Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Come on, man.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

People are weird.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

I am pretty sure Katy Tur wasn’t always such a bootlicking sycophant.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

It’s a doggy dog world.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: Joe Biden’s Tender Hooks

Open Thread: Joe Biden’s Tender Hooks

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biden hat ring reporter luckovich

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)
.

… have the DC media waiting on tenterhooks. And even they are beginning to find the whole thing a bit of a joke!

… Since the beginning of the year, there has been a wide array of reported and speculated rumors about when a Biden announcement would be coming. In February, Biden said “end of summer,” which of course has come and gone. Since then, the window has narrowed and moved and expanded repeatedly — not always thanks to direct comments from Biden or his aides, but in the reporting of the media.

Notice that the timeline eventually began to converge onto late October. We can put this into mathematical terms. As the date (x) has approached Oct. 31, the decision has approached 1…

Historians will remind you that, when he ran for president in 1984, Walter Mondale received the least electoral votes of any candidate since 1936.

Nancy Cordes at CBS, yesterday:

A close confidant and longtime adviser of Joe Biden’s who spoke to him recently says Biden, as vice president, feels he has earned the right to make a decision about his political future on his own timetable.

“He (Biden) really does not care about John or anyone else,” the source said, referring to John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman. “He does not like bullies and will not be bullied. He has never really been part of the Democratic establishment and could care less about it.” Podesta told multiple media outlets last week that it was time Biden made a decision about whether he’s running for the presidency…

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton was also asked whether it was decision time for Biden. “Whether you are encouraging or not, there comes a time where a decision has to be made. And certainly I’m not in any way suggesting or recommending that the vice president accept any time table other than the one that is clicking inside of him,” she said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He has to make this decision.”…

From Linskey’s Boston Globe article:

… Biden has sat on the sidelines pondering a presidential run in the past — only to decide to stay out of the race. During the summer of 2003, then-Senator John Kerry was worried that Biden would run. Kerry’s campaign already was facing a surprisingly strong bid from a populist outsider, Howard Dean.

If Biden takes the plunge, he would be months behind all of his competitors. At 72, he would be one of the older presidential candidates in the field. Only Sanders, at 74, is older. As vice president, he would be the candidate most connected to President Obama’s record, including a mammoth trade deal that’s proven deeply unpopular with segments of the Democratic base, especially organized labor.

It’s been more than six decades since a sitting vice president tried and failed to win his party’s presidential nomination, according to Joel Goldstein, a professor at St. Louis University School of Law and vice presidential scholar.

That person was Alben Barkley, who was Harry Truman’s vice president.

Barkley lost, Goldstein said, for three main reasons: He got in the race too late, was considered too old, and he had trouble winning support from labor unions.

Of course, Biden’s already gotten encouragement from some labor unions, so there’s that in his favor.

Reader Interactions

150Comments

  1. 1.

    JPL

    OT… Canada’s major news networks, CTV and CBC, have called the election for the Liberals and Justin Trudeau, with the official results pouring in but nowhere near finished. As of now:

    Must credit the Guardian

  2. 2.

    Jerzy Russian

    I hope Mr. Biden stays in some sort of public position so The Onion can continue to write stories about him.

  3. 3.

    Dolly Llama

    At one time I hoped Biden would get in, and I would have enthusiastically supported him, but that ship sailed a good while ago. I’ll be surprised and disappointed if he gets into the race now.

  4. 4.

    Dolly Llama

    Would the man possibly consider re-upping as VP? He and Hillary would be a strong-as-hell ticket. Is there any historical precedent for that?

  5. 5.

    Another Holocene Human

    Thank you, Nate Dawg, for the link to the Trump/Sanders epic rap battle debate.

    Love the quip about the hair, simultaneously bald and sporting the biggest hair of any candidate.

    The guy who did Trump was killing it.

  6. 6.

    SiubhanDuinne

    So happy about both the Canadian election results and the huge YUUUUGE lead the Blue Jays have taken in Game 3.

    I really hope Biden doesn’t run. He hasn’t a prayer, and I don’t want to see him end his public service career on a “loser” note. Bill Kristol seems to think he will run, and since he’s almost always wrong I’ll take that as an encouraging sign.

  7. 7.

    Another Holocene Human

    @JPL: Isn’t this early? Polls in California BC haven’t closed yet.

    (Or have they? I have no idea when Canadian polls close.)

    eta: okay, tv says polls just closed now!

  9. 9.

    srv

    America is more tired of Biden’s waffling than they are of Benghazi.

    Will the John Cole’s of the Left throw Biden under the bus like they have Sanders? Inquiring minds want to know.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    This is ridiculous. I announced weeks ago.

    I would hate to see him get in and end up in the cellar like O’Malley is.

  12. 12.

    srv

    @Punchy: You old people don’t get the new media.

    Twitter is where it’s at.

    Unless it’s Tinder. But if you really want to be hip, and are hetero, Instagram is the new OK Cupid (seriously!)

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @NotMax: Yeah, I think it’s gone from understandable hesitation to irritating self-indulgence.

    and that line about not being part of the “Democratic establishment”…. oy. I saw Tweety agreeing with this today, ’cause he goes back to Delaware on the weekend.

  14. 14.

    Keith G

    There is no need for Joe to announce before Thursday’s committee hearing. In theory, HRC will put in a star turn and a day or two later, Joe can thank everyone for their interest and support and then turn to the task of organizing his retirement from elective office.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    “He (Biden) really does not care about John or anyone else,” the source said, referring to John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman. “He does not like bullies and will not be bullied.

    Take THAT, John Podesta…you…you bully, you (said for the first time ever)

    I think it’s a small chance he gets in, but unfortunately it’s still a chance. It’s a shame. The eventual Dem nominee could easily put him in as Secretary of State or Ambassador to Wherever if he still wants to contribute. Not VP though – the ticket is clearly going to need some youth on it no matter how it shakes out.

  18. 18.

    ruemara

    Is it OK if none of them float my boat? It took me a long to!me to warm up to Obama over Hilz and I was not that excited over Herself. This time I feel double plus meh. They’re all relatively good on positions and light years better than a Republican. I just don’t feel thrilled, I feel angst.

  19. 19.

    Kropadope

    @Another Holocene Human:

    Isn’t this early? Polls in California BC haven’t closed yet.

    Well, you know the news media. They gotta make the scoop. Probably relying on exit polls and things of that nature.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    @Dolly Llama

    While it is a murky area, legally, being pulled in two different directions by the 12th and the 22nd amendments, technically there is nothing to stop HRC from choosing Obama to run with her as v.p.

    (Ain’t a-gonna happen, but intriguing to consider.)

  22. 22.

    GregB

    Charlie Cook in response to Mo Brooks’ declaration of impeaching Hillary Clinton:

    Both sides say goofy things.

    The Sage of Moronika has spoken.

  23. 23.

    magurakurin

    @Punchy: why? Just another type of blog post. Saves me the trouble of reading twitter. No different than a recipe post or cat pictures or dog pictures or NFL or gardening. When you see it is a twitter digest, just skip it if it doesn’t interest you. The odd nature of this blog is what makes it appealing. I don’t pay any attention to the garden posts, but I don’t think they should stop or go away. That’s my take anyway.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @efgoldman:

    Mildly funny story: when my same-age stepbrother and I were in high school, he played hockey in a league. I somehow got roped into running the clock, but they forgot to tell me how to turn the buzzer off. The referee had to skate over and show me. Very embarrassing for a shy 15-year-old.

  26. 26.

    gene108

    They just showed another trailer for Star Wars VII, at half time of MNF.

    Fucking Disney, the wait and the teasing teasers are killing me.

    Release the damn movie already.

  28. 28.

    max

    @ruemara: Is it OK if none of them float my boat? It took me a long to!me to warm up to Obama over Hilz and I was not that excited over Herself. This time I feel double plus meh. They’re all relatively good on positions and light years better than a Republican. I just don’t feel thrilled, I feel angst.

    YAY! We can form a club!

    max
    [‘Determined Democrats for Insert Name Here!’]

  34. 34.

    BruceFromOhio

    Sorry, dimwitted rubes, Uncle Joe is totally fucking with you, Gaia love him. I can see him, The Prez, and Prez-to-be all having a laugh at the expense of the em-ess-em. Hey, watch what happens when I get a couple of staffers to tweet *this*, muhuhuhahahaha. Dance, monkeys, dance!

    Tonight is football (Go Igglez!), defect reporting, my favorite Pandora channel, and sipping a little tequila.

  35. 35.

    Patricia Kayden

    @ruemara: I feel thrilled about beating Repubs. That’s exciting enough. Not expecting to be excited about anyone like I was about President Obama.

  36. 36.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jeffro: The eventual Dem nominee could easily put him in as Secretary of State or Ambassador to Wherever if he still wants to contribute.

    I swear I’ve heard it said that, after the Big Chair, SoS was his dream job. Tweety suggested tonight that HRC make him the offer in return for staying out of the race. I can’t believe the man doesn’t wanna just go fishing

  39. 39.

    Kropadope

    @BruceFromOhio:

    Sorry, dimwitted rubes, Uncle Joe is totally fucking with you, Gaia love him. I can see him, The Prez, and Prez-to-be all having a laugh at the expense of the em-ess-em. Hey, watch what happens when I get a couple of staffers to tweet *this*, muhuhuhahahaha. Dance, monkeys, dance!

    Truth.

    @ruemara:

    Is it OK if none of them float my boat?

    My response whenever someone asks me about the 2016 presidential election…”Pfffffttt”

  43. 43.

    burnspbesq

    Eight years ago, the speculation was that if Clinton got elected, she would appoint Mary Jo White as AG. If she goes that way in 2017, how about “the Senator from MBNA” doing penance for the 2005 Bankruptcy Code amendments by a stint as chair of the SEC? Can you imagine the questioning from Sen. Warren at his confirmation hearing?

  49. 49.

    Heliopause

    Three sources close to @VP telling me

    Sources close to Heliopause are telling me, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information, that only half a dozen mainstream pundits give a fuck about what Joe “22.5% interest” Biden ponders during his bowel movements.

  50. 50.

    jl

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Looks good. I hope Canada is a bellwether. We all know that old saying, “as goes Canada, so goes North America”.

    As for Biden, who knows? It’s a free country and he can do what he wants, and I am not sure it makes much difference what he does. Maybe he is waiting to see of HRC or Gowdy, or both, blow up at the hearing. But barring that, he can waffle as long as he wants until he is irrelevant, or enter and not make much impression and drop out well before the primaries are over, since iMHO those are the alternatives.

  54. 54.

    David Koch

    CBC count:

    Liberals…………..185
    Cons……………….98
    New Dems………..29
    BO…………………..8

    18 left to count

  58. 58.

    nellcote

    there has been a wide array of reported and speculated rumors

    What’s the difference between “reported” and “speculated” rumors?

  62. 62.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman: I watch other teams and just shake my head. Some of them are so far removed from the easy grace that is the Patriots Way.

    In Cleveland v. Denver at the end it was literally like Cleveland didn’t want to win the game. They certainly had multiple chances to do so.

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    @gene108:

    They just showed another trailer for Star Wars VII, at half time of MNF.

    Fucking Disney, the wait and the teasing teasers are killing me.

    Release the damn movie already.

    Shut up and buy your tickets already.

    I wonder if Disney will do a press release on the early sales. They can also say that advance orders also allows for the rapid construction of additional movie theaters to deal with any overflow.

    Pretty good trailer. It even had some JJ Abrams lens flare.

  64. 64.

    Heliopause

    @David Koch:

    So the spokesmodel for Canada will now be someone who looks like he’s out of a Proactiv informercial. Not that I’m complaining, anything would be better than Harper, but still…

  65. 65.

    pseudonymous in nc

    It’s back to the future in Canada: not just because it’s a Trudeau, but because it’s a map that shoves the right back into Alberta and the prairies, and the Southern Ontario exurbs, and the default part of government gets the benefit of the doubt.

    Turns out the campaign was about deciding which non-CPC party would get the votes of the centre and left, and a lot of the decisions may have been made on election day. Sucks a bit for the NDP, and for a lot of good NDP parliamentarians, but if you want rid of Harper, you have to pick a weapon.

  69. 69.

    Villago Delenda Est

    This is just another example of why putting all the Villagers onto tumbrels is an idea whose time came years ago.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    So is this the end of the Keystone pipeline, or is that wishful thinking? What about tarsands in general?

  73. 73.

    lamh36

    @Brachiator: Fandango website is already down…so…

    Oh…good Lord…is this what I’m gonna have to look forward to for the next month…a bunch of Star Wars speculation tweets

    Was just saying over on twitter that I think this one will be up for a long while. Some folks will try to wait out the crowds, but tickets on sale already today, and from what I’m seeing, selling like hotcakes

  75. 75.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    A swallowtail coat of a beautiful blue,
    A brief that I bought of a booby,
    A couple of shirts, and a collar or two,
    And a ring that looked like a ruby.

  77. 77.

    Brachiator

    Canadian posters, what’s a “riding,” eh?

    From the Globe and Mail site.

    The Liberals under Justin Trudeau have won a majority government after the longest and costliest federal election campaign.

    At 10:30 p.m. ET, the Liberals were elected or leading in 183 seats — 13 more than needed to form a majority government.

    That compared to 101 for the Conservatives, 28 for the NDP and 9 for the Bloc Quebecois.

    Party leaders Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau were elected in their respective ridings.

    NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is leading in his riding, while Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Québécois is currently trailing.

    Wow, this looks like a serious butt kicking for the conservatives.

    Weren’t the Liberals the 3rd party in terms of national representation?

    And Trudeau has much better hair than Donald Trump.

    ETA: In an NBC poll, Trump is at his highest rating at 25 percent. Carson is second at 22 percent. Rubio is rising at 13 percent, followed by Cruz at 9 and Jeb! at 8. Fiorina has dropped to 7. The rest, well, who cares? Apparently not Republican voters.

    It’s really looking kinda embarrassing for Jeb! Even though he was up a point, he is not in double digit land.

  78. 78.

    JCJ

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    I saw you mention Owen Sound in an earlier thread. Someone once told me it is also known as the elephant’s ass. If you use your imagination when you look at a map of that part of Ontario you can see why.

  82. 82.

    Comrade Mary

    @Kay: Kay, I’ve sounded like that on Twitter, too. Voter ID has been a bit of a clusterfuck this year, and Peggy and I have EARNED our bouts of CAPITALIZATION.

    BTW, this is how Canadians vote when Tory racism really pisses them off.

    Voters have turned up to polling stations wearing creative face coverings — including a wrestling mask and a pumpkin — in order to show their disdain for the niqab debate that at times dominated Canada’s 42nd election.

    The unique voting attire was an apparent reaction to the controversy over whether women should be permitted to wear a face covering at citizenship ceremonies. The niqab debate became a hot-button issue after the Conservative government sought a stay for a Federal Court of Appeal decision that granted Zunera Ishaq, a Muslim woman, the right to wear a niqab while swearing the oath of citizenship. (Ishaq was officially granted citizenship last week.)

    “This campaign has been plagued with fearmongering and jingoism, making a farce of real issues. I’ve chosen to respond to Harper’s ridiculous tactics by ridiculing the very issue he’s forced on Canadians for weeks,” Edmonton resident Mike Kendrick wrote in a Facebook post alongside a picture of himself wearing a Pentagón Jr. wrestling mask.

    “The right to cover your head does not threaten the democratic process, whether you’re wearing a niqab, a khustka, or a luchador mask. Citizens should have the right to peaceful expression and belief without fear of government interference.”

    Kendrick wrote on Facebook that at first polling station staffers were “confused, and not sure how to handle” his request to vote while dressed like a Mexican wrestler. …

  83. 83.

    ms_canadada

    @JPL: We know how to ‘get ‘er done’ in Canada.
    And this was the longest election season we’ve had since 1872, at 78 days.

  86. 86.

    Brachiator

    @lamh36:

    Oh…good Lord…is this what I’m gonna have to look forward to for the next month…a bunch of Star Wars speculation tweets

    More like 2 months, and nerds are already going overboard with the speculation (why isn’t there more of Luke?). I will try to avoid as much of this as I can. I just don’t want to know advance stuff and have no need to try to guess every story detail.

    But isn’t Leia’s daughter? Could she be Luke’s spawn? How come Finn is wielding a light saber?

    Sorry.

    Was just saying over on twitter that I think this one will be up for a long while. Some folks will try to wait out the crowds, but tickets on sale already today, and from what I’m seeing, selling like hotcakes

    I’m betting that there will still be ample tickets for many shows. Weekend evenings may be packed, but it will not be as bad as some might fear.

    Now, the only thing we need is for the movie to be good.

  89. 89.

    Kropadope

    @ms_canadada:

    We know how to ‘get ‘er done’ in Canada.
    And this was the longest election season we’ve had since 1872, at 78 days.

    Oh, you guys don’t start your elections the very day after the election like we do here in the U.S.?

  90. 90.

    Lurking Canadian

    @Howard Beale IV: I am hoping the first act of the new Liberal majority is the “Everybody Gets a Free Chance to Junk Punch Harper” Act of 2015. Thank God sanity has finally broken out

  91. 91.

    Brachiator

    @gene108:

    I am trying to get tickets, What part of server crashing do you not understand?

    You must have faith in the Force.

    Good luck to you.

    But even if you don’t get through, things will still work out, Disney willing.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    @Comrade Mary:

    Voter ID has been a bit of a clusterfuck this year, and peggy and I have EARNED our bouts of CAPITALIZATION.

    Absolutely. I completely sympathize. At some point you have to just go to three word commands because time is running out :)

  93. 93.

    divF

    @Baud:
    Seersucker suits for summer campaigning.

    And for the Our Man in Havana look, wear a Hawaiian shirt underneath, and a three-day growth of beard.

  94. 94.

    lamh36

    @Brachiator:

    So I’ve never watched any of the prequels. I’ve only seen the original 3. So I asked some of my BLERD friends on twitter if they figured watching the prequels was “needed” prior to seeing the new series.

    I’m not a prequels fan, but they suggested I google this “machete” theory of watching the Franchise.

    Here’s a link to an article talking about the “machete watching” series of watching the franchise. Appatently, you watch in this order: IV, V, II, III, VI

    https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/656306581303263237

  95. 95.

    The Pale Scot

    @Steve From Antioch:

    It just makes you a target if someone wants to start shooting.

    When I first moved to FL I went over to the home of a guy I worked with, some of his acquaintances were over, including a sketchy guy who came over to talk about a “prayer group”. I explained I was Irish RC (lapsed) and from our perspective they were all godless pagans.

    Later as the guy is leaving he reaches under his car seat and pulls out an automatic pistol and says “hey Pale Scot look at this” and then drives away. The others there are talking about what a smuck the guy is and I shrug my shoulders and say in my best Jersey accent “now I know where to go if I need a pistol that’s not mine”.

    The other guys look at me like that was a new concept. Your gonna leave your gun in your car that’s a quick 5 bucks.

  97. 97.

    Jay C

    A Canadian site I was streaming for the elections results allocates out the seats for the new Parliament as follows:

    Libs 192
    Cons 104
    NDP 31
    BQ 10
    Green 1

    These may not be set in stone: the numbers were flicking up and down one or two as I watched, but the bottom line is quite clear: a (what I gather is) a huge majority for the Liberals (no coalition or Minority Government), Conservatives generally thrashed everywhere, NDP mainly collateral damage.

  98. 98.

    Peale

    @gene108: and then you’d go to the movie and come back here and complain: “fucking Disney! why did the release an unfinished movie?!!!!”

  99. 99.

    Fair Economist

    @Kropadope:

    I don’t see a 1 on that list….(of the order for seeing Star Wars movies)

    No, you don’t, because you’re better off not watching that one at all. Many recommend against seeing II as well, but it does have important plot points.

    My impression of Machete order is that it’s for somebody new to the franchise, though. I’m not sure if it’s the best order for reviewing the series, although maybe it is. My son has so far watched in Machete order, but only IV and V.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    @Patricia Kayden:
    Yay! He and Tony Abbott can go play snooker in their free time.

    Maybe this is the end of the Big Oil and Coal stranglehold on the two commonwealths. The planet would be grateful.

  103. 103.

    dmsilev

    @efgoldman: Not quite true. Episode I was very different; it was set here on Earth and featured sword-fighting immortals. They never made a true sequel but instead moved far far away.

  106. 106.

    showmecanuck

    @showmecanuck: Hey… cleared moderation.
    After years in deep red purgatory it’s nice to see folks back home figure out that vote splitting delivers a conservative disaster.
    And hello to y’all. I’ve been lurking for years but this election result drew me out.

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JCJ:

    Oh, indeed. I’ve been pointing that out for years. Most southern Ontarians are as familiar with the elephant image as Michiganders are with the mitten. They are both useful shortcuts for quick-‘n’-dirty geography.

  112. 112.

    katie5

    Stephen Harper just conceded: “A result we accept without hesitation.” Also said, “Conservatives = economy, national security”. Unlike US, no social conservatism/bigotry, although you wouldn’t know it from his campaign.

    And he’s resigned as leader of the Conservatives!

  114. 114.

    Just One More Canuck

    @katie5: It’s an odd speech – i’m getting the impression that he is just rushing through this just to get it over with – a lot of random snippets of thoughts

  120. 120.

    trollhattan

    And in doggie news, straight outta Central Asia.

    Today’s dogs can trace their origins to Central Asia, according to one of the most comprehensive genetic surveys yet.

    Dogs are the most diverse animal on the planet – a legacy of thousands of years of selective breeding by humans. But they derive from wild wolves that were gradually tamed and inducted into human hunting groups – perhaps near Mongolia or Nepal. The findings come from an analysis of DNA from thousands of pooches, and are published in PNAS journal.

    Cornell University’s Dr Adam Boyko and his colleagues studied 4,676 purebred dogs from recognised breeds, as well as 549 “village dogs” – free-ranging animals that live around human settlements. This latter group are the least studied, yet represent a crucial piece in the picture of modern dog diversity.

    “The fact that we looked at so many village dogs from so many different regions, we were able to narrow in on the patterns of diversity in these indigenous dogs,” Dr Boyko told BBC News. Dog domestication is the kind of event that could have taken place independently in different corners of the globe. But the DNA of modern pooches doesn’t provide any support for this idea.

    “We looked exclusively to see if there was evidence of multiple domestication events. And like every other group that’s looked for that, we found no evidence of it,” said Dr Boyko. “It looks like there’s a single origin, although there are clearly situations where there has been… a little bit of gene flow between wolves and dogs post-domestication.”

  121. 121.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: Bush’s dismissive tone toward the Tea Party lawmaker — who worked on his campaign as a domestic policy advisor in 1999 — came as a surprise for many of the 100 donors at the event. At one point, Bush reportedly said of Cruz, “I just don’t like the guy.”

    Dee-lightful! I hope the Bush boys keep poking snakes with stick. Maybe Marvin or Nielsie or Big Bad Bar will start sniping at Rupert or the Bloat from Cape Girardeau

  122. 122.

    katie5

    @Just One More Canuck: He’s a lot stronger than Mulcair. But I agree: it was disjointed.

    Hopefully this marks the end of American-style politics with heavy influence by Republicans. (I blame David Frum, Mr. Axis of Evil, who’s a Canadian.) And an end to bullies-in-power. I met a couple of ministers and they delighted in crushing regular people who opposed them.

  123. 123.

    redshirt

    @katie5:

    Stephen Harper just conceded: “A result we accept without hesitation.” Also said, “Conservatives = economy, national security”. Unlike US, no social conservatism/bigotry, although you wouldn’t know it from his campaign.

    And he’s resigned as leader of the Conservatives!

    Ding dong the dick is dead!

    Canada is Free!

  125. 125.

    Cervantes

    Via @lamh36:

    Bush’s dismissive tone toward the Tea Party lawmaker — who worked on his campaign as a domestic policy advisor in 1999 — came as a surprise for many of the 100 donors at the event. At one point, Bush reportedly said of Cruz, “I just don’t like the guy.”

    And to think that, following in Bush’s footsteps, Cruz started to describe himself as a “compassionate conservative.”

  126. 126.

    katie5

    @redshirt: All parties make tons of promises in the campaigns. Unlike US politicians, Canadian politicians tend to keep none of them. I will remain skeptical of the Liberals as they regress to the mean of traditional centre-left governance.

    Still delighted, though. And Trudeau is giving a great speech.

  127. 127.

    David Koch

    @lamh36:

    Bush also reportedly criticized another candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), although not as harshly

    “He’s a young, first-term senator; I’m not sure if that qualifies you to be president,” Bush said of Rubio

    That’s hilarious coming from Shrub who started running for president after only 4 years in elected office.

  129. 129.

    PurpleGirl

    One of the kitten cams I go to and comment at is outside Vancouver in Fort Langley. I congratulated the commenters there who are Canadian on the Liberal win. Even a couple of them were surprised — pleasantly surprised at the outcome today.

  132. 132.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Sahil Kapur ‏@ sahilkapur 2h2 hours ago
    On Hannity, @ JebBush faults Clinton admin for the “mistake” of viewing bin Laden “from a law enforcement perspective.”

    His father’s cluelessness? Or his mother’s brass balls?

  133. 133.

    CaseyL

    I’m delighted with the results from Canada! As someone old enough to remember Pierre Trudeau very fondly, I’ll be very interested to see how his kid does as PM.

    I wonder how often people who win big elections like this, no matter how capable they are, how pleased they are, and how confident they are, wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and think Holy shit, what have I let myself in for??

  135. 135.

    Mike in NC

    @Cervantes: Wasn’t ‘Compassionate Conservative’ coined by Bush advisor Karen Allen? Wingnuts loved it in 2000, though I always thought it was just preferable to the previous term, ‘asshole’.

  138. 138.

    Gian

    @gene108:
    it’s an alternate timeline, the sith go back in time to prevent the death star from being destroyed and Lando turns into a furry. It’s a JJ Abrams thing

  139. 139.

    slag

    I was wondering where I could get a quick Canada election update. Thank you, commentariat!

    Speaking of…any new recommendations for political blogs? BJ and Kevin Drum have been my standards, but BJ is just too light to fill the void now and KD is just one dude. Suggestions?

  140. 140.

    danielx

    Every so often you see a headline link where it’s one of those car wreck deals – you can’t help yourself, you have to look. From NY Daily News, bless their hearts:

    Md. cop no longer on job in wake of testicle biting incident

    One of the key lines here:

    …the fracas outside Looney’s Pub in Baltimore while he was off-duty on Cinco de Mayo.

    That’s early in the article and I was already trying to keep myself from hysterics; didn’t really want to explain myself to the daughter unit. This guy is definitely going into cop legend. Now, the takeaway here is that while this guy may no longer be in the law enforcement racket right at the moment, I’ll bet there are departments all over the country saying to themselves:

    You’re our boy.

  142. 142.

    Cervantes

    @Mike in NC:

    Wasn’t ‘Compassionate Conservative’ coined by Bush advisor Karen Allen?

    No, it was Doug Wead, in the late ’70s.

    Bush picked it up from him at some point and eventually ran with it.

    Then Cruz picked it up from Bush, claiming:

    One of the reasons I was so eager to help Bush is the way he has described himself, as a compassionate conservative. That’s how I have always conceived of my own political views.

    “Described himself.” “Conceived of.” It’s all at a remove. None of these people actually are.

  143. 143.

    Splitting Image

    @Brachiator:

    Canadian posters, what’s a “riding,” eh?

    A riding is the same as a district.

    Apparently the word comes from Old English. Some counties in England used to be divided into three parts for electoral purposes, and each part was called a “thirding”. These would be named the “north-thirding” and “south-thirding” and so on. Eventually the words became “north riding”, “south riding”, and so forth, and “riding” by itself became a synonym for district.

  144. 144.

    Brachiator

    @lamh36:

    So I’ve never watched any of the prequels. I’ve only seen the original 3. So I asked some of my BLERD friends on twitter if they figured watching the prequels was “needed” prior to seeing the new series.

    The prequels are just huge disappointments. I think that everyone is free to include them or to ignore them.

    And even though I am a grizzled grown ass man, I hope that they are really making a young woman (and a young black man) part of the center of the action in what has been one of the most enduring and popular film franchises. A co-worker’s young daughter loves her some Darth Vader. I hope that she sees and loves the crap out of the new movie.

  146. 146.

    Matt McIrvin

    @NotMax: While the term limit literally is only on being elected President, which might not be the same thing as the “eligibility” cited as a requirement for being VP, I suspect nobody is actually willing to test the Constitution on that. Particularly given that Obama would know the challenge from birther types would be fierce from day one.

  147. 147.

    Matt McIrvin

    …and even if a former two-term President could be VP, such a person could definitely serve at most a partial term if their services as President are actually needed.

  149. 149.

    NonyNony

    @lamh36:

    So I’ve never watched any of the prequels. I’ve only seen the original 3. So I asked some of my BLERD friends on twitter if they figured watching the prequels was “needed” prior to seeing the new series.

    I actually wouldn’t bother with watching the prequels as movies – not even in machete order.

    Stick with Episodes IV, V and VI and then, after 6 is done, watch the last 15 minutes or so of Episode III. It’s the battle between Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi on the lava planet of Mustafar – from what I can tell it’s the only portion of the prequels that Lucas actually conceived of well before he started making Episode I. You can treat it as a flashback-teaser – actually it would slot in nicely as a post-credits “stinger” between Empire and Jedi, after the reveal of Luke’s parentage but before the redemption of Vader.

    None of the rest of the prequel movies are necessary for plot points, and the storytelling in them is just not good. You could keep watching after the battle and see the birth of Luke and Leia and the Emperor’s final transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader, but honestly neither is needed. Both of those are examples of Lucas showing minutia that the viewers could easily extrapolate for themselves, so they don’t further the story at all, and neither scene is well done enough to watch on their own merits. (I think that Lucas thought he was doing something dramatic with these scenes, but he wasn’t.) But anything that comes before the battle on Mustafar only works if you care about the corruption of Anakin Skywalker – and every choice that Lucas makes in those three movies makes you not give a damn about the fall of Anakin. The way he told the story it actually makes the redemption scene at the end of Jedi less powerful to me, because I keep remembering what a whiny tit of an overentitled manchild Anakin was in two of the three prequel movies (for all the guff Episode I gets, at least Jake Lloyd’s Anakin isn’t a whiny entitled spoiled brat of a creepy stalker like Anakin is in Episode II and III).

  150. 150.

    Matt McIrvin

    @NonyNony: I thought the best thing about the prequel series was Ian McDiarmid’s performances as Palpatine; he’s great, and he gets the chance to do a lot more than he did in Return of the Jedi. But he’s mostly front and center in Revenge of the Sith, and he’s practically carrying the movie by himself at that point. And you definitely don’t need to see it to understand anything else in the series.

    All that stuff about the Trade Federation and the Separatists and whatnot… nobody needs that. It’s great to see Christopher Lee in any capacity, but he still seems peripheral.

    When Revenge of the Sith came out, user bryant on LiveJournal posted this storyline for an alternate version. I still like it. It would have outraged the fanbase but it also would have made more of the prequel trilogy actually matter.

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