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You are here: Home / He’s never early, he’s always late

He’s never early, he’s always late

by DougJ|  August 7, 20149:58 pm| 68 Comments

This post is in: Green Balloons

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Breaking my radio silence to share this with you, surely the greatest line ever to appear in New York Times magazine (via):

Nick Gillespie is to libertarianism what Lou Reed is to rock ‘n’ roll, the quintessence of its outlaw spirit.

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Previous Post: « I Suppose That’s One Way of Looking At It
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Reader Interactions

68Comments

  1. 1.

    Botsplainer

    August 7, 2014 at 9:59 pm

    Dododododododododododododododododo….

  2. 2.

    satby

    August 7, 2014 at 10:00 pm

    OMIFG

  3. 3.

    Alexandra

    August 7, 2014 at 10:01 pm

    Not bad, but according to the National Journal:

    Rick Perry is “looking especially presidential—gray suit, burnt-orange tie, and, at 64, still the best head of hair in politics”.

    And:

    “He’s got the ruggedly handsome face, the slightly wicked smile, and enough silver creeping into that hair to make him look distinguished.”

  4. 4.

    Botsplainer

    August 7, 2014 at 10:02 pm

    By cable TV standards, the show, which is shown four times a week, is jarringly nonpartisan, for the simple reason that she and her co-hosts — the Reason magazine editor in chief Matt Welch and the entrepreneur Kmele Foster — are openly contemptuous of both parties.

    If I hunted down Draper and curb stomped him to death on a New York street in broad daylight, would anybody care?

  5. 5.

    DougJ

    August 7, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    @Alexandra:

    He never lost his head.

  6. 6.

    Dexter

    August 7, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    OT: Bloomberg iPhone App tells me that Obama authorized air strikes in Iraq.

  7. 7.

    Botsplainer

    August 7, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    Robert Draper is a contributing writer for the magazine. He is working on a book about race and murder in Washington.

    Gee, I’m sure it will be full of dudebro nuance.

    Free Ed Snowden, man.

  8. 8.

    jl

    August 7, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    Shouldn’t have thrown away my uncle’s old torn up moldy leather motorcycle jacket.

    If I had that, I could put that on, and be an OUTLAW! An outlaw for liberalism. Damn it. If only…

  9. 9.

    Belafon

    August 7, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    @DougJ: Only because he’s the one immortal that would negate previous quickenings.

  10. 10.

    jl

    August 7, 2014 at 10:08 pm

    @Botsplainer: But not equally contemptuous of where each party wants to take society (except for the secksytime).

    Or, maybe they only talk about the secksytime and drugs. Might be a pretty good show then.

  11. 11.

    jl

    August 7, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    @Alexandra: Glasses? But what about the glasses?

    Edit: and when they mentioned his head, I suppose it was important to focus on the hair to the exclusion of, you know, other heady type stuff.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    August 7, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Ron Paul is Nirvana? Rand Paul is Pearl Jam? Ted Cruz is the Stone Temple Pilots? What the fish is this woman smoking?

  13. 13.

    DougJ

    August 7, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Stone Temple Pilots are elegant bachelors.

  14. 14.

    kc

    August 7, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    Aw, no. No. No.

  15. 15.

    Comrade Mary

    August 7, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    Right, I’m turning this up to full volume. (Don’t try this at home.)

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    August 7, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    Hey DougJ

  17. 17.

    GxB

    August 7, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    @Alexandra: Swoon! Well, that seals it, I’m Gay for Rick ’16!

    @DougJ:

    He never lost his head.

    Well his family apparently did, but it’s okay as it was a near head.

  18. 18.

    Jamey

    August 7, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    @DougJ: They’re foxy to me, are they foxy to you?

  19. 19.

    Jamey

    August 7, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    @Comrade Mary: As a defiant gesture to get out of a record contract, Metal Machine Music makes TAFKAP’s glyph stunt look positively quaint…

  20. 20.

    El Caganer

    August 7, 2014 at 10:18 pm

    I’m waitin’ for my man
    Flash drive of Bitcoin in my hand
    He’s never early
    He’s always late
    He only goes by Uber
    So you always gotta wait.

  21. 21.

    SarahT

    August 7, 2014 at 10:19 pm

    “Nick Gillespie is to libertarianism what Lou Reed is to rock ‘n’ roll, the quintessence of its outlaw spirit” – I may never stop vomiting.

  22. 22.

    Botsplainer

    August 7, 2014 at 10:19 pm

    The C.E.I. is a 30-year-old organization that routinely sues federal agencies, often when new and onerous regulations are posted in the Federal Register.

    Somebody tell me where Draper lives, please….

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    August 7, 2014 at 10:19 pm

    There’s five Cinderellas and some leather drags
    I almost fell into my mug

  24. 24.

    Suffern ACE

    August 7, 2014 at 10:20 pm

    @Alexandra: just wait 2 years. He’ll be 66 and “old” like Hillary.

  25. 25.

    Amir Khalid

    August 7, 2014 at 10:21 pm

    @Alexandra:
    Ronald Reagan had the same qualification to be president — he too looked the part — so there’s that.

  26. 26.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    August 7, 2014 at 10:22 pm

    Is “just shoot me; kill me now” an overreaction? Should I just drink heavily instead, as tomorrow is not a work day for me?

  27. 27.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    August 7, 2014 at 10:23 pm

    Kiss the boot coat of shiny, shiny leather
    Shiny leather in the dark

  28. 28.

    burnspbesq

    August 7, 2014 at 10:25 pm

    @SarahT:

    I may never stop vomiting

    I believe I’ll be joining you momentarily.

  29. 29.

    Pee Cee

    August 7, 2014 at 10:26 pm

    Kennedy spent most of the Bill Clinton ‘90s as MTV’s most vocal Republican, but then she soured on the G.O.P.

    Yet she’s “excited” by Republican Ron Paul, Republican Rand Paul, and Republican Ted Cruz.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    August 7, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    @El Caganer:

    You win the thread.

  31. 31.

    Mike J

    August 7, 2014 at 10:30 pm

    If only he would mail himself somewhere in a crate.

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    August 7, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    Should I just drink heavily instead, as tomorrow is not a work day for me?

    This is no time to turn away and drink
    Or smoke some vials of crack
    This is a time to gather force
    And take dead aim and attack

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    August 7, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    @Mike J: Pedant note: That’s a Cale song.

  34. 34.

    Mike J

    August 7, 2014 at 10:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): How about “Gillespie’s like mayonnaise soda.”

  35. 35.

    Botsplainer

    August 7, 2014 at 10:45 pm

    @Pee Cee:

    Yet she’s “excited” by Republican Ron Paul, Republican Rand Paul, and Republican Ted Cruz.

    But they’re all about the most fundamental liberty of ordering society the way you want it to be, the bestest liberty of all!

    Wolverines!!!

  36. 36.

    Botsplainer

    August 7, 2014 at 10:47 pm

    @Mike J:

    Little Nick never once gave it away
    Everybody had to pay and pay
    A hustle here and a hustle there
    New York City’s the place
    Where they said, “Hey, babe,
    Take a walk on the wild side.”
    I said, “Hey, Nick,
    Take a walk on the wild side.”

  37. 37.

    Donut

    August 7, 2014 at 10:48 pm

    Christ almighty on a Popsicle stock, I could not get even 1/3 of the way through that awful piece of shit article.

    Fuck. That.

  38. 38.

    M31

    August 7, 2014 at 10:54 pm

    LOL, the title of the article was “Has the Libertarian Movement Finally Arrived?” and as always, the answer to any question in a headline is “NO”.

  39. 39.

    beth

    August 7, 2014 at 11:00 pm

    On the afternoon that I showed up to chat with the longtime libertarian writer and editor Nick Gillespie at the posh Washington offices of Reason, just off Dupont Circle, a dozen or so staff members were hanging out in the kitchen, drinking Green Hat gin

    .

    This explains a lot.

  40. 40.

    different-church-lady

    August 7, 2014 at 11:01 pm

    There’s a completely different Lou Reed quality that I wish Gillespie had. See if you can guess what it is…

  41. 41.

    Poopyman

    August 7, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    @different-church-lady: Along with Generalissimo Francisco Franco?

  42. 42.

    Suffern ACE

    August 7, 2014 at 11:18 pm

    @different-church-lady: lifelong heroin addiction?

  43. 43.

    angelfoot

    August 7, 2014 at 11:24 pm

    I think, more accurately, libertarianism is to Nick Gillespie what rock ‘n’ roll was to Lou Reed. Which is just so very, very sad.

  44. 44.

    Paul Gottlieb

    August 7, 2014 at 11:29 pm

    Isn’t he a bit more like what Vanilla Ice was to Rap?

  45. 45.

    Pee Cee

    August 7, 2014 at 11:35 pm

    We’re doing exactly what free minds and free markets allow you to do. Part of why I’m a libertarian is that if you restrict people less, interesting stuff happens.

    Why yes, when you remove those pesky environmental protection restrictions on, say, the local chemical plant or resource extraction operation, interesting stuff happens!

    I mean, massive fish kills are interesting, right? People lighting their drinking water on fire is also pretty interesting. And that thing in West Virginia with 300000 people not having drinking water was certainly interesting.

    LIBERTY!

  46. 46.

    hells littlest angel

    August 7, 2014 at 11:39 pm

    Yes, because he’s a brain-damaged snob who spent the last 30 years of his life churning out self-important crap.

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    August 7, 2014 at 11:42 pm

    @hells littlest angel: Oh, baby you’re so vicious.

  48. 48.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    August 7, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    @Donut:

    NPR offered me a chance to listen to S.E. Cupp tonight. I declined.

  49. 49.

    Suffern ACE

    August 7, 2014 at 11:46 pm

    @beth: I did not even notice that. I bet they wear smoking jackets, too

  50. 50.

    Suffern ACE

    August 8, 2014 at 12:02 am

    @Pee Cee: I was thinking more in the lines of “we ‘re free to do what we want at our big gala. So let’s do Flashdance! That ‘ll be fun!”

  51. 51.

    Pee Cee

    August 8, 2014 at 12:07 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    A bunch of 40-something libertarians trying to recreate Flashdance flies straight past “interesting” and right to Lovecraftian horror. There are some things that man was just not meant to witness.

  52. 52.

    JenJen

    August 8, 2014 at 12:10 am

    Oh, fuck you, DougJ! This?? This is the way you return? I’m legit retching.

    Jesus. I didn’t need to know about this. I avoid Gawker and Bill Maher on purpose.

  53. 53.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 8, 2014 at 12:19 am

    @M31: Most people grow out of their tendency to libertarianism at four or five. These assholes are all cases of arrested development.

  54. 54.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 8, 2014 at 12:21 am

    @Botsplainer:

    But they’re all about the most fundamental liberty of ordering society the way you want it to be, the bestest liberty of all!

    The guy at the top always has unlimited freedom.

    The price for that one individual’s unlimited freedom is slavery for everyone else.

    But hey, it’s good to be the king!

  55. 55.

    cmm

    August 8, 2014 at 2:06 am

    Nick Gillespie is to politics what Creed is to rock and roll, the quintessence of douchebaggery.

    Fixed.

  56. 56.

    hells littlest angel

    August 8, 2014 at 2:40 am

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): I thought I was someone else, someone good …

  57. 57.

    Just One More Canuck

    August 8, 2014 at 7:04 am

    @Paul Gottlieb: more like what Milli Vanilli was to whatever it was they did

  58. 58.

    Kay

    August 8, 2014 at 7:40 am

    It’s really crappy political analysis. I could do the exact same thing the writer does, except write a piece promoting liberalism with it.

    Instead of Amash and Paul, I’d use Keith Ellison and Elizabeth Warren. I could do BETTER. I could use Sherrod Brown instead of Elizabeth Warren because he’s from a swing state. Now I have liberalism spreading to swing states! :)

    The whole theory is based on one Cato poll, Amash and Rand Paul. Amash’s district is in western Michigan which is increasingly a wingnut bastion.

    The only reason “liberal” Polis from Colorado meets with the libertarian-leaners in the House (Amash) is because Polis is a committed public education privatizer, and so is Amash. Big deal. Privatizing public education isn’t a new idea or a particularly “libertarian” idea. Jeb Bush is the leader. Hardly a radical.

    There’s also a glaring omission in the piece, and it’s privatization. The “libertarians” in the House don’t do anything to “shrink” government. They simply sell off pieces and privatize government. It doesn’t get any smaller when you contract it out. In fact, it probably gets BIGGER because once it’s privatized everyone has an incentive to keep it growing and the money flowing to contractors.

  59. 59.

    chopper

    August 8, 2014 at 8:08 am

    Gillespie is to libertarianism as Lou Reed is to rock, if the only record Reed ever put out was Metal Machine Music.

  60. 60.

    Paul in KY

    August 8, 2014 at 8:33 am

    @Amir Khalid: Ron Paul is Toto, Rand Paul is Captain Beefheart Ted Cruz is Insane Clown Posse

  61. 61.

    Paul in KY

    August 8, 2014 at 8:36 am

    @different-church-lady: Being dead?

  62. 62.

    Paul in KY

    August 8, 2014 at 8:38 am

    @cmm: I think you are libeling Creed, to lump them in with Gillespie. Creed has some problems, but they are much more competent in their work than Gillespie.

  63. 63.

    Manyakitty

    August 8, 2014 at 9:03 am

    @different-church-lady: Being dead?

  64. 64.

    Manyakitty

    August 8, 2014 at 9:05 am

    @Paul in KY: Great minds and all…

  65. 65.

    kindness

    August 8, 2014 at 10:22 am

    That Times article has a whole bunch of bullshit loaded into it parading as fact. Look at Kennedy for instance. Suggesting both Republicans and Democrats are the same is jingoistic stupid. Reason Magazine? Doesn’t Reason accept discrimination because there should be no laws restricting people’s practices?

    Sorry but no sale. Libertarianism has appealing ideals but in practice it morphs into the same injustice Republicans fight for every day. Maybe that is why so many ‘Libertarians’ are Republicans in liars cloths.

  66. 66.

    Joel

    August 8, 2014 at 10:32 am

    That is a lot of words dedicated to pure wankery.

  67. 67.

    danah gaz

    August 8, 2014 at 11:51 am

    Oh come on. He’s not nearly as racist and misogynistic as Gavin McInnes. Now there’s a *real* libertarian**.

    **There’s actually no such thing as a “real libertarian” because real libertarians are called anarchists and ergo they are anti-capitalist – since capitalism requires a state.

  68. 68.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 8, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    Nick Gillespie is to libertarianism what Lou Reed is to rock ‘n’ roll, the quintessence of its outlaw spirit

    You got to love how they drape dead people over themselves. No chance of Reed commenting on how a conservative magazine editor is just like him.

    Of course the cynical might note that as part of his stage persona Reed pretended to be a gay drug addict, so maybe the parallel is Gillespie is pretending to be a 20 something youthful free spirit and not a middle age hack for the establishment.

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