgoldman:
It’s true, and this place has been there for a long time – growing organically, you might say. But in a place that has got (well) over a thousand beds, you’d think they could find a better way. They did move her/us to another room which is quieter, thanks be to the nursing staff.
burnspbesq
@Mike G:
Not to mention that Norway is a paradigm case of the sort of fiscal responsibility that Republicans are supposed to stand for. The Norwegian people, through their elected representatives, decided that they wanted a very robust social safety net–and then they decided to tax themselves up the wazoo to pay for it.
dance around in your bones
@joel hanes:
Awesome parent you are :)
joel hanes
@dance around in your bones:
awesome parent
Maybe. Mostly I just wanted them to understand why I so often laugh at odd moments.
Suffern ACE
@jamick6000: Even Megan McCardle will come to love it as she knows it will make gays and lesbians as unhappy as she is.
dance around in your bones
Ok, Jon Stewart is pissing me off again. I may just start skipping his show and wait for Colbert.
dance around in your bones
@joel hanes:
My grandkids ask the same thing while I’m laughing like a loon while reading Balloon Juice – a bit harder to explain :)
They’re too young for Monty Python yet. It will come!
Omnes Omnibus
@dance around in your bones:
No, they are not.
Hill Dweller
@dance around in your bones: Stewart is just trolling at this point. Does the VA problems absolve Republicans from their obstructing legislation and executive/judicial confirmations? Why even bring the Republicans into the bit?
Stewart also failed to note part of the reason for increased claims delays is the Obama admin extending disability benefits to some Vietnam Vets, bringing hundreds of thousands of more people into the claims process.
I’m really starting to actively dislike Stewart.
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus: You think? 2, 4 and 6? I think the 6yrold might get it….on the other hand, the 2yrold goes around singing the Diarrhea Song (yes, I know I have linked it before).
@Hill Dweller:
Me too. I just sit there stone-faced through his segments and think “Really?! WTF?” It’s so both-sides-do-it BS.
jamick6000
@smintheus: or is he??? <————contrarian contrarianism
FlyingToaster
@dance around in your bones:
I get that. My 5-year-old is just getting Batman (as in Adam West) and ST:TOS. We figure the BritComedy progression goes something like Mr. Bean, Jeeves & Wooster, Monty Python, BlackAdder.
Omnes Omnibus
@dance around in your bones: They will like the physical comedy bits. Then the silly things. Eventually, they will get the intellectual stuff. Hell, my introduction to Hume was this song.
dance around in your bones
@FlyingToaster: That’s a good progression.
I just think a lot of Monty Python would fly right over their heads – they might get the physical comedy bits. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Plus, different culture, different reference points, no comprende it’s a riddle.
There is plenty of time.
eta: @Omnes Omnibus: I swear I did not read your comment before I posted mine, but I agree about the physical comedy :)
eta2: I completely regret introducing the 6yrold to Annoying Orange. And it totally freaks his 4yrold brother out.
Hill Dweller
@dance around in your bones: I don’t disagree there are VA problems, but what was that bullshit about Republicans at the beginning of the bit? Does the VA problems preclude anyone from complaining about the Republicans’ obstruction in congress and it’s devastating effects? Does the VA problems absolve Republicans of any blame for their obstructionism? Has anyone actually blamed the VA problems on Republican obstructionism? Is Stewart suggesting Republicans are being unfairly criticized for their obstructionism?
Bringing the Republicans into the bit was a complete non sequitur, but it reeked of Broderism.
Redshirt
@patrick II: I dug the updates.
Down with the “Heat”! What the hell is a “Heat” anyway?
ruemara
@FlyingToaster: I stumbled onto Monty Python at 9, so I heartily recommend starting Monty early and often.
jamick6000
guys, please read my column at slate.com about how a combination of legalized gay marriage and an increase in the minimum wage would be the most devastating 1-2 punch in history to low-income homosexuals.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Omnes Omnibus: Immanuel Kant was a real pissant.
PeakVT
@mike with a mic: The point is that the Lincoln Memorial is at the opposite end of the Mall from the Capitol, over two miles away. He wouldn’t be parking in the vicinity of the LM to do something on The Hill.
dance around in your bones
@Hill Dweller: Yeah, it’s another “I blame Obama!” moment from Stewart. Republicans, what?
This is a problem that Obama is trying to fix, but it won’t happen overnight and the Repubs are not helping at ALL. Easier to blame it on the Kenyan usurper, and Stewart is more than willing to jump on that bandwagon, just to be contrary? edgy? It baffles me.
Meh, not gonna watch him no more. Not least because he doesn’t make me laugh.
Ruckus
@dance around in your bones:
Write to the network and tell them why you aren’t watching any more. Enough of us do that and maybe, just maybe a minor change might happen. Otherwise nada.
dance around in your bones
@Ruckus: Well, I could try a combination of too much both sides do it and he ain’t funny no more, nu?
I think he’s just passed his sell-by date.
Hill Dweller
@dance around in your bones: I think Stewart’s foray into directing is a cry for help.
dance around in your bones
@Hill Dweller: Oh gads, I hadn’t heard about that. Never a good sign.
Well, some people make it to directing from acting (or in his case, entertaining) but it’s very rare.
different-church-lady
@ruemara: I stumbled across it at 12, because I was looking in TV Guide for something to watch, and saw “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” listed. “Cool,” I thought, “a circus!” I flipped it on and it was in the middle of the Cardinal Richelieu courtroom sketch (“I put it to you that you are, in fact, dead!”).
“OK,” I thought, “I guess they got the listing wrong because this ain’t no circus. But whatever the heck this thing is, it’s great!”
karen
@dance around in your bones:
What is wrong with showing the incompatible systems of the VA and the VA hospital? What’s wrong with pointing out the backlog for soldiers and Stewart and Colbert have always been concerned with the troops. He’s harder on Democrats sometimes because he is a Democrat and doesn’t like it when his own side does stupid things. I don’t either. I get the feeling that you can’t see when your own side does stupid things. You know, like the Dems that voted with the Conservatives in the Senate to kill the part of Obamacare that dealt with medical devices and got rid of the taxes? Or the Dems that voted against gun control? I think that you do the same thing that Conservatives do and I don’t mean the two sides do it bullshit. I expect more of my own party. I expect nothing from Republicans.
And he’s right about matzo. It tears up my stomach and my parents are already sick to their stomachs after three days straight with it.
karen
@jamick6000:
So it’s better for them to not have rights?
Tokyokie
@karen: I can only assume that National Review chose Norway for the site of its cruise so everybody could make a pilgramage to Utøya in honor of their soul mate, Anders Behring Breivik.
Feebog
Greetings from Chengdu, China. On an eleven day tour, six cities, and a lot to see and do. Most interesting; access to the Internet. in Beijing I could not access any political blogs. Did not try in Shanghai, as they had not wi-if (four star hotel, and no wifi). Now in South China And no proplemo,access to almost everything. Our tour guides have been excellent and it is very interesting to discuss the state of China’s economy, their.social security system and their health care system. Everything here is monitored, cameras at almost every intersection. People can not drive from one province to another without permission from the government, and they will nab you with the cameras or you will stopped by a cop, with a pretty stiff fine as the result.
My take on the cartoon, spend a couple weeks in China, and you will appreciate the freedom we have. Yeah,I know, Patriot Act, Drones, blah, blah, blah. just read In the paper today that they sentenced twenty people up to life for communicating “extreme religious view” and advocating secession.
Feebog
Greetings from Chengdu, China. On an eleven day tour, six cities, and a lot to see and do. Most interesting; access to the Internet. in Beijing I could not access any political blogs. Did not try in Shanghai, as they had not wi-if (four star hotel, and no wifi). Now in South China And no proplemo,access to almost everything. Our tour guides have been excellent and it is very interesting to discuss the state of China’s economy, their.social security system and their health care system. Everything here is monitored, cameras at almost every intersection. People can not drive from one province to another without permission from the government, and they will nab you with the cameras or you will stopped by a cop, with a pretty stiff fine as the result.
My take on the cartoon, spend a couple weeks in China, and you will appreciate the freedom we have. Yeah,I know, Patriot Act, Drones, blah, blah, blah. just read In the paper today that they sentenced twenty people up to life for communicating “extreme religious view” and advocating secession.
Deb T
If I was a billionaire, like some on this voyage around Norway, I would call up the NAACP (I’d call the Black Panthers but they don’t have enough contacts, let alone members) and offer them free tickets for this voyage. I’d get ahold of women and LGBT folk. I’d call La Raza to see if any Hispanic/Latinos could be persuaded or bribed. I’d rent limos and have them all arrive at the same time to board the good ship Floppipop or whatever it’s called. I’d make sure they had speakers for their MP3 players or whatever. Hell, I’d go on that voyage myself.