Behold, the target audience in New Hampshire flocks to be shorn at their “Freedom Summit”:
… There’s Ted Cruz, who Jean Ferreira, 55, was most excited to see at the event — which is organized by Americans for Prosperity, a group best known for the people who started it, the Koch brothers, and Citizens United, now synonymous with the Supreme Court decision that led to super PACs and the expansion of corporate political spending.
Ferreira was wearing a “Truth Has No Agenda” T-shirt, but she had another in her bag that read, “I Cruz With Ted.” “I’m praying he’ll sign it,” she said.
Ray Shakir, who is 65 and can now qualify for what he deems “socialist security” was also looking forward to Cruz. Shakir voted for Newt Gingrich in 2012, but he thinks Cruz is “the strong, aggressive conservative we need today. He has the hmm, how should I put this. The cojones.”…
Rand Paul was the other person highly anticipated by the people attending the conference. Spec Bowers, a former New Hampshire state representative (and future one, he hopes), likes the junior senator from Kentucky . He voted for Ron Paul “about 30 years ago,” but didn’t in 2012. “I didn’t think he could be elected.”
The conference marks Lauren Rumpler’s first day on the job as a field coordinator with Americans for Prosperity in New Hampshire. Rumpler, who is 25 and also runs the YouTube channel “Objectivist Girl,” likes Rand Paul and his father quite a bit. Ted Cruz, not so much. “He’s all right, but I’m a libertarian,” she said. “I’m more of an anarchist, really.” Rumpler moved to New Hampshire from Ohio to join the Free Stater movement, another reason she supports the Paul family.
There is a far longer list of people who spoke at the Freedom Summit. There are former presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich, Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn and Donald Trump, all people who have expressed interest or have ended up on lists of possible 2016 presidential candidates.
There was also Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Sen. Mike Lee (Utah), Rep. Steve King (Iowa), Rep. Louie Gohmert (Tex.), radio host Laura Ingraham and Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute — all people who either articulate conservative political ideas or can guarantee a fired up tea party audience.
But for the audience and the organizers, Cruz and Paul are the people who defined the event and make it the 2016 “cattle call” Americans for Prosperity has marked it as…
Cattle call, indeed — that would explain the strong scent of BS.
Apart from wondering how some of our fellow citizens manage to use forks without putting their eyes out, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the weekend?
Billgerat
That should be named the “Freedom From Thought Summit”.
RepubAnon
It is a sad commentary on the fans of AM talk radio that they can listen to an entire constellation of right-wing radio shows – all moaning about the “liberal media.”
If the media is liberal – why is it dominated by right-wing talking points? Why do so many media outlets take model their stories on tales popularized by the Drudge Report?
But then, when it’s all about fear and hate – there’s no room for thought.
Tommy
@RepubAnon: I do not know. My local classical music station, the only one in the market, got bought a few years ago by a far right religious organization. Next to like NPR (and I get two stations), hip hop, classic rock, a college station, and ESPN it is all pretty much far right (sure there are a few other music stations that I think play a total of 15 songs on a loop).
Even KNOX, known as the 50,000 watt blow torch that reaches most of middle America has gone way right. They carry Rush. It just used to be a traditional 24 news station with some talk that carried the Cardinals. Not so much anymore.
ulee
Cruz is only as sleazy as his constituency.
Violet
Watching the Masters. I don’t watch much golf, but somehow I always end up watching Sunday at the Masters. The course is just so gorgeous.
rikyrah
Look at the ages of those in attendance. Old White people…no shock.
Jewish Steel
Paul/Cruz or Cruz/Paul. That’s my fucking dream team.
What’s the opposite coattails?
Elizabelle
Oh, please. Who wants to hear about these people? Don’t we hear about them enough? Boring.
FlyingToaster
I notice that
formerfutureSenator Centerfold wasn’t mentioned.My husband notes that given his strategy, Lil’ Scotty can’t possibly want to be Senator; he just likes being beaten by girls.
Violet
@Jewish Steel: Dropping boiling hot oil after they’ve pulled the ladder up behind them.
Tommy
@Violet: Yes it is. I went to college on a Division I scholarship and played a lot of the best courses and there is nothing that touches the beauty of Augusta National IMHO. I don’t even think there is a close second. Maybe a few in Hawaii (I’ve not played much in Florida) and the Outer Banks of NC (I like the traditional links courses).
FlyingToaster
@Jewish Steel:
Anvils.
Kristine
Working off and on. Waiting for Game of Thrones.
I’ve read that radio veers right as the audience ages. All I know is that the rock/adult alternative station that I’ve been listening to for 27 years has gone from advertising bars, beer, and cheaper cars to hospitals/doctors and luxury cars. The 20-something alternative station went under years ago–younger folks don’t listen to commercial radio.
I think the same might be true of commercial TV, which is why I don’t worry as much as some about the political ads flood that the Kochs etc are perpetrating. Everyone I know had cable or some other service that allows them to DVR/Hulu/otherwise avoid commercials. Those ads preach to the converted.
RepubAnon
@Tommy: If the ratings weren’t there, the advertisers would bail. I know lots of people have the radio on as background noise, but that just moves the damage to the subliminal level.
The reason the far-right radio programs are so popular is that people are fearful and insecure. AM Radio tells them that it’s all the fault of those others, reinforces their fears, and stokes their anger and hatred.
Hill Dweller
@Violet: The occasion seems to be finally taking its toll on the 20 year old. Once he took the lead, the green jacket in sight, he made a mess of the next couple of holes to surrender the lead.
Let’s see if he can recover.
raven
@Tommy: Ever play Medinah 3? I caddied there.
Tommy
@RepubAnon: Oh they get the ads. There was a huge backlash over KMOX carrying Rush, but alas they are making a ton of money off him. They weathered the storm of carrying him and now it is just accepted. I’ve also read during drive times many of the people in their cars are white and lower to middle class. Driving for work. A truck. Sales calls. And so, well that is the audience that is there.
Hill Dweller
@Tommy: Pebble Beach is beautiful.
Litlebritdiftrnt
My local RWNJ radio host was displaying an amazing amount of cognitive dissonance last week when he was complaining about Federal Agents being armed (specifically in the Bundy context). Why are BLM agents armed? He was asking, why are IRS agents armed? For some reason he was arguing that the agents shouldn’t be armed but the armed citizens rushing to aid Bundy were perfectly within their rights. He makes my head spin sometimes.
MattF
@ulee: Cruz is a demagogue. A thug, oompletely unprincipled. I worry that the Koch brothers need to learn a little Politics 101– you can hire a thug to do your dirty work, but there’s a point where you have to pay for services rendered.
@Tommy: I stopped listening to radio, either AM or FM, when iPods started becoming popular.
c u n d gulag
Did they rent a really big clown-bus, or did they all come in their own personal clown-cars?
Tommy
@raven: Cog Hill but not Medinah. Honestly when I started to play courses like Cog Hill I quickly realized I was not going to make a living playing golf. I think people that are weekend golfers and watch the PGA don’t realize how more difficult the elite 1% of courses are. They are a night and day difference. Not as much the distance, although that is a factor, but the greens and rough. I’ve played so many courses where the first cut of rough you can get a good club on the ball. At the elite courses, not so much.
Tommy
@Hill Dweller: Yes it is. Not played it. I was at a school that mostly played Big Ten schools and smaller schools in the midwest. Just cause I liked golf played a lot on the Outer Banks on a yearly golf trip with friends, but never in California.
raven
@Tommy: Oh yea, the Monster was something. I looped in the Western in 66 right before I went in the Army. It was a shame when the moved it to Bulter and a bigger shame when they did whatever they did to kill the Western Open.
raven
@Tommy: I guess the Outer Banks course(s) are down by Kitty Hawk? I’m so nuts about fishing when I’m there I hardly see much more than Buxton and Hatteras.
Violet
@Hill Dweller: Remember Rory McIlroy’s complete implosion a few years ago when he was leading big at the start of the Sunday round? I think one of his shots hit one of the houses it was so bad. The announcer said something like, “I’ve never seen a ball over there before.” I don’t think McIlroy’s done much of anything at the Masters since.
raven
@Tommy: The Savoy course at Illinois was long and windy!
ulee
@MattF: I remember listening to Air America years ago when I was painting houses. Those were the days. Now it’s the same old lame ass garbage. But Al Franken busted them good in the end.
Tommy
@raven: That is exactly where it is. Nags Head is my favorite. Right on the ocean and like you are in England, Ireland, or Scotland.
Tommy
@raven: Was that the Orange or Blue course (if my memory is correct)?
raven
@Violet: He’s 3 under.
dr. bloor
So Mr. Shakir is sending his check back to the government each month?
Thought so. Want to save the government some money? FOAD already, asshole.
Mike in NC
“Freedumb Summit” in NH? Hey, the CPAC circus in DC was just a few weeks ago, right? Do these grifters simply travel every weekend to a new event like a bunch of gypsy pickpockets? (I know that’s being unfair to gypsy pickpockets.)
raven
@dr. bloor: He EARNED it!
ulee
Iraq is looking good. Thanks Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice. Good job. Excellent work.
Violet
@raven: I think he’s had a good day, hasn’t he? Didn’t he birdie a couple of early holes today?
Personally, I’m a Freddie Couples fan. I love watching him at the Masters every year.
wenchacha
abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/dead-suburban-kansas-city-shooting-23311016
Shooting at two Jewish centers in KC. One teen boy is dead. Three people are deceased. Shooting at a JCC where there were auditions for a show, and at a Sr. Center. Shooter, possibly 74 yr old man, is in custody, shouted Neo-Nazi slogans as he was hauled away.
On the eve of Passover.
raven
@Mike in NC: Travelers
D58826
@Litlebritdiftrnt: Where were all of these lovers of liberty when Occupy wall street was being shutdown by governments using varying levels of force. I seem to remember Faux news complaining that these people were trespassing on public property.
dr. bloor
@Violet: Boom Boom is on track for a top 10 finish, which is not bad at all for a man of a certain age.
Southern Beale
Apparently wingnuts are now peddling the story that Bill Clinton was caught in a pedophile ring.
Sigh.
Kropadope
@RepubAnon: It has nothing to do with what is actually said in the media, it is simply
an article of faithworking the refs.Or another way of looking at it, of course ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and NPR are liberally biased. Sure, they disseminate all the right-wing lies without question, but they don’t do their part making up new ones.
Violet
@dr. bloor: He always does pretty well at the Masters. I’ve been a fan for years. He’s just a lot of fun to watch. Every year I hope he pulls a Nicklaus in ’86 and surprises everyone with a win.
JGabriel
@Southern Beale:
Deja vu. It’s like the 90’s never ended.
Except that the economy sucks balls.
MikeJ
Why is it that every time I’m about to leave the house and then I remember, “Oh, I better throw SciFri on my iPod first” itunes decides that’s the perfect time to replace 234 songs in one of its genius playlists? I just wanted to copy a couple of files!
Schlemizel
@Violet:
I really am curious not being a smart ass: What do you see that makes you a fan of a particular golfer?
I get people being all excited about Woods when he was winning everything but does he have a style or techniques that make his game different from other golfers? I assume its because I never watch other people play but would like to hear.
Schlemizel
@Southern Beale:
It is ALWAYS projection with these guys
youtube.com/watch?v=GTitnDgw3Gc
tomflocco.com/fs/PhotographerTied.htm
gene108
I caught a few minutes of the Freedom Summit yesterday. My TV was on CSPAN, so when I turned it on, they had Mike Lee talking.
He said something that I think would make a good gag. He said Republicans should not just invoke Reagan, they should act like Reagan.
I now have a picture of guys going around Republican conventions doing Reagan impersonations.
Tommy
@Schlemizel: I find it harder to like this golfer or that golfer cause all the styles are pretty similar. I like Phil Mickelson cause he just goes at every pin, often times with terrible results. Also Erine Ells, cause when I saw him in the US Open at Congressional I’d never seen somebody hit a golf ball like that (even Tiger). Many years ago I was a fan of Ian Woosnam cause he was about my size at 5’5. And Fred Couples because it might have the most beautiful and effortless swing since like Ben Hogan.
TG Chicago
Interesting contrast: Liberals (including me) became somewhat starstruck by Obama due to his message of hope and change and bridging the partisan divide. Kinda silly, but it’s a positive message.
Conservatives are starstruck by Cruz because he’s “strong and aggressive” and has cojones. He’s a fighter.
One side falls in love with a message of unity; the other falls for a message of division.
Clearly both sides are equally to blame for partisanship.
gene108
@dr. bloor:
You do not get Social Security checks in the mail until you go to the Social Security Administration and register and they agree you are eligible. Same for Medicare benefits.
If people really felt these programs were tyranny they could always refuse to enroll.
D58826
@gene108: Seems like a good suggestion to me. Reagan was a third rate actor and these guys are third rate politicians. Seems like a nice balance.
Amir Khalid
@Southern Beale:
My guess would be that they’re actually aiming for Hillary now. How that’s supposed to work, though, I’m not quite sure.
another Holocene human
@Litlebritdiftrnt: heads I win, tails you lose
Schlemizel
@Amir Khalid:
Thats easy!
“Hey! You remember how shitty we made the late 90’s? How we wasted time and money on stupid investigations leading to trumped up charges of impeachment? Well, you don’t want to go through that again do you? Of course not! Vote GOP.”
Kropadope
@Amir Khalid: Oh, I’m sure they have lies about Democratic politicians at all levels of government and name recognition. I don’t understand why this is necessary with Hillary, anyway, they can just run against her record.
mai naem
I’m sure the self reliant who’s now eligible for SS is refusing SS right?
Anyhow, the reason I got satellite radio way back was because of lack of non-right wing talk radio. It was awesome to have OMG(!) 2 left stations to listen to in addition to several public radio stations. I listen to some Stephanie Miller in the AM and she says the Rush/Sandra Fluke deal’s affected all of talk radio because it’s made corps skittish to sponsor any person who just may end up doing something controversial and they’ll end up having to deal with a boycott.
Also, I used to listen to bits and pieces of Rush wayyyy back when he had just started his syndication. He was actually quite funny. Somewhere along the line during the Clinton admin, he just became really nasty. Also too, Rush/Hannity/Boortz and the rest of the idiots caused a lot of talented well paid radio people to lose their local gigs.
? Martin
@Kropadope:
Because it is their nature.
schrodinger's cat
I don’t see the appeal of Talk Radio, I don’t like to hear random people yelling gibberish at me.
Violet
@Schlemizel: Well, for me with Freddie, I’ve got a distant connection to him, so I’ve known about him for a long time. He was sort of a bad boy with a gorgeous but pain in the ass wife and they had a bitter divorce. He’s now 54, which is old for making the cut at the Masters, and he pretty much manages to do it every year. That kind of ability wins fans.
He’s turned from a full of himself bad boy to an affable, fun-loving guy. He enjoys playing, he’s aware of his ability and strengths and weaknesses and he just keeps going. I liked both the bad boy and the more mature man who has learned some stuff about himself.
As for his golf, he’s got a terrible back these days and wears rubber-soled shoes so he looks really casual on the course. You can tell he’s got back issues from his swing and he just keeps on going. I appreciate that kind of love of the game and his determination.
He’s got to the point where he doesn’t seem to take himself that seriously, is nice to fans, enjoys what he’s doing and is still pretty good at it. I love watching him.
Villago Delenda Est
They should just call all these meetings “Grifterpalooza” and get it over with already.
Line up the marks, pick them clean.
MattF
@Amir Khalid: I think that they’re just firing up the Clinton Rumor Mill. But I also suspect that the old mill is not in very good condition. The 1990’s Clinton Obsessive Disorder relied on a crew of mainstream pundits (Michael Kelly, Christopher Hitchens, Andrew Sullivan) who hated the Clintons– it’s hard to see that being recreated in 2016
ulee
@Tommy: I’ve always liked Greg Norman. He would pick up his ball on the green and not use his putter as a rest so as not to mar the field. Also, I remember him rescueing a bug that was in his way, carried him off the green, laughing. Good person.
schrodinger's cat
My new look for the Spring, let me show you it.
Kropadope
@? Martin: Oh, and why about her husband? As if she somehow were irrelevant if not for her relationship with him.
Belafon
Shouldn’t all these Freedom loving Americans be in Nevada telling Bundy that if he’s not an American citizen, he needs to get out of the country?
schrodinger's cat
I also hate how wingnuts have rendered words like freedom, liberty and socialism utterly devoid of meaning.
Kropadope
@MattF: It doesn’t matter. Now their media machine has enough penetration that all their BS lies need to be taken seriously. How many trumped up scandals has the media tried to pin on Obama?
schrodinger's cat
@MattF: Sullivan is no fan of Hillary, the other two are dead.
NotMax
Speak for thyself, East Coaster. Some of us only woke up 20 minutes ago.
Coffee’s ready.
Villago Delenda Est
@MattF:
Sort of like how German industrialists learned this the hard way in the ’30’s and ’40’s.
Schlemizel
@schrodinger’s cat:
I used to listen to a local guy back in the late 80’s while driving home from work. He was interesting & often talked to people with thoughtful opinions. The guy treated most everyone with a lot of respect. But I hated when he opened the phone lines because a large percentage of callers were idiots even when they were ostensibly on ‘my side’.
He did one funny thing with callers who were off on some whacko rant that ended with “AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! or AND YOU KNOW WHERE THAT LEADS!” he would hang up on them and say “No, we don’t”
Anyway the station he was on decided to move him earlier so they could get the impacted anal cyst on during drive time and I have not voluntarily listed to talk radio since.
? Martin
@Kropadope: I don’t think it’s about Hillary. I think it’s about painting all Democrats as degenerates, and getting hate on for Bill Clinton has always been good for GOTV. This is about 2014, not 2016. Plenty of time to go after Hillary.
Villago Delenda Est
@schrodinger’s cat: Two out of three ain’t bad.
schrodinger's cat
@Villago Delenda Est: Indeed, he needs to watch what is in his Daily Dish.
geg6
Ugh. What a horrific way to spend your weekend. Hate and venom and stupid as far as the eye can see
Back at the geg6 ranch, I’m marinating some tuna steaks in pineapple juice, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, brown sugar, sherry and vinegar. They will be grilled along with some pineapple wedges glazed with pepper, lime juice and clover honey. Asparagus will also hit the grill. Some nice rice on the side and a Reisling to wet the whistle. Dessert is lemon pudding cake and vanilla bean ice cream. Feels so much like summer, I thought summery food was the proper meal to end the weekend. Much nicer than that clusterfuck up in NH, for sure.
Can I bitch a moment here? Why are all the good shows on Sunday nights? I’m so confused about what to watch and what to record, I don’t know where to start.
lamh36
Welp, That’s all she wrote…today was my last day as an employee at my job in BR. I finished my work early, stayed a few hours later later for some extra money, then I threw up my deuces and left my ID on my Supervisor’s desk (I won’t have time to get to HR during the week to return it).
Now all I gotta do is finish boxing up my stuff, take a lil nap (I’m on day 14 of a 19 day stretch of work so I’m tired as f…), and later on tonight meander my way back to NOLA. This time next week I should be fully moved out of BR and in my bed in NOLA!!!
raven
@Schlemizel: I grew up with the game and my dad was a very good golfer. He loved Slammin Sammy, Jack, Arnie and Player. It was very difficult for me when he hated Tiger. Part of it was that he became a huge Arizona fan and hated all things from Stanford and part of it sure seemed like race to me. He love Mich too and maybe that was part of it. I’m really glad this Masters turned out to be as interesting as it has and I have to like Bubba a bit cuz he’s a Dawg.
Bob In Portland
Don’t look.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Violet: Being called the next Tiger Woods, is like the Sports Illustrated front cover jinx, if you are predicted to win a title your season is kaput. That whats happen to McIlroy.
Southern Beale
@gene108:
Yeah just stupidly told someone that Reagan was experiencing Alzheimer’s symptoms in his second term and it’s like, OMG. You’d think I’d said God was dead or something.
Violet
From the post up top:
Objectivist Girl? That’s just sad. And she’s “more of an anarchist”? Maybe she could go get some anarchy training by moving to Nigeria for awhile. Without any bodyguards or other protection of course.
Tommy
@Violet: I wonder how good Fred could have been, and he has had an amazing career, maybe top 25 or 30 of all time (rank ordering is hard, the game has changed a ton), if he didn’t have all the back problems he had. When Fred was in his prime that was when I was playing 10-12 hours a day. At the time weight training was never suggested, cause well the thinking was you’d add muscle and therefore not be as limber. I wonder what training Fred did.
Now weight training is very common and the “experts” think it will prolong the carers of the younger players. Well maybe not with Tiger. The “experts” think he took his weight training far to far and that is the root cause for all of his injuries.
raven
@geg6: Call the Midwife is great and the second season of Mr Selfridge is way better than the first.
I’m making Mahi, grilled pineapple and black beans and rice.
schrodinger's cat
@geg6: I am going to watch Cosmos plus Bletchley Circle starts tonight on PBS.
Villago Delenda Est
@Bob In Portland: Our fan of Russian imperialism continues to make an ass out of himself.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: NO!!! Mad Men, Bletchley and Silicon Valley!!!!!!!!
Schlemizel
@raven:
What was it about Tiger though? Does he have a style that is different or is it strictly his personality? I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong only trying to understand loyalty in a game I don’t watch.
geg6
@raven:
I have to see Amazing Race, but the next two hours are insane. Cosmos, The Good Wife, TURN, Mad Men and America’s Best Cook are all clustered in those next two hours. I’m sure some of them are replayed later, so recording them is probably the way to go, but I hate that all these shows are all on the same night and times.
snarkworth
Ray Shakir, who is 65 and can now qualify for what he deems “socialist security”
Well, he can qualify for Medicare, but he has another year for full Social Security.
raven
@Schlemizel: For me it was his golf first, his background second (his dad was Special Forces and his mom is Thai) and I can’t lie, I loved the fact that he was African-Thai-American and kicked all that ofay ass.
Violet
@Mr Stagger Lee: Yeah, it does have to be some pressure. You’d think he’d have figured it out by now, though. I think it was three years ago.
raven
@geg6: Have you seen Call the Midwife?
NotMax
@Villago Delenda Est
Whatever he’s being paid in rubles to infest blogs, the exchange rate must be terrible now.
burnspbesq
Never forget: these idjits that you’re so smugly condescending about are going to show up in November. Every single damn one of them.
Can you trust the fucking Kossacks and Firepups to do the same?
Schlemizel
@Tommy:
They used to talk that way around baseball too. There was a real thing about not becoming muscle bound. I don’t much follow the game any more but assume the whole roid deal put the lie to that belief. I have to believe if you use the right routine every player would be better at their sport if they were in better shape. Raw power would not correct bad technique but if 2 guys swung the same way I would expect the stronger one to drive further (but I admit thats all guess work)
ulee
It’s gotta be Madmen. Don Draper is going to jump out a window or die of lung cancer. Either way, it’s the last season.
raven
@ulee: It’s the last season split over 2 seasons.
Tommy
@raven: Agreed. I was never a huge fan of Tiger but didn’t dislike him in the least. I respect the pressure that was put on him and the pressure he put on himself. And he was still successful at every level. When you play golf you are playing yourself and the course, not the other players. That pressure must have been staggering and hard to deal with. He did.
If there was anything I didn’t like about him was he was maybe the most corporate golfer (or any sports) ever. The stories about how Nike controlled every aspect of he life are hard to read, cause there is a part of me that wondered if really wanted that. He never said anything interesting in a press conference. Heck he makes Bill Belichick the coach of the Pat look engaged :).
raven
Bubba be nuts.
Violet
@Schlemizel: Tiger was black in a white man’s sport. And he excelled. And had a great smile and was able to give a decent interview. Advertiser’s dream.
Any golfer who wins that much is going to get attention. If that golfer comes with a backstory and other traits appealing to advertisers he becomes a phenomenon.
raven
@Violet: And he raised the payday for each and every one of these dudes exponentially and they know it.
Schlemizel
@raven:
Thats really become the deal now hasn’t it? The “final season” actually being shown across 2 seasons. I don’t get it but it must make them more money or they wouldn’t do it for every series like has been happening
ulee
@raven: this is true. Perhaps Peggy commits suicide. I don’t think Lane is the only one.
Tommy
@Schlemizel: My golf coaches would have beat me if I lifted weights and I wanted to because I was a 150 pound 5’4 male (with almost “baby fat”) and I thought I needed the strength. Later after I stopped playing seriously and put on a fair amount of muscle (but lost weight) I still had the same swing, but I kid you not I added a ton of yardage to every club. Maybe almost 50 yards to my driver, which as you can imagine is huge!
Mike in NC
@Villago Delenda Est: Czar Vladomir the First. Has a nice ring to it.
ulee
@Tommy: I totally hate Tiger Woods. He is a vapid, self involved person who screwed over his wife and kids with, get this, 123 or more women. Do some more Ambien, “Tiger.” Fuck him and his small mind. He is a man who hits a little white ball around.
Schlemizel
@Violet:
Thats understandable. I was just wondering if I tuned in would I look at Matt Kuchar and say “Gawd I love the way he handles his 7 iron”, hes my favorite or “That Bubba does things on the green nobody else can so I’ll follow him” or is it more just “I get a kick out of Miguel Angel Jimenez, hes the guy I watch”.
It seems its more of the latter and thats OK, I just wondered what it was.
Violet
@Tommy: Yeah, I wonder. Freddie’s back has been such a problem for so much of his career.
These days the sports medicine community knows so much more about body mechanics, nutrition, training, etc. than they did even a decade ago. Tiger was probably on the early edge of the massive increase in knowledge but he didn’t get to take advantage of the accumulated learning. Golfers–or any athlete–coming up now will be able to train for longevity in their sport.
Schlemizel
@Tommy: Oh yeah, I’d like to add 50 yards! I think as physiologists and sports med people get more knowledgeable and can create the right routines a lot of that anti-weight stuff will go away. It probably makes no sense for a golfer to bench 350 but high rep, lower weight focused on the right muscle groups would not only stretch your drive but your career.
Violet
@Schlemizel: As with any sport, the more you know about it, the more attuned to details you are. I’ve followed golf for a long time (don’t get me started on why) but I don’t play much. So I’m probably going to be more about golfers’ personalities than the intricacies of their swing, club choice, who their coach is, etc.
scav
@Mike in NC: Don’t forget Saint Putinsburg. Despite the alternate grad variant, I somehow see him playing for the Saint. All his official portraits will be written, heavy on the gold leaf.
Chris T.
@gene108
So… they should sell arms to Iran? Raise taxes? Behave like they’re acquiring various forms of senile dementia? Oh wait, they’re already doing that last one…
Tommy
@Schlemizel: I think you would call what they do more resistance training. Lean muscles more then large muscles. If you go to a PGA tour event they have trailers with the equipment that is being used and it is almost something out of a science fiction movie.
Also the diet of the players is like other pro sports where the people have a nutritionist and a cook. It was in my lifetime there were pros smoking as they played (Jimenez on the Masters leader board smoked on the course until a few years ago) and many, many stories of the wild parties and drinking. I am sure some still do, but I don’t think at nearly the numbers it used to be.
Schlemizel
Big news from the NCAA
Sam Huston State just won the womens national bowling championship! As a hockey fan I should know better than to dis the ‘fringe’ sports but its tough to get excited about a sport mostly played to permit drinking beer in public. The crowd went wild – all 12 or 15 of them.
In my defense, I bowled on regular leagues until I broke my pelvis, I am not making fun of the game, its fun.
Hill Dweller
After an electric front nine, it’s been a lot of forgettable golf. Spieth’s inability to put any pressure on Bubba has made for some boring TV.
Violet
@Tommy: There’s a lot of money in golf and the sponsors don’t want to risk getting involved with someone who’s smoking and drinking away their investment in him. Plus, the golfers want every advantage–like every professional sports player.
I wonder if at some point some maverick player is going to show up who smokes and drinks and womanizes, but is so good and so charming that the advertisers flock to him anyway, capitalizing on his bad boy ways. And that will upend the “sports science” trends of recent years.
Edit: The “bad boys of tennis” era drew in a lot of viewers. The carefully trained automatons may be good but they’re not always interesting.
Southern Beale
@Amir Khalid:
Well, Rand Paul is the one who started that weird jump of logic, trying to attack Hilary over Bill’s Monica thing. Don’t see how that does anything to hurt her but hey, the GOP is one giant fail whale these days anyway.
Schlemizel
@Violet:
Wouldn’t that have been John Daly?
WaterGirl
@raven: Today is the first episode of Bletchley Circle Season 2. Are you gonna watch?
Never mind, read a bit further down the thread and I see that you are!
Kristine
@ulee: I read some reviewer ages ago who opined that the best way for Draper to end would be to vanish. He thought he saw signs that Draper was going to become DB Cooper.
Kropadope
@Southern Beale: Doesn’t make any less sense than his extensive speech denouncing Obama on drone policy, then making it clear the next day that there’s not actually a dime’s worth of difference between his drone policy preferences and Obama’s.
Violet
@Schlemizel: I saw John Daly play during that era of his game. He was big and fat and man did he drive that ball an amazing distance. I think he might even have been drinking a beer on the course, but I can’t remember. Were there rules against that?
He’d be a good example of what I’m talking about, but for modern times that person would need to be thinner and not have such an obvious drinking problem.
Schlemizel
@Violet:
As many sports have proven time and again a player can have horrible chemical dependency problems as long as its not made public. The sporting press will play along in ignoring a stars self-destruction until told to do otherwise by the owner. Like with Charlie Sheen, as long as I am making money off him he can kill himself and I will pretend not to notice.
John Weiss
“Ray Shakir, who is 65 and can now qualify for what he deems “socialist security” ”
Hmmm. I wonder if he has sent it back yet.
raven
@WaterGirl: Well, I can DVR 2 shows at once. We hit it at 10 so it’ll be Mad Men and Bletchley since Silicon Valley will be on HBO on Demand. Mad Men sucks when you watch it with commercials.
Tommy
@Violet: The money is out of control and not so much in winnings. Nike was pulling in almost half a billion a year just in Tiger clubs, balls, shoes, and cloths.
People here that don’t play golf might not realize the market. You can easily spend $1,000 for irons. $350 for a driver. $100 for a putter. $9 for three golf balls. $75 for a polo shirt.*
*And you can spend a ton more.
raven
Bubba is crying again!!!!!! WOOF WOOF!
raven
@Violet: The Walrus’ son did ok.
cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.5940880.1377220875!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_600/im…
Tommy
@raven: He has been playing well all year.
bemused
@ulee:
Al Franken had a great show and guests.
Bob In Portland
Don’t look.
WaterGirl
@raven: I had never heard of Silicon Valley. Looks like I missed the first episode? It’s a comedy? Not big on sitcoms, but tell me more! (please)
Tommy
@bemused: I came to his radio show late. Honestly I thought this is just that SNL guy, he can’t do a radio show on politics. Then I tuned in one day and was stunned he was still funny but also his depth of knowledge. Why I knew he could be a good Senator.
Amir Khalid
@Tommy:
I bet they make those fancy US$75 polo shirts in the same Bangladesh sweatshops that make the cheap ones sold in Targét.
Tommy
@WaterGirl: I know you didn’t ask me …..
Only one show in. Done my Mike Judge. It is a comedy. I can’t really explain it. Parts that I laughed out loud. Others where I thought it was terrible. One show in. The entire thing is on YouTube.
raven
@WaterGirl: We about choked. Buncha damn dweebs.
NotMax
@Tommy
Guy I knew back when had an unusual way to get new golf shoes for next to nothing.
He’d stroll into a pro shop at a golf course and when the salesperson asked if he needed help, would say, “Yes. I want the ugly shoes.”
Salesperson: (pause) “Excuse me?”
Him: “I want the ugly shoes.”
Salesperson: “Perhaps you’d like to look over the display.”
Him: “No, no. Somewhere in the back storeroom you’ve got a few pairs of shoes no one in a month of Sundays would ever buy that were tossed back there to make space. Those are the ones I want. The ugly shoes. Size 12.”
And nine times out of ten, he walked out with heavily discounted brand-new golf shoes.
Amir Khalid
@NotMax:
Really? In my experience, all golf shoes are ugly.
Tommy
@NotMax: I kid you not I love my shoes. I have a shoe problem. I have a pair of FootJoys I got in 1988. Maybe played 500 plus rounds with them. They cost $400. I still wear them. But then I got them resoled a few times and I take care of my footwear.
polyorchnid octopunch
@Mike in NC: I figure it’s like this. They travel around, get to do lots of entertaining, which brings in the hookers and blow, and other people pay for it all, and furthermore it’s all tax deductible. It’s nice work if you can get it.
rikyrah
CBS NewsApril 13, 2014, 5:58 PM
Police find seven dead babies in Utah woman’s home
Police arrested a 39-year-old woman from Pleasant Grove after seven dead infants were find in a home she used to live in.
The suspect, 39-year-old Megan Huntsman, has been booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of 6 counts of murder, reports CBS affiliate KUTV in Salt Lake City.
cbsnews.com/news/police-find-seven-dead-babies-in-utah-womans-home/
Bob In Portland
@Villago Delenda Est: Is linking to an article in The Economist being an asshole? I must have missed where we aren’t supposed to discuss Ukraine anymore.
I can actually remember getting the same shit from people who told me that if we didn’t stop the Commies in Vietnam they’d take over California. They also quickly fell from discussion to name calling. You probably believed the WMDs in Iraq too.
I’m sure you feel so much better laughing at Republican neocons than actually looking at the crap your tax money has unleashed around the world.
bemused
@Tommy:
Same here. He, my senator, knew his stuff so I had no doubt he was serious about running when even some liberals were skeptical. He would have his friend Norm Ornstein on periodically who would do a spoof poll skit which was very funny. Franken did a lot of ground work before he ran. I actually taped (VCR) his program when it was televised for awhile and have a box of tapes. One of these days I will play them on on our DVD/VCR unit which will be a nostalgic hoot.
WaterGirl
@Amir Khalid: I was thinking the same thing.. how ugly does a pair of golf shoes have to be when even people who buy golf shoes won’t buy them?
Reminded me of when my dad lived in the upscale retirement village (everybody had their own apartment). He always went shopping with his buddy who had a car.
I adored my dad, but at that point he walked very slowly, so when he said he would only shop with his buddy and never go shopping with the group again because the old ladies walked so slowly, I thought “holy shit! how slow do you have to be if even dad thinks you’re really slow?”
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
I’m with you on the ugly, but it’s all relative.
(And speaking of ugly, you should see some of my relatives…)
/Borscht Belt comic
Cervantes
@Villago Delenda Est:
How so?
Tommy
@bemused: I gained a lot of respect for him cause I think he has only done one national interview, with Chris Hayes, since he got elected. Only local stuff. Said he was a freshman and needed to learn the ropes. I am not sure I can recall a Senator with his profile and name ID that ever did something like that. Told me he was both humble and serious about his job. Those are two things I respect a lot. A ton.
NotMax
@Water Girl</a.
There's ugly, and there's ugly.
Would there were a convenient way to write it in the exaggerated fashion of Moms Mabley (about 3:05 into this bit).
Tommy
@WaterGirl: Gosh I could talk golf all day. I have a second pair of golf shoes. Somehow they are not black nor brown, but some strange color in-between. I got them (Ethonic) and they were like 60% off on clearance. I guess folks thought they were ugly, but they look OK with jeans, slacks, and even shorts.
I said I am a shoe whore and it is kind of stunning you can’t generally speaking get a nice looking pair of golf shoes for under $400. Spend $400 plus and you can. I mean they make all black gator skin you name it.
NotMax
@Water Girl
Bad link. Fixed.
There’s ugly, and there’s ugly.
Would there were a convenient way to write it in the exaggerated fashion of Moms Mabley (about 3:05 into this bit).
ulee
Al Franken can run circles around the right’s so called intellect, Newt Gingrinch. It’s not even close.
bemused
@Tommy:
Smart guy. Rightwingers were salivating thinking he would be putting his face on tv all the time giving them opportunity to attack him and make shit up but he did the exact opposite and hasn’t veered from that path since. They must still be really pissed off.
I had forgotten that Al did one radio show from UMD, Duluth, MN that we went to. A lot of fun and I have a pic of me with him from that day.
Cervantes
@bemused:
The mystery is not that Minnesota elected Al Franken. The mystery is not that Minnesota elected Paul Wellstone. They are and were more than qualified. The mystery is that Minnesota elected that turncoat Norm Coleman in between, instead of Walter Mondale.
rikyrah
Today is the first episode of Bletchley Circle Season 2.
YEAH!!!
Thanks for telling me.
bemused
@Cervantes:
I couldn’t agree more. We are also very fortunate Mark Dayton is our guv. I still shudder and feel ill to think if his idiot opponent Emmer had won. MN would look a lot more like Wisc.
Suzanne
Now that I PASSED MY LAST TEST (woot woot!), I have done the following this weekend:
1) Gotten a mani/pedi
2) Gone to the park twice; once for a picnic, once to go running
3) Read a fiction book, for no other reason than that I wanted to
4) Took a nap
5) Went shopping and bought myself new glassware
This whole not-studying-all-weekend thing RULES.
Ruckus
@snarkworth:
You do know that you can start SS at 62 don’t you? You won’t receive as much per month if you start before 66 but you can start any time after 62.
Someone up thread said this dufus should return his check. No checks anymore. Direct deposit or if you don’t have access to a bank some sort of card, like a debit card. I wonder how much money is saved by not printing/mailing a few million checks every month.
snarkworth
@Ruckus: Yes, I do understand about taking social security early. That’s why I said “full” social security.
TerryC
@Tommy: I’ve just started master planning for a set of three nines that plays through a permaculture fruit, nut, and berry food forest mostly grown around the course. Got a five year plan.
Disc (Frisbee) golf. :)
My life after “retirement” in 4.5 years.
TerryC
@Tommy: Disc golf: Cheapest new discs start at $9. Most expensive go for $18, unless they are collectibles and could go up to several hundred dollars. Most players will give a disc away and used ones can go for $3. A decent bag is $30; a really good one is $300. Greens fees are almost nonexistent (play all day for $2). 4,500 courses in the US. Game is the same only more challenging as balls only go up and down. Fastest growing fraternity/sorority in the US :) No sport is more egalitarian or growing at a faster rate. One-third of all “golf” rounds are “disc golf” rounds in 2014.
Sorry, triggered me somehow. I just spent all day showing a couple of dozen very poor people (tons of tats and piercings but no wealth) how to enjoy an inexpensive day at a golf course with their families. At times I almost cried.
Citizen Alan
Nuke the building from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
burnspbesq
@Bob In Portland:
No, but uncritically spouting Russian propaganda is being an asshole, and you’ve been doing that for weeks.
Southern Beale
Is it just me or do these people have an inordinate number of conferences?