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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: Only in America

Open Thread: Only in America

by Anne Laurie|  May 16, 20153:08 am| 160 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Assholes

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America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 13, 2015

Fortunate son / designated front-runner Jeb Bush has not had himself a good week, to phrase it mildly, so the Very Serious GOP Warmongers are busy fluffing reconsidering their younger Florida Man. The Rubio spirit is willing, but the execution, well… it doesn’t take more than a tweet or a post-it note to demolish…

I bet if Rubio tested this theory out on some Native American audiences he'd get some interesting responses pic.twitter.com/gx3J8p1Q6A

— Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer) May 14, 2015

It was all just a misunderstanding. Somehow, the USA set out to spread freedom & ended up with continental empire. https://t.co/TUiY40Xx09

— Billmon (@billmon1) May 13, 2015

Washington Post foreign relations expert Dan Drezner:

… How neoconservative was it? He hit all of the neocon erogenous zones: bashing the Iran deal, bashing China, bashing terrorism, supporting Israel, emphasizing the need for American leadership and so forth. The full text of his speech actually capitalized the phrase “American Strength” all nine times it appeared, like it was a special status that either American Express or American Airlines was rolling out….

.

Click here to see how America should lead in the New American Century: http://t.co/TwpujfDlEO pic.twitter.com/Dhd2J7deh4

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 16, 2015

Mr. Charles P. Pierce:

… If I were he, or if he had any shame, he might want to fob this vainglory off on someone else. The actual doctrine is three banalities strung together in such a way as to sound profound and to say nothing. What precisely does “moral clarity” mean in the era of the black cell, the waterboard, and the pre-emptive invasion? (For that matter, what did it mean when we were tossing out Arbenz in Guatemala or Mossadegh in Iran?) Incoherence in defense of liberty is no vice.

Josh Marshall, TPM: “Springtime for Rubio“.

The 3 pillars of @marcorubio's foreign policy: -Militaristic imperialism -Economic imperialism -Cultural imperialism pic.twitter.com/YPkhac4qr9

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) May 14, 2015

Whenever Marco Rubio speaks policy, seems like a 9th grader who read a biography of Reagan & is giving a book report https://t.co/KzCqoH3LGC

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 14, 2015

In a sane world, fact that Rubio was mentored by McCain, Graham, and Lieberman on foreign policy would be a political death sentence

— Daniel Larison (@DanielLarison) May 14, 2015

Daniel Larison, in American Conservative:

… [I]n the last fifteen years we have seen on more than one occasion where the possession of enormous military power has led the U.S. and its allies to start or to join wars when they did not have to do so. The result of the exercise of U.S. military power in Iraq and Libya has undeniably been ongoing conflict and bloodshed in those countries with destabilizing effects on neighboring states. In order for the “mightiest” military to be able to help keep the peace, it must first not be used to wage wars of choice. Likewise, U.S. support for its clients’ wars, which Rubio would presumably view as part of “leadership,” clearly contributes to creating new conflicts and exacerbating existing ones.

Then again, this is a very odd thing for Rubio to say, since he spends so much time in the rest of the speech emphasizing how chaotic and dangerous the world is. He is greatly exaggerating disorder around the world to score points, but according to him these conflicts shouldn’t be happening. After all, the U.S. does have the “mightiest” military and intelligence agencies in the world right now. Rubio might want the military to be even more powerful than it is, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is already the most powerful in the world. That tells us that U.S. military preeminence doesn’t have the pacifying effect on various conflicts around the world that Rubio imagines that it should have. Those conflicts have other causes, and they aren’t going to be remedied by overawing the world through increased military spending…

But… but… American Exceptionalism! Yeah, I loved Harry Golden too, but that was a long time ago, Senator Rubio.

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Reader Interactions

160Comments

  1. 1.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 16, 2015 at 3:10 am

    This twit has absolutely no business whatsoever anywhere near the levers of power.

  2. 2.

    Ruckus

    May 16, 2015 at 3:19 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    This twit has all the intellectual power of dryer lint. And the charm. Of course that puts him a step or two above the senator from TX. So near the levers of power? Yeah, No Fucking Way.

  3. 3.

    fuckwit

    May 16, 2015 at 3:22 am

    It will be only months before he is doing psychedelic word salads like Sarah Palin.

  4. 4.

    David Koch

    May 16, 2015 at 3:31 am

    Barack Obama wins support from Gulf leaders for nuclear deal with Iran

    Barack Obama has secured support from Gulf leaders for his attempt to reach a nuclear deal with Iran as a summit outside Washington concluded on Thursday with the first glimpses of possible rapprochement on an issue that has alarmed many US allies in the region.

    White House officials were optimistic of a possible breakthrough in attitudes more broadly after warmer than expected praise from the official delegation of six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

    Obama Akbar!

    Gawd, if he only wasn’t term limited. Just think of what more he could accomplish.

  5. 5.

    Amir Khalid

    May 16, 2015 at 3:44 am

    Remember Mitt Romney’s visit to London ahead of the Olympics in 2012? Not only did he insult the people working hard to host the Games, he also shocked the Foreign Office with his ignorance of world affairs and his arrogance on the subject. It seems they’re all like that in the Republican party.

  6. 6.

    David Koch

    May 16, 2015 at 3:53 am

    Little Marky Mark will never get the nomination.

    He’s a deadbeat and a cheat.

    Rubio faces foreclosure on Tally home

    Rubio shared a residence with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera; the two men co-owned the property in Tallahassee. The home later fell into foreclosure after deferring months of mortgage payments.

    Marco Rubio, Florida GOP Under Federal Investigation

    In 2010 Rubio was questioned about charges of nearly $110,000 made to his Republican Party American Express card during his two years as House speaker.[32][33] The records listed some personal items, including grocery bills, wine, and plane tickets for his wife

    Not having the “personal responsibility” to pay a loan and illegally converting campaign contributions to personal property and not paying taxes on the unrecognized income make great attack ads.

  7. 7.

    David Koch

    May 16, 2015 at 3:57 am

    Twitter followers:

    Rubio: 737,000

    Obama 59,200,000

  8. 8.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 4:10 am

    @David Koch: But Joe Scar tells me Marco is dreamy.

  9. 9.

    Aleta

    May 16, 2015 at 4:28 am

    America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.

    Even though I’m lying down I could feel myself fall over when I read this.

  10. 10.

    EconWatcher

    May 16, 2015 at 4:29 am

    Comments like Rubio’s remind me that many of these guys literally have never even heard of facts such as:

    1. We originally got involved in Vietnam to prevent the national democratic elections agreed upon in Geneva when the French decided to pull out, because we knew Ho Chi Minh would win by about 80% of the vote;

    2. The CIA overthrew the democratically elected leader of Guatemala;

    3. The CIA overthrew the popular (if not quite democratically elected) leader of Iran to install the Shah;

    4. The CIA ordered the murder of democratically elected Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba (although in the end, the Begians got there first);

    5. Allende in Chile, etc., etc.

    Now, in my older age, I think I underestimated the evil of communism in my hotblooded youth, and I see a little more ambiguity in a few of these situations than I did as a kid going to Nicaragua peace marches and whatnot. The fact is, communism led to a bloodbath, a basket-case economy, and deprivation everywhere it was installed, and not all of it can be blamed on the pressure of Western imperialism. It was just a really bad idea whose time has thankfully almost entirely passed.

    But I remember W making statements similar to Rubio’s and realizing that they weren’t just downplaying these prior excesses of US hegemony–smart money says they have never even heard of them.

    So the world must indeed seem a very strange and inexplicably hostile place to them. Why do so many of them hate us when, as Rubio said, all we have ever done is try to spread freedom and democracy? I guess they just hate us for our freedoms.

  11. 11.

    David Koch

    May 16, 2015 at 4:34 am

    If America was an exceptional country it wouldn’t have murdered Martin Luther King.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    May 16, 2015 at 4:37 am

    Foreign Fortune cookie policy.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    May 16, 2015 at 4:59 am

    Rubio is a pablum-spewing idiot. I wish that were a disqualifying defect that would prevent him from ever reaching the Oval Office, but history suggests otherwise.

  14. 14.

    Hal

    May 16, 2015 at 5:06 am

    America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.

    Ah yes. America. A country founded on the graves of millions of native Americans, and supported by the enslavement of millions of Africans. Not to mention heaping abuse on the working class, women, children and any non-whites for the entire history of this nation. But FREE-DUMB!

  15. 15.

    Hal

    May 16, 2015 at 5:08 am

    Also, reposting from an earlier thread because I enjoy reading stories that make my eyes roll right out of my head.

    Ok then:

    On Wednesday, 242 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to outlaw abortions taking place after 20 weeks gestation. Among them, Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), who has defended his ex-wife having two abortions, and who pressured one of his mistresses to have an abortion after she told him she was pregnant.

    “Congressman DesJarlais was proud to vote in favor” of the 20 week abortion ban in Congress this week, Robert Jameson, a spokesperson for the member of Congress, tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press. DesJarlais, a respected physician from Jasper, “has always advocated for pro-life values,” Jameson adds.

    But he is 100% pro life. As long as it’s not his mistress or wife, or I guess anyone he’s in a relationship with who gets pregnant.

    Meanwhile, DesJarlais’s website asserts that, “all life should be cherished and protected. [DesJarlais] has received a 100% score by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the oldest and the largest national pro-life organization in the United States.”

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/0…..her-women/

  16. 16.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 5:27 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    but recent history suggests otherwise.

    FixedItForYa.

  17. 17.

    Keith G

    May 16, 2015 at 5:28 am

    @David Koch:

    Gawd, if he only wasn’t term limited. Just think of what more he could accomplish.

    Lord Cheesus!
    No sane leader would want to hold the modern presidency for more than two terms. But more importantly, all presidencies fade/degrade – as they should. It seems to me that holding that kind of power for an extended period of time is never a good thing.

    If America was an exceptional country it wouldn’t have murdered Martin Luther King.

    America is an exceptional country in the way that all countries are exceptional – just not in the way Rubio advocates.

    American didn’t murder Martin Luther King.

    Edit

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    FixedItForYa.

    So you’re saying Warren G. Harding was not a pabulum spewing idiot?

  18. 18.

    MattF

    May 16, 2015 at 5:29 am

    What Larison said.

  19. 19.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 5:41 am

    @Keith G:

    So you’re saying Warren G. Harding was not a pabulum spewing idiot?

    Not at all, I’m just saying that you need not go very far back.

  20. 20.

    Baud

    May 16, 2015 at 5:42 am

    I’m just glad Rubio remembered the third thing in his doctrine. That launches him into front-runner status.

  21. 21.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 5:48 am

    @Baud:

    That launches him into front-runner status.

    That’s a rather low bar.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    May 16, 2015 at 5:52 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Low bars is the only reason the GOP still exists as a political party.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    May 16, 2015 at 5:53 am

    Speaking of low bars, good news from Newsmax:

    Trump Is Really Running — and Doing Well

  24. 24.

    SRW1

    May 16, 2015 at 6:07 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    You always play to your core audience. Mitt’s only problem on these occasions was that the stage selection kind of sucked.

  25. 25.

    SRW1

    May 16, 2015 at 6:10 am

    @Baud:

    Praise be to the FSM. Would be a real shame to not have The Donald in the GOP debates.

  26. 26.

    Mudge

    May 16, 2015 at 6:19 am

    “America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.”

    I guess Manifest Destiny referred to some written document on freedom. Who knew?

  27. 27.

    raven

    May 16, 2015 at 6:25 am

    These dopes are in Athens this weekend, were leaving as soon as we pack the van!

  28. 28.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 6:32 am

    @raven: Not gonna stick around and see Jeb!?

  29. 29.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 6:33 am

    @Baud:

    Speaking of low bars, good news from Newsmax:

    Trump Is Really Running — and Doing Well

    NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Trump can’t afford to lose his TV show.

  30. 30.

    Punchy

    May 16, 2015 at 6:34 am

    About to run my first half-marathon. I suck at pacing, so this is likely to be a very fast first half, followed by an extremely painful second half, with bonus puking at the end. So….I’m doing this….why?

  31. 31.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 6:35 am

    @Punchy: Don’t look at me for an answer, I can’t run(bad ankles).

  32. 32.

    Cervantes

    May 16, 2015 at 6:36 am

    @Hal:

    Also, reposting from an earlier thread because I enjoy reading stories that make my eyes roll right out of my head.

    Gee, thanks!

    This bit seems … under-appreciated:

    one of his mistresses

  33. 33.

    PurpleGirl

    May 16, 2015 at 6:36 am

    Adam Serwer: I bet if Rubio tested this theory out on some Native American audiences he’d get some interesting responses.

    Not just some Native Americans; ask Cubans, Phillipinos, Hawaiians, Mexicans (Texas and the southwest was a land grab by any definition of land grab). We also kept looking at Canada as a good place to expand into but the British Canadians and Arcadians didn’t agree and managed to stay out of our control.

    Rubio doesn’t know his history does he. It’s an accident of history I think that we didn’t try to officially take land in Europe or Western Asia/Middle East after the two world wars. But we try to influence the areas.

  34. 34.

    Kathleen

    May 16, 2015 at 6:41 am

    @Punchy: Just start out slowly and aim for negative splits. Find a pace group that is about 30 to 60 seconds slower than your goal pace to start. Oh, yes, I am the Princess of Puking at the finish line. Or dry heaving. Good luck!!!

  35. 35.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 6:41 am

    @PurpleGirl: I think Marco might know some Cubans, maybe just not the right ones.

  36. 36.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    May 16, 2015 at 6:45 am

    @Mudge: It was the list of cargo on the S.S. Destiny. Duh.

  37. 37.

    PurpleGirl

    May 16, 2015 at 7:02 am

    Okay, I played the Jay and the Americans video. That was a DISTINCTLY Mexican rhythm — the horns and guitars especially. Mexican canciones; it could have been done my Linda Ronstadt when she went into her traditional Mexican song period (Canciones de Mi Padre). That’s how it sounds to my ears.

  38. 38.

    Cervantes

    May 16, 2015 at 7:07 am

    @Mudge:

    America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.

    “The first”? No, the only! [*]

    He’s still trying to get the hang of this “exceptionalism” thing, I see.

    [*] The only, provided we ignore the Greeks, the Romans, the Holy Romans, the Mongols, the Iberians, the Brits, the French, the Tsars, the Nazis, and the Soviets — all of whose slogans for “freedom” were nearly as florid as our own.

  39. 39.

    NorthLeft12

    May 16, 2015 at 7:14 am

    America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.

    GAH! Don’t they teach history in your country? Or even geography for shitsake’s sake?

  40. 40.

    JPL

    May 16, 2015 at 7:14 am

    @raven: Have fun

  41. 41.

    PurpleGirl

    May 16, 2015 at 7:17 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Doesn’t know the right Cubans, say from after the Spanish-American War when we took over Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Phillipines, and bunch of other Spanish possessions. We gave up a bunch too, but kept influence in Cuba, physically kept Puerto Rico and the Phillipines.

  42. 42.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 7:21 am

    @PurpleGirl:

    Doesn’t know the right Cubans, say from after the Spanish-American War

    True, but they’re kind of dead. Though one would think that maybe someone, like his parents might have known them. Then again Marco’s not the brightest bulb.

  43. 43.

    PurpleGirl

    May 16, 2015 at 7:22 am

    @NorthLeft12: At one time they taught history, geography too. But these days (or for decades) it hasn’t taught truthfully. I remembered that many loyalists to the British crown moved to Canada during the Revolution, and that French Acadians from the American South also moved north. Hell, NYS advocated boundaries for itself that would have taken a big bite out of Canada. As I said, somehow Canadians managed to ward the US off.

    ETA: And that bite would have gone damn straight across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Yeah, NYS had a lot of gall… has a lot of gall.

  44. 44.

    debbie

    May 16, 2015 at 7:25 am

    Rubio’s Jindahlized himself this week. I bet if I’d been able to watch him give his speeches, I’d have been able to see him shrinking inside his big boy suit.

  45. 45.

    ThresherK

    May 16, 2015 at 7:34 am

    From C&L: ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos issued a mea culpa after he admitted to donating $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation during a three-year span. Now, the co-host of ‘Good Morning America’ will not play any role in a planned Republican presidential primary debate next winter”

    So, the Clinton Foundation has $75k, and a pseudo-Democrat who’d never “have my back” on a middle-school playground, let alone in a dark alley, doesn’t get to be a simpering strawman when the Clowns tumble out of their Car?

    Win-win.

  46. 46.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 7:37 am

    @ThresherK: As E.J. Dionne put it on Morning Hoe the other day, “I’m not pitching for the Nationals”. George wasn’t going to moderate any the GOP debates anyway.

    Never a big fan of George, his wife though is pretty funny.

  47. 47.

    mai naem mobile

    May 16, 2015 at 7:49 am

    @ThresherK: But.Newscorp donating money to.the Clinton.Foundation won’t affect.Fox.being.involved.in.the.debates.

  48. 48.

    ms_canadada

    May 16, 2015 at 7:53 am

    @debbie: ‘Jindahlized’ Brilliant!

  49. 49.

    ThresherK

    May 16, 2015 at 7:54 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Hmmm. I wasn’t aware of that. Just thinking of shitstorms in a teapot past, a la Gwen Ifill. But in my defense I avoid Morning Hoe (with Special Guest Stars “Meat Puppet” and “Didn’t You Used to Be Mike Barnicle?”) like the plague.

    So,

    1) Who is his wife?

    2) Any limits on how apologetic will ABC be about adding GS’s name to the list of “fake” scalps the right have on their mantle? Something tells me ABC’s tone will be awfully “let’s not make drunk Daddy more mad” on this whole thing.

  50. 50.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 7:58 am

    @ThresherK: 1) Alex Wentworth, she was on ‘In Living Color”. 2) Agreed.

  51. 51.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 8:04 am

    In other countries, they call this Holocaust denial.

    But hey, the really IMPORTANT thing is he Believes In American Exceptionalism!

  52. 52.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 16, 2015 at 8:08 am

    4th grade history in Alabama as taught during the 1970s:

    “No plantation had a model group of slaves, for planters had to buy whatever slaves they could get. Some slaves were good workers and very obedient. Many took pride in what they did, and loved their cabins and the plantation as much as if they actually owned them. Others were lazy, disobedient, and sometimes vicious.”

    “They (the Klan) held their courts in the dark forests at night; they passed sentence on the criminals and they carried out the sentence. Sometimes the sentence would be to leave the state. After a while the Klan struck fear in the hearts of the “carpetbaggers” and other lawless men who had taken control of the state…. The Negroes who had been fooled by the false promises of the “carpetbaggers” decided to get themselves jobs and settle down to make an honest living.

    The past isn’t dead, it isn’t even past.

  53. 53.

    Kay

    May 16, 2015 at 8:10 am

    @ThresherK:

    I just hope they disclosed properly and didn’t do any overly narrow readings of the requirements because, quite frankly, there’s a risk of that and that’s the next question anyone would ask.

  54. 54.

    ThresherK

    May 16, 2015 at 8:12 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I don’t remember Wentworth from that show. I mean, it wasn’t exactly hatched at the intersection of Malcolm X and Spike Lee, but it had more than its share of moments, especially considering the mediascape for primetime comedy in its time. Makes me curious how they met.

    Now that GS is scratched from the list, do they have any other semi-Democrats to at least pretend to nominate and be shot down?

  55. 55.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 16, 2015 at 8:21 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Remember Mitt Romney’s visit to London ahead of the Olympics in 2012? Not only did he insult the people working hard to host the Games, he also shocked the Foreign Office with his ignorance of world affairs and his arrogance on the subject.

    And yet this morning I saw a clip of his comedy boxing match. He said he didn’t want to get punched in the head or else he’d end up being a democrat.

    Incompetent, ignorant republicans project quite a bit.

  56. 56.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 8:21 am

    @PurpleGirl:

    Europe and Japan got lucky. They were rebuilt at a time when the American leadership wasn’t incompetent or irredeemably ill meaning.

    I can’t imagine a WW2 post game run by conservatives that doesn’t end with us either imposing Franco style dictators in France and in Italy, or leaving them in a state of chaos like Iraq and Afghanistan.

  57. 57.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 8:29 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    He said he didn’t want to get punched in the head or else he’d end up being a democrat.

    When I was a kid, dad called that knocking some sense into ya.

  58. 58.

    danielx

    May 16, 2015 at 8:40 am

    Lieberman.

    Just seeing that name sent a tingle of loathing down my back. In my list of things to be grateful for, well up there is the fact that Joe Lieberman no longer holds public office. Also, too, Andrew Breitbart is still dead.

  59. 59.

    Glidwrith

    May 16, 2015 at 8:42 am

    @EconWatcher: I was raised Republican in the blood red southern half of Oregon. Yep, pure ignorance as half of your list of historical facts I’ve never heard of and the rest only after reaching adulthood and picking up scraps.

    We don’t talk about these excesses-liberals because the facts are so embedded that ‘everyone’ knows them, conservatives because they are utterly ignorant of our Exceptualizim.

  60. 60.

    Bystander

    May 16, 2015 at 8:43 am

    Obama authorized Special Forces incursion into to Syria to kill Abu Sayyaf.

    The next popping sound you hear is the collective head explosion of repub heads. Sort of like pimples, but collectively it makes a sound.

  61. 61.

    MattF

    May 16, 2015 at 8:44 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The past has to be updated regularly. Every now and then there’s a ‘mistake’ version, i.e., a Past Vista, that’s just a disaster and needs to be overwritten and forgotten.

  62. 62.

    ed_finnerty

    May 16, 2015 at 8:45 am

    @PurpleGirl:

    Arcadians were in a Star Trek episode

    Acadians live in Nova Scotia

  63. 63.

    Baud

    May 16, 2015 at 8:48 am

    @Kay:

    I saw George’s apology live. He claimed his donations were disclosed, but that he should have disclosed them on air whenever they ran a story about the Clinton Foundation.

  64. 64.

    Patrick

    May 16, 2015 at 8:55 am

    @ThresherK:

    So, the Clinton Foundation has $75k, and a pseudo-Democrat who’d never “have my back” on a middle-school playground, let alone in a dark alley, doesn’t get to be a simpering strawman when the Clowns tumble out of their Car? Win-win.

    I will never forget when George and Gibson asked Obama why he wasn’t wearing a flagpin. If you are going to refer to the Goopers as clowns you also have to include Gibson/George.

  65. 65.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 16, 2015 at 8:56 am

    Just saw this Onion headline:

    Tsarnaev Death Penalty A Warning To Any Other Religious Fanatics Hoping To Be Martyred

  66. 66.

    NeenerNeener

    May 16, 2015 at 8:59 am

    @ThresherK: Her mother worked for the Reagans as a social secretary, I think, and they were introduced by mutual friends at some political function (during the Clinton administration?). I read her autobiography a few years back when it was available as an ebook from the library, but I’m fuzzy on the details. She also had a morning talk show with some guy…Jack Ford, maybe?

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 16, 2015 at 9:04 am

    Been meaning to mention for those who might be interested, Terry Gross did a really good interview on Fresh Air Thursday with Richard Rothstein: Historian Says Don’t ‘Sanitize’ How Our Government Created Ghettos

    Well worth the listen. And infuriating.

  68. 68.

    Kay

    May 16, 2015 at 9:07 am

    @Baud:

    Thanks. I don’t care about him. I thought his moderating abilty in the Obama/Clinton debate was horrendous, so no great loss. He seems to be one of those people who completely buys into guilt by association- I recall he went after Obama on that ridiculous, incredibly attenuated “radical ties” theme media had where if Obama lived in the same section of a city as a “radical” they were therefore best friends. It was just silly and so typical of what political media care about.

    I’m talking about complete disclosure and an ordinary reading of the rules by the Clintons, because that’s what media will be looking for. Obviously there’s 2 entities- the foundation and the Clintons- and I hope there isn’t any blurring there.

  69. 69.

    Bystander

    May 16, 2015 at 9:11 am

    So, Abu Sayyaf and twelve guards have been killed in eastern Syria. Um Sayyaf, his wife, and her slave were captured. Um is thought to be involved in slave trafficking, while Abu occupied himself with negotiating ISIS’s oil dealing. No Americans killed, no word on injuries.

    Thanks, Obama, for reminding us what a weak Kenyan Muslim you are.

  70. 70.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 16, 2015 at 9:17 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Never a big fan of George, his wife though is pretty funny.

    I believe Martin Short based his character in “Mars Attacks” on George.

  71. 71.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 16, 2015 at 9:17 am

    @Bystander: Linky? the Google finds nothing.

  72. 72.

    Bystander

    May 16, 2015 at 9:23 am

    Anybody else notice how the definition of “dynasty” has been expanded recently to include Bill and Hillary? I think of a “dynasty” as a multigenerational family insinuated in the upper echelons of a society’s power. Somehow, two people of the same generation now constitutes a dynasty.

    The Bush family, per Wikipedia, includes two US senators, a Supreme Court justice, two governors and two POTUSes.

    Similarly, GS and the rest routinely refer to the veil of conflict of interest surrounding the Clintons without ever once producing an example of even arguable quid pro quo. This veil is exactly like the veil of Whitewater. Nothing. Nada. An invention of the rw mumbled by GS and his like.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    May 16, 2015 at 9:23 am

    @Baud:

    Also, Bill Clinton is involved in Laureate Education which is unfortunate to me because they were Sylvan and before that Apollo and the rap is they sell for-profit education to poor people in black and brown countries. It’s on the disclosure.

    It won’t matter because Condi Rice and Tony Blair are also involved so it’s therefore presumptively legit and off-limits and no one will go stirring up THAT hornet’s nest but in a just world there would be questions :)

  74. 74.

    dSmith

    May 16, 2015 at 9:24 am

    As a sidenote The Drifters originally recorded “Only in America” before Jay and the Americans but there was a lynching down south and the label decided not to release it.

  75. 75.

    PurpleGirl

    May 16, 2015 at 9:26 am

    @ed_finnerty: Hey, I corrected it in a later comment, and at least I know about them and their move to north.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    May 16, 2015 at 9:29 am

    @Bystander:

    I don’t buy the dynasty rap on the Clintons either. However. I do buy the international wealthy person rap on Bill Clinton. I actually think it makes him less effective as a campaigner- I think it’s true that he’s lost some ability to connect that he had. He really is a good explainer but that can veer very quickly into lecturing and advising the peons if he’s not careful. He can’t sound like a scold explaining the ways of the world to the masses, and sometimes he does.

  77. 77.

    Redshift

    May 16, 2015 at 9:36 am

    What precisely does “moral clarity” mean…?

    C’mon, CP! It means we’re absolutely certain we’re right, no matter how morally repugnant our actual actions are, and we never admit anything was a mistake afterward.

  78. 78.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 16, 2015 at 9:37 am

    @dSmith: I didn’t know that. I just listened to the Drifters version on youtube. I’d love to hear their demo, with the original protest lyrics
    .

  79. 79.

    catclub

    May 16, 2015 at 9:37 am

    @Mudge:

    “America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.”

    And then there is the Missouri Compromise and Bloody Kansas. Who was spreading freedom to hold slaves there?

  80. 80.

    Starfish

    May 16, 2015 at 9:39 am

    Can someone explain this to me because I don’t understand and I don’t want to. Mitt Romney and Evander Holyfield in a boxing ring?

  81. 81.

    Comrade Dread

    May 16, 2015 at 9:42 am

    Why yes, Senator Rubio, that is exactly what America used to say before it invaded Cuba and the Philippines and started a long and bloody counter insurrection in the latter that saw over 200,000 Filipino civilians killed by US soldiers.

    The faces of the dead change, but the rhetoric stays the same. As does the conservative foreign policy that views war as a glorious and manly undertaking.

    I hope the dead haunt your nightmares.

  82. 82.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 16, 2015 at 9:46 am

    @Starfish: He raised one million dollars for charity! (or what he spends in one year on horse feed).

  83. 83.

    BobS

    May 16, 2015 at 9:54 am

    I’m just damned happy we’ve finally turned the corner on that “American Exceptionalism!” bullshit….Except! of course, for Libya, Yemen, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine,…

  84. 84.

    chopper

    May 16, 2015 at 9:56 am

    “…and always twirling, twirling, twirling toward freedom!!”

  85. 85.

    Keith P.

    May 16, 2015 at 9:58 am

    Like Scott Walker, I tend to worry about Rubio having a decent chance at winning the nomination and being competitive, since they both tend to fit media narratives (plus Scott Walker tries to be a candidate created by the Hand of Regan himself). And then, they start talking about issues and I think, “No friggin’ WAY does this (B)ush-league shit play in the general election; these guys are morons.” At least, that’s what I hope.

  86. 86.

    chopper

    May 16, 2015 at 10:01 am

    @Punchy:

    Find an official pacer given your average time and shadow them.

  87. 87.

    GregB

    May 16, 2015 at 10:07 am

    Marco Rubio—->Cuban-American Bob Roberts.

  88. 88.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 16, 2015 at 10:07 am

    Can someone please explain this to me?

    Real News Headline: “Gulf Monarchs Protest US Diplomacy With Iran”

    Guardian Headline: “Barack Obama Wins Support From Gulf Leaders For Nuclear Deal With Iran”

  89. 89.

    Mike J

    May 16, 2015 at 10:18 am

    @GregB: The smartest thing Tim Robbins ever did was not releasing the soundtrack album because he knew the songs would be coöpted by people who couldn’t recognize a joke.

  90. 90.

    rikyrah

    May 16, 2015 at 10:20 am

    it’s scary that he’s a Senator and so phucking stupid.

    did he even go to school?

    MANIFEST DESTINY, MUTHAPHUCKA.

    MANIFEST DESTINY

  91. 91.

    Betty Cracker

    May 16, 2015 at 10:21 am

    @Bystander: Is it wise to send US soldiers on raids into Syria?

  92. 92.

    NotMax

    May 16, 2015 at 10:24 am

    @OazrkHillbilly

    Here’s a brief rundown.

  93. 93.

    BobS

    May 16, 2015 at 10:24 am

    @Mike J: Like this guy.

  94. 94.

    GregB

    May 16, 2015 at 10:36 am

    I am close to becoming an advocate for the invasion and policy of regime change in Saudi Arabia.

    North Korea and Zimbabwe are run by less repulsive cabals.

  95. 95.

    Botsplainer

    May 16, 2015 at 10:39 am

    Nearly forgot about the asshole that planted a flag and claimed a kingdom so his brat can be a princess. Now the Disneyots want to base a movie on it, and he’s making money.

    http://m.dailykos.com/stories/1384680

    Where the fuck was ISIS when they could’ve done a good deed by passing through those 800 square miles of desolation at the same time?

  96. 96.

    Elizabelle

    May 16, 2015 at 10:40 am

    Good morning, all. Happy Saturday (and Preakness day).

    @EconWatcher: I put up a response to your very good comment on the Tsarnaev penalty thread.

  97. 97.

    Elizabelle

    May 16, 2015 at 10:41 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks for the Rothstein interview link re ghetto development in US. Will check it out this weekend.

  98. 98.

    Elizabelle

    May 16, 2015 at 10:50 am

    Actually, Ozark Hillbilly’s link is inactive. Gives a BJ 404 (item not found) message.

    Here’s better link: Historian Says Don’t ‘Sanitize’ How Our Government Created Ghettos

    Terry Gross interview with Richard Rothstein, Fresh Air program, May 14, at time of Baltimore unrest over Freddie Gray death in police custody

  99. 99.

    Botsplainer

    May 16, 2015 at 10:51 am

    @Bystander:

    Thanks, Obama, for reminding us what a weak Kenyan Muslim you are.

    It’s a false flag/internal power play in ISIS and Barry O’Bummer was in on it to get more diabolical anti-Americans into ISIS leadership. Either that, or Biden and Kerry worked with the military to bypass the 3 under par Golfer-in-Chief.

    Algore has a big house, and is really fat.

  100. 100.

    Mike Furlan

    May 16, 2015 at 10:55 am

    @MattF:

    So you like Mr. Larison?

    Here is some new stuff from the League of the South, an organization that Larison says he is proud to be a member of:

    “Negro rule is disastrous to civilization and dangerous to White lives and property,” Hill wrote on the League’s website on April 28. “That is why our White European civilization has been in the cross hairs of the Jew/Liberal gentile coalition. We have refused to believe their fairy tale about Negro equality.”

    http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2015/05/15/echoing-christian-identity-los-leader-prays-for-special-place-in-hell-for-anti-whites/

  101. 101.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 10:58 am

    @Botsplainer:

    I’m very surprised that no one in the right wing has gone with “Obama killed Osama in order to make room for the rise of ISIS, which is who he’s secretly been taking orders from all along.”

    Fucking get it together, wingnuts!

  102. 102.

    PurpleGirl

    May 16, 2015 at 11:00 am

    @BobS: On the back window of his truck there is death head skull with wings. The guy’s got some great philosophy of life (not).

  103. 103.

    Gravenstone

    May 16, 2015 at 11:01 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: NYT link.

  104. 104.

    Gravenstone

    May 16, 2015 at 11:08 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: The Narrative Must Be Served. Long Live The Narrative.

  105. 105.

    Botsplainer

    May 16, 2015 at 11:10 am

    @Mike Furlan:

    There’s an anti-war faction that would fluff anyone who bleats the right noises, even David Duke, so long as they decry any use of force.

    Think GOP isolationists who supported Willkie in 1940.

  106. 106.

    mai naem mobile

    May 16, 2015 at 11:14 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: hate to sound cynical but the.charity that benefited is run by a Romney son and being what I know about Bush charities and.their sons who end up being tthe actual beneficiaries, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Romney son ends up doing the same.

  107. 107.

    sharl

    May 16, 2015 at 11:20 am

    Simon Maloy @SimonMaloy

    my foreign policy is to do more America and do it harder and in more places

    4:03 PM – 13 May 2015

  108. 108.

    Linda Featheringill

    May 16, 2015 at 11:22 am

    All Right! Rubio has sparked a discussion of imperialism. Would that we could keep that discussion going until everyone understands it.

    Back to Bernie. I’ll bet he wouldn’t make such a stupid statement.

  109. 109.

    Kathleen

    May 16, 2015 at 11:25 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I caught some of that and it was excellent. Yes, and infuriating as well. Sometimes I think NPR is absolute crap and sometimes I think it does an excellent job of examining issues you would never hear about in the mainstream media.

  110. 110.

    Howard Beale IV

    May 16, 2015 at 11:46 am

    @David Koch: Of course, it appeared his sugar daddy bailed his ass out-but these are old items.

  111. 111.

    Schlemazel

    May 16, 2015 at 11:48 am

    @Kathleen:
    To quote the commercial turned meme: Why not both?

    NPR does a decent job of bringing little known or ignored stories to the fore . . . and spinning it for their corporate masters.

    I know I am being too hard on them, its sad that they are the best news organization in our country because there is so much room for improvement.

  112. 112.

    Xjmueller

    May 16, 2015 at 11:50 am

    WaPo had this gem today. Poor little Marco Rubio is going broke while the Clinton’s charge big bucks for speech making. No mention of the Clinton fortune circa 1991 at a point similar to Rubio’s current career. Gee, a former senator, sec of state, presidential candidate, and First Lady can get big bucks on the lecture circuit, much of it going to a charitable foundation, while the poor first term senator from FL is impoverished. I half expected a mention of his wife wearing a good Republican cloth coat. No mention of other candidates who might have cashed in, or are getting backing from well to do donors with agendas. Apparently no other pols fit this profile. These guys (WaPo, et al.). really have no shame.

  113. 113.

    Mike Furlan

    May 16, 2015 at 11:51 am

    @Botsplainer:

    So I guess that means Annie L will continue to quote Mr, Larison until she sees him personally toss multiple puppies into a blender, and optains DNA evidence to confirm said puppies.

  114. 114.

    Xjmueller

    May 16, 2015 at 11:53 am

    Link for comment above

  115. 115.

    BobS

    May 16, 2015 at 11:53 am

    @Linda Featheringill: Sadly, Obama won’t be a part of that discussion, nor will any of the serious presidential contenders. The oafish Rubio deserves whatever ridicule he gets, but Clinton’s views (as well as Obama’s) on “American Exceptionalism!” lie closer to his than they do to Bernie Sanders’.

  116. 116.

    Xjmueller

    May 16, 2015 at 11:54 am

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clintons-earn-more-than-25-million-in-speaking-fees-since-january-2014/2015/05/15/52605fbe-fb4d-11e4-9ef4-1bb7ce3b3fb7_story.html

    Third times the charm?

  117. 117.

    kc

    May 16, 2015 at 12:05 pm

    @Hal:

    Yeah, that kind of talk is what gets presidents elected.

  118. 118.

    Howard Beale IV

    May 16, 2015 at 12:06 pm

    @Bystander: AP says that’s the name of a top IS commander the US assassinated, but Abu Sayyaf is also the name of a militant Islamic group in the Philippines. That’s the kinda thing that makes you go, “Hmmmm…..”, especially when the name “Abu Sayyaf” translates roughly to ‘The swordmaker’s father’.

    And just so it’s perfectly clear to everyone-the US went in and assassinated an alleged military commander.

  119. 119.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 12:06 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    I like Al Jazeera.

  120. 120.

    kc

    May 16, 2015 at 12:06 pm

    @Baud:

    Ha!

  121. 121.

    MattF

    May 16, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    @Mike Furlan: Larison’s an odd bird– I agree with some things he says and find some of his other views odious. And I agree, btw, that the historical roots of American Conservative magazine’s anti-war isolationism are ugly.

    But what to do? My instinct is to point up and, yes, praise, good, fact-based reasoning wherever I see it. I think a conservative who’s sensible on some subjects is better than one who is simply batshit. But I acknowledge that YMMV.

  122. 122.

    Elizabelle

    May 16, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    Dexter Filkins, former (and excellent) NYTimes war correspondent, in The New Yorker. Did George W. Bush Create ISIS?

    “Your brother created ISIS” [college student Ivy Ziedrich to Jeb! Bush at Reno NV town hall] is the kind of sound bite that grabs our attention, because it’s obviously false yet oddly rings true.

    Having offered that lead in, Filkins goes on to explain that a lot of Ivy’s charge is substantially true, and that, if anything, she understated the impact.

    Here is what happened: In 2003, the U.S. military, on orders of President Bush, invaded Iraq, and nineteen days later threw out Saddam’s government. A few days after that, President Bush or someone in his Administration decreed the dissolution of the Iraqi Army. This decision didn’t throw “thirty thousand individuals” out of a job, as Ziedrich said—the number was closer to ten times that. Overnight, at least two hundred and fifty thousand Iraqi men—armed, angry, and with military training—were suddenly humiliated and out of work.

    This was probably the single most catastrophic decision of the American venture in Iraq. In a stroke, the Administration helped enable the creation of the Iraqi insurgency.

    And lay this one substantially at the feet of one L. Paul Bremer.

    Filkins offers some back and forth over whether many of the Iraqi Army would have cooperated with the US:

    I talked to American military commanders who told me that leaders of entire Iraqi divisions (a division has roughly ten thousand troops) had come to them for instructions and expressed a willingness to coöperate. In fact, many American commanders argued vehemently at the time that the Iraqi military should be kept intact—that disbanding it would turn too many angry young men against the United States. But the Bush White House went ahead.

    Many of those suddenly unemployed Iraqi soldiers took up arms against the United States. We’ll never know for sure how many Iraqis would have stayed in the Iraqi Army—and stayed peaceful—had it remained intact. But the evidence is overwhelming that former Iraqi soldiers formed the foundation of the insurgency.

    but also: Filkins:

    “It’s hard to imagine that Douri [top Saddam aide; the #3 guy??] —or any other hardcore member of Saddam’s Baath Party—would have ever willingly taken part in an American occupation, whether he had a job or not.”

    But would Saddam’s top aides and diehards be helming the new army? Or prosecuted and/or isolated? (Albeit, it is the Bush geniuses who would have had to decide…)

    Filkins writes that the US troops had pretty much beat back the Islamic State in Iraq by the end of 2011 and their withdrawal. And then the Syrian uprising happened, with lifeblood to ISIL.

    “Some” US military are blaming Obama for not leaving a US force behind that could have helped kept the peace, and perhaps that’s true, perhaps it’s not. There’s no great appetite among most of the US populace for continued boots on the ground in the Mideast, and imagine the beheadings of US military members that could have ensued and US reaction to that.

    But I’d say Ziedrich’s charge is pretty much proven. Filkins does a deft “both sides”, and who ever knows, but article’s worth reading.

    GWB may not have intended to create an ISIL, but he exacerbated the conditions that would enable its formation.

  123. 123.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    For clarification: I know it’s not American, just giving them props all the same.

  124. 124.

    scav

    May 16, 2015 at 12:11 pm

    @Baud: Well, without the third point, it would really be impossible to distinguish it from a comdom ad.

  125. 125.

    sharl

    May 16, 2015 at 12:13 pm

    A little something for Kay, from my favorite among the several parody Richard Nixons on twitter (the author of that fake RMN account actually seems pretty well informed IMO):

    Richard M. Nixon @PresNixonUSA

    We’ve be telling you to watch @JohnKasich since 2013. We’re strong for him to get in the arena. He can win. http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2015/05/16052015—kasich-in-la.html …

    12:01 PM – 16 May 2015

    From the linked Columbus Dispatch article:

    Here’s why John Kasich sees an opening in the president race

    By: Darrel Rowland

    May 16, 2015 10:08 AM

    Ohio Gov. John Kasich told a Los Angeles audience on Friday that he initially didn’t think he would run for president, but realized that there is no “real excitement” for any of the Republican candidates.

    “I don’t see anybody grabbing and fixing this thing and being the front-runner,” he told Town Hall Los Angeles in response to a question.

    He quipped that former Florida Gov. “Jeb’s (Bush) is going to have more money than Wells Fargo,” but that cash won’t necessarily translate into grassroots support.

    “If I have the money it’s most likely I’ll move forward,” Kasich said, according to an audio recording on the California group’s website.

    He was asked how he could survive the “gamut” of social issues given importance in early Republican contests.

    “I’m not going to spend my time dwelling on them,” Kasich answered.

    While he noted that he is a Christian – and currently reading a book on prayer – he said Americans have common values regardless whether they are humanist or people of faith: personal responsibility, resilience, teamwork, family…

  126. 126.

    Mike J

    May 16, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    @Bystander: Sounds like a good outcome all around.

  127. 127.

    Patrick

    May 16, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    GWB may not have intended to create an ISIL, but he exacerbated the conditions that would enable its formation.

    He was warned by those opposed to war that any war has unintended consequences. There would be no ISIS if Bush hadn’t so idiotically attacked Iraq. He bears responsibility.

  128. 128.

    Bystander

    May 16, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    OzarkHillbilly, glad others could offer a link. I can’t figure this out to save my soul. Otherwise, I’m just here to provide my imitation of Joanna Pettet as Kay in “The Group.”

    AL, I don’t know if it’s a good idea but I don’t think there’s a big downside vis a vis US-Syrian rapport. It would have been a distinctly bad idea if we had lost anyone, but no matter the outcome because we will still be treated to the narrative demonstrating that Obama is a feckless hothead, willing to risk the lives of Our Manly Men for his own self aggrandizement. Oh yes, and that of his wife Lady MacMichelle. That’s what we heard when the U.S. took out OBL and there’s no way we won’t hear it again.

  129. 129.

    mai naem mobile

    May 16, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    A former.governor of.Arizona.Raul Castro passed away a few.weeks ago.and.they’re having.his.official.memorial service today. Anyhow, I read a piece.on.him that.LBJ offered him an ambassadorship but wanted Castro.to change his.name(use.his middle.name.instead) obviously.because.of.Fidel. He refused.but.ended.up.getting.another.appointment.

  130. 130.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 16, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    If I didn’t already loathe these people, would I find this whole Romney “boxing” match thing less cloying, cringe-inducing and borderline offensive? This does not, in fact, make the Romneys seem more relatable and likable and human.

  131. 131.

    Amir Khalid

    May 16, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    You don’t look forward to seeing Evander Holyfield flatten the Mittster? I know I would.

  132. 132.

    MattF

    May 16, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s in the same category as Ann being Mitt’s ‘secret weapon.’ If she’s the secret weapon, then who’s the adversary?

  133. 133.

    scav

    May 16, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Doesn’t Everybody take an entire brass marching band and camera crew along on their every donation run to Goodwill?

  134. 134.

    Cervantes

    May 16, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    @Elizabelle, quoting Filkins:

    Overnight, at least two hundred and fifty thousand Iraqi men—armed, angry, and with military training—were suddenly humiliated and out of work.

    Imprecise. When Ivy Ziedrich mentioned “thirty thousand individuals,” she may have been referring to CPA Order #1, whereby Baathist civil servants were fired by Bremer, including perhaps 30,000 members of the (armed) national police. Whereas if we are talking about CPA Order #2, disbanding the Iraqi security forces, it was an additional 500,000-700,000 (armed) people who were fired.

    Which or how many of these people became members of ISIS is difficult to say, but that’s no reason to let (any) Bush evade the question.

  135. 135.

    Cervantes

    May 16, 2015 at 1:00 pm

    @mai naem mobile:

    Under two Democratic presidents, he was US Ambassador to El Salvador, then Bolivia, then Argentina.

  136. 136.

    Mike in NC

    May 16, 2015 at 1:02 pm

    @Amir Khalid: If somebody arranged a charity event where people lined up to punch Mitt Romney in the face, I’d toss in a few bucks for the opportunity.

  137. 137.

    Mike Furlan

    May 16, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Like when Billy Cristal played for the Yankees.

  138. 138.

    jonas

    May 16, 2015 at 1:05 pm

    America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory. to discover that it could get away with unbelievable shit by wrapping it in a flag and calling it “expanding freedom.”

    FFY, Mario.

  139. 139.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    @MattF:

    Ann Romney was a secret weapon all right, just not Mitt’s.

  140. 140.

    Ruckus

    May 16, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    @NorthLeft12:
    GAH! Don’t they teach history in your country? Or even geography for shitsake’s sake?

    No, you’re supposed to get that information in church. And not any church, only the ones where Jesus is white and managed to find 12 disciples who are white guys with anglo-saxton names, a couple of thousand yrs ago in the middle east.

  141. 141.

    Ruckus

    May 16, 2015 at 1:09 pm

    @Mike in NC:
    To watch or participate?

  142. 142.

    jonas

    May 16, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    I hope the dead haunt your nightmares.

    Which brings to mind one of the best Onion News Network bits ever.

  143. 143.

    sharl

    May 16, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    @mai naem mobile: @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I hope the Romney son runs his charity – the recipient of this Rmoney-Holyfield stunt – honorably and efficiently. IMO, though clearly self-serving – and yeah, I could have reaaally done without that image of Ann Rmoney – this doesn’t have quite the stink of Barbara Bush’s 2006 post-Katrina “charitable contribution” to son Neil’s educational software business, Ignite! Learning, Inc.

    Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil.

  144. 144.

    Mike G

    May 16, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    If somebody arranged a charity event where people lined up to punch Mitt Romney in the face, I’d toss in a few bucks for the opportunity.

    I’d sponsor one of the thousands he laid off in his Bain looting operations to go into the ring with him. Now that would be reality TV worth watching.

  145. 145.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Given our national record on history and geography, I wonder sometimes where our more illiterate Bible thumpers imagine the Bible playing out. Do they picture the Promised Land being in ancient Texas or Mississippi? Or Pharaoh’s Egypt being Mexico or Canada or New York City?

  146. 146.

    Geeno

    May 16, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    @PurpleGirl: Actually all of the original colonial charters defined the colonies as going straight across the continent. Only Rhode Island and New Jersey had defined western borders. NYS actually settled with MA by deeding all of western NY to MA so MA could sell the land, but not tax or govern it. NY told NH basically to go screw, if they wanted the Adirondacks, they’d have to fight their way through the Green Mountain Boys in Vermont, which was technically, but not effectively, part of NY. Setting the actual boundaries for the states was one of the first orders of business, because they were all making fabulous claims based on their colonial charters.

  147. 147.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 16, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    I’d sponsor one of the thousands he laid off in his Bain looting operations to go into the ring with him. Now that would be reality TV worth watching.

    Here’s what that’d look like: Get a hold of Yourself.

  148. 148.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 16, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.

    ‘Expand freedom’ = ‘Expand the dominance of white people over brown people.’ Surely by now everyone else has noticed this is the definition of ‘freedom’ the Tea Party has been using since Obama got into office. Cheney is on record long before the Iraq War as believing that conquering some Mideast country (with Iraq being labeled the best option) would make the entire region want to be just like us and do whatever we say, not out of fear but admiration.

    And interestingly, America is not even close to the first country to use these arguments. The ‘White Man’s Burden’ of Imperial Britain comes to mind. Except they actually believed it, and tried to live it out, more or less. It was still racist as shit and thus warped from the get-go, but it was better than the modern conservative ‘Oh God, black people are taking over!!!!!’ motivation.

    And I’m surprised no one got #3:

    Moral CLARITY regarding America’s core values

    It means he will do everything according to white fundamentalist dogma, and fuck science, facts, and anything liberals want. The anti-choice crowd in particular hear him loud and clear.

  149. 149.

    Patrick

    May 16, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    @sharl:

    Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil.

    Can you imagine the hysteria if Michelle Obama had pulled this kind of garbage?

  150. 150.

    Kyle

    May 16, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    Whenever Marco Rubio speaks policy, seems like a 9th grader who read a biography of Reagan & is giving a book report

    That’s being generous. All the Republicans sound like they read the Little Golden Book of American History and concluded they never needed to learn anything else.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    May 16, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    OK, I just saw one of the best pics ever.

    Ted Cruz

  152. 152.

    Mike in NC

    May 16, 2015 at 1:54 pm

    @Ruckus: Priceless, and the only acceptable response to Calgary Ted’s stump speeches.

  153. 153.

    Kathleen

    May 16, 2015 at 2:15 pm

    @Schlemazel: I totally agree with you. But too many liberal types I know don’t get the subtext. But the segment was still worth listening to, though Terri Gross is not one of my faves.

  154. 154.

    Chris

    May 16, 2015 at 2:19 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Well, there was no question of black people taking over back then. Not that they are now, but now they at least theoretically have equal rights, which I imagine would’ve freaked out the old British Imperialists just as much as our righties.

  155. 155.

    Peale

    May 16, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: it means no more scolding Russia about the fags.

  156. 156.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    May 16, 2015 at 3:10 pm

    @Kay:

    I’m so old that I remember when Sylvan was the place your parents sent you for extra tutoring after school or in the summer. I guess that wasn’t quite as profitable as taking over the schools themselves.

  157. 157.

    Jay C

    May 16, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Yeah: this is the one that jumped out at me also:

    Moral CLARITY regarding America’s core values

    IIJM, that first thing I thought of when I read this was “rely on stock right-wing culture-war hysteria as a campaign mainstay”? Bible-thumping, gun-toting, flag-waving, gay-bashing, slut-shaming, Muslim-hating, abortion-obsessing hypernationalism – all garnished with moar God, moar Jesus and twice on Sundays…..

  158. 158.

    MaryRC

    May 16, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    @Hal: That 100% score makes sense when you think about it. It’s not what he does that counts, as long as he votes their way. That’s all that matters.

  159. 159.

    Kay

    May 16, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    This is a little different. It isn’t US. It’s for-profit colleges in other countries.

    There’s another growing “sector” of for-profit pimary schools in POOR countries but that is slightly different.

    There are just endless variations on this business model. Unforutnately. You could write a book. Many books.

  160. 160.

    pseudonymous in nc

    May 16, 2015 at 7:24 pm

    Fuck me, if you are incapable of seeing the history of the US over the 19th century as a parallel imperialism to that of the European powers in Africa and Asia, then you are fucking dense. The modern map of the nation was not sitting there waiting to be fucking filled in with Freedom.

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