@jbarro I think what Americans really want is superficial change.
— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 19, 2014
@dzeaiter @jbarro No I’m serious. Americans are very upset about things in general, but broadly supportive of the status quo in specifics.
— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 19, 2014
And if anyone’s prepared to give us some nice, well-polished superficial…
Apart from profundicity, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Baud
The problem with change is that nothing stays the same.
Corner Stone
I just recently survived a lightning embattled flight back to Houston.
So, to celebrate, I’m making home made tacos, home made salsa, and plan to watch JJ Watt toss Rapo Ben on his ass about 12 times.
Corner Stone
Also, to add, Padma Lakshmi makes my train run on time.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Corner Stone:
Now, there’s your problem.
Corner Stone
@BillinGlendaleCA: They wouldn’t take me anywhere else.
So maybe that’s my problem?
Felonius Monk
@Corner Stone:
“Pardon me, boy, is that the Padma Choo-Choo?”
“Track 29!”
“Boy, you can give me a shine.”
Corner Stone
The strange thing was that I had to schedule my flight out so that it originated from Memphis instead of Dallas.
I was scared to death that if I got on a plane that had once come from Dallas Cole would have me forced quarantined so as to not infect any other commenter here.
Holy Shit! Is it enough that I typed the word “Dallas” here to get me Cole Approved Quarantined ™ ?
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone: Come to think of it, I hear there’s a lot of that E-bulla in Texas these days. You might hafta be, whatchacallit, kwar-um-tied.
JPL
@Corner Stone: It depends. Would you get paid and do you have household projects to keep you occupied?
Scamp Dog
@Felonius Monk: Hmmm. It scans better with the song if you change it to “Padma Lakshmi Choo-Choo.”
Boy is that an oldie!
Mnemosyne
I wouldn’t say that people are supportive of the status quo, exactly. More like they want the status quo to actually follow through on its promises and act in a fair way towards everyone rather than lopsidedly favoring the 0.01%.
different-church-lady
Americans don’t even want superficial change. What they want is to whine and bitch and moan.
JPL
@Mnemosyne: The sad thing is that why they vote Republican. Romney said that he’d hope to have unemployment at 6 percent after four years but Obama is viewed as a job killer.
Felonius Monk
@Scamp Dog: Thanks. So noted. I’m in the middle of one of those fall colds, so my bubble-head isn’t working at 100%.
Mandalay
Gough Whitlam, who was prime minister of Australia while Tricky Dicky was running the show here, has just died.
He was in office for less than three years (72-75), but what he achieved in that time seems absolutely mind boggling…
Davis X. Machina
@different-church-lady:
Philosophically conservative, operationally liberal.
Rhetorically small-r republican, dispositionally monarchist.
Self-government is, like, work.
We’ll elect a monarch, if you let us get back to our diversions.
A revolution? That’s waaaaay too much work.
We don’t get that impassioned about anything — except the right to own colored people.
JPL
They’re running on fear. If I were the President, I’d stop issuing visas to West African citizens, simply because it’s smart politics. It might not help because what about the rest of the continent.
After all they live in the same continent. Nothing makes sense anymore and as Elizabelle downstairs said, we don’t teach Geography anymore.
Davis X. Machina
@JPL:
You can’t refute a theology. Blessed be the Market, the Righteous Judge…
Ultraviolet Thunder
I dodged a trip to Aguascalientes Mexico today by a coin flip, so I got to come home instead and feed green beans to the parrot. It would have been OK either way. Weather’s better down there, but I have roasted squash and potatoes here. And home. To little of that, and can’t take it for granted.
NotMax
@Scamp Dog
Even peppier in Portuguese with a samba slant.
jl
Someone tell Yglesias we need specifics on the specifics.
Not sue whether Yglesias’ superficial generalities are superficially general or profoundly specifically general.
srv
First world upnerd superficial dudebro problems: patent review board reviewing
SiubhanDuinne
@Mandalay:
Pretty much, he sounds like a good guy.
ETA: How is his first name pronounced? Go, Gow, Guff, Goff, Goo, other?
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
In all seriousness, people want change, but not change that is made in opposition to their personal bias.
I saw a perfect example the other day on C&D in a thread about broken wheels on the new Jaguar. One commentator stated we need to raise taxes to fix our infrastructure.
Another commentator countered by stating we don’t need to raise taxes…we just need a big pile of money bearing interest from which we could fix our infrastructure.
The stupid, it burns.
El Caganer
Ah, Wiggles, one of America’s leading proponents of Radical Centrism: “Neither side does it!”
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
The subset of GOP-ers are more dedicated to implementing the status quo ante.
schrodinger's cat
Whatever happened to MY’s buddy, former frontpager EDK?
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
I’m somewhere around Eau Claire headed back to Minneapolis after the Gophers reclaimed the #1 ranking by sweeping Wisconsin.
Megabus is a fine idea but I’m not pleased with the execution. I may actually have less seat room than I would on an airplane and it’s stiflingly hot in here.
5x5
@different-church-lady: My niece said “yes” to the computer. I’m sorry.
Mike J
@Mandalay:
It always brings a tear to my eye.
youtube.com/watch?v=B4gru7Ial3k
Howard Beale IV
@Felonius Monk: I though I heard that as:
“Pardon me Roy, was that the cat they chewed your new shoes, new shows, new shoes”…..
schrodinger's cat
BTW my weekend trip to the World Market was a bust, I didn’t find most of the ingredients I wanted and it is too late to order stuff online before Diwali. I has a sad.
Mandalay
@SiubhanDuinne: “Goff”, and come to think of it I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone else with that name…
magurakurin
Matthew Iglesias, the guy who said that even though he has a 2 million dollar apartment in NYC he isn’t rich because he’d have to sell the apartment to get the cash.
._.
Another Holocene Human
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Plenty of people like it enough to take MegaBus instead of Amtrak and suppress Midwest Amtrak prices and ridership, which makes it tougher to sell investing in Amtrak infrastructure in the future even though, ya know, plenty of people do not want to be jammed into a bus like sardines in a can for several hours non-stop and would take the train if it was a viable option.
agorabum
@Mandalay: for some of those, it seems remarkable that they had not been implemented yet. So some low hanging Aussie fruit. But the rest is pretty impressive – a testament to getting things done with a parliamentary majority.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
Her schedule is most punctual.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@GHayduke (formerly lojasmo): OT, but I can’t resist…
There was a time when Ed(itor) would throw a fit if anyone referred to “Car and Driver” as “C&D” rather than “C/D”. They were so much better than “Road & Track”, you see. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who hasn’t read it since the mid-80s or so…)
PurpleGirl
@schrodinger’s cat: When is Diwali? Granted I don’t do much actual cooking, but I like having Indian food in the house for the holiday. (Candles, well, I have lots of candles, lots of votive sized candles too.) This is me in my guise as an adherent of EODW (Equal Opportunity Deity Worshipper). If the holiday strikes a chord with my soul, I celebrate it.)
Chris
@Davis X. Machina:
“Americans want to elect Republicans and get Democratic results.”
– me
Origuy
@PurpleGirl: Looks like Diwali is this coming Thursday. I had butter chicken in the cafeteria at work today. There’s a Diwali celebration at work every year. Food, dancing; one year they had an Indo-American comedian. I didn’t get most of the jokes, but then I’m an Anglo-Celtic American.