(via David Roth at Vice Sports)
Now that we’ve all had some mild entertainment as a starter, here’s a Tuesday doc-dump concerning some much less attractive animals, because you can’t take your eyes off these grifters for fear of what they’ll try…
Days like this you really want to clock the clowns running on "bringing dignity back to the White House."
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 6, 2015
Joni Ernst lists off who is here today: Carson, Fiorina, Perry, Walker, Rubio, Graham and Huckabee. pic.twitter.com/ZbsXlYOyEA
— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) June 6, 2015
What? You wanted "CANDIDATES SMARM IOWA?" RT @drfarls: C'mon, @CNN pic.twitter.com/OCul3m03fw
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) June 7, 2015
A "farmer from Iowa," @ChuckGrassley welcomes @LindseyGrahamSC to the VFW in Waterloo. #iacaucus pic.twitter.com/bRWUFQsj1l
— Jon Seaton (@JonSeaton18) June 5, 2015
Remember when the big slam on Obama was "he's the photo op President" like that's weird for a politician? pic.twitter.com/IhGIAbt5QD
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 7, 2015
Rick Perry revs up for Harley trip from Perry, Iowa to Ernst Roast & Ride. #roastride pic.twitter.com/vBjjx27Ga4
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 6, 2015
Reid J. Epstein, for the Wall Street Journal:
… Despite skies that threatened rain, the seven presidential hopefuls gathered here were all optimistic about their chances.
While Mr. Walker, who is expected to formally announce his candidacy in July, rode a rented Harley on Saturday, he reminisced about his own 2003 model. It has decals that resemble bullet holes, he said.
“People always ask if they’re real,” he said. “I say, ‘If they were real, I wouldn’t be here.’ ” …
From a podium facing a couple thousand people gathered in front of a barn, 20-foot-tall bales of hay and an array of Iowa and U.S. flags, the candidates offered their by-now familiar stump speeches touting a stronger military, lower taxes and a return to social conservatism…
My fav part of the Roast and Ride: Candidates sprinting to the stage when it's their turn to talk. pic.twitter.com/O3okXcmn08
— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) June 6, 2015
Ben Jacobs, at the Guardian:
… At the Republican fundraising event in a field outside Boone, Iowa – just off Mamie Eisenhower Avenue – Republican hopefuls lined to go after Barack Obama and the status quo in Washington. They took slightly different approaches.
Marco Rubio evoked John F Kennedy’s new frontier, Carly Fiorina took her expected shots at Hillary Clinton and Lindsey Graham seemed as much like Henny Youngman playing the Borscht Belt as a presidential candidate on the stump. The hawkish senator from South Carolina tossed out jokes and one-liners at a pace that would be considered rapid-fire in his native state…
Both those guys behind him feel 200% less nerdy now. pic.twitter.com/sKjxUN3rE7
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 6, 2015
I am slow on the uptake. That Rick Perry campaign song is f****ing terrifying.
— Martin Pengelly (@MartinPengelly) June 4, 2015
Just a couple of crazy kids with a dream. pic.twitter.com/Gym3sq0no5
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 7, 2015
The WSJ, continued:
… Perhaps because of the threatening skies at the outdoor setting, the candidates didn’t draw the sort of raucous ovations that have come to be expected at the now-weekly Republican presidential candidate cattle calls.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s standard jokes about Mrs. Clinton drew chuckles, rather than cheers. And Mr. Rubio’s pitch to appoint judges who would “defend traditional values”—a line popular with Iowa social conservatives who populate these events—drew polite but not enthusiastic applause. The biggest cheer for Mr. Rubio came when he said that, as Florida house speaker, he “improved education standards without Common Core.”
And there wasn’t a single clap when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee denounced pending international trade deals….
But this event was less about what was said on the stage and more about what the candidates said in one-on-one discussions with voters in their small tents alongside the stage. Ms. Ernst, whose aides planned the event as a fundraiser for her political-action committee, said the retail campaigning that takes place at events like this one trump the sort of big-money campaigning that takes place over television airwaves and cable news shows…
Sen. Joni Ernst says Sen. Marco Rubio turned down offer to ride on the back of her bike: “It would have been kind of fun wouldn’t it?”
— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) June 6, 2015
Conspiracy theory: nothing is working at Roast and Ride solely to undermine the straw poll
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 6, 2015
“After we heard that there wasn’t a bomb, everyone had fun." pic.twitter.com/HcXw6x1ZIy
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 7, 2015
The Guardian, again:
… In the audience, Terry and Karen Whipple of Ankeny were trying to make up their minds. They liked Rubio, Perry and Ben Carson. However, Karen Whipple told the Guardian Rubio stood out – because of his age.
As she politely noted, the crowd at the event was “very mature”. Whipple hadn’t gone to many Republican events but she said she was always was taken aback by the age of attendees. In her opinion, there was need for someone younger and more vibrant to attract newer and young people to the Republican party.
Camille Delbridge of Cedar Falls was also focused on Rubio’s youth, though she worried that he might not be old enough for the office. She thought his speech assuaged some of her concerns but was still undecided between Rubio and Scott Walker. Her husband, Arnold, was though firmly with Walker, who has long led in the polls in Iowa. He cited the governor’s experience in Wisconsin, fighting tough elections including a recall.
“Walker is battle-tested,” Delbridge said…
Lindsey Graham asks how many in audience were born 1946-64 (nearly everyone puts a hand up) and after 1964 (only a few hands).
— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) June 6, 2015
Biggest #RoastandRide regret: no 2016 candidate got into the bounce house pic.twitter.com/2IjCW5hNSI
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) June 7, 2015
Lindsey Graham has been going up to little kids, reaching down to shake their hands and saying: “Sorry about Social Security.” #RoastRide
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 6, 2015
I like his "depression era mayor in a Coen Brothers movie" look. pic.twitter.com/ObpbvUzzcV
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 8, 2015
Mike Huckabee: "If the rest of the country had been as smart as Iowa back in 2008, we would not be in the trouble we are in right now."
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) June 6, 2015
.@jonkarl gets the lowdown on @joniernst's Harley. http://t.co/mlQIRV7hEe #ThisWeek
https://t.co/iKaa4n27zc
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 7, 2015
Iowa man (not reporter) asked Scott Walker about the Rubio speeding tickets story. Walker laughed heartily, then said, "Yeah, I saw that."
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) June 6, 2015
Latest bizarro event for 2016 R contest: Laxalt hosts the 5,689th cattle call. It's as if FOMO is dominant tactic!
https://t.co/JMqsJpvjT5
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) June 8, 2015
Steve King says he hopes the Iowa Straw Poll takes place: “The field does need to be narrowed.”
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 6, 2015
FOMO is “fear of missing out”. I suppose it’s good news that the GOP target market is already getting sick of their candidates’ schticks. But not Steve “Pig Muck” King, of course!
Baud
Interested in Kay’s take.
Baud
I saw the dog video on Reddit. Glad you posted it here.
Baud
This is the best one.
Baud
Elizabelle
LOL re Schooley’s quip about Lindsey Graham:
Zinsky
Scott Walker wears surgical gloves to eat barbecue? What a goddamn wimp! And this is the “manliest” candidate the GOP has got? Obama could kick his ass with one hand tied behind his back!
Baud
@Zinsky: But you’ll notice there is no arugula in that picture, so it’s all good.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: So… if the country had gone for Obama with a 50-state landslide? Interesting to imagine.
Mustang Bobby
Is there anything more pathetic than Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio trying to look butch at a Harley ride?
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Yeah, I noticed that. I guess it wasn’t intended to be a factual statement.
Amir Khalid
These are not presidential candidates. These are game-show contestants.
Keith P.
@Zinsky: According to the John Kerry Rule, that photo and the one of him with the helmet and goggles should immediately disqualify him from the presidency.
raven
JUST AS I THOUGHT, FUCKING RICE BURNERS!!!!!
raven
@Mustang Bobby: Pittypat looks pretty old.
Mustang Bobby
@raven: Give him a Penelope Pitstop pink helmet and get it over with.
Just One More Canuck
@Amir Khalid: 127th Annual Twit of the Year show?
Mustang Bobby
The New York Times has an in-depth look at Marco Rubio’s personal finances. The man who says government spends too much money on useless stuff has a long history of financial mismanagement and being in the hole himself. Well, who better to tell others how to spend money.
F*cking hypocrite.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Well, to be fair to Huckabee, he was probably talking about the party caucus, which he won. He may have fancifully imagined that he’d have carried the general election in the state as well.
Amir Khalid
@Just One More Canuck:
Exactly. You know how the Brits have the Upper Class Twit of The Year game show? Well, this is the early round of the American version. Except there’s no one yet whom Simon Cowell can throw out for not being enough of a twit.
JPL
@Amir Khalid: When you mentioned the game show contestants, I thought of come on down from the Price is Right.
Schlemazel
I noticed the rubber gloves too – that makes him look like an average American all right.
But can someone explain why Grahams hands are blank white while his forearms are tan? Does this bozo wear gloves outside all the time?
OzarkHillbilly
Whatever did Iowa do to be so cursed?
Just One More Canuck
@Amir Khalid: The winner of the twit of the year was the first one who shot himself. Who would the favourite be for that?
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: The rubber gloves… I wonder if he asked for one for his face?
Peale
@OzarkHillbilly: sorry. But they brought it on themselves. They could have been content with bonfires and corn-holing, but that wasn’t good enough.
Botsplainer
@Schlemazel:
A proper Southern lady is supposed to wear her gloves when formally dressing out, you know.
BillinGlendaleCA
This amused me: Chinese family’s reaction the daughter getting her nose pierced.
Starfish
@Schlemazel: Ok, I know everyone hates the rubber gloves, but…
He is a presidential candidate. How many hands has he been shaking, and how do we prevent the spread of disease when doing that level of glad-handing?
In Obama’s campaign, there was SO MUCH HAND SANITIZER.
I do not blame any of these guys for taking a high level of precaution. They have to keep a crazy schedule that brings them in contact with so many people so they have to work really hard not to get sick.
OzarkHillbilly
@Just One More Canuck: Ted Cruz
Amir Khalid
@Just One More Canuck:
There’s no shoot-yourself round for this lot. I think for them the prize is to lose to Hillary Clinton.
OzarkHillbilly
@Starfish: He still should have been smart enough not to have his picture taken with them on. That is just stupid.
Germy Shoemangler
Jon Karl is so impressed with Joni’s bike. “It’s YOUR bike!” She replies, “Yes I ride a hog; I love it, it feels good”
Jon is just so AMAZED and IMPRESSED with everything she says. “I started riding bikes when I was eleven or twelve” His eyebrows dart up: “Eleven or twelve!”
Charles Pierce calls Jonathan Karl “the republican mole.”
Who better to send? You know he won’t ask any embarrassing questions, just nod enthusiastically.
Mustang Bobby
@OzarkHillbilly: He looks like he’s about to give someone a prostate exam. Like he’s never done that…
BruceFromOhio
@Just One More Canuck: Actually, I favored Oliver St John-Mollusc, Harrow and the Guards, thought by many to be this year’s outstanding twit, who manages to run over himself with a car.
Amir Khalid
@Schlemazel:
Graham’s arms are as pasty white as his hands. They look darker only because of his arm hair. Only his face has something of a tan — or is it just red?
Iowa Old Lady
@OzarkHillbilly: I am so embarrassed.
raven
This pup had his eye on us!
MomSense
These pols are all posers. Ernst is a sell out. When I used to go to real biker rallies, all the bikers were so poor. We didn’t have fancy sunglasses or shiny helmets. I was worried about all the road dirt ruining my one pair of good riding boots. So you know what I did? I wrapped my only boots in plastic bread bags and sure enough when I got to that rally I looked around and all the other bikers had bread bags on their boots too.
Waspuppet
The GOP candidates’ stump speeches are “by now familiar.” And the election is 16 months away.
And of course, “by now familiar” is what you say because it isn’t polite to say ” tired and already-rejected.” Not about a Republican, anyway.
Just One More Canuck
@OzarkHillbilly: I was thinking Rick Perry
@BruceFromOhio: WHAT A GREAT TWIT!
Althea
Wow, that’s a whole lotta suck for first thing in the morning!
Such a contrast to the puppy video I don’t think they even belong on the same post.
Althea
@Schlemazel: Golfing in long sleeves? I’ll bet they are as soft as a baby’s butt.
MomSense
Someone should tell Walker he can’t catch Ebola from the barbecue.
Germy Shoemangler
@MomSense: Joni was proud that she owns her spotless bike. The other guys had rentals. Back to the store after the photo ops are done.
The Jon Karl interview with her above, he was so thrilled with everything she said you’d think she’d discovered a cancer cure.
They should have sent Triumph the Insult Comic
brantl
@Mustang Bobby:
Yeah, Scott “Chickenshit” Walker, trying to do the same thing.
Botsplainer
@Germy Shoemangler:
I bet it does, Joni. LOL
Seems like a lot of expense, though. Trojan has a line of personal massagers that they sell alongside the lube at my local Kroger grocery.
raven
@Althea: I just went on a day-long deep sea fishing trip. All these college kids fished all day without shirts. I wore long sleeves and a bush hat along with tins of screen.
raven
@Germy Shoemangler: So what? I have rented Harley’s for weekends. I can’t afford and have no place to store one but I love a ride now and then. My BIL owned a gorgeous hard tail, totally custom. He rode a great deal but he couldn’t change a damn spark plug on a bet.
Emily68
Where are the corn dogs? Are they not required to eat corn dogs until the Iowa State Fair?
Germy Shoemangler
@raven: You ride for your personal enjoyment. You don’t rent a Harley to impress voters.
raven
@Germy Shoemangler: true dat
raven
Jesus, Joe using the Dead for a bumper!
Germy Shoemangler
@Althea:
Josh Duggar, after shaking his hand: “Yes, you’re right; they are…”
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: These are not presidential candidates. These are game-show contestants.
On November 8, 2016, about 60 million American citizens will choose one of those contestants to be “leader of the free world.” Some game show.
OzarkHillbilly
@Emily68: Ever since the Michelle Bachmann photo debacle, corn dogs have been banned from GOP events. And rightly so, I don’t care who you are, there is no way to look presidential while eating a 6″ corn dog.
Mr. Twister
@Zinsky: Remember the photo of Dukakis in the tank ? How about the one with Walker riding a motorcycle. Every bit as bad.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: And it is THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION EVAH!!!!
Germy Shoemangler
@OzarkHillbilly: I remember a standup comic; I think it was Elaine Boosler, who said she NEVER ate a hot dog when she was on a first date.
Botsplainer
Helmet optics are generally bad. If I was a pol, I’d be sure that I rode up helmetless for photos, taking the heat for the reckless message I’m sending by going helmetless.
Germy Shoemangler
Seeing these pigs on their motorcycles reminded me of this brief clip of Brando in The Wild One:
“Hey Johnny, whaddya rebelling against?”
“Obamacare, the estate tax, environmental regulations, a weak military… “
raven
@Botsplainer: You tell me which looks worse
1. In a tank
2. On a Harley
raven
@Germy Shoemangler: Lee Marvin was great!
OzarkHillbilly
The Harley. Ever seen someone in a tank get killed by running into a stop sign?
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Lee Marvin is always great. Sometimes the movie is bad anyway, but it’s not his fault.
Germy Shoemangler
@raven: Lee was the head of the BEETLES gang. He stole the show, in my opinion. I also like the guy who did the rapid-fire doubletalk.
Keith G
@OzarkHillbilly:
A 9″ corn dog, on the other hand….
Baud
@raven:
You should run for president.
raven
@Germy Shoemangler: The real strange one was Timothy Carey. He’s unlisted but was easily seen. he played South Dakota Slim in the Beach Blanket flicks.
raven
@Baud: “If elected I refuse to serve”!
Baud
We won’t know which Republican is presidential material until we see them in the flightsuit competition.
raven
Ladies and Gentlemen, Firesign Theater may have killed another thread!
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone :)
rikyrah
you voted for them…you get what you get
Radical rightward shift burdening Kansas spreads to court system
Dave Helling, political reporter for the Kansas City Star, talks with Rachel Maddow about the radical conservative shift in the state of Kansas, including a law threatening to defund the entire court system if Governor Brownback doesn’t get his way.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/radical-rightward-shift-burdens-kansas-460213827811
Aleta
This may be their only chance to ever experience being real, and sadly they cannot even fake it correctly.
Keith G
@raven: Back from the shadows again?
Maybe too 70’s hip for many in this crowd.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
I loved his performances in Cat Ballou. He could be menacing or a goofball, it didn’t matter. He was always great.
raven
@Keith G: Oh yea! My wife can’t stand it!
RSA
@Keith P.:
I can imagine the captions: “A President sometimes needs to get his hands dirty.”
divF
@raven:
Keep it up, though. Some of us old guys appreciate it.
delk
Huckabee was off by a year. 2009 was when Iowa got marriage equality.
inkadu
@Germy Shoemangler: You wouldn’t send a political reporter to a parade, would you?
Kropadope
Scott Walker, true American
baddumb-ass. See also:FlipYrWhig
@MomSense: Well played.
Vtr
Is there a term in the field of psychology to describe “humans incapable of feeling embarrassment?”
Iowa Old Lady
@Germy Shoemangler: What is wrong with Karl? Ernst says she has inside info that WMD were in Iraq. She says the existence of a federal minimum wage is “nonsense.” She believes the UN wants to take over the country. Does Karl not care that she’s crazy? Does he think that kind of loose touch with reality is good for governance?
Hillary Rettig
that dog video reminds me of Three Men in a Boat, which begins, “There were four of us…”
Peale
There is definitely a movie script somewhere in this story. Depending on your perspective it could be a drama about respecting belief, a farce about tourism or a “locked up abroad” cautionary tale. But there is a movie here somewhere.
Malaysia blames deadly earthquake on naked tourists
ThresherK
@raven: A geek’s gotta geek, even about motorbikes: I immediately tried to guess the era of that Harley by looking for clues, such as “no reflector on the side of the front fork”. You look happy, as a someone on a bike oughtta.
Sen. Joni Ernst says Sen. Marco Rubio turned down offer to ride on the back of her bike: “It would have been kind of fun wouldn’t it?”
The fancy word for the position Rubio would find himself in is “pillion”, from England. It refers to both the seat, and the passenger occupant.
Among a certain set of motorcyclists (not including myself), it’s non-ironically called the bitch seat. So, a Republican man riding pillion with a female pilot ain’t gonna happen.
Unless some of these male candidates really don’t know anything about motorcycling, an idea I will consider.
PS Ben Carson’s got a famous photo astride his Murcan cruiser, which we literalists had to point out is actually Japanese. I can’t find it online now; wonder if it’s been “disappeared”.
Kropadope
I can just imagine how the conversation between Graham and Fiorina went before they busted out laughing…
Graham: I really think I could be elected president.
Fiorina: So do I…
BWAHAHAHAHA
Fiorina: Now Lindsey, dear, how bout a little time in the sun? You look like a ghost.
Germy Shoemangler
@Iowa Old Lady:
I’ve puzzled over that myself.
I know that Jon Karl was a college republican. His “reports” are hilariously skewed in favor of any republican over any democrat.
I think it boils down to not wanting good governance. The philosophy is that government’s only role is to be tiny and keep out of the way of captains of industry.
It’s like if I hated dog catchers. Just loved stray dogs all over my street. So naturally I’d advocate for the deaf, near-sighted and senile guy who applies for the job.
And the neighborhood balloon-juicers would yell “but he’s an idiot!” And I’d reply “your point?”
boatboy_srq
@Baud:
He can thank Jindal for that: beating MS and AL was always easy, but when LA goes charter and skews the rankings that’s just a gift.
Betty Cracker
The mister just went off to the vet with Patsy Marie, our brindle boxer dog, she of the formerly sprained tail. She’s put on some weight and hasn’t been her bouncy self here lately. I so hope it’s not something serious. We love that goofy-ass dog. Keep yer fingers crossed for us, please?
raven
@Betty Cracker: Hang tough. We have had to stop throwing the ball to the Bohdster because he was gimping around so much. I’m driving to the bakery first thing, walking home and then walking back with the crew. That way he only has to go one way and it seems to be helping.
Germy Shoemangler
@ThresherK:
Rare display of brains on Marco’s part for turning down that offer. He would have looked ridiculous and emasculated (in the eyes of repubs) riding behind her like a… like a… girl.. And she would have looked like top dog. What a photo op!
She learned a thing or two from castrating all those hogs.
boatboy_srq
@Amir Khalid: Wannabe-1%er, second-childhood-suffering, rabies-infested game show contestants, at that.
Betty Cracker
@raven: Poor guy. Is it arthritis?
Patsy is six, so I don’t think it’s an age thing. I suspect hypothyroidism based on her symptoms. I kinda hope it’s that since it is fairly simple to treat (albeit with a pill a day for life) from what I understand. Of course, I’m worried that it’s something worse.
Ruckus
@Vtr:
Yes, the term is republican candidates.
Although, not feeling embarrassment is the trait closest to normal human thought and action on the list of this abnormal disease.
raven
@Betty Cracker: He has a disc issue. It’s not a surprise, he’s been a real acrobat and has juts got to slow down. It’s not something he can control so it took ME learning to not throw for him. He seems to want to go but settles in pretty quickly. He does light up when kids come over, he’ll search out a ball and drop it at their feet just a hoping!@
cahuenga
@Vtr:
The word you are looking for “shameless”.
Iowa Old Lady
@Betty Cracker: Hope nothing serious is wrong with Patsy, Betty.
bystander
@Schlemazel: As does any well bred daughter of the Confederacy. You Yankees know nothing of civility or charm.
MomSense
@Betty Cracker: Fingers crossed. I hope she is ok.
@raven:
Aww, his inner puppy still wants to play.
bystander
@Betty Cracker: Fingers crossed!
JPL
@Betty Cracker: Fingers crossed!
Scott S.
@ThresherK: I think you’re thinking of Allen West, right?
ThresherK
@Scott S.: Oh, gawd, I am. No wonder Teh Google couldn’t find me an image. I am not used to blushing with embarrassment on the internet, but I am now.
I guess the only way to save face is for me to play the My Black Friend card.
Tripod
Harley posers. Any reason they’re not on a fine, made in Iowa, Polaris product?
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: More fingers crossed. Keep us posted, please. Hope Patsy Marie will be back to her healthy brindle self, soonest.
bemused
I was half listening to, not watching, msnbc Iowa coverage late yesterday afternoon when I heard a woman’s voice and thought, omg, Victoria Jackson is there? But no, it was Joni Ernst I heard. Then I couldn’t stop laughing at how much she sounded like Jackson.
WereBear
Thanks to my mother, we escaped from the MidWest farm country when I was six.
I’ll be forever grateful.
Not that everywhere doesn’t have pockets of Republicanism. But this relentless, cornfed, non-diverse, ignorant-and-proud-of-it part of America gets zero loyalty from me.
Betty Cracker
Thanks, everyone. Patsy is back home, none the worse for wear. They’ll have blood test results for us in a couple of days.
WereBear
@Betty Cracker: Sounds thyroid, anyway. Best of luck!
WereBear
@Betty Cracker: Good link explaining the thyroid issue:
http://www.allboxerinfo.com/boxer-dog-thyroid-hypothyroidism
Which the back of my head reminded me they were prone to, and I was right. Like you said, that’s an easy fix if so. Kisses to the doggie gals!
Gimlet
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s top court has sided with Gov. Chris Christie in a fight with public worker unions over pension funds.
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a lower-court judge’s order that told the Republican governor and the Democrat-controlled Legislature to work out a way to increase pension contributions for the current fiscal year. That ends June 30.
In a 5-2 ruling, the court says there wasn’t an enforceable contract to force the full payment.
One of Christie’s signature achievements as governor has been a 2011 deal on pensions for public workers. Employees had to pay more and the government was locked into making up for years of skipped or reduced contributions.
Christie reduced the state’s payment last year amid a surprise tax revenue shortfall.
Mike in NC
What a freak show in Iowa. Disappointed to not see Chris Christie straddling a Harley! To top this, at their next event the GOP contenders will need to bite the head off a live chicken.
Librarian
This thing with Republicans and their motorcycles has to do with the image they’re trying to project of themselves as nonconformists, as “rebels”, as insurgents, as underdogs fighting against the liberal establishment and the evil liberals who control everything. They love to portray themselves as James Dean-style rebels, with the irony that they’re the ultimate conformists whose policies will produce the ultimate conformist society. Not to mention a society where few can afford to buy a motorcycle or will have the leisure to use one.
JPL
@Gimlet: wtf..In a 5-2 ruling, the court says there wasn’t an enforceable contract to force the full payment.
Is there an enforceable contract for anything or just unions?
FlipYrWhig
@Librarian: It’s always interesting how the Republican rank-and-file “We’re loud, we’re brash, we’re irrepressible! Suck it, liberal killjoys!” thing meshes with its “We’re the guardians of decency, respect, and pure Christian goodness! Get a haircut, hippie!” thing.
Gimlet
@JPL:
Apparently it was an enforceable contract for public workers to pay more, just not the rest of the agreement.
Capri
@Keith G: I was very surprised to learn that Firesign Theater is still going, they released something in 2008. The last time they were funny, however, was the seventies.
WereBear
@FlipYrWhig: Consistency is soooooo not one of their things.
rikyrah
@JPL:
good question.
joel hanes
My friend with the Harley sez:
Like the idea of “consent”, “authenticity” is a concept that seems to elude Republican pols.
joel hanes
@Capri:
Firesign’s 70’s work, however, is still funny.
Maybe funnier, because the worlds depicted in “Bozos” and “Police Street” are coming into being all around us.
See you on The Funway — “You can tie one on!”
Amir Khalid
@Peale:
Like I said here yesterday, Malaysia’s federal government isn’t blaming a bunch of Western louts for the Kinabalu earthquake. Pairin’s an elected state official, a politician. (As I understand, he was a legal client of a relative of mine.)
And I think this is just his own $0.02. There is no way the Sabah state government will issue an official report blaming the quake on the mountain spirits getting mad over a bunch of tourists’ bad behaviour. Pairin is aware that people know about the incident, and I think he’s signalling that as a fellow indigenous Sabahan he too is outraged.
WaterGirl
@raven: Have you tried adequan injections? It’s a series of 8 injections – twice a week for 4 weeks.
I kept good notes, and I’ll be damned, right after injection 5 Bailey had a new lease on life. You could get a couple of booster shots every 6 months or so if they started to see creaky or in pain again.
The arthritis pills and painkillers didn’t help him much and upset his tummy, so I was willing to try anything, and his response to adequan was amazing.
JPL
If Christie lied about funding the pensions, what else will he lie about? It’s time to ask him.
Librarian
@FlipYrWhig: What I also mean is that when Ernst gets back to Washington, she will oppose every attempt to raise the minimum wage and every other measure to help people and she will support every measure that will increase the power of the plutocrats.
Citizen_X
@FlipYrWhig: Well, the worst thing that could happen with bikers is they kill a bunch of people in a shootout at a fake-titty bar, no biggie. It’s not like something seriously scary could happen, like black teens showing up at a pool party they were invited to, or something.
WereBear
While Raven’s dog has disc issues, and Betty’s was gaining weight, any pets or people with arthritis can be helped with dry gelatin.
James Bond did great on it. I still take it.
WereBear
@Citizen_X: That’s the first thing I thought of. If it was a bunch of Democrats letting out their Wild Side, we all know what the press would be yelling about.
Belafon
@Gimlet:
It was a surprise only to Republicans who believe that tax cuts increase revenue.
Cacti
Someone already beat me to it, but…
Wearing latex gloves to eat BBQ?
What a douche bag.
Also too…Harley Davidson motorcycles are built by union labor.
Face
This is a surprise to absolutely no one.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@MomSense: Yeah it’s funny how conservative politicians want to look like Henry Fonda in Easy Rider. It’s so fake it’s ridiculous. A few years ago Patton Oswalt did a bit about how conservative talk show hosts had co-opted rock music whereas if you listened to liberal radio it was all esoteric world music. This is the next step in them co-opting some cultural touchstone that used to symbolize rebelliousness.
WereBear
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: And of course they always adopt a rebellious touchstone decades after it has been mainstreamed.
Belafon
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Wait until the day they get gay married just to show how hip they are.
Amir Khalid
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
Remembering the conservative reaction to Easy Rider when it came out only makes the modern conservative nostalgia for its aesthetic all the funnier.
Eric U.
@Librarian: the republicans I know got all upset over the Waco biker shootings. Also, civil forfeiture against business owners. Militarized cops and the drug war are all on the republicans as far as I’m concerned. And abuse of civil forfeiture is definitely a red state phenomenon since they refuse to pay taxes.
Very selective outrage.
Gin & Tonic
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Peter, maybe?
Botsplainer
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/rick-santorum-finds-only-one-voter-waiting-at-iowa-campaign-event-warns-her-about-gay-marriage/
boatboy_srq
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Not to mention that a decent Hog costs about as much as a BMW (which Reichwingers love because the US ones are assembled in union-free SC), so its Common Man cachet is pretty much shot. The modern Harley is a symbol of middle-management behaving irresponsibly.
Amir Khalid
@Botsplainer:
Rihmentum!
Amir Khalid
@boatboy_srq:
So Harley riders in America are just like the HOG members I see here?
Valdivia
I hear one more person tell me Jeb Bush is a moderate and I am going to break something:
.
source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/jeb-bush-1995-book_n_7542964.html?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000016
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: I haven’t been to KL, but it is exceedingly rare to see a Harley rider in the US who doesn’t have gray hair.
japa21
I know some people are saying the Harley posing is to give an air of rebelliousness, but I don’t think so. It’s more to show how manly (yes even Ernst) they are as opposed to those effete Dems as symbolized by the Obamas.
I remember like it was yesterday, which it may well have been, how the RWers were mocking a picture of the Obamas out on a bike (non-motorized) ride as a family with those cute little biking helmets.
This posing is to contrast with that.
Botsplainer
@Eric U.:
From my days as a Republican, I remember thinking that the hard right fringe position was in the following:
1. Going spastic over Randy Weaver getting his dumb ass son and wife killed (I didn’t give a shit, as I never thought you had a constitutional right to hold an armed standoff, and had to resort to the courts for sorting things out). I was genuinely surprised that a wingnut Idaho jury gave that racist asshole a dime.
2. Going spastic over Koresh getting his dumb ass congregation killed. They saw it as a church – I saw it as a white supremacist cult that had no right to hold an armed standoff.
3. Going spastic over a form of national id as creeping communism/fascism. I always felt that with a national id, a number of things would be easier, like verification for the purpose of employment, applying for benefits, voting, etc. It would set a standard, and be free.
4. Going spastic over the notion that there was anything like a judicially recognized penumbral right of privacy. I remember social conservatives sneering at that notion over everything from contraceptives to allowing gay people to freely associate their bodies with other gay people for the purpose of sexual pleasure.
Nowadays, it appears that the spastic have the steering wheel over all of the above, the aim appearing to be to oppose the “lessers” out there.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Valdivia: WHAT THE FUCK?
I wouldn’t expect even the Taliban to go that far. Everyone involved is an awful human being.
Booger
@ThresherK: You’re not thinking of Allen West, are you?
Valdivia
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I know! It’s way to early for my head to explode, and yet, it did.
Amir Khalid
@Valdivia:
That’s a strange lesson to take from The Scarlet Letter.
Belafon
@japa21: Doesn’t Kerry have a Harley? He keeps it in storage during the winter if I remember correctly.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic: Around these parts, you have to be pretty much upper-upper-upper middle class to afford a motorbike that costs well north of 100,000 ringgit. And for some reason, a lot of the guys you see astride a Hog here are Muslims.
Hal
Not sure if anyone has covered this yet, but…
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/nyregion/kalief-browder-held-at-rikers-island-for-3-years-without-trial-commits-suicide.html?_r=0
John Oliver just covered the bail system in America, and Mr. Browder is a victim of that system. 3 years in prison with no charges.
Valdivia
@Amir Khalid: It never fails to amuse me that some conservatives read classic books/novels not as the warnings that they are supposed to be but as ‘how-to” books.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Halal hogs?
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
Muslims riding a Hog. Isn’t that religiously problematic?
gogol's wife
@Amir Khalid:
Amen! Of course he hasn’t read it.
WereBear
@Amir Khalid: Hey, same family that put in a President whose takeaway from the Gulf War was “Being a war Preznit is GOOD. I want me some of that.”
japa21
@Belafon: But he spoke French and drank green tea and all that other sissy stuff.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
@Brachiator:
I reckon Harley Hogs are pork-free.
Cacti
@Amir Khalid:
Yep. Despite the bad boy marketing imagery, the target market for a Harley product is: balding, doughy, middle aged accountant with erectile dysfunction.
Owning a Harley these days is about as rebellious as playing the back 9 at Pebble Beach.
slag
Thug life.
piratedan
@BruceFromOhio: imho, quite possibly the funniest Python skit ever…if only his father could understand…..
rikyrah
David Brooks: “President Obama Has Run An Amazingly Scandal-Free Administration”; “He’s Chosen People Who’ve Been Scandal-Free”
“President Obama has run an amazingly scandal-free administration, not only he himself, but the people around him. He’s chosen people who have been pretty scandal-free,” conservative New York Times opinion writer David Brooks said Friday on PBS’ NewsHour.
Brooks was discussing the Dennis Hastert scandal with liberal sparring partner Matt Shields at the time.
“David makes a good point,” Shields said. “And I agree with him on this administration in particular
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/05/31/david_brooks_obama_amazingly_scandal_free_administration_chosen_people_scandal_free.html
Cacti
@Valdivia:
Or watch a film like “A Few Good Men” and leave with the impression that Col. Jessup was the hero.
Valdivia
@Cacti: Yes, it takes a special view of the world to think that.
Amir Khalid
@Cacti:
There’s a Harley clothing and knick-knack store in my local mall. It has a TV set on which it shows videos of Harley Owners Group get-togethers: a battalion of 50-something uncles in immaculate Harley biker gear rolling down the highway, each one with his missus riding pillion, her hijab peeking out under her helmet.
Ooh, you can just feel the rebel spirit.
Jay C
@Vtr:
Maybe, but I think “Republican Presidential Candidate” is as apt a descriptor as any.
slag
@Schlemazel: “Obviously, you’re not a golfer.”
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: immaculate Harley biker gear
I seriously give the company a great deal of credit here. Time was, that if you wanted to advertise your product you’d have to pay for that. They’ve successfully turned it around so that their customers (and wannabees) pay them for the privilege of wearing the company logo. It’s brilliant, actually.
Cacti
@Amir Khalid:
In that same spirit, Walker’s “ride to live” shirt looks like it came off the store rack that very morning.
Goblue72
@Schlemazel: Golfers tan. He probably leaves his golf gloves on.
replicnt6
@Gin & Tonic: Shush. I’m loving the image of Henry Fonda on a bike.
gogol's wife
@replicnt6:
If Tom Joad had had a motorcycle, he could have left Ma at home.
Bill
@boatboy_srq:
I live in the home of Harley, bikers flock here as if it were Mecca, and this is absolutely true. Harley raiders seem to break in to two categories. 1. Hard core criminal bikers (small group.) 2. Middle class white dudes who wish they were hard core criminal bikers.
Both groups largely consist of obese white guys.
Bill
@Cacti:
Or watch “Wall Street” and see Gordon Gekko as the good guy.
Tree With Water
The good news if the Supreme Court does torpedo Obamacare is that the Court itself will instantly be transformed a major issue, above and beyond anything this country has ever seen. It will provide a great many people who have ignored the Supremes most recent depredations (Gore Vs Florida, the Roberts ruling, the assault on voting rights) to view the Court in an entirely new light, and all for the good.. It’s reputation will lay in its partisan ruins, and people will vote accordingly.
Amir Khalid
@Bill:
I am suddenly picturing lots of middle-aged guys, all in immaculate Harley biker gear, walking seven laps around the Harley plant. Followed by the ritual Stoning of The Honda.
Gin & Tonic
@gogol’s wife: See, it’s exchanges like this one that keep me coming back here.
Bill
@Amir Khalid: Not that far off.
VOR
@Gin & Tonic: My son has Harley-Davidson logo frames on his glasses. Very nice frames, good design. He has no desire to own a motorcycle, he just liked the frames.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Belafon: @WereBear: @Amir Khalid: Yes the gay marriage photo ops will be hilarious when (not if) they happen – also, too, the staged beaten by cops because they’re “black” events. Those will be even funnier and lets hope for actual beatings.
The bad guys in Easy Rider were obviously today’s Republicans, so it took a half century to appropriate the free spirited biker as a conservative archetype.