Jeb Bush may need to get over his family's traditional squeamishness about personal attacks https://t.co/bA3rV33l5c pic.twitter.com/dkGURlSpk6
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) December 14, 2015
Family that brought us Willie Horton, attacked McCain's daughter & impugned a combat veteran's record are squeamish? https://t.co/vy2noNBF3O
— Adam (@aalali44) December 15, 2015
Because of the SSL issues referenced in the last post, I can’t post links properly, but I wanted to state for the record that this article (Debate Offers Jeb Bush a Chance to Take the Family Gloves Off: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/us/politics/republican-debate-jeb-bush.html) reaches some kind of apotheosis of the Grey Lady’s inability to call things by their proper names:
… The Republican debate on Tuesday in Las Vegas provides Mr. Bush with a highly anticipated platform to forcefully take on his rivals. After faltering in a previous debate exchange with Senator Marco Rubio, Mr. Bush — perhaps more than anyone else onstage — might be compelled to prove he has the strength and passion not just to lead the nation, but to hold his own in the aggressive Colosseum of modern politics.
That could be tricky for a man whose family code is one of polite gentility and even bipartisanship, not angry yelling and boorishness.
That hardball, in-the-trenches style of politics, said friends, aides and scholars of the three men, goes against the ethos of the blue-blooded dynasty with roots in New England, where manners and decorum were ingrained not just at the dinner table but in the halls and playing fields of Andover.
“Even the most visceral of the Bushes, George W. Bush, has been averse to that kind of pugnation,” said Robert Draper, the author of “Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush.” “The charitable view of it is manners — it’s better not to flash anger and swing elbows. The less charitable view is it derives from a kind of superiority that Bushes don’t fight in alleys.”
Ron Kaufman, who served in the first President Bush’s administration and is a longtime friend of the family, said Jeb Bush in particular was more of a serious-minded policy aficionado than a political fighter…
Even for a dedicated professional coatholder like Ron Kaufman, that is a lot of bullshit to cram into one sentence.
***********
Apart from the ever-enjoyable spectable of REPUBS IN DISARRAY!, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Baud
HAMMERTIME!!!
Alain the site fixer
Anne Laurie, check the site header – it has the IP address you need, perhaps in your VPN config you have the address for Balloon Juice and it moved!
slag
Dick Cheney and Karl Rove approve this message.
BGinCHI
“Despite John Wilkes’ playful interlude with a pistol, the Booth family enjoys an enviable position as the first family of the American Theater.”
–NY Times, April 15, 1865
NotMax
Jeb has so many pre-rehearsed one-liners to remember to spout that any other utterances are bound to be, to put it charitably, murky.
Baud
@efgoldman: I can’t believes the fundies coalased behind the only fundie with a shot at the nomination.
benw
@Baud: Please Baud! don’t hurt ’em!
Baud
@benw: I was channeling our in-house right wing troll.
I wouldn’t dare interfere with the clown show.
RSA
Wait, isn’t pugnation a dog-based reality TV show?
Baud
Whatever happened to Jeb’s 15-minute video? I remember the run-up to it, but if it’s happened, it made no splash at all.
Cermet
Bush family not being dirty, foul, criminal thugs is like the thug party being honest – won’t ever happen.
Baud
@efgoldman: I really can’t imagine any of them winning it, but that don’t mean much.
benw
@Baud: oh, I thought you just wanted to put on some parachute pants and do the MC Hammer. Disappointing. :(
NotMax
@Baud
The fine grain unborn antelope skin gloves with mink lining are coming off!
Baud
@benw: Gotta save something for the general election.
trollhattan
I can’t wait.
John Bush [to whomever]: “Apologize for calling my wife a foreigner slut.”
Whomever: “No.”
And, scene.
Baud
@efgoldman: Interesting, because I’ve seen more TV ads for them this year than ever before.
Baud
@NotMax: OMG, if Jeb! slaps The Donald across the face with his mink gloves and says “I demand satisfaction,” I will be as happy as a little child.
Feudalism Now!
The gloves are off the Brinks trucks? Jeb? has failed to become any more lively in 6 months, I don’t think desperation is going to provide a spark. More likely, it will just seem… desperate.
trollhattan
@efgoldman:
With faux tiger-claw fingertips fashioned from white rhino tusk.
scav
@efgoldman: Marking the end of Clauses? This war on Christmas is everywhere! And then the end of sentences?! All the criminals released, All the Willie Hortons!! This nation certainly is certainly going to the pugs . . .
trollhattan
@Feudalism Now!:
I seem to recall Walker “suspended” his campaign. Perhaps a de-suspension and Koch-powered triumphant return is in order. He can rush the stage holding a boombox aloft.
rk
It’s true to some extent. The Bushes are personally incapable of dealing ruthlessly with an entity like Trump. You need quick thinking and wit to handle Trump. Obama will destroy him in a debate. The Bushes (and the rest of the republican field) will act outraged and have no comebacks to a boor like Trump. That’s why the Bushes always have others do their dirty work. They’re good at dirty advertising and whisper campaigns, but useless at direct confrontation.
Baud
It’s not too late for Mitt!
NotMax
@efgoldman
Saw an article last week that the annual take so far is down, considerably. Spokesperson blamed it on the weather not being cold enough, saying that when the temp feels more like Xmas time the donations generally go up (and vice versa)..
Cacti
The Bush family practically invented modern gutter politics.
But to the courtier press, they’re genteel.
NotMax
@efgoldman
The horror! One simply does not wear white after Labor Day!
Baby harp seal skin okay though, with a brown suit.
Roger Moore
A more realistic view is that they let their proxies engage in the mud slinging so they can keep their own public image clean. It’s not that they’re adverse to smear tactics, it’s just that somebody else has to do them.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: White tie is fine.
Frankensteinbeck
@Roger Moore:
I propose that they’re so used to being given what they want and sucked up to as natural god-kings that they’ve never had to learn wit. Jeb has demonstrated well that when people dare to defy him he throws furious sulks. They’re just ineffectual, sad, easily ignored sulks.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Or hood.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck: A lot of W’s support came from evangelicals. Jeb still has the biz community, but the religious right has abandoned him despite Schiavo.
raven
@efgoldman: White Tiger is my place!
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Also white opera gloves for the ladies. Formal occasions have their own playbook
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
I think Shiavo is an important point here. Jeb’s actions in that matter, and afterwards, display clearly what a mean, spiteful little fuck he is, and how he has no scruples if anyone gets in his way. At the same time, he only knows how to kick down at people who are vastly less powerful than him. Put against actual opposition, he doesn’t know what to do.
Ripley
@rk:
Third term’s a charm? I’m all for it….
Citizen_X
No, they have hired thugs for that.
beltane
The Bush family didn’t earn the sobriquet “The WASP Corleones” because they played nice.
dogwood
I don’t think it’s just the Bush family that leaves the dirty work to lackeys. It has been pretty standard that the candidate stays civil and lets the underlings do the smearing. That started to end when Sarah Palin hit the runway. Trump is taking it to the next level.
hells littlest angel
Baud: You didn’t hear the splash? It was followed by a flushing sound.
hells littlest angel
@Baud: You didn’t hear the splash? It was followed by a flushing sound.
bemused
@rk:
No one would ever describe the Bush family as quick witted. Dull, boring and I think the best lines have been written for them. The exception would be Barbara. She’s been known to let loose with some fast zingers, mean-spirited and disdainful but she’s quick on the draw, no mercy.
feebog
@Frankensteinbeck:
You describe it perfectly. I would add that Jeb! has no sense of humor whatsoever. GWB could crack a joke, even it was usually mean spirited and/or derogatory. I keep going back to the Correspondent’s dinner wherein Obama tore Trump up with his monolog. That took a sense of humor plus great timing and delivery. Obama has demonstrated he can do this in prepared remarks or spontaneously. Jeb! can do neither.
Punchy
@efgoldman: Maybe if they weren’t so homophobic and anti-SSM, they might get a few more peeps to shake the goddamn bell. As is, I wont even donate a penny to those bigoted effers.
Bobby Thomson
The Bushes never get their own hands dirty with that stuff, though. That’s for the help.
dogwood
You know, politics, ideology, and family connections aside, Jeb just doesn’t have the persona or personality suitable for a presidential candidate. And that’s not a knock on him. Few people are suited temperamentally to run for that office. What he has shown is his lack of self awareness of that fact. That alone disqualifies him, the same way it took guys like Lincoln Chaffee and Jim Webb off the stage. Having the money to run doesn’t mean you have the chops to run.
scav
@srv: Yup, there’s a role model. Doesn’t matter what they do, if they’re a friend, you support them. Hold down whoever they’re kicking. Or raping. Or deporting. Just don’t drag me into the debate over if kicking or raping or deporting is ethical. Doesn’t matter. They’re my friend and I’m all for them. See also teammate or fellow LEO.
geg6
I refuse to pay one iota of attention to the Rethugs tonight. Plus Wokf Blitzer will be moderating, which guarantees that the entire thing will be a farce.
Me, I’m feeling unusually serene and organized for the holiday season. This is quite unusual for me because I procrastinate like crazy because I hate this holiday with a passion. But I have all my ornaments bought as gifts for our annual girlfriends luncheon. I have my ingredients bought for the haluski I’m making for the Admissioins/Student Aid/Student Affairs potluck, which I’ll put together tomorrow evening and store it in the crock of the crock pot overnight and just plug it in when I get to work Thursday AM. Got one more shopping trip, which I’ll do in Sewickley with a friend on Wednesday next week and make a day of it. The only thing I’m behind on is decorating the tree. It is up and lit, but no ornaments yet. Hopefully, that will happen over the weekend. I’m exhausted just thinking about what I have already done (planned my contribution to the family meal, got crisp $50 bills for the nieces, got John’s gift, etc.) but at least I’m actually crossing things off the list.
WereBear
Maybe someone will take The Donald for one of those limo rides. With cannolis.
Baud
@dogwood:
We are a rare breed.
WereBear
@bemused: To quote Nixon himself: “That woman knows how to hate.”
I picture her sniping at her offspring. And they are, ya know, unarmed.
WereBear
I gotta say, picturing the kinds of parties such rich and famous throw makes me humbly glad I’m poor and obscure.
raven
OK breast cancer experts. My friend went through the double mastectomy , chemo, and radiation. Over Thanksgiving she went in for breast reconstruction and they picked up some spots on her lung. PET scan Monday showed some “hot” spots so they do a needle biopsy tomorrow. This doesn’t look good to me but I don’t really know.
MomSense
@RSA:
I wish.
Baud
@raven: Sorry to hear about your friend. Hope it turns out to be benign.
JPL
@raven: Cross your fingers, it couldn’t hurt. Your friend has to be really concerned.
shell
Uhhhh, have they always sung the national anthem before a debate? Thought we were at a baseball game.
Eric S.
I know some of you will appreciate this. I’m at the local watering hole for some dinner and adult beverages. Right now, Tom Waits song just came on. Sadly I’m not familiar enough to identify the song.
Patricia Kayden
@efgoldman: Secretary Clinton should be able to easily defeat Cruz or Trump so that’s good news. For Democrats.
@raven: Hoping for the best for your friend.
SFAW
@efgoldman:
I’m sorry, but after reading that, all I could think of was Doug and Dinsdale, and “The Other Operation.” But that led my addled brain to explore various pathways, and realized that Rafael “I’m not really ‘Murican, but I play one on TV” Cruz looks like a fairly large hedgehog. Not as large as Spiny Norman, of course, but still …
Tim C.
@efgoldman: Google “Those Balls are Perfect Tom Brady”
You’re Welcome.
raven
@JPL: Yea, she was my colleague until August and now she’s my boss. She’s been through so much already it’s just a real bummer.
Baud
@SFAW: Cruz really has no good qualities except for the fact that he is a polished speaker.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: I’m sorry to hear about your friend. I’m not a doc, nor do I play one on the internet.
Mets to the lung are one of the common sites. The “good” news is that if she has no respiratory symptoms it may be pretty early in tumor development. The better news is that targeted met treatment has improved and can offer treatment as a chronic condition. Among the items of consideration for her oncologist are the specific type of primary breast cancer and whether supportive post op hormonal treatment (e.g, Tamoxifen) was appropriate, along with stage at surgery.
My best wishes for all of you.
SFAW
@efgoldman:
I have a tough enough time remembering my own past, never mind your present.
Gimlet
Ugh!
A 31-year-old woman in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has become the latest person to fall foul of the creeping criminalization of pregnancy after she was charged and jailed for attempted first-degree murder following a failed self-induced abortion.
Anna Yocca faces the possibility of a life sentence after she was indicted by a grand jury in Rutherford County for attempting to kill her unborn child.
Yocca was 24 weeks pregnant in September when she allegedly attempted to induce a miscarriage using a coat hanger. According to local news reports based on accounts from the arresting police officers, she lay in a bath before piercing herself with the hanger but became alarmed by the amount of blood she was losing
Baud
@Gimlet: I read about that the other day. Doesn’t she understand that the whole coat hanger thing is just a cliche.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Ah, a glimmer maybe.
raven
Jesus, Tweety has Bachmann, King and Palin on.
SFAW
@Baud:
And it would appear that most of that polish gets used on his hair.
Baud
@raven: Isn’t that one of the signs of the apocalypse?
Betty
No, it doesn’t sound good. I do know someone who has had breast cancer that moved to her lungs. She has managed to carry on for quite a few years- but with a good bit of ongoing chemo.
JDM
@efgoldman: The Salvation Army is a conservative Christian religion. Maybe they do some good with people with substance abuse or other useful activity? They follow the usual fundy dogma including that women are inherently less capable than men. For anyone who is religious, just donate to your own church. If they don’t do anything to help the less fortunate, why are you a member? And if you are not religious, why give to a fundy religion? Maybe your comment was neutral, but I just have not understood why everyone gives this one denomination the permission fund drive during Christmas and no one else is able to displace them.
Gimlet
@Baud:
Wiki
In a letter to the New York Times, gynecologist Waldo L. Fielding wrote:
The familiar symbol of illegal abortion is the infamous “coat hanger” — which may be the symbol, but is in no way a myth. In my years in New York, several women arrived with a hanger still in place. Whoever put it in — perhaps the patient herself — found it trapped in the cervix and could not remove it.
…
However, not simply coat hangers were used.
Almost any implement you can imagine had been and was used to start an abortion — darning needles, crochet hooks, cut-glass salt shakers, soda bottles, sometimes intact, sometimes with the top broken off.[5]
Felonius Monk
@Baud:
But his voice is like nails on a chalkboard, so it takes the shine off the polish.
Anyone watching the Early Turds? Lindsay was crying a little while ago about how he just hated what Obama did in Iraq. He’s such a whiny little shit.
Baud
Horrible.
SFAW
@Baud:
Well, they are the Four Horses’ Asses of the Apocalypse — but I can never remember if they’re Pestilence, Famine, and War, or Psychosis, Assholery, and Dumbfuckery. (Yes, I know that’s only three.)
Baud
@Gimlet: Yeah, but you know how easily all the stuff gets dismissed.
Baud
@SFAW: Don’t forget Chris Matthews.
SFAW
@Baud:
So it’s all the fault of the DFHs again. Damn them!
raven
@JDM:
was lying in the gutter, all guzzled up with beer,
Pretzels in my whiskers, I knew the end was near,
But a bowl of beans and Jesus’ tears they saved me from the hearse
Glory, Glory hallelujah sing the second verse,
Chorus:
Hallelu, Hallelu, put a nickel on the drum,
Save another drunken bum.
Hallelu, Hallelu, put a nickel on the drum,
And you’ll be saved
SFAW
@Baud:
Yeah, I was having a philosophical/theological/epistemological/clueless argument with myself as to whether I should include him.
ETA: Although, in fairness, whatever his flaws, he’s not in the same universe of assholishness, nutjobishness, and stupidity as the other three.
Gimlet
@Baud:
“An Enemy of the People”
The Burgomaster comes in to discuss the baths with Dr. Stockmann. He asks Dr. Stockmann if he checked to see how much new pipes would cost and how long it would take.
They would cost around sixty thousand dollars and would take two years to relay. In the meantime, the baths would have to be closed down and after word got around that they were poisonous, no one would ever come to them anymore and the town would be literally bankrupt.
He tells Dr. Stockmann that his report will literally ruin the town and that Dr. Stockmann will be responsible for the total destruction of his own town. Dr. Stockmann is shocked, but says that the baths are still contaminated and something must be done. The Burgomaster, however, is not convinced that the condition is as serious as Dr. Stockmann says it is.
Baud
@SFAW: Agree with your ETA. He is definitely a far more acceptable horseman.
Relax
Get ready: the green light is on and Hammertime is a go as of the debate tonight.
It begins! Jeb is going to be dropping a bomb, like a battlefield in Vietnam.
Felonius Monk
Anybody want to hazard a guess at what point in tonight’s Klown-palooza Jeb? will get pantsed and by whom? Should we start a pool?
Baud
@Gimlet: Burgomaster knows how to lead.
raven
@Relax: Pick something you know something about before you start running your fucking reprobate mouth.
Mike J
@Baud:
He apologized for pulling Richard Sherman’s hair.
SFAW
@Relax:
I think you mean “Jeb is going to be dropping like a bomb, not stopping until his own campaign looks like Dresden.”
Gimlet
@Baud:
We don’t need to listen to no stinkin science.
Felonius Monk
@Relax:
You mean he’s going to shit his pants again?
SFAW
@raven:
Why would Racist start now? He hasn’t before.
scav
@Felonius Monk: Well, if it’s a big as Relax says it is, it may escape the big boy pants and roll out from behind the lectern!
SFAW
@Mike J:
As well he should – why did he feel the need to pick on an 87-year-old composer?
goblue72
@SFAW: If only the DFH’s did a better job being activists, then more people would listen to them.
SFAW
@scav:
Objection, Your Honor! Assumes facts not in evidence!
goblue72
@Baud: That much gassbaggery in the room likely violates the Paris climate change accords.
Mandalay
@Felonius Monk:
In some ways Graham’s performance this evening has been the most remarkable so far from any GOP candidate. His love of all things military is exceeded only by his seething hatred for President Obama. He is clearly overwrought, and repeatedly on the edge of tears. People regularly joke that Trump, Carson et al are crazy, but the candidate closest to crazy that I have seen is Graham. He really is not a stable person, and way too emotional to be running for president.
SFAW
@goblue72:
I know. Those bastards, only thinking of what’s easiest for them.
dmsilev
@Felonius Monk: Well, !Jeb tried to take down Trump and got his ass handed to him. Then he tried to take down Rubio and got his ass handed to him. Based on past data, I’ll go with “try to take down Cruz, gets his ass handed to him.”
SFAW
@efgoldman:
Because there’s an over/under in Vegas on it.
scav
@SFAW: Objection Granted.
SFAW
@dmsilev:
Big deal, even I could predict that. The only-slightly-more-risky prediction would be “Jeb?!? tries to take down Harold Stassen, gets his ass handed to him.”
Relax
34 minutes to HAMMERTIME.
dmsilev
@Relax: I have to admit, Jeb coming on stage dressed as MC Hammer would in fact be an innovative campaign strategy.
Felonius Monk
@Relax:
So, you’re saying that Jeb? gets hammered to a bloody pulp right out of the gate tonight?
SFAW
@Relax:
Yeah, you’ll need to get hammered when Jeb starts crying when Rubio gets in his (figurative) face, and Trump calls Jeb? “a dummy,” and all Jeb? can say in response is “Oh yeah? Yo’ Momma!”
Try not to drive anywhere after getting shitfaced. But if you do, can you bequeath us the supply of clues that you don’t have? There must be brazillions.
BruceFromOhio
@Feudalism Now!:
The Gloves Are OFF The Brinks Trucks!
That should totally be in consideration for the rotating tag line…
SFAW
@Felonius Monk:
Probably be self-inflicted, too.
Relax
Get these losers off the stage and bring on the Main Event.
Hammers are going to be droppin’ left and right from the hands of Jeb. Get ready !
The Lee Arwater dirty tricks start tonight too. As H.W. Said about Perot when he whined aboutRepublocan dirty tricks”–“if you can’t stand the heat, Donald, buy an air conditioning company!”
We’ve got extensive dirt on Ivanka.
BruceFromOhio
If you, poor soul, have the tenacity,the intestinal fortitude, to not only watch but also listen to a Republican debate, it is beyond my comprehension to pity you, or laugh at you, or simply dismiss you as mad beyond words.
May Gaia bless your lands, your life, your loves.
raven
I forgot the first group of losers are on now.
Baud
I hope Jeb and Mr. Trump’s permission before attacking him. Otherwise, Mr. Trump may be angry at Jeb.
BruceFromOhio
@efgoldman: I think you spelled it wrong. You may be waiting longer than expected.
dmsilev
@Relax: By Grabthar’s Hammer, Jeb will avenge you!
Baud
Caught this on the feed.
Felonius Monk
@Relax: Here’s a little country song for you to help ease the pain coming tonite.
Each time I leave the debate room when it’s over
Not feeling any pain at quitting time
But tonight JEB’s failures found me much too sober
I can’t drink enough to keep it off my mind
Tonight the bottle let me down
And let JEB’s failures come around
The one true friend I thought I’d found
Tonight the bottle let me down
I’ve always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately I’ve been turnin’ everyday
But the wine don’t take effect the way it used to
And I’m hurtin’ in an old familiar way
Tonight the bottle let me down
And let JEB’s failures come around
The one true friend I thought I’d found
Tonight the bottle let me down
Tonight the bottle let me down
You’re welcome.
SFAW
@dmsilev:
Relaxy Quest? Nah, doesn’t flow.
Ex-Lax-y Quest? Well, considering the Non-Doughy Pantload that Jeb?!? will drop on hisself tonight, it has possibilities.
Relax
Lindsey Graham’s campaign (and his conservatism) is even limper than his wrists.
SFAW
@Felonius Monk:
Nice ditty.
Of course, Racist thought the old line was “I’d rather have a frontal lobotomy than a bottle in front of me,” which explains his comments.
Baud
@Relax: How is he different than Jeb?
SFAW
@Baud:
Jeb has a beard?
Felonius Monk
@Baud:
He’s shorter?
Gin & Tonic
@Relax: We’ve got extensive dirt on Ivanka.
I know you’re just a pathetic little weasel who acts out on a blog, pretending to represent the campaign and to breathlessly give us insidery stuff, and I know it’s the Bush crime family you’re talking about on the one hand and the preposterous Il Donaldo on the other, but going after candidates’ kids is just the lowest form of scum-sucking.
catclub
@Baud: I think Mitt is on his knees every evening praying for a brokered convention.
Felonius Monk
@efgoldman:
Why would he ruin a good hammer?
SFAW
@Felonius Monk:
His head ain’t that hard.
NotMax
@Relax
Hope he remembers to wear his steel-toed wingtips. Broken toes are a bitch.
What a maroon. And a demonstrated racist, anti-Semitic one, to boot.
scav
@SFAW: Nah, but he’s that corrosive.
Roger Moore
@Relax:
FTFY.
Elie
@rk:
Now don’t minimize those tail gunner Bushes… They prefer poison to knives or bludgeons but trust me, its as natural to them as breathing. Thing is , you won’t be able to say that “they did x to so and so”. Like snake bite, the most lethal snakes bite then withdraw to wait for the victim to become immobile and begin to auto-digest before they swallow em up. Why risk an injury from a thing flailing to stay alive and/or to wound its attacker? The problem that they have with Donald is that that his followers don’t care about the usual issues around his morality, etc that would be the easy lethal blow. That may put them off their game for a little bit but won’t dim their ardor to fuck him in the least bit, IMHO.
SFAW
@scav:
Of course. I should have thought of that.
Thanks.
Anne Laurie
From the Guardian:
Just out of curiosity, did CNN mention she’s there because Scott “Cosmo Boy” Brown is her daddy?
Relax
And…we are up and on! The green light flashes! Ken speaks and HAMMERTIME begins, baby!