Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

It’s possible to be a liberal firebrand without crapping on the party.

The National Guard is not Batman.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

The lights are all blinking red.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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Chris Christie demands to know why nobody told him what everyone in his office is up to

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Josh Marshall has the comprehensive liveblog reax to Chris Christie’s damage control presser this morning. I just want to highlight the key take-home from this exercise: you really do not want to work as a staffer for Chris Christie. The guy does not just throw you under the bus. He backs the bus over you a few times, pisses on the body, takes off and nukes the bus from orbit. The worst is that no sane person can believe that he had no idea what everyone in his personal and professional circle was up to, and when the story blew up over the course of months he never bothered to ask.

Some people think that Christie had to go big on the outrage, that he even did a credible job of it. I think that it all depends on whether his performance can pass the laugh test. Without even knowing what other communications have yet to come to light, and supposedly there are a lot, Christie comes awfully close to becoming a living punchline, a guy who will embody desperate non-credible ass-covering in political jokes long after his corporeal form disappears from the national stage.

***Update***

“I’m a very loyal guy. And I expect loyalty in return.”

If I were Bridget Ann Kelly, a performance like this would give me at least one reason to look forward to that criminal inquiry.

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Good news for Chris Christie

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Halperin goes all in:

Update. Checking the twitters, Erick Erickson is all in on backing Christie too. So the conference is working with both the “Morning Joe” right-center crowd as well with the Tea Party types.

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Good Morning!

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The Soonerdaughter is off her liquid diet as of yesterday!  She’s so pleased.  And today, we are…fitting her for braces.

Now that the Satanist temple in New York is pushing hard–they raised $20,000 in five days–to put their monument on the state Capitol grounds near the ten commandments monument, other groups, some of them actual religions, like a Hindu group, have submitted designs to the state for their proposed monuments.  I’m designing a monument to Bill-and-Tedism, myself.  It will be a phone booth with the inscriptions “Be excellent to each other” and “party on, dudes” on the base.  Demands to remove the ten commandments are coming from some interesting quarters, as well.  A VERY devout friend of mine has been calling the offices of his state Senator and Assemblyman and the Governor to register his displeasure.  Since it’s been pointed out that the state is going to spend a lot of money to lose in court and have to remove it anyway, a lot of people are asking that it be removed.  Of course, this being Oklahoma, more people are demanding that the state fight this thing.  I’m buying extra popcorn.

Open Thread.

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At Sochi, Marketers Weep: Where Are the All-American Soap Opera Stars of Yesteryear?

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Lindsay Vonn (& her boyfriend Tiger Woods!) are out, and the admen are lamenting, because they remain convinced that only AMERICA FVCK YEAH sells cheap beer and SUVs. From the Washington Post:

Olympic-related programming is a major part of NBC’s 2014 plans. Four years ago, more than 190 million people tuned in for at least part of the coverage of the Vancouver Games, and Steve Burke, the network’s CEO, called the Olympics the “soul” of NBC at a news conference Tuesday in New York. The network had spent months incorporating Vonn into their commercials and promotional plans and now will have to adjust.

“There’s plenty of stars out there,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBC Sports Group. “Yes, we wish we still had Lindsey there, but we don’t. That’s the nature of sports. . . . Lots of stars unfortunately get injured and hurt.”

Lazarus pointed out that Americans brought home 37 medals from Vancouver and Vonn accounted for two, so there will surely be other athletes to focus on when the Games begin in Sochi…

And if the NBC Sports Group can find them, there will be many easy ledes about ‘returning from the dead’…

The cynical elitists at the NYTimes are cruel enough to suggest a Korean figure skater, a Russian hockey star, and a young Canadian curling phenom as potential substitutes.

I think most of us whose incomes do not rely on sports marketing will consider the Sochi Games a success if nobody — athlete or spectator — gets murdered by terrorists, and I include the hyped-up anti-gay Soviet yahoos along with the Chechen rebels in that category. But Politico brings gladsome tidings for the people selling ads:

The Obama administration is planning an Olympic-size ad blitz to push health coverage during the winter games next month.

HHS confirmed Tuesday that it has bought advertising time in markets with high rates of uninsured people to air during the Winter Olympics, which run Feb. 7-23…

The ads, which will run in markets like these across the country, will be aimed at young uninsured people and their families, an HHS official confirmed. POLITICO also confirmed that ads will run in North Carolina. According to HHS, ratings for typical primetime and sports programming dip during the Olympics, so the administration moved some of its paid media budget to the NBC Olympic inventory to maximize viewership.

No word on the images that might be used along with the usual messaging, although high-injury events such as the giant slalom or snowboarding offer immediate visuals to underscore the risk of going without health insurance…

“Obamacare! Or else you’ll wish the spinal-cord injury you sustain imitating that gnarly slopestyle move had killed you outright!”

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Steve Story and Pictures. Fuck You Haters, Scroll Down

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One of my favorite things about Steve is how he acts like one of the dogs whenever someone comes to the door- they all run and greet the guest, and on at least five occasions someone (UPS, meter man, etc.) has walked in and said “Wow- is that a cat? Are you serious? He’s massive! That is some cat”That is some cat,” because it always reminds me of Wilbur and Charlotte.

At any rate, the lord and master on the top shelf of his cat tower. His winter mane continues to grow, and at this point, if it keeps growing, he may be able to schedule a guest appearance on Duck Dynasty his beard is so long. And I brush him every day!

tower1

tower2

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You can really see his Tunchspot in the last one, and the colors look like he really looks for a change. The problem with him though is that after a few pictures, he gets bored, because he is so affectionate and just wants some loving:

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*** Update ***

I forgot the best thing. He comes when I call. I’ll be lying in bed with Lily in the armpit and Rosie on the hip and think I haven’t seen him in a while and won’t be able to sleep until I have proof of life, so I yell out “Steve! Steve! Here kitty, kitty, kitty. C’mere Steve.” and nine times out of ten he comes running, jumps into bed, and falls asleep with his butt and hindquarters on the bed and his front paws, torso, and face on my arm/shoulder right next to me.

Such a find. Why are all these awesome animals in shelters. Why are there people who have no pets?

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The Long Goodbye

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Jon Stewart basically put the end to Christie tonight on the Daily Show opening segment, and I have to say, I have been loving this controversy. For a long time now I’ve been concerned that Democrats were under-valuing the appeal he has to the Morning Joe/Chris Matthews/Politico crowd, because they love belligerent people who give them good interviews and hence good ratings and lots of links. I also still think the establishment GOP is going to one day end the tea party madness, but who knows.

I viewed him as a real threat to Democrats in 2016 (although some of you thought I had some sort of mancrush on him, which was weird, because I did think he had some refreshingly honest moments, such as Hurricane Sandy or his lashing out at the teahadists over the appointment of a Muslim judge, but I would never vote for the damned guy), but it looks like he’s going to drown in his own vindictiveness and hubris before the fluffers in the media can administer life support to the last “reasonable” and “moderate” Republican.

The other thing about this whole Christie saga that I found weird was that a lot of commenters find it more appealing to attack me as being a Christie fanbois than realizing they live in a country where a lot of people like belligerent, over-the-top bully boys. We’re only a few years removed from Bush/Cheney, and it seems like a lot of people on my side of the aisle seem to confuse the appeal of the swagger to the media types (do I need to link to another DougJ post describing the press/David Brooks ho-yay regarding John Thune?) and the uninformed voters, whether it comes with a big Soprano’s style Jersey gut or a carpet-bagging shit-grinning know-nothing in a cowboy hat but with no cattle, and oh, a nice pair of Lucchese’s and a blue-blood daddy who happened to be VP and head of the CIA.

And I know what I am talking about, because I have spent since 2005-2006 wondering what the fuck I was thinking the previous 18 years since I started voting, because I clearly had my head up my ass.

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