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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / There Goes Another One

There Goes Another One

by $8 blue check mistermix|  February 20, 20146:48 pm| 172 Comments

This post is in: Media

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Matt Taibbi:

Today is my last day at Rolling Stone. As of this week, I’m leaving to work for First Look Media, the new organization that’s already home to reporters like Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras.

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Reader Interactions

172Comments

  1. 1.

    cathyx

    February 20, 2014 at 6:52 pm

    Great addition to what’s going to be a great news source.

  2. 2.

    CarolDuhart2

    February 20, 2014 at 6:53 pm

    I’m not surprised. All you have to do is look at the dwindling number of on-the-rack publications at the convenience stores. Time and Newsweek I only see at the doctor’s office-hell, it may be the only folks subscribing these days. The local paper is half the size it used to be and looks way more fragile. The only papers it seems are making money are the auto shoppers and apartment hunter publications.

    So I’m not surprised to see talented reporters and writers grabbing the parachute and jumping out the door before the plane crashes.

  3. 3.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 6:56 pm

    Should be easier for the NSA to keep tabs on them if they are all working the same place.

  4. 4.

    PsiFighter37

    February 20, 2014 at 6:57 pm

    Maybe I missed it, but who is running this venture and how’s it being paid for? I don’t think Greenies has grifted enough to be able to pay such a talented staff what they deserve.

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2014 at 7:00 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: The NSA already put tracking chips in their heads so I am not sure how this will make much of a difference.

  6. 6.

    Currants

    February 20, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: err..or for the same org? Marcy Wheeler is in MN AFAIK.

  7. 7.

    Emma

    February 20, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    The ego explosions will be heard globally.

    Of course if this follows the usual path, in three years they will be sold to a corporation and turn into the Huffington Post.

  8. 8.

    nowlo

    February 20, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, is bankrolling this venture.

  9. 9.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    This is great: First Look is going to corner the market in ranting.

  10. 10.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    @Currants: Marcy Wheeler is in MI, not MN.

  11. 11.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Should be easier for the NSA to keep tabs on them if they are all working the same place.

    Obama gets to drone kill them all with a single bomb.

  12. 12.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Should help with the deficit.

  13. 13.

    BGinCHI

    February 20, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    I assume with more freedom, Taibbi’s column will be called “The Fuck?”

  14. 14.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:13 pm

    @Currants: Just shut up.

  15. 15.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 7:14 pm

    How many Obama haters can one supposed news organization bring together?

  16. 16.

    ranchandsyrup

    February 20, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    Good for him. His corner of First Look should be interesting.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    What’s Fox News’s payroll?

  18. 18.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 7:20 pm

    DougJ, why would Taibbi leave a legitimate news organization, protected by the 1st Amendment, to join an organization that privatized stolen documents for personal monetization that disqualifies them from 1st Amendment rights?

  19. 19.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    @Baud: Sorry, that’s a legitimate news organization. Not even close to the same comparison.

  20. 20.

    Napoleon

    February 20, 2014 at 7:26 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    So is First Look Media you asshole jackboot.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    I don’t follow any of these people so forgive me for a dumb question, but is First Look an all white affair so far?

  22. 22.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    Oh boy, another Greenwald thread.

  23. 23.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    @Corner Stone: All of them, apparently.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Your troll-fu has been on fire today.

  25. 25.

    ranchandsyrup

    February 20, 2014 at 7:29 pm

    @Baud: No. Aware of at least one POC that is a reporter — Andrew Jerrell Jones.

  26. 26.

    ? Martin

    February 20, 2014 at 7:29 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Maybe I missed it, but who is running this venture and how’s it being paid for?

    It’s a Vox Media property, so it’ll be mainly ad-supported, though perhaps less stupidly than some. Ezra appears to be running the show.

    One thing I’ll say – he’s snapped up enough talent to make it work. Vox is doing some pretty good stuff technologically to support an effort like this. I think the success entirely comes down to whether their vision is sufficiently unique and interesting to draw in readers. The Verge pulled it off, so they have a lot going for them here.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Thanks.

  28. 28.

    Laertes

    February 20, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Unfair. Taibbi’s got a bold style, but he’s more Charlie Pierce than Lewis Black. There’s a lot more to him than just righteous anger. That man packs a lot of information into his writing.

  29. 29.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:31 pm

    Matt Taibbi was already bad enough with his suspect math skills and inability to understand the difference between unethical and illegal behavior on the part of Wall Street but now he has Greenwald cooties.

  30. 30.

    Fred Fnord

    February 20, 2014 at 7:32 pm

    So am I the only one for whom the Balloon Juice css isn’t loading?

  31. 31.

    Laertes

    February 20, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    @? Martin:

    It’s a Vox Media property…Ezra appears to be running the show.

    Very cool. I hadn’t picked up on the Vox Media connection. My Google-fu has failed me. Got a link?

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2014 at 7:37 pm

    @Corner Stone: Do you think it’s going to work as well here as it did in the Cheney thread?

  33. 33.

    Quicksand

    February 20, 2014 at 7:38 pm

    @? Martin:

    It’s a Vox Media property, so it’ll be mainly ad-supported, though perhaps less stupidly than some. Ezra appears to be running the show.

    No, the Ezra/Matty/Wonkblog mashup is the new Vox site.

    The Greenwald/Poitras/Scahill/Taibbi/etc. joint is funded by Pierre Omidyar of eBay foundership fame.

    Two separate new media thingamabobs.

  34. 34.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 7:38 pm

    @Napoleon:

    So is First Look Media you asshole jackboot.

    Excuse me? I do not see any of their correspondents listed as White House Press Corps members.

  35. 35.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    February 20, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    @CarolDuhart2:

    Well USA Today, America’s Least Challenging Read ™ seems to be doing OK. At least it’s there free for me to take my mind off of hotel scrambled eggs and robot pancakes.

    ETA: The pancake robot referenced above is here.
    http://www.hotelfandb.com/biol/sep-oct2011-holiday-inn-express-pancake-machine.asp

  36. 36.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 7:40 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I do not see any of their correspondents listed as White House Press Corps members.

    That’s because none of them can set foot in the country without being instantaneously drone killed!

  37. 37.

    Tommy

    February 20, 2014 at 7:40 pm

    Wow. Matt is a person I have bookmarked. I read him daily. Like Greenwald. I think the dude is a rock star. This new media outlet I keep hearing about I am all in for.

  38. 38.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 7:41 pm

    @? Martin:

    It’s a Vox Media property, so it’ll be mainly ad-supported, though perhaps less stupidly than some. Ezra appears to be running the show.

    Oh! Well then maybe they might actually be a creditable media outlet. I hadn’t seen the Ezra connection, which makes a huge difference.

  39. 39.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    That make’s the staff of GG’s new progressive voice of the planet 12 of 13 white, and 10 of 13 male.

    Just like the world looks.

  40. 40.

    Barry

    February 20, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    “DougJ, why would Taibbi leave a legitimate news organization, protected by the 1st Amendment, to join an organization that privatized stolen documents for personal monetization that disqualifies them from 1st Amendment rights? ”

    Gawd, but that’s a huge turd of ignorance.

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    @different-church-lady: Why would you use DailyKos as a credulous source? That would be tantamount to asking people to read comments from FDL or LGF.

  42. 42.

    gbear

    February 20, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    If we’re lucky, nobody who works at First Look will talk shop with each other.

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    @Corner Stone: Except there is no Ezra connection.

  44. 44.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    @Barry: Corner Stone is doing an excellent demonstration of the proper use of ironic voice.

    (That’s a compliment, but I’m sure I’ll get insulted for it anyway.)

  45. 45.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 7:47 pm

    @Corner Stone: I was using it as an incredulous source.

    Wait, are you still doing that irony thingy?

  46. 46.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:47 pm

    @Cacti: Are there any traitor journalists of color?

  47. 47.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    February 20, 2014 at 7:47 pm

    First Look Media is by Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay who uses his billions from that to fund it and many philanthropic efforts.

    He’s Iranian and born in France, so pretty much a creature designed to win over Wingnuts. And self-styled knee jerk Obama protectors of course, who only sound like wingnuts much of the time. They really aren’t, not deep inside.

  48. 48.

    jl

    February 20, 2014 at 7:49 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    ” Excuse me? I do not see any of their correspondents listed as White House Press Corps members. ”

    I read in the link that Taibbi learned how to vomit demons into a paper bag. So, looks like he is getting ready for WHPC spot, maybe he’s almost ready.

  49. 49.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:49 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Figures. Those motherfuckers ripped me off on shipping once.

  50. 50.

    the Conster

    February 20, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    @Cacti:

    How long before the first puff piece on Rand Paul appears?

  51. 51.

    srv

    February 20, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    I can’t wait for Balloon-Juice to join the Greenwald Media Empire.

  52. 52.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:51 pm

    How awesome would it be if the corpse of Helen Thomas got the 13th spot at First Look?

  53. 53.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 7:51 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Are there any traitor journalists of color?

    Apparently none that GG wants to hire.

    But he’s probably like Jerry Seinfeld who doesn’t see color, just talent…or something.

  54. 54.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    @the Conster:

    How long before the first puff piece on Rand Paul appears?

    I was wondering how long before Rand becomes a guest contributor.

  55. 55.

    gussie

    February 20, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    Um. We all know that Corner Stone is DougJ, right? Or am I dreaming this?

  56. 56.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    @Cacti: Greenwald reads Balloon Juice. Throw some names in here to help him out.

  57. 57.

    ? Martin

    February 20, 2014 at 7:54 pm

    @Corner Stone: Well, the formula at Vox is to do unique content, but not investigation. Basically, every time you send someone out for a story they return with a story. They can do that in a political realm, but I don’t know what the demand is. The juicy stuff that most people seem to want isn’t just sitting there waiting for some reporter to write it down, unlike a lot of whats in tech and sports.

    We’ll see. I don’t really have a sense of where they’re going. Not terribly optimistic that there’s a market here, but I thought the same thing about the Verge, and they’ve done quite well.

  58. 58.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 7:54 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Greenwald reads Balloon Juice. Throw some names in here to help him out.

    Cornel West and Tavis Smiley both have a major hate-on for the POTUS.

  59. 59.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    @gussie: Oh, gussie, you beautiful naive dreamer. No one else can be DougJ because DougJ is everyone else.

  60. 60.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    February 20, 2014 at 7:56 pm

    Betcha’ Meagan McArdle is freshening her rez even as we write.

  61. 61.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 20, 2014 at 7:56 pm

    OT: Tweety just called Marco Rubio “Tweety” because he tweeted.

    And he sarcastically yelled at a young Politico-bot for being too “even-stevensy” or something, and the ‘bot replied righteously “even-stevensy, Chris, that’s my job!” Man, I have rarely seen Tweety (the real one) as contemptuous of a guest as he is of the Politico kid.

  62. 62.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    @Cacti: Neither one of those distinguished gentlemen is a journalist. I guess all black public figures look alike to you.

  63. 63.

    Tommy

    February 20, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    What the fuck is going on. Just turned on MSNBC. Seeing Obama noted he was a fan of “art.” Wrote a thank you about art. I used to live in DC. Capital Hill. I’d go most days to the National Gallery. See the Da Vinci. It was just so amazing to see it. I’d sit for hours and hours looking at it.

  64. 64.

    Quicksand

    February 20, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    There is no connection, I repeat NO CONNECTION, between the new Ezra Klein media venture and First Look Media.

    I was fully prepared to mock them both. But First Look drafting Taibbi is a GAME CHANGER.

  65. 65.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    @? Martin:

    We’ll see. I don’t really have a sense of where they’re going. Not terribly optimistic that there’s a market here, but I thought the same thing about the Verge, and they’ve done quite well.

    I’m pretty confident Taibbi will fit in well under the structure Ezra’s putting together, and provide great content. So maybe the market is more fluid than anticipated in this regard.

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 20, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Tavis Smiley is not a journalist? Serious question, I thought he was. And Cornel West has about as much claim to that lofty title as Greenwald, IMHO.

    @Tommy: Obama said if you want a job, don’t major in art history. An art history professor got mad, he sent a note of apology. Marco Rubio tweeted something about Obama apologizing too much and being “pathetic”

  67. 67.

    Laertes

    February 20, 2014 at 8:03 pm

    I don’t know enough about games to know if they’re being changed, but wherever Taibbi is, I’m going to read him. And that’s true even if a bunch of the people he’s working with are white.

  68. 68.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 8:04 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Just shut up.

  69. 69.

    srv

    February 20, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Obama should tweet back to Rubio that he better be more respectful or he might be part of a “Performance Art” piece involving drones.

  70. 70.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    @Cacti:

    Chuck Todd! He’d fit in perfectly.

  71. 71.

    Anoniminous

    February 20, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    From the actual announcement:

    First Look Media, the news organization created by Pierre Omidyar, today announced that acclaimed journalist and New York Times best-selling author Matt Taibbi will launch First Look’s second digital magazine. Taibbi will help assemble a top-notch team of journalists and bring his trademark combination of reporting, analysis, humor and outrage to the ongoing financial crisis – and to the political machinery that makes it possible. The magazine will launch later this year.

    [Emphasis added]

    Taibbi will be assembling the talent and running the thing. Whatever “the thing” turns out to be.

  72. 72.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    @Corner Stone: There be a big difference between hating Obama the person and hating the policies of Obama. These days neoliberalism that Obama practices is the real enemy that needs to be squelched.

  73. 73.

    ? Martin

    February 20, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    I’ll also note that I think the one of the bigger things going in their favor is they won’t need to spin up a whole tech backend and all of that talent. The backend will just recycle off of the other properties. That means that almost all of the hires can be content contributors or editors. I think The Verge has a staff of about 50, ⅓ or so being reporters or reporter/editors. The other pile of staff are shared among the various properties there. By comparison, NYTimes has 7,000 employees, about 1,000 in the newsroom. That’s a hell of payroll to support.

  74. 74.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 8:10 pm

    @Corner Stone: Taibbi ain’t doing shit for Vox.

  75. 75.

    the Conster

    February 20, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    @srv:

    I would pay a lot of money to watch that.

  76. 76.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    @Baud: Good call, Chuck Todd is in fact a quarter filipino.

  77. 77.

    Quicksand

    February 20, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    @Howard Beale IV:

    At this point I have to think Corner Stone and Martin are just trolling everyone here.

  78. 78.

    Allan

    February 20, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    All we need now is a paywall, then the internets will finally be dudebro-free. But seriously, kudos to Pierre for aggregating all the writers I don’t read into one site I don’t visit.

  79. 79.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    I don’t even want to know what the other three quarters are made of.

  80. 80.

    Corner Stone

    February 20, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    @Howard Beale IV: Do you expect me to believe you, or Martin? When was the last time you had an email conversation with James Fallows or a Republican Congressman?
    Didn’t think so.

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    February 20, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: I laughed until I realized just how sad that was.

  82. 82.

    Dee Loralei

    February 20, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Have you ever seen him interview the most odious Marsha Blackburn? He has utter contempt for her and Michele Bachman. And they both deserve it. Marsha used to be my Rep., but luckily I was redistricted into the most wonderful Steve Cohen’s district! I told him July 1, 2012 was one of the happiest days of my political life. He laughed because that was the day the redistricting kicked in, LOL.

  83. 83.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    @Corner Stone: Troll.

    @Quicksand: Yep. Trolls.

  84. 84.

    gussie

    February 20, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: This is vintage, perfectly-bottled, DougJuice: “Excuse me? I do not see any of their correspondents listed as White House Press Corps members.”

    That’s like a direct lift from all his trolling livechats!

  85. 85.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    I guess I might have to give this First Look a first look. I used to read Rolling Stone religiously back in the day but nowadays I only go to there when someone links to Taibbi or a good article.

    Also, since I seem to keep missing the HitlerCare threads, I want to say that I have been rather intimately involved with multiple visits to the doctor/clinic since I got my HitlerCare. Including my very first colonoscopy – whee! But what I want to say is that almost to a person, everyone I have talked to about the ACA has praised it, including the intake person at the hospital where I got my colonoscopy (gotta love those drugs!) who told me her mother (who watches her kids while she is at work – husband’s insurance doesn’t cover her ) – who said “Isn’t it GREAT that everybody has insurance now?!”

    That is but one story among many. The only person I’ve met who had a bad word to say was a Vietnam vet who was complaining that the VA wouldn’t cover his dental problems because when he was injured and spent 6 months paralyzed in one of those 360 degree beds the VA said because he wasn’t injured above the neck they wouldn’t cover his dental stuff.

    I said I’ve never understood why dental is treated separately from general health since our teeth are so crucial to our health (he agreed) and then suggested he check out coveredca.com and see if he could get a dental plan there. He replied “I don’t like that ObamaCare”. No reason given. I just said “That’s too bad, they are helping millions of people, you should check it out”. And then our bus came and I didn’t talk to him any more – though he was kind enough to show me his umbilical hernia o_O . I hope he checks it out, the dental coverage I mean.

    Hi all youse guys!

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 20, 2014 at 8:22 pm

    @Dee Loralei: For Blackburn? I thought he had the hots for her?

  87. 87.

    raven

    February 20, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Where you bean frijole? Them Nam vets are all a bunch of whiners!

  88. 88.

    cathyx

    February 20, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    @Allan: Yes, you wouldn’t want to take a step into reality now, would you?

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Howdy.

  90. 90.

    eemom

    February 20, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Why would you use DailyKos as a credulous source?

    um, perhaps you mean credible? The bored troll schtick does work better at a post-SAT level command of language.

  91. 91.

    currants

    February 20, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    @Howard Beale IV: You’re right–I misremembered. Apologies.

  92. 92.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    February 20, 2014 at 8:29 pm

    @dance around in your bones:
    [[[Hugs!]]]

  93. 93.

    Baud

    February 20, 2014 at 8:29 pm

    @dance around in your bones:

    Missed you.

  94. 94.

    currants

    February 20, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    @PsiFighter37: I think this answers that? Publisher: Pierre Omidyar

  95. 95.

    Allan

    February 20, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    @cathyx: Reality? Like, The NSA is editing your writing even as you type!!1! Like that?

  96. 96.

    Anoniminous

    February 20, 2014 at 8:32 pm

    @cathyx:

    I’m still parsing the proud announcement he doesn’t visit a site that doesn’t exist.

  97. 97.

    currants

    February 20, 2014 at 8:32 pm

    @? Martin: Really? Where’d you get that?

  98. 98.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2014 at 8:33 pm

    @eemom: I am guessing it was intentional.

  99. 99.

    Dee Loralei

    February 20, 2014 at 8:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Seriously, a few years ago he completely tore in to her. And did every time I saw her on his show. He may have the hots for her, as I understand it some men believe that sex with the crazy lady is the best sex, you just don’t want a relationship with one. LOL. I don’t watch Tweety much, actually almost never, but friends who knew how I felt about her would send me links because they knew I’d cackle in glee.

    I have such considerate friends always trying to make me laugh.

  100. 100.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    @eemom:

    The bored troll schtick does work better at a post-SAT level command of language.

    Oh dear, I’ll get my crash helmet…

  101. 101.

    cathyx

    February 20, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    @Allan: They’re only doing it to protect me and make me safer.

  102. 102.

    Allan

    February 20, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Assumes intelligence not in evidence.

  103. 103.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    @raven: Oh, raven – I have just been busy. I try to keep up with the threads but I’m always several days behind….I hope I gave that Vietnam vet some hope – he deserves it, as do all of the vets that need help.

    (BOY he had a big gut though! Really, he just wanted to talk, and I am a good listener).

    @Omnes Omnibus: Right back atcha, Omnes.

  104. 104.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    @Allan: Why would you use The Guardian as a credulous source?

  105. 105.

    currants

    February 20, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Funny, you keep saying that.

  106. 106.

    raven

    February 20, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    @dance around in your bones: I was just kiddin. One of my best buddies has been dead for almost ten years behind that big gut shit and the booze it took him to get it.

  107. 107.

    Allan

    February 20, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    @cathyx: You should definitely buy the book and stick it to The Man.

  108. 108.

    Mnemosyne

    February 20, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    @dance around in your bones:

    Of course all of the people you’re talking to like Obamacare — you’re here in California where we got it working.

    Hope all is well with you. I hear they give you the really good drugs for a colonoscopy.

  109. 109.

    Allan

    February 20, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    @different-church-lady: Through the power of Greenwaldian transference, the Guardian is infallible and only servile lapdogs of the security state think otherwise. Hail Greenwald!

  110. 110.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: You too, Higgs. I was trying to figure out which person you were in the Burbank meetup pics. Yes, I am a Balloon Juice junkie.

    @Baud: Baud! I love your comments. Rest assured I am always lurking and only need a certain attitude ( natural or otherwise) to comment.

  111. 111.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Neither one of those distinguished gentlemen is a journalist.

    Tavis Smiley is at least as much a journalist as anyone else from an issues-oriented talk show background.

    As for Dr. West, what were GG’s journalistic bona fides before he conferred that title on himself?

  112. 112.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    @Allan:

    Through the power of Greenwaldian transference, the Guardian is infallible and only servile lapdogs of the security state think otherwise.

    Haven’t you heard? A non-Greenwald Grauniad employee decided to publish a Snowden book. They are now the enemy and “full of shit” according to the Glenn.

  113. 113.

    Allan

    February 20, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    @Anoniminous: If it makes you feel better, I pledge not to visit it when it launches, assuming the entire enterprise hasn’t collapsed in a Reservoir Dogs-style Mexican standoff of dueling lawsuits before it does.

  114. 114.

    Betty Cracker

    February 20, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: “Robot Pancakes” = great band name.

    @dance around in your bones: Yay, you’re back!

  115. 115.

    Allan

    February 20, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    @Cacti: I thought they were only full of shit until The Greenwald read it and decided it wasn’t actually that bad, meaning they are both full of shit and not full of shit simultaneously. It’s Schroedinger’s Toilet Bowl.

  116. 116.

    Comrade Dread

    February 20, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    Too bad, I liked reading his stuff.

  117. 117.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    @raven: I had a feeling that alcohol was giving him some relief….hopefully my hint will hit home at some point.

    @Mnemosyne: Oh boy, do they! I got fentanyl, and every time I went “Arrggh!” they gave me more. I actually watched the whole thing on the computer screen and it didn’t gross me out. I DID send a probably ill-advised email to my PCP after I got home…one reason they tell you not to sign anything important for 24 hours after the procedure. Ha!

  118. 118.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 8:53 pm

    @Cacti: Take your loss like a man and slink away.

  119. 119.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 8:55 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Thanks, Betty. John did us a good thing when he added you to the FP. I love anyone who can make me laugh, and you do that a LOT. Like, Hyperbole and a Half A LOT.

    (Hope that fucking link thingy works)

  120. 120.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I hear they give you the really good drugs for a colonoscopy.

    Yes. Yes, they do. the prep is kind of a bitch, but the actual procedure is a piece of cake. Just don’t plan on doing anything until the next day.

  121. 121.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 9:03 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Take your loss like a man and slink away.

    Now, now. No deflecting.

    What makes Glenn Greenwald a journalist and Tavis Smiley a non-journalist?

  122. 122.

    angler

    February 20, 2014 at 9:05 pm

    What a thread!! A repeat of Cole’s earlier one on Greenwald’s Polk award.

    I used to comment here and remember on election night 2010 trying to talk the late Winfield Stuck down from his endless grind on those too far to the left. Blessed be the late Stuck. He would surely be here railing away.

    Recalling Stuck reminds me of the timeless ring to the rants above. There’s something in the culture that aggros a subset of Dems about GG and co (It used to be Jane Hamsher, why doesn’t she cause as much outrage here anymore? For that matter, why aren’t folks still slamming William Lloyd Garrison for being holier than thou? He’s so 1840s dontcha know), and their reaction is more visceral than to the professed foes on the right. Always has been, always will be. Fascinating.

  123. 123.

    raven

    February 20, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    @angler: Most of us that got banned from FDL stopped giving a fuck.

  124. 124.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    February 20, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    @Cacti: Oops, that’s you deflecting. Tavis Smiley and Cornel West are not journalists, as you admitted. You’re done here.

    If we had more discussion, I’d want it to be something along the lines of “why does a creepy motherfucker that shouts “racism!” every chance he gets seem to know absolutely nothing about prominent people of color?”

  125. 125.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 20, 2014 at 9:09 pm

    @angler: It’s your mention of Garrison that makes your post truly cromulent.

  126. 126.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Oops, that’s you deflecting. Tavis Smiley and Cornel West are not journalists, as you admitted. You’re done here.

    Admitted what?

    You’re the one who decided that they’re not journalists, because you said so.

    Why can’t black people be journalists in your world?

    ETA: Is it for the same reason that they can’t work for Glenn Greenwald’s new “progressive” media outlet?

  127. 127.

    LanceThruster

    February 20, 2014 at 9:18 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Wafflebot says, “Pancakes suck!”

  128. 128.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    February 20, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Good to hear from you again.

  129. 129.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 9:27 pm

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Well. thanks!
    Like I said, I’m always lurking around, but other things get in the way of active commenting. Like grandkids and doctor visits (thanks, Obama!)

    But you just wait, I’m sure I’ve got a story (strange, but true!) that will blow yer socks off, or at least say WTF?

  130. 130.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2014 at 9:31 pm

    @dance around in your bones:

    But you just wait, I’m sure I’ve got a story (strange, but true!) that will blow yer socks off, or at least say WTF?

    You almost always do.

  131. 131.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    @Cacti: Given that the George Polk awards have been bestowed on Greenwald et al, what bonafides do you believe need to be acquired to claim that one is a genuine 100% journalist?

    Are you going to let Feinstein determine who the fuck a journalist is ?

  132. 132.

    ruemara

    February 20, 2014 at 9:46 pm

    @Betty Cracker: How’s mum?

    On Topic /
    Kinda disappointed, Taibbi is half the reason to read Rolling Stone. That being said, can’t wait to see what comes out of this venture. Also, the egos are so large, we might have a metaphysical black hole develop. For Science! Can’t wait to see who divests and joins Ezra Klein.

  133. 133.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: The current cocktail (fentanyl / midazolam) has the advantage that the half-life is pretty short-the disadvantage is that it if you have any tolerance at all to the classes of drugs used you will be plenty aware of the procedure-especially once they pass the traverse portion of the colon. The previous cocktail (meperidine / diazepam) worked wonders.

  134. 134.

    Suzanne

    February 20, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    @dance around in your bones: HALLO! Glad you’re back.

  135. 135.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    @Howard Beale IV:

    This actually describes my experience very well. I got the ‘moderate/conscious’ sedation, and as I said – I watched the whole thing on the computer screen. I was very aware when they went sideways (or ‘passed the traverse portion of the colon’) but at least it got me another burst of fentanyl.

    I personally didn’t find the prep all that bad, but then I have traveled extensively in less than hygienic places and have experienced far worse than just urgent expulsion. At least it wasn’t from both ends simultaneously!

    @Suzanne: Thanks! All the family took off for Big Bear today, so I am (for once) not watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates or the Octonauts at this hour. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  136. 136.

    Mnemosyne

    February 20, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    I’m waiting for an open thread so I can post the video of an octopus trying to steal a diver’s camera. No pictures!

  137. 137.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    @dance around in your bones: I actually have no recollection whatsoever. I don’t even recall them administering the cocktail. One second I was making small talk with the doc, the next second I was being woken in recovery.

  138. 138.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Yeah-I’ve been lucky that I’ve never been scoped from both up top and the bottom at the same time. I’ve also noted that the prep procedure has changed and it isn’t as gnarly as it used to be 10-20 years ago.

    The only thing that ever knocked me out was a general anesthesia procedure or Milk of Amnesia (propofol-used when I separated my shoulder and they had to reduce it back into the socket when hydromorphone didn’t work.)

  139. 139.

    Mnemosyne

    February 20, 2014 at 10:16 pm

    @Howard Beale IV:

    I don’t think she was talking about being scoped when she said things were coming from both ends during her extensive travels in developing countries with bad water. Just sayin’. ;-)

  140. 140.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 10:24 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I asked about general anesthesia but it apparently is more involved so I went with what they recommended. My colon was very interesting!

    @Howard Beale IV: @Mnemosyne:

    Mnemosyne is right – I was talking about having some very uncomfortable gastrointestinal infection that had me puking and having explosive diarrhea while racing the German tourist to the shared bathroom in Kandahar and feeling no shame in beating him to it. The worst was having the kitchen staff boil water for me and storing the lukewarm water in old liquor bottles whilst listening to the village water tap gushing under my window. You never appreciate water so much as when you cannot drink it from the source.

  141. 141.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 10:24 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Well, sheeet.. ;-)

  142. 142.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Me bad. I have had gastric surgery that has played havoc with my bowels and I can emphatise with at least 50% of what you went through on the exit side of the digestive tract, and on occasion my intake has caused a negative reaction which was not at all pleasant.

  143. 143.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    @Howard Beale IV: No worries.

    I probably read about 300 patient experiences online with the colonoscopy prep and procedure, and frankly it worried me. I was happy that the actual experience wasn’t half as bad as expected. I reckon I’ve had far worse in my lifetime. I didn’t even hate the GoLytely so much – I just gulped it and took a swig of Gatorade after – no biggie.

    I just talked with a relative about going through the procedure who swore she would never do it again – I don’t understand that. But then, I’m a tough old bird!

  144. 144.

    Bob In Portland

    February 20, 2014 at 11:05 pm

    Why hasn’t Snowden leaked things about what the CIA has been doing in Syria or Ukraine? Or Venezuela?

  145. 145.

    different-church-lady

    February 20, 2014 at 11:12 pm

    I suppose it would be trolling to observe a thread that starts off about a Greenwald project turns into a discussion about high colonic?

  146. 146.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 20, 2014 at 11:18 pm

    @Bob In Portland: Maybe because at the point in time the details wern’t all that clear-especially for Ukraine and Venezuela?

  147. 147.

    Cervantes

    February 20, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    @Cacti:

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Are there any traitor journalists of color?

    Apparently none that GG wants to hire.

    What does “apparently” mean here? That you don’t actually know?

    But he’s probably like Jerry Seinfeld who doesn’t see color, just talent…or something.

    Maybe.

  148. 148.

    dance around in your bones

    February 20, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    @different-church-lady: Nah, not trolling. I got through about 1/3 of the GG thread before I gave up – been there, done that, about a bazillion times over. Nothing new.

  149. 149.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2014 at 11:39 pm

    @Howard Beale IV:

    Given that the George Polk awards have been bestowed on Greenwald et al, what bonafides do you believe need to be acquired to claim that one is a genuine 100% journalist?

    And Maureen Dowd has a Pulitzer.

  150. 150.

    Joey Giraud

    February 20, 2014 at 11:58 pm

    @dance around in your bones:

    Been there, done that?

    Endoscopies are much more fun to chat about then civil liberties?

    Mine wasn’t so bad, back to work in the afternoon.

    But then, I wasn’t being searched for drugs by the police with a rubber hose.

    See, there’s always a connection.

  151. 151.

    dance around in your bones

    February 21, 2014 at 12:10 am

    @Joey Giraud: Darlin’, I have been searched by the police – not with a rubber hose, but if I had been caught it would have been just as bad.

    Please do not presume you know anything about my life experience. What I was referring to was the utter predictability of the GG threads on this site. I cannot read through them for the umpteenth time.

  152. 152.

    LAC

    February 21, 2014 at 12:20 am

    Who fucking cares? First badly reported story and they all will scatter like vampires from light.

  153. 153.

    Joey Giraud

    February 21, 2014 at 12:30 am

    @dance around in your bones:

    Wow, defensive much?

    I presume nothing and care even less.(*) But your comment favorably comparing the enjoyment of this thread to the Greenwald threads was…. pretty amusing given how much fun endoscopies usually are. (**)

    * – pronouncements of apathy are a badge of seriousness here at Balloon-Juice.

    ** – sweetie pie.

  154. 154.

    Corner Stone

    February 21, 2014 at 12:36 am

    @Joey Giraud: Meh. If you say so.

  155. 155.

    Corner Stone

    February 21, 2014 at 12:38 am

    @dance around in your bones: Do you think the you that rode bra-less across the Andes on the back of a WWII era BMA motorcycle would feel the same sense of apathy now?

  156. 156.

    Corner Stone

    February 21, 2014 at 12:41 am

    @Bob In Portland: I sometimes wonder why he didn’t leak about FaceBook buying WhatsApp.

  157. 157.

    Corner Stone

    February 21, 2014 at 12:43 am

    @Comrade Dread: Did he die? Or does he just now have cooties on the playground of your elementary school?

  158. 158.

    dance around in your bones

    February 21, 2014 at 12:48 am

    @Joey Giraud: I’m not defensive, just realistic.

    When I saw the latest GG thread top 300+ comments I almost skipped it. I’ve read about a bazillion GG posts/threads here and they rarely vary from one to the next.

    Darlin’. ;)

    @Corner Stone: No comprende, it’s a riddle.

  159. 159.

    different-church-lady

    February 21, 2014 at 12:56 am

    @Corner Stone:

    Did he die?

    I know you’ll probably be horrified by this, but that’s the same question that came to my mind too.

  160. 160.

    different-church-lady

    February 21, 2014 at 12:58 am

    @dance around in your bones:

    I’m not defensive, just realistic.

    Like anyone around here knows the difference anymore?

  161. 161.

    dance around in your bones

    February 21, 2014 at 1:19 am

    @different-church-lady: Well, when I originally replied to you I was saying that you were not being trollish in your comment. We have all seen comment threads veer wildly from the post topic, which is part of what makes Balloon Juice so interesting.

    I can only speak for myself.

  162. 162.

    different-church-lady

    February 21, 2014 at 1:52 am

    @dance around in your bones: I like you — you’re not bitter.

  163. 163.

    dance around in your bones

    February 21, 2014 at 2:11 am

    @different-church-lady: I’m sometimes bittersweet, though.

  164. 164.

    Joey Maloney

    February 21, 2014 at 2:29 am

    @Fred Fnord: So am I the only one for whom the Balloon Juice css isn’t loading?

    No, I’ve been having that problem for a couple of weeks. Only on Safari, though.

  165. 165.

    Betty Cracker

    February 21, 2014 at 3:03 am

    @ruemara: Mom is hanging in there, and we’re all trying to do the same.

  166. 166.

    muricafukyea

    February 21, 2014 at 3:51 am

    I would not be surprised to find out libertarian curious, once a republican always a republican, wr0ng way Cole has large posters of Tablobbibi and Griftwald hanging on his bedroom wall. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

    He probably visits that failure just waiting to happen website of theirs dozens of times every day and re-reads every dreamy word those two grifters post.

  167. 167.

    Cervantes

    February 21, 2014 at 6:53 am

    @LAC:

    Who fucking cares? First badly reported story and they all will scatter like vampires from light.

    How long before that happens, would you say?

  168. 168.

    kindness

    February 21, 2014 at 7:34 am

    I actually subscribe to Rolling Stone so I’ll be missing me some Tabbi. He was the best (political) writer they had. I used to subscribe back in the 70’s/80’s and dropped it. Then I came back about 6 or 7 years ago. It’s like the People for music. Great bathroom read if you know what I mean. Well, now it will be just a bit less deep. Too bad.

  169. 169.

    hrumpole

    February 21, 2014 at 8:45 am

    Taibbi did probably the best investigative reporting on the financial crisis. His reports were painfully accurate, and made the flimflammery (much of which was technical) accessible to a lay audience. And that’s before the curse words. All the Goldman Sachs-flacks could come back with was “he uses naughty language.”

    He was my favorite part of our rolling stone subscription. Now they have tim dickinson and who else?

  170. 170.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 21, 2014 at 9:22 am

    @muricafukyea: Outsourced to Billy Madison

  171. 171.

    Comrade Dread

    February 21, 2014 at 9:45 am

    @Corner Stone: I’m not going to feed Glenzilla with my page clicks in the same way I no longer feed other libertarian/conservative sites and in the same way I no longer spent time arguing with my intractable wingnut relatives on Facebook.

    Life is too short.

  172. 172.

    dance around in your bones

    February 21, 2014 at 10:32 am

    @Howard Beale IV: Perfecto.

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