Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

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

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

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

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

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

“They all knew.”

Their freedom requires your slavery.

So many bastards, so little time.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

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

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / JEB! = John Ellis Not-Bush 2016 / Open Thread: I Like the New Colbert Show Already

Open Thread: I Like the New Colbert Show Already

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From the Hollywood Reporter link:

Colbert is giving the presidential candidate a taste of his own medicine, raffling off a chance to ask Bush a question during the upcoming ‘Late Show’ premiere.

The new Late Show host posted a video Wednesday announcing his “Jeb Bush on the Stephen Colbert Late Show Raffle.” According to Colbert, it costs $3 to enter and the winner not only gets a flight to New York City to attend the Sept. 8 premiere show, he or she also gets to ask Bush one “non-obscene” question on the show.

“For example, one question might be, ‘Don’t you wish you consulted Stephen before launching your contest?’ ” Colbert quipped…

Since this is a full-service blog, there’s a link if you want to enter the contest.

Reader Interactions

125Comments

  3. 3.

    schrodinger's cat

    I hope they stream the Late Show because I don’t get CBS.
    ETA: Is Jeb! foolish or brave to take on Colbert. Has he forgotten what happened to W, when his path crossed with Colbert’s.

  4. 4.

    Gin & Tonic

    Way to step on your own dick, Jeb. This is redolent of Letterman’s “You want me to call you a cab, John?”

  5. 5.

    magurakurin

    BREAKING NEWS
    actual transcript of the Camp David discussion on Denali name change between President Obama, Chief of Staff McDonough, Governor Walker and Senator Murkowski.

    WALKER: Sir, there are two places we can change the names of. Here and here. It’s a pretty wide state but these are the only two spots I’m really sure of.
    OBAMA: That mountain your pointing to is kinda hairy, Walker.
    WALKER: What do you mean by “hairy,” sir?
    OBAMA: It’s hairy. Got a lot of heavy representation. I’ve lost a few House votes in there now and again.
    (Murukowski comes over, leans in to take a look at the map)
    OBAMA: What’s the name of the goddamn mountain? MacArthur? McKinley? Damn mountain names, all sound like dead white guys. Denis, do you know anything about this point at McKinley?
    MCDONOUGH: That’s a fantastic peak.
    OBAMA: Peak?
    MCDNONOUGH: About 20,000 feet. It’s an outstanding peak. It’s got both a south face route and a long ridge route with an ice falls that’s unbelievable. It’s just front point city.
    (Obama considers this)
    OBAMA: Well, why didn’t you tell me that before. A good peak. There aren’t any good peaks in this whole shitty country. It’s all goddamn talus slopes.
    MCDONOUGH: It’s really hairy in there, sir. That’s where we lost Kerry. They polled the hell out us there. That’s the Ohioan’s peak.
    (Walker sees his chance and jumps in)
    WALKER: We could do it tomorrow before the Iran vote. There’s always some talking point blowing before Congress opens session in the fall.
    MURKOWSKI: We may not be able to get the votes. The support for the name change may be too shallow.
    (Obama rises, looks at Walker)
    OBAMA: We’ll pick up your mountain name and put it down like a baby right where you want it. I’m the Chief Executive. The Oval Office. ( West Wing aid starts humming ‘Hail to the Chief’) I can sign an executive order and hold it just as long as I like and you can name any place in that state that suits you, young governor. Hell, a 20,000 foot peak. All right. Take a limo back to the West Wing.
    (to Yvon)
    Yvon, go with Denis and have him pick an ice axe for you. And bring me my crampons.
    (Denis reacts, doubtful)
    OBAMA: What is it, son?
    MCDONOUGH: It’s pretty hairy in there. It’s the Ohioan’s peak.
    OBAMA: Ohioans don’t climb!

    new york times late edition

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    LOL!

    Can’t wait for Stephen Colbert’s new show. Conservatives expect the Conser-fake Colbert, but Stephen is a stone cold Liberal…lol

  17. 17.

    Rich (In Name Only) in Reno

    My question would be: “This is worker speaking. Hello…Why does the Porridge Bird lay his egg in the air?”

  18. 18.

    Keith G

    Jeb? is yet another example of the recent tendency for GOPers to play checkers instead of chess. They should have imagined that Colbert would have a response.

    Typing “Jeb?”** I am reminder of how Doonesbury reduced Poppy Bush to an invisible voice and Dan Quayle to a feather . Maybe Jeb Bush can be reduced to a “?”.

    **I stole “Jeb?” from another commenter, but I can’t recall who it was.

  22. 22.

    David Koch

    Frank Thorp V
    ✔
    @frankthorpNBC

    Rep Patrick Murphy (D-FL), who’s running for Dem #FLSEN nomination against @AlanGrayson , says he will support the Iran nuclear deal
    11:40 AM – 31 Aug 2015

    Jonathan Weisman
    ✔
    @jonathanweisman

    A-MA-ZING. Rep. Patrick Murphy, running for Senate in Fla., came out in favor of @TheIranDeal. No one expected that. Politics have flipped
    12:08 PM – 31 Aug 2015

    Laura Rozen ✔ @lrozen

    How the Iran Nuclear Deal Weakened AIPAC, Washington’s Most Powerful Interest Group

    The American Israel Public Affairs Committee placed all of its chips on its multi-million dollar campaign to scuttle the Iran deal, and it now appears it will lose that bet.

    5:01 AM – 1 Sep 2015

    Once again Obama has done the impossible. Meanwhile Pat Murphy’s opponent “true progressive” Alan Grayson refuses to support the disarmament plan.

  23. 23.

    Amir Khalid

    This constant stream of oopsies suggests Jeb and his team might not be best equipped to handle the day-to-day business of the Presidency very well. Right to Rise has been in denial all along about this rather worrying aspect of Jeb’s candidacy. I wonder if we’ll see the poor dear in this thread.

  24. 24.

    jl

    @Gin & Tonic:

    ” Way to step on your own dick, Jeb. This is redolent of Letterman’s “You want me to call you a cab, John?” ”

    Jeez, Colbert was all bipartisan with Bernie and Jeb? first two weeks, and did Jeb? a solid by inviting him to the first show.
    And Jeb? pulls this tacky crap.
    And one reason Colbert’s raffle promo was so funny was that Jeb?’s stunt was so tacky and rude and stupid.

    So, it would all be in good fun, except Jeb? is so sad, and his raffle is so tacky.
    No Colbert Bump for you, Jeb? And Colbert went out of his way to give you one, probably as a practical joke on the country.

    Or, did Colbert somehow foresee that Jeb? would pull some dumb stunt… hmmm?

    Edit: Will Bernie pull a hijink, or play it straight and gripe at Colbert for not focusing on serious issues?

  28. 28.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    I have no quips. At any rate, it’s been shown that trying to “out zing” Colbert is folly. He has too much improv experience.

    Jeb will learn after the fact.

  30. 30.

    Mike J

    I would be surprised if tickets for the Cobert show didn’t have language about being non transferable and not for sale on them.

  32. 32.

    JPL

    @David Koch: Yesterday, I read the Anchorage paper about his visit and they had a quote from Bristol who said the mountain is named McKinley. She and her friends never called it anything else. The comments were not kind.

  33. 33.

    David Koch

    Christopher Hayes @chrislhayes

    New ABC/WaPo poll
    Trump favorability among whites: 48 fav 49 unfav
    Among non-whites: 17 fav 79 unfav

    wheeee!

    Retweets
    103
    Favorites
    131

    12:57 PM – 2 Sep 2015

  34. 34.

    beltane

    @David Koch: What’s especially nice about this is that the President is clearly having a lot of fun. This country’s asshole contingent has spent the past seven years throwing everything they’ve got at the man, and he’s the one smiling. They say happiness is the best revenge, and Obama sure looks happy to me.

  37. 37.

    Woodrow/asim

    @Mike J: My guess is that Jeb is leveraging the comp tickets a guest would get, esp. one w/an entourage like a politico. If so, that just makes it even more tacky.

  40. 40.

    Schlemazel

    @Amir Khalid:
    Why would you expect the people who even after 8 years with dumbbellU had not learned anything to have gotten smarter in the last 8 years? Of corse they are incompetent stumblebums, we just have to hope the can’t steal Tennessee and Florida again.

  41. 41.

    jl

    @JPL: When I first went up there 40 years ago as a kid to visit the AK kin, you heard McKinley mostly. But not anymore. I think after the national and state parks, preserves around the mountain all were named Denali, it just seemed natural to call the mountain that too. And it kind of sounds cool to just say ‘Denali’.

  43. 43.

    dmsilev

    @efgoldman:

    I think the consensus is that RtoR is a paid troll. Some low level Jeb! functionary recruited him for, probably, something like seven-and-a-half cents a post. Clearly the crap is written by a third party.

    Or it’s a DougJ sock puppet trolling the rest of us.

    One or the other.

    Could be both. A sockpuppet taking a job as a paid troll, sort of meta-trolling.

  46. 46.

    gnomedad

    Jeb!, taking every advantage handed to him on a silver platter, dropping it and running over the platter.

    Shaka, when the walls fell.

  48. 48.

    jl

    @Mike J: @Amir Khalid:

    I was thinking about the scalping issue. Did Jeb? commit campaign finance fraud on these, our Great United States? Where is O’Keefe?

    If you have a raffle, should the price of that ticket by (number of entrants) x $3 ? Felony!
    HRC and her tee shirt black market trade into Canada is penny ante BS compared to that.

  50. 50.

    JPL

    @jl: I mentioned on Sunday, after the announcement, my son was on chat and I said trick question, what is the biggest Mountain in the US and he said Denali. I said so you heard they changed the name from McKinley.. after several minutes, the response was I only knew it as Denali. He’s been to Alaska several times in the last decade.

  52. 52.

    Mike J

    @Amir Khalid:

    Is there a lot of scalping of these talk-show tickets?

    More just big corporation saying that if they aren’t going to turn a profit on selling tickets then nobody is. And to be fair, tickets for Colbert’s premier would go for a bundle.

    The only things I’ve ever seen was some cheesy sitcom, the name of which I don’t remember, while on vacation in LA, and Crossfire, when I lived in DC and friends visited. Crossfire absolutely wanted names for each person. I got picked to ask a question, but they ran out of time, and I don’t even remember the topic.

  54. 54.

    jibeaux

    @jl: this past Sunday’s Parade magazine, which probably was written three months ago, called it Denali. I just mention that because Parade is not exactly in bed with the communists or the trendsetters of society.

  55. 55.

    MomSense

    @lamh36:

    That video made my day. So much joy.

    Anyone else struck by the contrast between the crowds at Obama events/speeches/rallies and the crowds at Republican events?

  57. 57.

    jl

    @JPL: I think a big part of it was when the state changed the name, and the feds balked. At which point is was that damned parasite federal government, that makes a mint, a mint, makes effing bank off of Alaska and keeps Alaska from achieving its true and rightful destiny insulting and injuring the Great Land, yet again. Another, yet another, slap in the face to Alaska from the damn feds. Then it was Alaska versus the outside, and dammit, any good Alaskan called the place Denali, whenever he or she could remember to do so.

  58. 58.

    David Koch

    @MomSense: oh, thanks for reminding me.

    President Barack Obama is on a three-day trip to Alaska to bring attention to climate change, and his pictures on the White House Instagram account give us a glimpse of the Last Frontier’s stunning natural beauty.

    He took this amazing photo himself of a glazier from Marine One.

    The bear is on the loose. Now he’s hanging out with Native Americans and making salmon jerky.

    The trip has been a real triumph.

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    @jl: and the feds balked

    The feds didn’t balk, it was the Rep from the Ohio district where McKinley was born, who spent his 40-year Congressional career blocking the renaming.

  63. 63.

    jl

    @JPL: Jeb?’s going to have to buy a raffle ticket to win anything at all if he keeps going at this rate.
    I don’t know if I can bear to watch the grace with which Jeb? handles the kerfluffle, which would be no big deal if he were not so sad. So, I will read about it and if it is not too distressing I will watch a clip.

  66. 66.

    sharl

    OT,

    For those interested, Martin O’Malley’s radio interview with Tom Ashbrook is now up at Ashbrook’s On Point site. It ran for about the first half (25 minutes or so) of the show.

    I only heard the final portion; rebroadcast just ended on the DC station I listen to. Ashbrook came at him hard on his law enforcement/policing record as Baltimore mayor, but O’Malley didn’t appear to give an inch. I’m no fan, but in O’Malley’s defense, that crack epidemic era was really, really BAD – at least in Baltimore and DC – and some older Baltimore POCs have said in interviews that they think he did what he had to do, David Simon’s criticisms notwithstanding. In any event, I don’t know how representative those interviewees are of the older POC demographic in Baltimore, nor do I expect that the younger folks there will feel the same way. Note that, as an older white dude living about 45min south of Charm City, my opinions on matters there should be rated accordingly.

    I report, you decide.

  68. 68.

    Botsplainer

    Meanwhile, on the Kentucky clerk front, a friend conducted an interview of the Rowan County Attorney who referred Davis to the AG for prosecution:

    “The Kentucky Trial Court Review
    Exclusive.

    Just conducted an interview with Cecil Watkins, the Rowan County Attorney. Watkins (to my knowledge) hasn’t given any interviews.
    Watkins indicates that Kim Davis “does not represent” Rowan County and is not representative of its inclusive values.
    From Day One, Watkins told Davis I “will not and cannot support” you in her defiance of the law. Not only that he was clear he would not represent her as the law in the case of same sex marriage is clear.
    While he has no stance on same sex marriage, well-established federal law must be followed.

    Watkins wanted to emphasize to several other things.
    First that Davis has cursed everyone that works at the courthouse. Not just at her office. But everyone in the courthouse is scared to come to work.

    Second that Liberty Counsel will leave Kim Davis high and dry when this charade is over. Watkins thinks the funds they raise off the case should go to Rowan County.

    Finally and most importantly he has learned that deputy clerks would issue lawful marriage licenses. They are simply afraid to do so. And if Judge Bunning instructs them to do so . . . they will.
    Davis has put, in the words of Watkins, her employees and everyone in the courthouse in a “terrible position.”

    Watkins, in his role as the County Attorney, will be in court tomorrow for the hearing at 11:00 in Ashland.

    Ed. Note – The takeaways from the Watkins interview are clear. Davis is acting alone in her zealous mission. Her conduct has terrorized not just her staff but everyone that works in the courthouse. And all for a foolish mission aided by out of state charlatan lawyers trying to raise money for their “religious liberty” mission.

    Shannon Ragland
    Kentucky Trial Court Review”

  69. 69.

    Schlemazel

    @jl:
    I don’t know . . . saw a Facebook post(and those are NEVER wrong) that tells me “Denali” is -quote Africa unquote- for black power!!! 1!!11

    Just how stupid are these people?

  70. 70.

    Anne Laurie

    @Woodrow/asim:

    My guess is that Jeb is leveraging the comp tickets a guest would get, esp. one w/an entourage like a politico. If so, that just makes it even more tacky.

    Yep.

    We may have to repurpose the Japanese “bushu-suru” (from HWB’s tenure, to vomit on one’s host) as “a Bush guest behaving very badly”…

  72. 72.

    schrodinger's cat

    @efgoldman: At K-Lo’s crazy corner, Mark Krikorian is busy sounding the alarm about legal immigration. He forgets to note that most legal immigrants are sponsored by their immediate family who are citizens. The work based GCs amount to less than 20% of the total

  73. 73.

    FlyingToaster

    @JPL: Is staying in the top 10 “winning”?

    ¿Jeb? has enough money to make it to March, but honestly, I don’t think he can get the votes. And therefore, he’ll be short delegates and will run out of money.

    His whole strategy has been to do nothing and wait for the rest of the field to implode, just like Romney. Unfortunately, he’s not Mr. Clean, and he is not lucky. Ben Carson is this race’s Mr. Clean. Everyone else is either bugfuck crazy (and I’m looking at Mr. Frothy here) or dumb as a stump (the Koch Brothers’ automaton). Or running as America’s Id (thank you, Mr. Trump), and cleaning up.

    Anyone who gives money to ¿Jeb? or his PAC is pissing good money after bad. I hope they keep him going to June.

  75. 75.

    JPL

    If you are watching the President, what are the odds that the gal sitting behind him jumps up to give give him a hug.

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    @David Koch:

    And they are building the buzz before the Paris talks.

    I think my son is going to the talks. He has an invite and is putting the funding together. He already got a grant so this is doable.

  79. 79.

    Zinsky

    I know what question I would ask Jeb! – “How many thousand innocent human beings do you suppose have been needlessly slaughtered world-wide, due to your father and idiot brother’s misguided and pathologically evil policies?”

  83. 83.

    Tommy

    @beltane: Names are different. Working with a guy here and his name is interesting to say the least. I didn’t ask and learned he is a dual citizen. Swiss and US. His name is different, but well, the world is large and lets all have fun …….

  84. 84.

    beltane

    I’m still laughing at the idiots who think Denali means “black power” in that mysterious language known as Kenyan. It makes me think that “Republican” means “stupid person” in Murkin.

  89. 89.

    Calouste

    @FlyingToaster: @FlyingToaster: No one has won the Republican nomination without winning either Iowa or New Hampshire. Bush3 is unlikely to win Iowa, the GOP primary voters are heavily evangelical, and Carson is doing well in the polls there, closing in on Trump, with Bush3 around 5th place. New Hampshire, well the GOP there voted for Nazi-apologist Pat Buchanan at one point, they’re going to love what Trump is peddling them now. Two of the last three polls in NH have Trump above 30 and Bush3 at 7.

    Carson btw is bugfuck crazy and dumb as a stump, at least for pretty much all human endeavors outside brain surgery.

  90. 90.

    David Koch

    @lamh36: Here it is. Bear is praying for him and his safety.

    aprilfryarBear, I LOVE this photo. Appreciate you praying for him and whoever’s hand that is stretched forth. God bless you

  91. 91.

    beltane

    @Tommy: Regardless, all immigrants are either legal or illegal. The wingnuts should put their money where their mouths are, do some research on their ancestors’ countries of origin, and then self-deport.

  92. 92.

    jibeaux

    @Schlemazel: “Africa” is a language in this scenario? I have unfriended everyone too dumb to boil water from my FB, so I don’t see these things too much.

  93. 93.

    JPL

    @Calouste: The problem that I have with Carson, was that he was deserving of all the government aid that his family received, but no a days, not so much. My impression is how do you decide. Line folks up, you deserving, not you?

  100. 100.

    David Koch

    @MomSense: you must be a really proud Mom.

    When I was in college I got to attend a U.N. conference in Geneva. It was fascinating on various levels.

  101. 101.

    the Conster

    @beltane:

    Trump and Colbert have in one day shown JEB? to be the overentitled, overfed, overgrown manbaby douchebro that he is. The only question is, how does he exit Colbert’s FIRST SHOW with any dignity or Bush legacy intact? He can’t, and he knows it. He’s already lost. As far as Trump is concerned, it’s Mission Accomplished. LOL.

  102. 102.

    the Conster

    @Baud:

    That’s not his style to say it to the press, but you know he said it to Michelle when he called her at home.

  103. 103.

    Mike in NC

    @the Conster: We need a pool on when JEB! calls it quits. By Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas? He has the money but can’t last beyond the end of the year due to his low energy and introvert personality.

  104. 104.

    jl

    @the Conster: Jeb? deserves whatever he gets. I mean really, that is so tacky and stupid, using complementary tickets given to a show that invited you as a guest and was giving you free media, and just to raise campaign funds.

    Colbert had to disassociate himself from the scheme after the story broke. And actually this way was nicer than if Colbert was all serious about it and made sober announcements, which would have made Jeb? look worse.

    If Jeb? is a halfway decent politician, he would know how to respond. Say he didn’t know about it, and announce his campaign would give the money away to a charity, maybe the one Colbert is giving his raffle money to.

    So, let’s see how well Jeb? handles it. If history is any guide, Jeb? will turn what could be a nothingburger into a hilarious sequence of gaffes, the memory of which people will treasure and talk about for months (if Jeb? is lucky).

  105. 105.

    the Conster

    @Mike in NC:

    I’m less interested in the when, and way more on the how. There’s no way he’ll be graceful or sincere when, not if, he goes, so that will be the end of the Bush dynasty – not with a bang, but with a whine.

  107. 107.

    Full metal Wingnut

    @Calouste: you know, I was thinking about how surprised I was by Carson’s success thus far. A surgeon who’s held no elected office and has no government experience.

    But then I thought-well, Scott Walker may be a Governor, but he’s dumber than dogshit and I doubt he ever really calls any shots that aren’t pre-approved by the Kochs or Wisconsin chamber of commerce (etc).

    Ted Cruz may be intelligent, but so is Ben Carson. And yeah, Cruz is a Senator, but…what the fuck has he done while in the Senate besides throw a wrench in the works (repeatedly) and call attention to himself? And yeah, he was Texas Solicitor General, but I’m not really seeing how that prepares one to be President. Rand Paul has also done very little of substance while in the Senate. I’ll give Rubio a modicum of credit for his sane views on immigration.

    Fiorina damn near ran HP into the ground. Bobby Jindal has trashed the state of Louisiana. Donald Trump is a reality television jackass and professional grifter who has just discovered the political grift. Christie has been an abysmal Governor.

    So, despite Carson’s lack of political “experience,” most of the other candidates’ political experience is pretty fucking worthless. Carson may be batshit insane. He may be unqualified to be President. But *relatively* speaking he’s no less qualified than any of the other candidates except on paper. Just because he hasn’t incompetently run a state doesn’t mean he’s less qualified than Walker. Etcetera. They’re all terrible.

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    @Full metal Wingnut:
    As far as Carson, you only have to ask one question, would you allow some one you know to be operated on by him, now that you’ve heard him in action? My answer is I wouldn’t let him weigh me or take my blood pressure before seeing a nurse practitioner, who I would trust far more.
    But you are correct, not one of them is qualified to be president. I’m not Harvard or Yale educated but I’d bet I’d be much better. I can delegate authority, speak in public without putting my foot in my mouth (OK more often than every third word), I am willing to listen to people that know more about an issue than I do (and there are lots of those, issues and people), don’t make any decisions based on any religious writings…….
    See I am better.

  111. 111.

    Ruckus

    @redshirt:
    Have you been listening?
    Carson is bug shit crazy. He is soft spoken so he doesn’t give that carnival barker tone to his crazy, like say T Rump, but he runs about 300% on the side of crazy.
    Listen to the words.

    ETA That is why he is trailing T Rump. He’s got the crazy without sounding like it. So those who like the “policies” but not the tone have someone to vote for.

  112. 112.

    Anne Laurie

    @the Conster:

    There’s no way he’ll be graceful or sincere when, not if, he goes, so that will be the end of the Bush dynasty – not with a bang, but with a whine.

    If Jeb! does somehow eke out the nomination — and goddess knows, he’s got a deep bench of skilled ratfvckers plus all the “GOP establishment” money behind him — I fully expect a 2016 “October surprise” where Candidate Jeb finally loses his temper on stage, stomping off swearing (bilingually, of course) and leaving his unfortunate VP pick stammering & sweating to pick up the pieces…

  113. 113.

    redshirt

    @Ruckus: That’s what I’m saying. Of course Carson is as crazy or crazier than all the rest of the Repukes. To be a Republican these days means you’re crazy or pretending to be crazy for votes.

    But he’s black. And not shouty. And this separates him from the rest of nutjob pack.

  114. 114.

    redshirt

    Also, as per the thread topic, remember when this was an oft repeated Conservative meme:

    “Clinton was handed Bin Laden on a silver platter”.

    Look:

    On his show Tuesday, Limbaugh criticized Clinton for being “handed bin Laden on a silver platter” on multiple occasions, only to waste the opportunities.

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @redshirt: I remember “tail wagging the dog” bitching from the right when Clinton authorized cruise missile strikes on an intelligence indicated bin Laden location. They can fuck right off with that criticism.

  116. 116.

    redshirt

    @Omnes Omnibus: “Wag the Dog” was my true introduction into the bullshit that was the Republican Party, post 9/11. The Republicans were able to use Bin Laden as the most dangerous man in the world (post 9/11) and just a few years prior as punchline of a lame political jab.

    That’s real propaganda. That’s America.

  117. 117.

    Soylent Green

    @Full metal Wingnut:

    Donald Trump is a reality television jackass and professional grifter who has just discovered the political grift.

    Trump is not a grifter. He is a showman, and a good one. This year he has given us some very entertaining reality TV. He is obviously enjoying himself immensely, and doing it for glory, not for money. Trump is also displaying some surprising political agility.

    I’d love to see Trump in the general, where he and the opossum on his head will get their asses handed to them.

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    @David Koch: One of the videos leads to another, one of Obama watching some kids performing an Alaskan native dance. He is having fun and is great with children. He takes a picture with them, but he doesn’t stand aloof. He gets down so that they are all around him. Great smiles. Then he asks, who is gonna help me up, and the kids all laugh as they swarm around him and “help” the old guy up. Just beautiful.

  119. 119.

    Brachiator

    @redshirt: Clinton may have missed some opportunities and may even have admitted it. Bush and Cheney promised deep competence and instead failed spectacularly. I don’t care much about wag the dog BS. I care that cowards and fools willing to fake intelligence were given pride of place. I hope these people have been replaced, retired or rehabilitated.

  120. 120.

    Matt McIrvin

    @efgoldman: I looked up the highest point in Kansas:

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sunflower

    “Amenities include a picnic table, a sunflower sculpture made from railroad spikes, and a plaque on the site stated, ‘On this site in 1897, nothing happened.’ As of 2015, however, that sign is missing, evidently stolen.”

    The highest point in Nebraska is even more featureless. I’ve actually been near there several times, though I’ve never visited the actual spot. Western Nebraska actually has some impressive-looking buttes and such, but the high point is not one of them.

  123. 123.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Anne Laurie: At the time, I took bashu wo suru not to literally refer to vomit but to, through ineptitude, violate all boundaries of polite behavior and create an intensely embarrassing incident. (in anime I guess these would be head-sized sweat droplets and maybe some forehead four pointed asterisks as well, not to mention blue lines from top of head down to the eyes)

    Bush Sr did do the thing; can’t recall if it happened again or if W also had an incident like that, but the term was revived.

  124. 124.

    Another Holocene Human

    @redshirt:

    I get a strong sense Carson supporters are playing a game of “I supported a black man in a phone poll and so I’m not a racist”.

    Maybe, but it doesn’t end there. My coworker who went off shouted “CARSON IS THE ONLY ONE WHO ISN’T A PROFESSIONAL POLITICIAN!” (He didn’t like Trump, didn’t give a reason.) That is a real reason; people who hate the “GOPe” do not want to vote for sitting elected GOP pols who “let them down”. He also is a person with a “Dr.” in front of his name willing to say utterly horrific things about ladybits. (Even “Doctor Paul” didn’t go so far … he–accidentally?–endorsed Plan B.)

    Carson is the kill-the-hoors candidate even more than the I’m-not-a-racist-shuck-n-jive guy.

    eta: Santorum can’t compete. He’s a corrupt, failed politician. All of a sudden (I guess the loser stink) GOPers are talking about how much his Senate record sucked.

  125. 125.

    MomSense

    @David Koch:

    That must have been a great experience and Geneva is an interesting city.

    I wasn’t sure I would get the kid through high school but he has discovered a passion for ecology and environmental action that has motivated him to be a great student now. He went from barely finishing high school to getting huge scholarships in college. Finding a purpose is what we should be helping kids do in school.

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