Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Please don’t feed the bears.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Donald Jessica Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

People are complicated. Love is not.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

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Reader Interactions

217Comments

  8. 8.

    pseudonymous in nc

    On the bright side, 20 months to make “Scott Wanker” sufficiently a thing that every media bobblehead will call him that.

  12. 12.

    RaflW

    @gbear: My partner’s parents are one about-to-retire + one retired WI school teacher. They were always liberal (and always voters) but Walker’s crap got them out and on the busses to Madison to be his anti-ISIS training ground.

    I just cannot even tap into the rage this close to bed time, it’s not healthy.

  14. 14.

    Mike J

    @RaflW:

    My partner’s parents are one about-to-retire + one retired WI school teacher.

    I meant to email Kay about this, but I forgot. One of the local (Seattle) winger TV local news was trying to scare up a panic last week about sex offenders still receiving teacher’s pensions. Of course all the sane people they talked to said, well yeah, they worked for years, they earned their pay, being convicted of a crime doesn’t mean you lose back pay due you.

    I was wondering if this was an anti teacher pension thing they were trying to drum up elsewhere,

  15. 15.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Little Boots: Hell, that’s not news. But the big guy has a big heart. He’s good people.

    ETA: Being that I’m a little person, everyone is big to me.

  16. 16.

    tom

    Walker has one of the most punchable faces ever, I suggest anyone that is so inclined punch now before he gets secret service protection.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: Vida Loca and kideni have actually done the lion’s share of reporting and analyzing what’s going on in WI for this blog. Both of them have done a fantastic job.

  19. 19.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @tom: He has WI state trooper protection now. Believe me, there are a shitload of people in this state who would happily take a swing at him. I’ll also note that there are a lot of lawyers who would happily provide a defense gratis.

  23. 23.

    Gravenstone

    @tom: Trust me, the very thought weighs on my mind. Although I admit that I would likely aim a tad lower than the face.

  24. 24.

    catclub

    @efgoldman:

    I think it’s entirely possible he can (not will) get the nom. Certainly he’s the only one among the RWNJ TeaHadis with a chance. But he will crash and burn in the general.

    I generally agree, but I think he will crash and burn earlier with all the attention he is getting now. It would hvae served him better to grow slowly into the lead. So he will likely crash and burn before getting the nom.

  25. 25.

    Jewish Steel

    Sleepy Scotty Walker. He got those drooping eyes. And the mannerisms of a short man. Unelectable.

  26. 26.

    catclub

    Can I point out that Elizabeth Warren is ON IT in coming out with statements saying Walker is full of shit for comparing union protesters to ISIS. She has a sharp team.

    Where are other democrats? ( possibly not reported on as Warren is by the media that I read)?

  29. 29.

    David Koch

    Gawker and their readers mockin mark Halperin:

    Mark Halperin does not understand politics. The worst thing about Mark Halperin is not that he’s a soulless, cynical hack who portrays Washington as a clash of personalities rather than a clash of interests. It’s not that he ignores substance and finds the results or efficacy of policies to be less interesting than determining who’s “winning” and who’s “losing.” The worst thing about Mark Halperin is that he’s not even good at doing those things. The most offensive thing about the existence of Mark Halperin is that he’s the worst possible version of himself.

  31. 31.

    Mike in NC

    @Jewish Steel: Not ready for prime time, despite the money of the Koch brothers. They also failed miserably at passing off the weasel idiot Paul Ryan as a viable VP candidate in 2012. Being filthy rich doesn’t mean being smart.

  34. 34.

    David Koch

    @catclub: the downside in attacking walker directly is that it builds him up with the base. polling shows the bush is the weakest candidate. so the smart play is not to do anything that will help walker

  38. 38.

    The Dangerman

    I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with Wisconsin, but Scott Walker will be elected President about the same time pigs fly out my ass. No college degree, obviously anti-Union … no fucking way.

    ETA: Jeb will be the nominee; the Establishment always gets its candidate.

  42. 42.

    Kay

    @Mike J:

    One of the local (Seattle) winger TV local news was trying to scare up a panic last week about sex offenders still receiving teacher’s pensions. Of course all the sane people they talked to said, well yeah, they worked for years, they earned their pay, being convicted of a crime doesn’t mean you lose back pay due you.

    I haven’t seen that, but it doesn’t surprise me. I think the pension piece is part of a larger theme they’ve managed to sell, where they have convinced people that “benefits” are somehow not compensation- not earned.

    I’m self-employed so I contribute some of my pay to a retirement account and then “the company” also contributes but all of this is “my pay”. I don’t think of it as “well, this part I earned but this other part was a… gift from… someone” because that’s insane :)

    Maybe the word “benefits” was a mistake. Let’s just call it all “compensation” or “wages”. That’s what it is.

  43. 43.

    Mike in NC

    @The Dangerman: Walker is the new incarnation of their asshole Everyman “Joe the Plumber”. Whose name wasn’t Joe and who wasn’t really a plumber.

  45. 45.

    The Dangerman

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    …elitists for caring about whether Scotty had a degree.

    Maybe a generation ago; in 2015/16, no degree means no decent job (hell, even a BS isn’t that much of a guarantee any longer). It can’t be sold nationally. I have no idea how it sold in Wisconsin.

    Newman is a Bruin and Weird Al is a Mustang (Cal Poly); I kinda know the person that guarded the door when he recorded his first track (in the bathroom across from the Campus radio station).

  46. 46.

    Anya

    I honestly don’t understand how anyone voted for that tool. He gives insincere and douchey vibes. He has horrible body language. And his politics suck. What’s the appeal?

  47. 47.

    Kay

    I’m excited because it’s almost March.

    March to me is the start of spring and I don’t care what you say. Yes, it is :)

  48. 48.

    Little Boots

    @Anya:

    is it a gun thing? is it a tax thing? oh who the hell knows. it’s a stupid thing, there is that.

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anya: A big chunk of it is is that Walker ran against Milwaukee and Madison – that is, against minorities and pointy-headed liberals. Also, guns.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Anya:

    I think they see Wisconsin as a huge win because it’s progressive in a historical way. It’s like impeaching FDR or something. A repudiation of liberalism.

    I think he’s unappealing too. I hope I’m right. There’s something vacant and zombie-ish about him.

  54. 54.

    Suzanne

    @Anya: He is of the tribe and that is all that matters.

    Mr. Suzanne went to a basketball game with a friend of ours who is very, very Republican, though it’s really because he grew up in a religious and conservative household and community and he’s not really brave enough to break out. Anyway, his wife is a public schoolteacher, and their son has special needs, and our friend was complaining about Governor Ducey’s horrifying budget cuts to education. My husband said, as politely as he could…..Uh, this is what you voted for, dude. None of this shit came as a surprise.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    @Jewish Steel:

    It snuck up on me! The light gets different here and I noticed it this morning. There’s still 3 feet of snow but it’s spring-y light, not winter.

  56. 56.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Kay:

    There’s something vacant and zombie-ish about him.

    And vaguely creepy. I say that as a person who is not easily creeped out, but he raises mild alarms.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Little Boots: I saw them in concert not too long after that song became popular. Lots of moms there with their young teen daughters. They were utterly shocked and appalled by the band’s in your face political radicalism.

  59. 59.

    rk

    @tom:

    Walker has one of the most punchable faces ever

    No way! That’d be Ted Cruz. That nose and mouth are meant to be smashed hard (preferably with a bat). Walker looks really really stupid. Stupid and cunning in a very low way. Just cunning enough to governor, but not President. He doesn’t have it in him.

  65. 65.

    Tree With Water

    My state gave the Union Nixon, Reagan, and Charles Manson, so I’m not one to talk.

    But Wisconsin republicans seem to prefer grifters of a particularly seedy, low rent variety. Joe McCarthy had just recently been censured when I was born, and now Scott Walker (et.al.) has emerged to annoy me and plague the general welfare until he is politically torpedoed (which I think will happen).

    Way to go, Badgers.

  66. 66.

    The Dangerman

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Weird Al went to Cow Poly? Amazing.

    Architecture of all things (CP has one of the better Arch programs around).

    The person guarding the door (a woman, BTW) went on to a highly distinguished career in Silicon Valley; Weird Al might be worth more. Life ain’t fair.

    ETA: Actually, with stock options and the timing of her employment, she probably could give Weird Al a run for the money title.

  67. 67.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Little Boots: No. Sorry. But I am appalled by the fact that Lily Collins from The Blind Side and Mirror, Mirror is the daughter of Phil Collins. I hope that helps.

  68. 68.

    Kay

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

    This sounds horrible, but there’s a slackness to his face that’s just not appealing. He looks like his mouth is gaping open slightly even when it’s not :)

    I keep telling myself, “well they all loved Chris Christie and Rick Perry too and we all saw how far that went”

  71. 71.

    Morzer

    @The Dangerman:

    Put it this way, so far Jerbil’s blazing charisma has made all his positrons into negatrons.

    Walker’s a deeply repellent excuse for a human being, but I think he’s going to get the nomination fairly easily. It’s early enough that his crass, boorish ignorance will go largely unnoticed by the populus at large and he’ll have enough spin-doctors to polish him into a semblance of humanity rather than his turdulent self.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kay: My reaction to him is visceral. I absolutely hate what he and his cronies are doing to my state.

  75. 75.

    rikyrah

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @Anya: A big chunk of it is is that Walker ran against Milwaukee and Madison – that is, against minorities and pointy-headed liberals. Also, guns.

    I’ve said it before and will repeat it…

    Scott Walker does not scare me.

    Why?

    Because Willard Romney ran as successful a Southern Strategy Campaign as could be run.

    He won 60% of the White vote.

    And, it didn’t even matter.

    Not Popular Vote wise or Electoral College wise.

    And, the GOP has done absolutely nothing to correct what makes the Non-Whites of this country repulsed by them.

    And, I am pretty sure that the next Democratic Candidate will not be Black, so good luck in scaring up more than 60% of the White vote.

  77. 77.

    jl

    I thought Walker was more skilled than most of GOP prez hopefuls when some dingbat reporter trolled him on whether he thought Obama was a Christian or not, then walked it back his ‘don’t know’. That is not saying much, since I see little sign of skill in any of the other candidates.

    But then his pathetic brag, or was it a pathetic joke(?) about fact that he beat WI unions and citizen protesters meant he could handle ISIS made me rethink. Maybe Josh Marshall is right that he is not ready for national politics and maybe never will be.

    I wouldn’t mind watch him make a noxious fool of himself, and flail away, sinking politically for 20 months.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I feel for you, I really do. It must be maddening. The recklessness shocks me, as if none of these public institutions and assets and ideas people built over generations have any value at all.

    This is funny, though:

    Bus drivers who shuttle workers from their homes to six large employers in Silicon Valley voted Friday to join the Teamsters union to negotiate better wages and working conditions.
    The 158 full-time and part-time drivers involved actually work for Compass Transportation, but they transport workers to and from the offices of Apple, Yahoo, eBay, Zynga, Genentech and Amtrak. In November, the drivers of Facebook’s shuttles, who work for Loop Transportation, also voted to join the Teamsters.

    No matter how hard they try, this idea won’t die because there’s nothing to replace it. No one has ever come up with anything else people can do to get some leverage, outside government or state action.

  80. 80.

    Tree With Water

    @The Dangerman: Former MLB pitcher, all round good guy, and current color guy broadcaster Mike Krukow of the San Francisco Giants is also a Cal Poly grad. As he periodically mentions on air to his broadcast colleague-and-Stanford grad Dave Fleming, Cal Poly is considered the Harvard of the West. Krukow is modest, too, consistently masking his intellectual firepower so adroitly as to be celebrated solely for his wonderfully gregarious personality.

  81. 81.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @rikyrah: I don’t think he will be the nominee, but my reaction to him is now so visceral that I can’t rely on my analysis.

  87. 87.

    The Dangerman

    @Tree With Water:

    I’ve met Krukow. Nice guy.

    …his broadcast colleague-and-Stanford grad Dave Fleming…

    I wonder if Krukow gives him grief that CP’s first game at the new (at the time) stadium was against Stanford. I was there; it was FUCKING cold after the sun went down and I left as it went into extra innings. I think Stanford threw the game in extras just to get inside and get warm.

  89. 89.

    KG

    First, an off topic point: Ronda Rousey is flat out amazing.

    As far as Walker goes, I don’t think he wins the presidency because he doesn’t look presidential. A lot of voters in a presidential election vote on things as superfluous as this. And it makes sense, we see/read/listen to/about the president every day for four years, so part of the process is making people think they can deal with seeing you everyday for four years. Walker doesn’t strike me as someone who can pass that test.

  90. 90.

    cckids

    @Kay:

    This sounds horrible, but there’s a slackness to his face that’s just not appealing. He looks like his mouth is gaping open slightly even when it’s not :)

    His eyes are so, so close-set. It creeps most people out. Reminds me of a child molester vibe. I know that’s not fair (or accurate), but still . . . I wouldn’t let him take care of my pets, let alone my kids.

  91. 91.

    Violet

    @rikyrah: I hear you say this and you’re not wrong about the voting trends. But all it takes is for Democratic voters to stay home or be “voter ID law”-ed out of their right to vote. Look at midterms. Where were the Dem voters? Enough apathy added to enough voter restrictions and hello President Republican.

  92. 92.

    jl

    In earlier thread I wondered whether the GOP House crazies would settle down after having their widdle tantwum against Johnny Bones (cheap two bit hood and feckless penny ante ward heeler) or not.

    Looks like ‘not’:

    Threat to Vacate Boehner’s Post Shows Depth of GOP Anger
    Bloomberg Business

    The potential for a motion to remove Boehner as speaker stems from “The Jefferson Manual,’ written by Thomas Jefferson he was vice president and used by the House as a supplement to its standing rules. It states, ‘‘A Speaker may be removed at the will of the House and a Speaker pro tempore appointed.’’

    A majority of House members present and voting would be required to oust the speaker, Huder said. Before that vote can be taken, a series of procedural steps are required, and those earlier votes would require help from House Democrats to pass.

    ‘‘The point being that it would require a Democratic and Republican, bipartisan coalition over a series of a couple of votes,’’ said Huder. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, probably wouldn’t help Republican hard-liners dump Boehner for another Republican they prefer, he said.

    ‘‘I don’t see this playing procedurally on the floor,” Huder said. “It’s possible all of the political pressure might get to Boehner and he would just step aside.”

    Some Republicans opposed to Boehner have recently formed a new group called the “House Freedom Caucus.”

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-01/threat-to-vacate-boehner-s-post-shows-depth-of-gop-anger

  93. 93.

    Glidwrith

    @rikyrah: He does scare me. Not because I think he might win, but because he has long since crossed the line from incompetent to evil. He is the homonculus that Charles Pierce named him, a man who has sold his soul to the closest thing we have to fascists in this country, empty of any of his own morals, replaced by the desires of those who have none.

    Evil should never be disregarded, but perhaps we can keep him caged well enough that he can corrode no more than one state.

  95. 95.

    MattF

    I’ll note (with no links) that John Dickerson at Slate has posted a “Leave Scott Walker alone” complaint about the to-do over his comparing his WI opposition to ISIS.

    Every now and then, the Village finds the ‘perfect’ conservative candidate– but then has to backtrack. Go back and look at what they wrote about Ted Cruz before they actually knew anything about him. I think their current views of Walker fall into that category. And Walker iss already revealing himself to be quite a bit worse and quite a bit more of an ideologue than the Village imagined. With enough money, Walker might be formidable– but color me skeptical.

  97. 97.

    jl

    During the debates, if Walker keeps saying stupid outrageous shit to please the lunatics, and then tries to blandly walk it back when centrists like Jeb! call him on it, he’ll look like a creep, or maybe put better, revealed to be a transparent creep.

    He may not look presidential, but being a smarmy creep makes it worse.
    Personality interacts with sheer physical appearance to create the overall impression. Walker’s unpresidential appearance problem is probably not purely physical.

  98. 98.

    gf120581

    The last few weeks and his penchant for foot-in-mouth stule comments have caused me to rethink my opinion of Walker a bit. At first I considered him another Tim Pawlenty, another Midwestern GOP governor of a blue state who is too colorless and untelegenic to make a serious presidential contender, but I was mistaken. He’ seems more to be another Rick Perry, destined to flame out due to his own blunders and stupidity. He’s also got way too many skeletons in his closet – believe me, the Bushies are going to eviscerate him before too long.

    The untelegenic nature is still there, though. Especially those eyes. Walker has the dead eyes of a sociopath. They just scream “I have serveral bodies stashed in my cellar.”

  103. 103.

    jl

    Is there a BJ award for meritorious public service by a BJ commenter? Give one to debbie for

    https://balloon-juice.com/2015/02/28/open-thread-cant-tell-the-players/#comment-5269370

    that revealed the wonderful blog ‘Ask the Past’.

    All single BJ guys need to read ‘How to Impress Girls at a Dance, 1530’:

    ‘ Furthermore never fart when you are dancing; grit your teeth and compel your arse to hold back the fart… Do not have a dripping nose and do not dribble at the mouth. No woman desires a man with rabies. ‘

  109. 109.

    Tree With Water

    @KG: “I don’t think he wins the presidency because he doesn’t look presidential”.

    Then again, looking like a shifty-eyed, sneaky used car salesman never did Nixon any real harm, did it?

  112. 112.

    patrick II

    This may sound strange, but I think if Bush cannot build momentum because of his immigration stand and Mexican wife, it would not surprise me to see romney come in late to replace him. I don’t think the big east money wants one of the teahadis, unless they decide Walker gives them some sort of chance.

  117. 117.

    Tree With Water

    @jl: If that scenario somehow plays out, I beseech thee oh merciful Lord to let Boehner deliver his farewell address late at night after a long day of drinking hard.

  123. 123.

    Violet

    @Omnes Omnibus: Nixon was smart. You can see it in his eyes in old footage of him.

    Walker is evil. And not smart. He’s canny enough to work the system to his advantage and some idiots may confuse that with being smart, but he’s not. It’ll catch up with him.

    I don’t think he’s got bodies stashed in his basement but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he’s a serial rapist. He’s an abuser not a murderer.That’s the vibe I get, anyway.

  125. 125.

    Little Boots

    @Violet:

    yeah, he’s not that bright, and he is going to keep stumbling. nixon made it easy, but not that easy.

  126. 126.

    piratedan

    Walker is the perfect Koch Candidate, looks like a mannequin (after all, they were all agog over Ryan), he can play that blue collar populist vibe and he’s got that confident smirk that wingnuts see as confidence. After all, he won the recall, won a 2nd term. Is busy running the state into the ground but has successfully played off white against black and unions versus unions. He does as he’s told, as the crap from ALEC is pipelined directly into legislation and the only reason he’s not been under close scrutiny is because Brownback’s flaming turd on the porch in Kansas has engulfed the house so no one is noticing the smoke in Walker’s back yard.

    I have to admit that I am scared of guys like Walker because the lucky bastard keeps getting away with it, maybe it’s because money talks and rarely gets busted for its transgressions.

  145. 145.

    Little Boots

    I love that doug is so young, so innocent.

    this is the world, doug. this is it.

  146. 146.

    Anya

    @Omnes Omnibus: Oh, Omnes, I feel for you. The sight of him absolutely makes me mad, and I’ve never been to your state. I hate what he did, what he stands and how he ran Wisconsin to the ground. What makes me most made is how the media ignores his record.

  150. 150.

    Anya

    @Suzanne: People like that make me so mad. I have stupid friends who are always complaining about how both parties are the same, and how Obama sold us out blah, blah, blah, but they at least go out and vote. But people who consistently vote against their interests are the worst.

  154. 154.

    ThresherK

    @Little Boots: “Ditches of Edison County”, to use one wag’s parody title of the real thing.

    On a “merit” scale of “how bad was the novel v. how decent was the movie”, considering it was all script, all performance, (i.e. no Industrial Light and Magic is going to save it), the movie should have won something akin to “Comeback player of the year”.

    I’m awake here on the East-elite Coast, ill, and (ETA) I took my cough medicine, and am guzzling warm lemonade with ginger. And tripping out to The Blue Nile.

  160. 160.

    ThresherK

    @Omnes Omnibus: “If I knew so many people would have read it, I’d have written it better”, Mario Puzo is reputed to have said.

    (Pre-internet memory, so verify or discard it for yourself.)

  166. 166.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Little Boots: Boots, would I lie to you? Small fire behind ‘It’s a Small World’, put out quickly. Too bad it didn’t burn that damn ride down.

    ETA: After I was about 8, ‘It’s a Small World’ made me stabby.

  167. 167.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I was only there once – the summer I turned five – and the animatronic Lincoln creeped me out. It’s the only thing I remember of the place.

  170. 170.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Omnes Omnibus: I had a ‘talking to’ by the sheriff in Frontierland when I was 7. My dad got me strawberry ice cream(I hate strawberry ice cream) and I expressed my displeasure. I was informed that crying and yelling was not tolerated in Disneyland.

  174. 174.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Morzer: Gota get Mickey and Goofy in there.

    ETA: I guess I should have asserted my 2nd Amendment rights with that pushy lawman.

  176. 176.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: So Mickey goes to a divorce lawyer and explains his situation and the lawyer summarizes the case as “If I have this right, you want to divorce your wife Minnie because she is a bit eccentric? And Mickey says “No, I want to divorce her because she is fucking Goofy.”*

    *It works better when it is told in person with the last line done in a Mickey voice.

  184. 184.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Pics or it didn’t happen.

    I give you a perfectly good joke and you nitpick. Ingrate. OTOH, I should be asleep, but, for some reason – off one diet coke around noon – I am wired as hell.

  185. 185.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Omnes Omnibus: It was kinda of an important question that Walt Disney had to answer. He ended up producing a short where Mickey has a nightmare about being married.

    Diet Coke wakes me up, but doesn’t keep me awake. I’m either blessed or cursed.

  190. 190.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Okay. I am sorry that I ever told that joke. Tomorrow morning, I will start calling everyone to whom I told it to apologize for my factual inaccuracy. Will that be enough? God, how will the people who laughed at it feel?

  193. 193.

    Jewish Steel

    @rikyrah:

    And, I am pretty sure that the next Democratic Candidate will not be Black, so good luck in scaring up more than 60% of the White vote.

    Dude. Totally.

  194. 194.

    ThresherK

    @BillinGlendaleCA: If that was Uncle Walt’s problem, what do you make of the several Popeye cartoons in which a wedding to Olive Oyl is imagined or planned? It never, ever comes to happen. (I’m not chapter-and-verse on Disney, but if there was ever a cartoon where M&M were supposed to marry, it’s escaped me.)

    (That Popeye and Bluto often seemed to enjoy fighting each other more than the prize for winning is not important. Or is it?)

    My wife has knee problems, and claimed her late mother’s padded motorized mega-recliner, which I christened the “La-Z-Pult” because one button will push you back on your feet.

    I never sat in it til now (wife’s sleeping in bed), and I have to say, it is comfy. Plus the arms don’t intrude on my elbows, so typing is not a literal pain.

    But her oft-ornery cat doesn’t know what to make of me sitting in their chair, where she dozes off and he gets to warm up on a blanket on her lap. He’s been simultaneously growling and purring while stationed on the raised footbed area.

  196. 196.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @ThresherK: I think it was more the image of the Disney studios that Walt cultivated and the dissonance of Mickey and Minnie living in sin with that image.

  197. 197.

    ThresherK

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Granted.

    The Fleischers had pre-Hays Code Betty Boop, and a few cartoons with some Cab Calloway blues songs which weren’t exactly choirboy material.

    The most Mickey ever did was chew tobacco, once, and that was cleaned up pretty damn early (after “Plane Crazy” or “Steamboat Willie”, if memory serves.)

  198. 198.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @ThresherK: That’s pretty much my recollection, even though Walt was a smoker. Until about 15 years ago, there still was a tobacco shop on Main Street USA in Disneyland.

  199. 199.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Kay:

    I’m with you. On the reformed Steepian calendar the seasons start on March 1, June 1, September 1 and December 1. Simple and clean.

  201. 201.

    Anne Laurie

    @gf120581:

    The untelegenic nature is still there, though. Especially those eyes. Walker has the dead eyes of a sociopath. They just scream “I have serveral bodies stashed in my cellar.”

    I think he’s a great political rarity — a pure sociopath who’s not a narcissist. He doesn’t care what people think of him, or what he looks like, as long as he gets what he wants. It makes him an excellent sock puppet for the Kochs, because he’ll always read the script as it appears on the teleprompter, and never get uppity about answering their calls or saying ‘how high’ when they grunt ‘jump’.

    Downside, he sets off normal peoples’ Gavin de Becker alarms — he does have shark eyes, the flat affect of a not-very-intelligent predator. It’s attractive to the committed Spite Voters, the people who don’t care if they get eaten alive as long as they can watch their enemies (cf, everybody else in the world) get eaten first. But even Nixon, who could probably spot Walker 75 IQ points & a lifetime of actual experience (growing up poor, serious family dysfunction, military service during WWII, getting a law degree, fighting his way up in CA politics), lost his first run at the presidency. And that was pre-internet, before a pol’s every sweaty stumble & unguarded comment could be circulated at light speed.

    I don’t think he could win the Presidency, at least in 2016. But he could make it at least as far as the VP slot, which is scary enough.

  202. 202.

    Anne Laurie

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    There is a reason he left Marquette early.

    I’ve been too spindizzy’d this week to write a coherent post, but the WaPo had an article about Walker’s college career, and the reason just might be as simple as “He was lazy, he wasn’t keeping up with his classes, he needed at least another years’ worth of credits to graduate, there was a secure job offered on the bottom rung of the local GOP establishment, so he took the easy out — future prospects be damned.”

    Be a cherry on the sundae if the GOP oppo teams can dig up a dead girl or a live boy, but the real issue might be: This is a guy who’s just never wanted to put in the hard work; he’s been a mid-level office drone, content to do exactly what the local bullies tell him to do, as long as it’s not too much trouble & he doesn’t have to personally face the opposition. *NOT* the kind of personality you’d want with a finger on the nuclear button!

  203. 203.

    ThresherK

    @jl: Okay, it’s late enough for me to watch that. (And I’ve been to every Spike and Mike Sick and Twisted Animation Show that’s come my way. I can’t believe how much more difficult it was to watch weird and outre stuff like this in the 80s and early 90s.)

  207. 207.

    Zinsky

    I hope the GOP does run Walker – he will lose miserably, worse than Willard Romney. Walker has the charisma of a moldy dog turd. In a presidential race, charisma matters. Even Dubya had charisma. Walker doesn’t. The man is also incredibly dumb and poorly informed. A debate between Walker and Hillary Clinton would be a rout – it would be painfully obvious in a short amount of time that Walker was outclassed. Cruz is the one who worries me.

  208. 208.

    VidaLoca

    @Omnes Omnibus: @Anne Laurie:

    There is a reason he left Marquette early.

    There were rumors going all the way back to the recall campaign in 2012 about a cover-up of a pregnancy of the woman Walker was dating during his final year at Marquette. The mother’s college roommate went public with the charge but the mother has said that the father is not Walker. It may well be that she woke up one morning to find a horse’s head in her bed but unless she changes her story, or a paternity test comes back positive, I don’t think there’s any traction to be found with this rumor. Absent that, the WaPo explanation both satisfies Occam’s Razor and fits Walker’s history and personality: the man is and always has been all about the main chance. It’s both the reason for his success and his greatest weakness.

    Along with this rumor there have been others about the cover-up of a plagiarism scandal while Walker was at Marquette. I don’t know if that one has been proven or disproven but I don’t think it matters much. I also don’t hold out much hope for the investigation(s) into Walker’s previous campaigns for Milw. Co. Executive that you’ll see breathlessly discussed in DKos from time to time: I don’t think they’ll ever result in either criminal charges or a trial, and absent that it’s just he-said/she-said.

    What we lack here is a general political program to defeat Walker and an organization to implement it.

  209. 209.

    VidaLoca

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Vida Loca and kideni have actually done the lion’s share of reporting and analyzing what’s going on in WI for this blog. Both of them have done a fantastic job.

    Hey, thanks!

    I’ll also note that there are a lot of lawyers who would happily provide a defense gratis.

    Seriously? Any outside Dane Co.?

  210. 210.

    Joe F

    He is shockingly stupid and arrogant, which I believe will ultimately be his downfall with the Republican money crowd. Apparently he fell down so badly at the first Club for Growth meeting that he was uncharacteristically openly called out by the moderators. The Tea Party will go with any old fool who can spout the line, but the rich folk don’t want someone stupid messing with their money and they were quite taken back with his unwillingness to prepare for the show in any meaningful way. This is his biggest weakness: he is not very knowledgeable about anything, but is so taken with himself that he doesn’t feel the need to prepare for these public engagements and that just sets up for a pattern of gaffes that will eventually exhaust the money folk and without them, you cannot even dream of the nomination, let alone the general

  213. 213.

    Ian

    @patrick II:
    She is Columbian, not that her identidy matters to sane people. But I have always thought that being in an interracial marriage would stop the Jeb candidacy.

  215. 215.

    Paul in KY

    @rikyrah: I think Walker does a much better job than Willard in sounding/appearing like an ‘everyman’.

    You may think it is nuts, but there are people who didn’t vote for Willard due to him being snooty-rich/Mormon who will pull the lever for Walker (IMO).

  216. 216.

    Paul in KY

    @jl: Dubya sure said some stupid shit in the debates. Was robotic at sticking to talking points, etc.

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