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You are here: Home / He took it all too far

He took it all too far

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I kind of miss the pre-2006 W days, when everyone had to respect the War President’s manly attribute or suffer the wrath of the media brownshirts. It’s been a long time since things have seemed that way — Romney and McCain were RINOs, Paul Ryan’s primal scent intoxicated few beyond outside the Beltway, and all the starburst talk was more Dear Penthouse than Dear Leader.

Now that wingnuts are declaring Netanyahu the leader of the free world and masturbating to pictures of hot, young Netanyahu, there’s a new man on the scene with extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius. And discussions like these might not be out of place in a Stalin-era political purge:

The senator also pushed back against critics such as Washington Post columnist Jen Rubin, who sent a barrage of tweets Paul’s way on Tuesday, criticizing his expression during the speech and his allegiance to Israel more broadly.

“I gave the prime minister 50 standing ovations,” Paul said. “I cosponsored bringing him here.”

Reader Interactions

83Comments

  1. 1.

    Chris

    I kind of miss the pre-2006 W days, when everyone had to respect the War President’s manly attribute or suffer the wrath of the media brownshirts.

    Oh, that mentality is still there. It’s simply been transposed from our president to other people’s. But the mindset that had them swooning over Bush’s manly aircraft carrier flight suit stunt is still very much there.

    (I’m not even sure it’s Bibi I’m talking about; they seem even more taken with Vlad “The Impaler” Putin).

  2. 2.

    The Moar You Know

    The senator also pushed back against critics such as Washington Post columnist Jen Rubin, who sent a barrage of tweets Paul’s way on Tuesday, criticizing his expression during the speech and his allegiance to Israel more broadly.

    “I gave the prime minister 50 standing ovations,” Paul said. “I cosponsored bringing him here.”

    Stumbling over each other to show who displays more fealty to our Israeli overlords, while also stumbling over each other to demonstrate who can show the elected President of the United States more disrespect.

    Beginning to understand the utterances of those I previously considered crazy.

  3. 3.

    Domino

    Anyone else see that awful piece in the New Yorker about the “conservative” John Stewart? As Steve M put it on twitter, what is it with liberals in the media and their obsession over finding conservatives to like?

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    DougJ, I was away from BJ for awhile and apparently missed your return to posting more than just music posts. Happy to see you back, and I’m wondering how we got so lucky. Change of heart from the powers that be?

  7. 7.

    Cacti

    @Chris:

    (I’m not even sure it’s Bibi I’m talking about; they seem even more taken with Vlad “The Impaler” Putin).

    Putin is much more the right authoritarian dream leader than Bibi.

    While Bibi loves him some dead furriners, Vlad has his political rivals murdered in broad day light. He’s also violently homophobic, and worships the correct god.

  8. 8.

    Jon Wiesman

    But boy could he play the paranoid delusions of lunatics who only support his country because they want to bring about the end times, er, guitar.

  9. 9.

    Alex S.

    I hope that Netanyahu’s successor will be a similar change like Pope Francis, simply because I’d like to read Jennifer Rubin’s tweets about how Israel is now hurting the cause of Israel.

  10. 10.

    beltane

    Only 50 standing ovations? Pfft. Anything less than 60 standing ovations means you are an anti-Semite worse than Hitler.

    Seriously, is this a case of bribery, blackmail, or drugs, because not even a beatified Zombie Reagan levitating in the House chamber would get as many standing ovations as Putin the Lesser.

  12. 12.

    Liquid

    The great thing is that, if it were Stalin, Randy would be imprisoned/shot anyway.

  13. 13.

    Chris

    @Domino:

    Haven’t read it, but I’ve occasionally been known to bitch about what I call “Arnie Vinick Syndrome,” wherein liberals desperately search for a Gorbachev figure that can bring the Republican Party back to sanity. I understand the impulse to some extent, but by this point it should be fairly clear that any conservative who’s been able to rise to a prominent enough position to be noticed is either a freaking lunatic or completely beholden to those who are, and that people who’re hoping for them to be the great moderate hope are fooling themselves. There haven’t been any moderates in the GOP for, like, twenty years.

  14. 14.

    Cacti

    Does the above exchange remind anyone of those old Soviet politburo meetings, where nobody wanted to be the first one to stop applauding Stalin?

    ETA: Apparently DougJ

    I should read all the way through next time.

    Derp.

  16. 16.

    beltane

    @Cacti: Yes, that is exactly what it reminds me of. But at least in the case of Soviet politburo members, their servility was a completely rational response to the very real threat of the gulag. What, exactly, are our members of Congress afraid of?

  17. 17.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Alex S.: Of course she totally misses the fact that it’s Bibi who’s hurting the cause of Israel. Well, perhaps she just disagrees and ignores it, as opposed to not noticing.

    @beltane:

    What, exactly, are our members of Congress afraid of?

    In the case of the Conferderate Party critters, everything, it seems. Or at least their base is. Oh, that’s it – they’re afraid of their base.

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    Shorter tribbletop: I’ve been doing jumping jacks to jack up my standing O count, yo! Likud represent!

  20. 20.

    BGinCHI

    I thought this post would end with requests for songs about Jews or masturbation. Or both.

    I loved Philip Roth’s first record.

  21. 21.

    Mike in NC

    There’s a famous anecdote about whenever Stalin gave a speech to the Politburo, nobody wanted to be the first to stop clapping, knowing it might well mean they’d be taken out and shot.

  23. 23.

    Mike in NC

    Lots of online comments from wingers are calling Bibi a manly man who stands up for his people and country, as opposed to you-know-who. They mostly seem to feel OK about a bigger, better war in the Middle East.

  24. 24.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @JPL: I think he was just happy to have a use for Ziggy Stardust. Of course, I could be quite confused myself.

  25. 25.

    JGabriel

    “I gave the prime minister 50 standing ovations,” Paul said. “I cosponsored bringing him here.”

    “I was right at the front,” he added, “screaming and fainting with all the other teenagers when The Beatles Netanyahu took the stage!”

  26. 26.

    BGinCHI

    Democrat thought bubble:

    I wish we could have a female President

    GOP thought bubble:

    I wish we could have a foreign dictator

  29. 29.

    jl

    Geez, I sure envy the reactionaries for not having any of those awful liberal PC problems.

    For God’s sake. Anyone have a story about an intolerant privileged liberal, or angry minority criticizing a right minded moderate liberal white man for looking at them funny?

  30. 30.

    Mike in NC

    @beltane: Somebody needs to work on the slogans since “The war will pay for itself” and “We’ll be welcomed as liberators” are so 2003.

  32. 32.

    JGabriel

    beltane:

    But at least in the case of Soviet politburo members, their servility was a completely rational response to the very real threat of the gulag. What, exactly, are our members of Congress afraid of?

    Primaries, ebola, Americans, and possibly gay sex (though maybe that’s just denial).

  33. 33.

    jl

    @Mike in NC:

    ” They mostly seem to feel OK about a bigger, better war in the Middle East. ”

    Then sign the up the next one. Obviously if manly he-men like them were fighting in the last two, they would have turned out better.

  34. 34.

    jl

    @BGinCHI: I wasn’t referring to anyone in particular, just any random but deserved opinion leader.

    Someone look funny at you recently? It is a subliminal micro-oppression.
    Personally I don’t think you clapped loudly enough, or smiled widely enough as long as you brought it up, at one of Obama’s speeches, but I held my tongue.

  35. 35.

    BGinCHI

    @jl: Are you calling me “right minded”??

    I think everyone here who knows me will vouch for the contrary.

  36. 36.

    Nicole

    Yay! DougJ political posts again! Truly, God is in her/his/its heaven and all is right with the world.

  40. 40.

    beltane

    @Goblue72: It’s really a very interesting phenomenon. The most vocal Israel supporters I have around me are also virulent anti-Semites of the Stormfront/Holocaust denier variety. There are many strange undercurrents in American politics.

  42. 42.

    Amir Khalid

    Bibi, leader of a country being propped up militarily and financially by America, presumes himself to be the boss of America. He wants to stop a deal with Iran that, among other things, is meant to protect Israel. A rational Republican party (yes, I know …) would want no part of him. Are Republicans that much in love with Bibi, or is this all about them wanting to stick their tongue out at Obama?

  45. 45.

    boatboy_srq

    @Amir Khalid: Bibi has the cat’s perspective* on the universe. The Teahad has not measured the true depths of the TABMITWH freakout yet.

    (* A dog’s perspective on his human: you feed me, you bathe me, you give me treats – you must be GOD! – a cat’s perspective: you feed me, you bathe me, you give me treats – I must be GOD!)

  46. 46.

    jl

    @beltane:

    ” The most vocal Israel supporters I have around me are also virulent anti-Semites of the Stormfront/Holocaust denier variety. ”

    They might be some weirdo variety of Endtimes Xtianists, so support for Israel is tied up with it getting blown up in Armageddon, and most Jews being thrown into Hell, and therefore, in their view, any Mideastern war that gets that party going is a good thing.

  47. 47.

    boatboy_srq

    @beltane: That’s easy. They LOVE Israel and the Jews – as long as they’re somewhere else, preferably all IN Israel and ready for Armageddon. Next-door, with sons who could ask their daughters to the prom? Not so much.

    ETA: what @jl said.

  48. 48.

    beltane

    @Amir Khalid: Well, Netanyahu is the type of racist asshole Republicans are drawn to so there is the element of “love” there. And the fact that Netanyahu doesn’t stop with sticking his tongue out at Obama, but even goes so far as to spit in his face is an added bonus. The GOP and Netanyahu are a veritable brotherhood of sociopaths.

  51. 51.

    beltane

    @jl: @boatboy_srq: The dream scenario for an awful lot of right-wing Americans would be for every last human in the Middle East to die a horrible death, just because.

  56. 56.

    MattF

    Countering Rubin’s suspicions about his facial expressions by citing the number of standing ovations he gave Bibi is just creepy-meets-creepy.

  58. 58.

    Joel

    @Domino: Greg Gutfield? Isn’t he the guy that people often cite when mentioning the ‘pubs inability to field a capable satirist?

  60. 60.

    Villago Delenda Est

    “I gave the prime minister 50 standing ovations,” Paul said. “I cosponsored bringing him here.”

    First count in the indictment.

  62. 62.

    Chris

    @Lordwhorfin:

    The lunacy there is that the same people linking to pics of the King of Jordan doing manly things, at least on my Facebook/Twitter, are the same people bitching that Muslims need to Do Something against Daesh.

    The entire region just drives Americans into a state of lunacy.

  63. 63.

    beltane

    Has any Republican been successfully primaried for failure to show proper subservience to Netanyahu or any other foreign leader? I can’t think of any off hand. I’m sure if Rand Paul had only given Bibi ten standing ovations while continuing his opposition to the Civil Rights Act he’d still be OK with Kentucky voters.

  64. 64.

    Gordon, the Big Express Engine

    @beltane: standing ovations in this case are like pieces of flair. You shouldn’t be doing the bare minimum

  65. 65.

    elmo

    There’s a whole thread over at FreeRepublic saying “Don’t you wish he was our President?” And one of the comments says how happy he’d be if Israel nuked Washington DC.

    Patriots! Country First!

  66. 66.

    Waldo

    Didn’t see the speech, so I’m wondering: Did Rand really disgrace himself with an obvious lack of zeal — or is this something personal between him and J-Rub?

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @elmo: Someone needs to comment over there and say I agree. I love America so much I want to nuke it.
    Who are these people?

  69. 69.

    jl

    @Chris:

    ” The lunacy there is that the same people linking to pics of the King of Jordan doing manly things, at least on my Facebook/Twitter, are the same people bitching that Muslims need to Do Something against Daesh.

    The entire region just drives Americans into a state of lunacy. ”

    That type of person is already there. Nothing don’t need to drive them anywhere at all, just jostle them and the insane crosses the membrane.

  71. 71.

    Patrick

    @elmo:

    And one of the comments says how happy he’d be if Israel nuked Washington DC.

    Patriots! Country First!

    Just mind-blowing! It reminds me of when a right-wing group was caught on tape when celebrating that Chicago didn’t get the Winter Olympics because they hated Obama so much. If they hate America so much, why don’t they all leave to Israel (universal healthcare) or Somalia (their libertarian utopia), the two countries they claim to love so much.

  72. 72.

    Betty Cracker

    OMFG, I sorta thought — hoped! — the line about Rubin chastising Baby Doc for his lack of enthusiasm was an exaggeration, but it’s actually the opposite! Apparently some jackhole at NRO put up a GIF to demonstrate that Paul’s clap-rate was about 50% of the clap-rate of the trained seals around him (Diaper Dave among them), and that’s what set Rubin off.

    This was actually a much-discussed thing among these psychotics. It’s impossible for me to pity the loathsome Baby Doc — he absolutely deserves to have that ravening horde of brainless fuck-nuggets turn on him; I hope they import a Likudnik to primary him. But these people are genuinely mentally ill, and they’re running our Congress and corporate media outlets, y’all.

  73. 73.

    boatboy_srq

    @beltane: How else are they gonna summon the djinn Jeebus? (BTW exactly what kind of Xtian nutstery does it take to think that anyone, by him/herself can cause Him to return? That’s some seriously immodest hubris they have going on.)

  74. 74.

    David Koch

    “I gave the prime minister 50 standing ovations,” Paul said. “I cosponsored bringing him here.”

    That’s Griftwald’s boy.

  77. 77.

    Narcissus

    “I was so passionate in my fervent applause that I counted every instance of it.”

  78. 78.

    JustRuss

    Ahem. You know how conservatives are always grousing about how many of their tax dollars are wasted in foreign aid? Outside of Afghanistan(see the Pottery Barn rule), the largest recipient of US foreign aid is the country Bibi happens to be prime minister of. When did conservatives start loving moochers?

  80. 80.

    The Moar You Know

    OMFG, I sorta thought — hoped! — the line about Rubin chastising Baby Doc for his lack of enthusiasm was an exaggeration, but it’s actually the opposite! Apparently some jackhole at NRO put up a GIF to demonstrate that Paul’s clap-rate was about 50% of the clap-rate of the trained seals around him (Diaper Dave among them), and that’s what set Rubin off.

    @Betty Cracker: Clap rate?

    YOU ARE FUCKING KIDDING ME. THAT IS INSANE.

    But these people are genuinely mentally ill, and they’re running our Congress and corporate media outlets, y’all.

    Until you posted this, that was just rhetoric to me. Not any longer.

  81. 81.

    angler

    DougJ: excellent capture of the last 10 years of media-political zeitgeist in 114 words. Well done sir.

  82. 82.

    Mike G

    Apparently some jackhole at NRO put up a GIF to demonstrate that Paul’s clap-rate was about 50% of the clap-rate of the trained seals around him (Diaper Dave among them), and that’s what set Rubin off.

    I don’t know if DC has an equivalent meme to Hollywood’s jumping the shark, but Jennifer Rubin has jumped into Stalin’s Kremlin.

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