Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

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

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

He really is that stupid.

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Come on, man.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

People are complicated. Love is not.

T R E 4 5 O N

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Monday Evening Open Thread: History Repeating

Monday Evening Open Thread: History Repeating

by | 49 Comments

This post is in: , ,

gop healthcare simplicity rall

(Ted Rall via GoComics.com)

.
There’s still plenty worth reading in the Washington Post, including this column from Matt Miller:

Voiceover: It’s December 1, 1936 — in the Crossfire tonight — Americans begin signing up for FDR’s new “Social Security” program — but can the post office handle the volume? And is it essential protection for seniors — or the slippery slope to socialism? In the Crossfire — Frances Perkins, secretary of labor, who supports the program — and congressman Daniel Reed, Republican of New York, who opposes it.

Good evening, I’m Upton Sinclair, on the left.

And I’m Freddy Hayek, on the right.

Sinclair: After 18 months of planning, President Roosevelt’s breakthrough Social Security program to ease poverty among senior citizens recently began its rollout, with application forms sent to post offices across the country — and with employers forced to register as well. Freddy, I think it’s a milestone for a civilized nation. After all, two dozen countries already have systems of social insurance on the books. And the whole idea was invented by a conservative, Otto von Bismarck, back in the ’80s as a shrewd way to assure social peace. Can’t you concede that morality, not to mention the survival instincts of the ruling class, requires a decent society to offer something like Bismarckcare to protect against destitution in old age?

Hayek: Spoken like a communist out to weigh the economy down, Up. Don’t you lefties see that your taxing and spending will put us on the road to serfdom?…

Read the whole thing, it’s a hoot!

Apart from the predictable sporting events (which I’ll leave to Cole), what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

49Comments

  1. 1.

    David Koch

    Aqua Buddha gives a 12 hour filibuster against using drones, but now he wants to kill Rachel Maddow.

    Why did any self described liberal fall for this kook

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    Resting up for canvassing for Terry McAuliffe – Ralph Northam – Mark Herring on election day tomorrow.

    Democrats in Virginia got to win.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    Chris Hayes is covering insurers who try to scam customers into believing that their rates are going up under Obamacare.

  6. 6.

    MikeJ

    @David Koch:

    Aqua Buddha gives a 12 hour filibuster against using drones,

    Except not really, since he supports using drones to kill anybody the police suspect of committing any crime.

  7. 7.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    @Baud: His opening segment on the three ways people are being misled about the new health care law was simply amazing. Someone needs to snip it, Youtube it and make it available to post to Facebook.

    I believe many of my stupid rightwing friends would even be able to understand it.

  10. 10.

    PsiFighter37

    @Elizabelle: Go for the clean sweep! I’ll be watching the Obenshain/Herring race intently…if Creigh Deeds had knocked off McDonnell in the 2005 AG race, he still would’ve been a nobody.

    Me, I’ll be voting for Comrade de Blasiovich tomorrow after work. Is there anything else on the ballot in NYC tomorrow that I should be aware of? The only other major thing (as far as I know) is the casino initiative, which I will gladly vote against.

  11. 11.

    PsiFighter37

    Really? How did I end up in moderation with no curse words and nothing remotely offensive? Maybe jokingly calling de Blasio a commie was what flagged it…

  14. 14.

    fuckwit

    @David Koch: He is pissed off at Maddow because she’s right in his target market– young educated liberals who don’t like drones or spying– and is telling the truth about him and turning them off to him. His whole strategy for winning the 2016 nomination is to peel off liberals from the Democratic Party who care about civil liberties, and convert them to worship Aqua Buddha instead. Maddow is pointing out that the Aqua Buddha has no clothes. This he cannot tolerate; it’s fucking with his meal ticket.

  19. 19.

    drkrick

    If the Dems don’t win in Virginia tomorrow, it won’t be for lack of trying. I’ve gotten three live canvassers in the last two days (one at the door from the Democratic Party, one on the phone from the McAuliffe campaign and another on the phone from my Dem General Assembly delegate claiming their polling shows a dead heat against a generally popular five-term incumbent), two Dem robocalls today, and three GOP robocalls because we have a new voter in the house who hasn’t voted in a primary yet, which is the only way to guess party ID since we don’t register by party. If GOTV has any hope of helping, the Dems should do well.

  24. 24.

    Yatsuno

    @Ash Can: I admit I got a soft spot for the Socialists of Green Bay. Plus I do have a minor crush on Aaron Rodgers. Well maybe not so minor.

  29. 29.

    Anya

    @Elizabelle: My brother and his wife were canvassing for Terry Mack this weekend. Though, they cannot stand McAuliffe they’re both terrified of a possible wingnut win so they’re doing everything they can to elect democrats. My sister in law told me that she’s yet to meet a woman who’ll vote for Cuccinelli.

  30. 30.

    burnspbesq

    @raven:

    The Situational Ethics Conference could use a commissioner with the smarts and integrity of an Andrew Ceresney.

  33. 33.

    handsmile

    @PsiFighter37:

    You should take a look at Ballot Proposals #4 and #5.

    Both involve the transfer of state-owned land in the Adirondacks, which under the NY State Constitution must be kept “forever wild”, to several townships (#4) or to a private company (NYCO Minerals) (#5).

    Voting NO on #5 at least should be as much of a no-brainer as the gaming proposal.

    Here’s the NYC Campaign Finance Board Voter Guide link for more info:

    http://www.nyccfb.info/public/voter-guide/general_2013/index.aspx

    ETA: Also, a vote for Letitia James for Public Advocate.

  35. 35.

    Cacti

    @David Koch:

    Why did any self described liberal fall for this kook

    The LAX shooter was worried about fiat currency and the new world order.

    He stands with Rand.

  38. 38.

    Cacti

    @fuckwit:

    His whole strategy for winning the 2016 nomination is to peel off white liberals from the Democratic Party who care about white people’s narrow definition of civil liberties

    Fix’t

    Minorities don’t stand with Rand.

  41. 41.

    raven

    @efgoldman: He could throw a damn baseball through a wall. He also ran like a madman, sometimes without his helmet. He and Greg Landry were the shit at running the rock.

  42. 42.

    lamh36

    Ok, wait, Rachel Maddow was on The Simpsons last night!

    Rachel Maddow Reveals ‘Simpsons’ Cameo (VIDEO)

    Before showing a clip from the show, Maddow described the episode as “the best new thing in the world today” and revealed just how excited she really is.

    “I can’t even introduce it any better, just roll it. It’s the best thing in my life. Ever.”

    The clip shows Maddow’s character confront the show’s veteran news anchor Kent Brochman about his bitterness over her success. Their conversation is interrupted several times by Maddow’s frequent commercial breaks.

    After the clip ended, Maddow was nearly speechless in anticipation.

    “I will never achieve anything this cool ever again in my life,” she said. “Best new thing in the world.”

  43. 43.

    lamh36

    And speaking of the Simpsons, they honored the death of Marcia Wallace as only The Simpsons would:

    The Simpsons Gave Mrs. Krabappel a Heartbreaking Sendoff

    The Simpsons bookended last night’s new episode with two touching tributes to late voice actress Marcia Wallace, better known to fans as Mrs. Edna Krabappel, who passed away on October 26th at the age of 70…
    And it poured the heartbreak on thick with a tear-jerking chalkboard gag showing a despondent Bart writing a single line: “We’ll really miss you Mrs. K.”

    The funeral-themed episode ended with an in memoriam showing Mrs. Krabappel sat on her desk blurting out her halting laugh one last time.

    The producers of the show said they planned to retire the character following Wallace’s passing. No word on how Ned Flanders will take the loss of yet another wife.

  44. 44.

    lamh36

    For those who will say The Simpsons is a shell of what it used to be, an commenter on Gawker brought up a great analysis. The early Simpsons season are like a parent of an A student who brings homes a couple of B+. A link was posted for anyone who bemoans the later seasons.

    Nine Latter-Day Simpsons Episodes That Match Up to the Early Classics

    With The Simpsons’ 500th episode coming on February 19, TV critic Matt Zoller Seitz wrote a celebration of the series. He used to be in the “It’s stale, pull the plug” camp, but after catching up on more recent seasons, he revised his opinion, and now feels that while the last thirteen years of The Simpsons weren’t as great as the first ten, the series has maintained an impressive level of quality over nearly a quarter century. And, he points out, there have been episodes in the post–Golden Years that stack up against sainted entries in the Meyer/Swartzwelder/O’Brien glory days. Here he picks nine episodes that prove that while The Simpsons can’t reinvent TV forever, it can still make us laugh…

  45. 45.

    drkrick

    @efgoldman:

    I remember Bobby Douglass. He was Tebow before there was Tebow. Running QB in college (Kansas?), couldn’t throw worth a damn.

    Sports Illustrated described him as someone who could run like a moose but unfortunately also threw like a moose. The sort of line you remember 40 years later.

  46. 46.

    Southern Beale

    RE the comic strip, I said from day one that the very LAST fucking thing I want to do is “shop” for healthcare, health insurance, etc. I fucking hate to shop. I hate it.

    When I wrote that on my blog years ago you’d think I’d have uttered the most treasonous statements imaginable. The comments got lost when I transferred from Blogger to WordPress but the idea that someone didn’t want to “shop” for something like healthcare was completely inimaginable to someone.

    Shopping is fucking work. It just is. Don’t complain about a damn website not working and then demand that something this complicated be a cakewalk. I ordered 2 sweatshirts online last night and the website required me to constantly reload the page every step of the way. It wasn’t perfect but I’m getting my damn sweatshirts.

  47. 47.

    Yatsuno

    @lamh36: I was at work that night and we were all watching the election results closely. I also at that time worked with a lot of Canadians and they were watching right along with us. It turned into a fun night.

  48. 48.

    catclub

    @Anya: “they’re both terrified of a possible wingnut win so they’re doing everything they can to elect democrats”

    “Vote for the crook, it’s important.” Worked in Louisiana when David Duke was running for governor.

  49. 49.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Newsmax tells me I’m supposed to be outraged that Obama will be screening “Mandela” at the White House, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. I thought even Dick Cheney had admitted he was wrong about Mandela.

Comments are closed.