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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

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

This fight is for everything.

Come on, man.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

We still have time to mess this up!

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

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

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

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

T R E 4 5 O N

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / LOSE THE MORNING

LOSE THE MORNING

by Zandar|  January 29, 20168:16 am| 81 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Hail to the Hairpiece, Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell, DC Press Corpse, I Smell a Pulitzer!, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All, WIN THE MORNING

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The Politico team will be no more after the 2016 Hunger Games as founders Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen are evacuating the smoking remains of the Village by helicopter.

In what can be described only as a cataclysm in Beltway media, CEO Jim VandeHei is leaving Politico, the eight-year-old politics website that shook up Washington journalism, according to sources and reports by Huffington Postand CNNMoney.

And in what can be described only as a mega-cataclysm, Politico Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen is joining VandeHei in rushing toward the exits of Politico’s Rosslyn headquarters. Allen writes the daily franchise newsletter “Politico Playbook.” A bearer of occasional scoops, Allen is the driver of very frequent revenue. Weekly sponsorships for “Playbook” run in the $50,000 to $60,000 range this year, depending on the news cycle. And that’s not even rolling in the big money that comes from “Politico Playbook” conferences/interviews anchored by Allen. His work alone — complete with ethical issues — subsidized a platoon of Politico reporters.

It doesn’t end there: Kim Kingsley, the Chief Operating Officer is leaving as well. Kingsley has provided the glue that bridged Politico’s newsroom and its business side as the site sprinted to revenues approaching $20 million just years after launching. She headed the colonization of radio and cable-news airwaves that helped establish Politico as a preferred Washington source both for readers and advertisers. The company’s successful events business was also an obsession of Kingsley’s. Other departures are Danielle Jones and Chief Revenue Officer Roy Schwartz.

VandeHei, Allen and Schwartz will stay through the 2016 election; the others will leave on earlier timetables. Editor-in-Chief John Harris will say on board and take on the additional title of publisher.

Politico as we’ve come to know it is no longer.

The disintegration appears to be over money issues, as most business problems seem to be, and surely most of these folks will land on their feet.  But Politico’s particularly toxic brand of Beltway both-siderism has surely taken a beating in the era of LOL PMURT NOTHING MATTERS ANYMORE, and I’m thinking since the rules of Beltway “journalism” have been thoroughly napalmed over the last six months, Jim and Mike are getting off the playground where they’ve realized that they’re no longer the guys in charge of giving out all the kickballs.

I can think of a couple hundred Villagers who need to follow those two out the door, too.

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Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    January 29, 2016 at 8:25 am

    They’ll be replaced by more conservative people in order to counteract Politico’s well-known liberal bias.

  2. 2.

    Peale

    January 29, 2016 at 8:26 am

    I can’t believe it’s only eight years old. I feel like I’ve been avoiding them much longer than that.

  3. 3.

    Joey Maloney

    January 29, 2016 at 8:26 am

    “PMURT”?

  4. 4.

    Michael Bersin

    January 29, 2016 at 8:29 am

    It can’t be about money. It’s probably because they stopped getting invites to those inside the beltway cocktail weenie parties. Once you’re removed from the free food and knowing nods from all those people who know someone who knows someone who knows something it pretty much destroys your will to live.

  5. 5.

    dslak

    January 29, 2016 at 8:34 am

    @Joey Maloney: Read it backwards three times.

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel

    January 29, 2016 at 8:42 am

    @Joey Maloney:
    = pretty much, when your mouth is full of the same smelly stuff your brain pan contains it comes out as ‘pmurt’

  7. 7.

    srv

    January 29, 2016 at 8:43 am

    After all the work of mainstreaming Politico with FP’ers on this very blog, I am disappoint.

  8. 8.

    p.a.

    January 29, 2016 at 8:46 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I blame Obama

    Technically, he is to blame. His existence, success are as* a pebble to an oyster. Production of a beautiful pearl of fear anger and hate.
    Imagine if he were a liberal!

    *Correct usage? I hope?

    Hey what happened to the comment I referenced!

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 29, 2016 at 8:48 am

    Charlie Pierce is going to have a big sad over this news.

  10. 10.

    ThresherK

    January 29, 2016 at 8:50 am

    @dslak: Three times? That’s dangerously close to summoning territory.

    Seriously, I’ve been waiting for this.

    I want this to be the AirplOcoanuGrovDenburg of disasters, where everyone gets food poisoning as a cataclysmic fire spreads through a cruise ship that then hits an iceberg.

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    January 29, 2016 at 8:51 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

  12. 12.

    MattF

    January 29, 2016 at 8:52 am

    For this election cycle, the insiders have been wrong about everything. Having the inside track on the opinions of the K-Streeters is useless. Jeb! is not going to be the nominee, Christie is not going to be the nominee, etc. Why should anyone read what they are writing? ‘Nobody here but clones of Bill Kristol’ is not an effective slogan for a political journal.

  13. 13.

    Schlemazel

    January 29, 2016 at 8:54 am

    @ThresherK:
    toss in the Indianapolis, the sharks would make a perfect denouement

  14. 14.

    boatboy_srq

    January 29, 2016 at 9:12 am

    @dslak: and suddenly Toy Dolls’ version kg Nellie the Elephant is running round my head. Thanks for the morning earworm.

  15. 15.

    boatboy_srq

    January 29, 2016 at 9:13 am

    @ThresherK: “Deep Rising of the Sailing Dead”, perhaps?

  16. 16.

    boatboy_srq

    January 29, 2016 at 9:16 am

    @p.a.: Correct.

    And Obama is to blame even for disappearing blog comments. Thought you knew that.

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    January 29, 2016 at 9:19 am

    Got to read the links, but I am glad to hear it. Politico is ghastly.

    I hope they leave in tumbrels.

    I’d want a meteor to take out their building, make it a smoking ruin, but a friend works in unrelated offices a few floors above.

    ETA: Said friend is a totebagger, but still ….

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 29, 2016 at 9:20 am

    I saw one write up that said Vande Hei was thinking of running for office. I saw him on a panel show one time, he’s like a tall version of John Katich, speaking in somewhat spastic non-sequiturs and bellowing about SPENDING! I’d guess he’s hoping for a national Bloomberg movement. Bloggy rumor is he has a framed copy of the Clinton impeachment articles in his house.

    (Good Lord, is this the new MSNBC format where the anchor pretends to stroll around the newsroom bumping into people and chatting about the news? it’s not at all stilted or painful to watch)

  19. 19.

    Poopyman

    January 29, 2016 at 9:20 am

    This leaves Balloon Juice a clear path to winning every morning! Now if Cole can just plug into the cash stream ….

    Of course it’s about the money. And egos, which looked like they grew along with the money. I’m just sad that we’ll probably see more of vandeHei and Allen in the future.

    I didn’t watch the debate(s) last night because I had better things to do. I’ll tell you about it as soon as I remember what that was. Anyway, it occurs to me that Fox’s strategy at this point could well be to put Hillary in the White House. Consider:
    – It’s always about the money with Murdoch.
    – Murdoch has taken steps to grab the reins back from GOP hack Ailes
    – It’s apparent to everyone that Trump is not going to toe anybody elses line.
    – There is no predicting what could happen to the country or economy under Trump. Bad for business.
    – Another President Clinton gives Fox 4 more years (at least!) of outrage material. Great for business!

    They can’t do it overtly, of course. But they can poison the pool just enough so the low info/undecided voters turn to Hillary.

    Discuss.

  20. 20.

    gvg

    January 29, 2016 at 9:21 am

    I hadn’t realized they had that much income or influence. I thought they were lightweight but were simply easier to read in the internet era while more traditional outlets were still resisting having readable websites.

    As I recall when they first came out they were actually more neutral and I found them useful for a few months. then they went all conservative bias and became ignorable.

    It is true that this cycle, conventional outlooks have been totally wrong and that is bound to impact most media. Even the nut sites because of the internal fighting must be losing a percent of their readers.

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    January 29, 2016 at 9:31 am

    @Poopyman:
    Your theory does seem plausible, especially when one remembers that the Fox News Channel was founded during Bill’s presidency — a month before his reelection.

  22. 22.

    ThresherK

    January 29, 2016 at 9:33 am

    @Schlemazel: The USS Indianapolis? I appreciate the sharks, but that’s wartime with an enemy’s fire. And when it comes to the deep blue sea one can have sharks or 24F hypothermia-inducing water, but not both.

    @boatboy_srq: That had a saboteur, if the Wiki is accurate.

    I’m going for the all-avoidable, hubris-created, Twilight Zone want-of-a-nail style disaster here.

  23. 23.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    January 29, 2016 at 9:37 am

    Do I dare to hope that this will mean the end of Politico itself?

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    January 29, 2016 at 9:38 am

    MONDAY, JAN 25, 2016 10:15 AM CST
    Fine, just call him the N-word: All the Republicans want to do is say it. Would be more honest if they did
    GOP candidates use every trick to slur Obama without using the word. Just tell us what you really feel, PC warriors
    CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
    ……………………………………………….

    And, of course, for Republicans, the United States is like Rome before the collapse, with Obama as Nero, while the country’s enemies, the barbarians at the gates, are sharpening their straight razors to slit the throats of the American people. The Republican 2016 candidates know their public quite well as they conjured up images of wicked Muslim refugees who are all human bombs in waiting. The only people who can stop these millions of Islamic evildoers are the hyper-masculine American heroes in the Republican Party, their version of Churchill’s “rough men” who “stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us” (and as Donald Trump so proudly proclaimed, torturing and killing the innocent family members of those people who would even think of doing America harm).

    …………………

    But even by those low standards, the Republican candidates’ racism and authoritarian-fueled attacks on Barack Obama were especially vile and repugnant.

    Their racist fusillades against Barack Obama, and by extension, Black America, took three forms.

    1. Modern American presidents are almost always the subject of conspiracy theories. Those conspiracy theories are a reflection of the anxieties and worries felt by a given community. The form and content of those conspiracies vary according to the political values and identities of the individuals and groups involved.

    The election of Barack Obama in 2008 was met with “birtherism”—the conspiranoid fantasy that Obama was not eligible to be president of the United States of America because he was not a “natural born citizen.” Of course, this is absurd. Barack Obama’s mother is an American citizen and he was born in Hawaii. “Birtherism” (which is still believed by a significant percentage of Republicans) is a racist, white supremacist conspiracy theory that is predicated on a belief that black folks are not “real Americans,” i.e., “white.”

    During last Thursday night’s Fox Business Channel debate, the Republican presidential primary candidates implied that Barack Obama, the president of the United States, is actually in league with Islamic terrorists. Ted Cruz said: “…we have a president who refuses to acknowledge the threat we face and even worse, who acts as an apologist for radical Islamic terrorism.”

  25. 25.

    khead

    January 29, 2016 at 9:39 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Sell your stock in antifreeze.

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    January 29, 2016 at 9:40 am

    this humored me. Like anyone actually took Unca Ben seriously.

    PULEEZE.

    But, seeing Grifter #1 Armstrong Williams being thrown under the bus is hilarious.
    ………………

    WEDNESDAY, JAN 27, 2016 11:05 AM CST

    This is how Ben Carson blew it: How the onetime GOP favorite fast became a 2016 afterthought

    “All they have to do now is decide who will write the eulogy. Dr Carson is out of the race and everyone…knows it”

    LOU DUBOSE, WASHINGTON SPECTATOR

    Ben Carson was on the ropes at the last Republican debate. But it didn’t matter. By that time, his improbable run for the presidency was all but over.

    In fact, the campaign was already on life support the last week in December, when campaign manager Barry Bennett was sent packing, along with the communications director and support staff. Bennett, a peripatetic consultant and Capitol Hill staffer, is best known for a scathingly effective 2012 attack video targeting Mitt Romney, paid for by a political action committee supporting Newt Gingrich.

    Before Bennett boxed up his files, packed up his laptop, and moved over to the Trump campaign office, he phoned in his postmortem to NBC. “We all know the root of our problems,” he said, “let’s not pretend it’s not Armstrong Williams.”

    Bennett is not alone in that view. “All they have to do now is decide who will write the eulogy,” a former Carson campaign adviser told me. “Dr. Carson is out of the race and everyone in the campaign knows it. Armstrong Williams should write the eulogy.”

    Williams is a South Carolina businessman who has been involved in Republican Party politics since working as an aide for South Carolina Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond, then signing on with Ronald Reagan’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chairman Clarence Thomas. Williams was also an all-in supporter of Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court.

    Today, Williams is best known as a conservative African-American radio personality and columnist. He also manages Carson’s business affairs.

    “Armstrong created Dr. Carson’s candidacy,” the former campaign adviser I spoke to told me. “And Armstrong killed it.”

  27. 27.

    Schlemazel

    January 29, 2016 at 9:42 am

    @ThresherK:
    I want sharks with friggin lasers!

    Plus sharks eating their own makes a nice image

  28. 28.

    different-church-lady

    January 29, 2016 at 9:42 am

    The only (and I mean only) downside to this is that something even more awful will replace it.

  29. 29.

    different-church-lady

    January 29, 2016 at 9:44 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    This is sad: it sounds as if you’ve been waiting all morning for us.

  30. 30.

    different-church-lady

    January 29, 2016 at 9:45 am

    @MattF: Baud! is going to be the nominee.

  31. 31.

    different-church-lady

    January 29, 2016 at 9:46 am

    @Elizabelle:

    I hope they leave in tumbrels.

    If they do, it will be gold-plated tumbrels.

  32. 32.

    rikyrah

    January 29, 2016 at 9:46 am

    Jeb can’t find no love nowhere…

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    …………………………………………

    WEDNESDAY, JAN 27, 2016 12:27 PM CST

    Everyone hates Jeb Bush! Right-wing media now blaming him for Donald Trump

    Jeb’s agitating bigwigs in the GOP establishment who believe he’s boosting Trump by attacking “mainstream” rivals

    SEAN ILLING

    The Republican presidential race has been as bewildering and unpredictable as any in recent memory. It’s nearly impossible to say with certainty what will or won’t happen. However, it’s not too soon to say that Jeb Bush is done. An early frontrunner, Jeb’s campaign has imploded in slow motion over the last few months. He’s languishing in fifth place now, sandwhiched between a younger Marco Rubio and a louder Chris Christie.

    It’s hard to imagine Jeb turning things around at this point. Republican primary voters just don’t like him, and his entire approach to politics is ill-suited to this kind of climate. As this becomes more and more clear, Jeb faces a difficult decision: How does he want to be remembered?

    As is stands, Jeb is likely to be remembered as the entitled candidate who thought he could buy his way to the White House, but instead was emasculated by a raging clown whose campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” doubles as his platform. Even worse, Jeb is beginning to agitate Republican establishmentarians, who believe he’s responsible for clearing a path for Trump.

    A recent piece written by Stephen Hayes of the right-leaning “The Weekly Standard” sums up the prevailing sentiment on the right:

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    January 29, 2016 at 9:49 am

    WEDNESDAY, JAN 27, 2016 11:00 AM CST
    Donald Trump goes nuclear on Fox News: Why his debate boycott could expose Roger Ailes’ irrelevance
    The GOP front-runner has escalated his feud with the right-wing network. The stakes are higher than ever
    JACK MIRKINSON

    Donald Trump and Roger Ailes may be on opposite sides of a very bitter divide at the moment, but the presidential candidate and the head of Fox News actually have quite a bit in common. Both are megalomaniacal senior citizens. Both are brilliant showmen. Both eagerly traffic in endless racial falsehoods. Both are given to writing scorched-earth press releases. Both consider themselves the most important people in the world.

    Perhaps this is why Trump and Ailes have been so at odds throughout Trump’s 2016 campaign. Ailes has been used to bending Republican candidates to his will, but in Trump, he’s met his match. Trump’s decision to skip Thursday’s Fox News debate was so bombastic, so audacious, so utterly weird that it might as well have come from Ailes’s brain. Unfortunately for Ailes, it most certainly didn’t.

    In a way, the particulars of the impasse don’t matter. True, Trump had repeatedly called for debate moderator and very prominent enemy Megyn Kelly to be scrapped from the lineup. True, Fox News had supposedly enraged Trump with its mocking press releases rejecting the suggestion. True, Trump’s campaign manager apparently threatened Kelly in a conversation with Fox executives.

    But really, this feels like Trump taking an opportunity to assert his supremacy over Fox News and declare that he, not the network, is in true control of the Republican primary process. The debate was merely a useful foil. Ever since Trump’s campaign against Kelly last August, the two sides have co-existed uneasily. Something had to give, and now, Trump has made that happen.

  34. 34.

    Zinsky

    January 29, 2016 at 9:49 am

    I have never been particularly impressed with Politico. They project this attitude that the normal state of nature is Republican rule and always present positive news about liberal people or policies in a bemused and condescending manner, as if they are shocked that progressives could ever do anything right. Good riddance!

  35. 35.

    rikyrah

    January 29, 2016 at 9:51 am

    Trump plays the White version of ‘The Dozens’, and does it better than all of the rest of them COMBINED.

    …………………………………………….

    Trump Campaign Manager: Trump Will Debate Cruz Once Judge Rules Him Eligible To Run
    Jan 28, 2016

    “Once you’ve gotten that ruling from the federal judge and you’re the last man standing in this presidential contest next to Donald Trump, we’ll be happy to have a debate with you one-on-one, anywhere you want.”

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    January 29, 2016 at 9:54 am

    That Erik Wemple WaPost blog column is interesting on several points.

    On how CNN got so suckworthy:

    [New Editor Susan Glasser] promised to carry forward Politico’s fast-twitch heritage while at the same time producing in-depth journalism — all with essentially the same staffing levels as before. “We want scoops, big stories, wonderfully written and reported enterprise. A Politico that is excellent and indispensable,” she wrote ….

    What she got was a period of turmoil. Valuable staffers headed to other pastures, particularly CNN, whose digital politics operation gorged on Rosslyn-forged talent. The departure rates vastly outpaced industry standards, as this blog has pointed out.

    The Politico virus colonized other news sites.

    And look at Vandehei’s insistence on being an uberhuman, and demanding the same constant intensity from his staff. You get burnout and an inferior product. Although Politico’s product was clickbait, most of it from conservative mouthpieces. Accuracy was not their strong suit.

    From his early days at Politico, VandeHei has driven Politico’s workaholic competitive edge. In case his colleagues didn’t get the message that Politico people work around the clock, they received pre-dawn emails from VandeHei pressing them on this news story or that. There was no hypocrisy in his insistence: He worked as hard as anyone, and his chest-beating rhetoric matched his drive.

    …. Such grandiosity came through in every staff memo that VandeHei sent to his underlings over the years. Incomparably optimistic, boastful of journalistic and business successes, these missives should star in a slide presentation at a workplace morale conference.

    And Wemple brings some very, very good news, toward the end:

    Glasser has been talking to the New York Times about some sort of contract position. Her husband, Peter Baker of the New York Times, will be manning the paper’s Jerusalem bureau.

    Music to my ears. Peter Baker is currently a White House correspondent, and a Republican whisperer of longstanding (formerly of the WaPost; he wrote a book on the Clinton impeachment.) Cannot stand him. He is the Jonathan Karl Rove of print.

  37. 37.

    boatboy_srq

    January 29, 2016 at 9:57 am

    @ThresherK: th saboteur in Deep Rising was incidental – he stopped the ship and scrambled the systems so they couldn’t call for help. It was the sea monsters that really did them in. And you can’t deny in the current sh!tstorm that there are saboteurs working in their own small ways: look what HEB? Is going to Rubio, what Cruz and Huckabee are trying to do to tRump, how Fauxnews is handling half the field, etc.

  38. 38.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    January 29, 2016 at 10:01 am

    Hmm. You usually only see those kinds of “rats running for the exits” in the case of massive criminal indictments coming down. This is surely about more than money. They’ve had quite the profitable grift as the GOP coverup squad, and the GOP needs their services today more than ever.

    While their reporting is, at best, somewhere between “irresponsible” and “nonfactual”, I don’t think any of that qualifies as a crime. So what exactly is going on there?

  39. 39.

    ThresherK

    January 29, 2016 at 10:01 am

    @Elizabelle: “The Politico virus colonized other news sites.”

    Lots of win with that simple sentence.

    And re Jim VandeHei: Do you know who was also a very hard worker who believed in his vision and put in the same energy he wanted from his minions?

    No, not Hitler. Ed Wood.

  40. 40.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    January 29, 2016 at 10:02 am

    @Poopyman:

    The thing that makes the followers of Bumpersticker on a Belching Biodiesel Volvo crazy with regard to Hillary can also work to the salvation of the country, by divorcing most of the money from the GOP.

    Consider the past 30 years and the near monolithic levels of support that business gave the right, particularly 1995-2005.

    Now consider the fact that the money is aware that Hill can be bargained with and is not unsympathetic to business – she is realistic.

    Contrast that with the goofiness that was Ted Cruz on default (an utter business disaster) and the hostility offered money by the multiply bankrupt fascist.

    There’s a real chance of making a switch – defang business, you crush those ALEC statehouse campaigns. If you’re lucky, you confine movement conservatives to their true home in the original secession states. It’ll take twenty years, but most of us would live to see it.

  41. 41.

    Redshift

    January 29, 2016 at 10:04 am

    I actually got profiled in Politico, back in the FireDogLake days. A Politico reporter, Ryan Grim (who’s since gone on to better things) was at some event, hoping to get an interview with whichever blogger was there, but they all hated Politico and were rightly wary of a hatchet job. So he talked to us lowly commenters, and asked if anyone would be willing to be profiled about the blog, and I went for it. We did a brief phone interview. I talked about how important back-and-forth between commenters was for building a good online community. (Hmm, sounds familiar!) The profile was pretty good, other than that in the print version, Politico stuck on an obnoxious headline hinting that maybe community=communism.

    The one other thing I got out of meeting Grim was later, during the healthcare debate, IIRC. There was an article he’d written that had a fairly obnoxious anonymous-source quote. Applying the rule I’d learned that if a story includes anonymous and named sources, the anonymous quotes are almost always from one of the named sources, I emailed him asking if the anonymous quote was actually the Lieberman staffer in the article. He admitted it was, and actually updated the online version of the article, which significantly weakened the force of the quote, since it was no longer from a disinterested party. Like I said, good guy.

  42. 42.

    ThresherK

    January 29, 2016 at 10:04 am

    @boatboy_srq: I will take your word for it, never having seen the movie. Maybe the next time it’s on basic cable I will have a look.

    How about “Lifeboat”? It has a bunch of people thrown together hanging on for survival, and the story is full of micro-agressions from people who don’t trust each other.

  43. 43.

    FEMA Camp Counselor

    January 29, 2016 at 10:04 am

    I think Jay Sherman sums up my feelings pretty well.

  44. 44.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    January 29, 2016 at 10:08 am

    DougJ and I used to troll Jim Fucking VandeHei back in his WaPo days during chats. He’s probably more of a poster child for what’s wrong with the Village than somebody like Milbank.

    He’s bailing here just like he bailed on the WaPo. A totally mediocre reporter and thinker. No loss.

    I’m sure he’ll go onto something that pays him even more. That’s how the Village works.

  45. 45.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    January 29, 2016 at 10:09 am

    At least Tiger Beat on the Potomac kept all those people together for easy surveillance.
    Now we have to avoid them all separately.

  46. 46.

    boatboy_srq

    January 29, 2016 at 10:10 am

    @ThresherK: I had a soft spot for Treat Williams in my younger days, and Famke Janssen is always fun to watch.

  47. 47.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    January 29, 2016 at 10:10 am

    Stuck in ATL (aka “Purgatory “) between Greenville SC and Detroit.
    Hoping to get delayed so I don’t have to go to the office.

  48. 48.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 29, 2016 at 10:11 am

    @Poopyman: Your comment made me wonder if Balloon Juice Front Pagers would ever consider doing a video podcast where they speak about politics, culture, food, etc.? They could do it once per month and charge subscribers to view it. I’d pay and watch. It would be better than anything on Morning Joe.

  49. 49.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    January 29, 2016 at 10:11 am

    @Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: I’ve been seeing this as a possibility as well. The Money folks may decide some pro forma regulation is better than being put up against the wall when either Trump or Cruz wakes up in a bad mood.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    January 29, 2016 at 10:13 am

    @ThresherK: Ed Wood wore the (angora) sweater better.

    Have a soft spot for the late Mr. Wood. Wiki informs that he was a WWII battle veteran, Tarawa yet; had not known that.

    In 1942, Wood enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, just months after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Assigned to the 2nd Defense Battalions, he reached the rank of Corporal before he was discharged. He was involved in the Battle of Tarawa, among others, and during the war, he lost his two front teeth to a Japanese soldier’s rifle butt and was shot several times in the leg by a machine gunner.

    Although

    Wood later claimed that he feared being wounded in battle more than he feared being killed because he wore a bra and panties under his uniform.

    We remember Mr. Wood more fondly than we ever will Mr. Vandehei.

  51. 51.

    bemused

    January 29, 2016 at 10:13 am

    @rikyrah:

    Republicans, the party of personal and collective irresponsibility. Moi? Hell no, it’s always others who screwed up.

  52. 52.

    ruemara

    January 29, 2016 at 10:16 am

    I’m always working on something, so forgive me if an FP’er did a post on this, but here’s an interesting little article from Salon. It talks about how white fear of Obama has cost the entire nation and starts to broach a conversation I’ve only read on the inestimable DocRoctex’s twitter feed; how economic good does not trump racial prejudice. Seriously, it’s like no one remembers the history of Social Security. Either way, might be worth discussing.

  53. 53.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 29, 2016 at 10:21 am

    OT:

    CBS News’ Major Garrett asked the Florida Republican, “Can Jeb Bush be a surprise story here on caucus night?” The candidate, bemused, responded, “Yes, since the expectations are so low.”
    Garrett, apparently unconcerned about twisting the knife, replied, “Well, you have succeeded there, governor.”
    Bush, without missing a beat, raised his arms in triumph. Laughing a bit, he replied, “Mission accomplished.”

    This would be worse than “My brother kept us safe…. Remember the rubble?” but for the news that the Bush campaign poll-tested that vile blather before hand. You think in the Bush family, “Mission Accomplished” is now a high-larious in-joke? Pee Bush misses a short putt? “Mission accomplished!” Bar spills her gin during before-dinner cocktails? “Mission Accomplished, Mummy!”

  54. 54.

    elmo

    January 29, 2016 at 10:21 am

    is anyone else’s back button broken on this website?

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    January 29, 2016 at 10:22 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    At least Tiger Beat on the Potomac kept all those people together for easy surveillance.
    Now we have to avoid them all separately.

    Win. So wise.

  56. 56.

    Redshift

    January 29, 2016 at 10:23 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Have a soft spot for the late Mr. Wood. Wiki informs that he was a WWII battle veteran, Tarawa yet; had not known that.

    I did, but only because I played him in a larp once, so I researched his background. :-D

  57. 57.

    Redshift

    January 29, 2016 at 10:25 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Shrub thought hunting for WMDs under the furniture was hilarious, so it wouldn’t surprise me.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    January 29, 2016 at 10:26 am

    @Redshift: What’s a larp?

    Also:

    Applying the rule I’d learned that if a story includes anonymous and named sources, the anonymous quotes are almost always from one of the named sources …

    That’s fascinating. I had not known. Thank you.

  59. 59.

    Chris

    January 29, 2016 at 10:31 am

    @rikyrah:

    As this becomes more and more clear, Jeb faces a difficult decision: How does he want to be remembered?

    What on earth makes him think he’ll be remembered at all?

    Most Americans couldn’t even name the loser of a presidential election more than a few cycles ago (unless he was an incumbent, maybe). Jeb isn’t even going to make it that far; he’ll lose his party’s nomination and it won’t even be close.

    Maybe the good citizens of Florida will remember him (which won’t necessarily be great for his legacy), but on the national level? He’ll disappear without a trace.

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    January 29, 2016 at 10:32 am

    @Elizabelle:
    Live Action Role Playing, if I’m not mistaken.

  61. 61.

    NonyNony

    January 29, 2016 at 10:32 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Bush, without missing a beat, raised his arms in triumph. Laughing a bit, he replied, “Mission accomplished.”

    Grr. How can it be possible that I’m coming to dislike Jeb! even more than W? How? W was 8 years of one horrible thing after another, and yet somehow his brother is the one that irritates me more now.

    I don’t even know which is worse here – would it be worse if this was a joke that was consciously referencing his brother’s codpiece-stuffing moment on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln, or would it be worse if the jackass doesn’t even realize what those two words coming out of the mouth of a Republican – let alone a Bush – mean these days? Grrr…

  62. 62.

    Chris

    January 29, 2016 at 10:33 am

    @Zinsky:

    They project this attitude that the normal state of nature is Republican rule and always present positive news about liberal people or policies in a bemused and condescending manner, as if they are shocked that progressives could ever do anything right.

    I think this is the worldview of Official Washington distilled down to its basics.

  63. 63.

    danielx

    January 29, 2016 at 10:34 am

    VandeHei does sound like the kind of boss that most people will go a long way to avoid. Their turnover problems wouldn’t be unexpected in that kind of environment, especially with no stock options to dangle as enticement to carry on with impossible work hours and demands. It sounds the kind of place where you might want to put in two-three years to build a rep if you were young, single and ambitious to make a career in the media sewer of Sodom on the Potomac*.

    “Work/family balance? We don’t need no steenkin’ balance….”

    *As opposed to honest work cleaning out sewers.

  64. 64.

    Elizabelle

    January 29, 2016 at 10:36 am

    @Amir Khalid: Thank you.

    Was not sure if it was autocorrect gone wrong.

  65. 65.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 29, 2016 at 10:37 am

    @p.a.: I said a bad thing in amending my comment and it got nuked.

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 29, 2016 at 10:37 am

    EvenTheLiberalMSNBC giving live coverage to Trump reading poll numbers from a podium, embedded screen shows countdown to Christie “town hall”.

  67. 67.

    Amir Khalid

    January 29, 2016 at 10:41 am

    @NonyNony:
    It’s not big enough to count as a success for most, but Jeb must welcome even the feeblest non-failure that deigns to come his way.

  68. 68.

    NonyNony

    January 29, 2016 at 10:49 am

    Speaking of “Win the Morning” – it looks like Trump’s gamble hurt Fox News right where he wanted them hurt:

    Early Nielsen ratings show that Thursday night’s Fox News debate was the second-lowest rated debate of the primary season, according to a CNN report.

    Without Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump participating, the debate got an 8.4 Nielsen rating, according to the report.

    That’s better than the previous debate hosted by Fox Business Network, which got a 7.4 Nielsen rating. But that was a strong number for Fox Business Network, which is less widely available than Fox News and CNN.

    Thursday’s rating would be much smaller than the 15.9 Nielsen rating for the first GOP debate hosted by Fox News in August.

    If the debate had gotten anything less than that original 15.9 rating, Trump was going to crow about it. But that much of a drop means that Trump is going to dance on their graves.

    Murdoch isn’t going to be happy with Ailes this morning. I wonder if Megyn Kelly will still have a job a week from now. And Trump is going into Iowa showing Republican primary voters that he’s willing to stand up to all of the hated Republican Party elites – including the ones running Fox News. I’ll bet his polling goes up yet again from this middle finger to the GOP establishment.

    I’ve been thinking for months that Trump wasn’t going to do well in Iowa because of the lack of ground game. But man, I don’t know – he’s even getting me to start to waver on that front and think that maybe with the way he’s scoring points (and the way his opponents refuse to drop out to provide a solid single “not Trump” alternative) that he might just take the majority of votes in Iowa after all. He’s certainly energizing his base in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a base energized before – even W in 2000. He got his supporters pumped but Trump is on another level.

  69. 69.

    amk

    January 29, 2016 at 11:00 am

    @NonyNony:

    or it could be that viewers are getting tired of the kkklowns show after the initial carnival barkers’ novelty wore off.

  70. 70.

    The Lodger

    January 29, 2016 at 11:09 am

    @Redshift:

    if a story includes anonymous and named sources, the anonymous quotes are almost always from one of the named sources

    That’s a useful rule to remember. Thanks.

  71. 71.

    The Lodger

    January 29, 2016 at 11:14 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: amazing that CBS has run out of fks to give.

  72. 72.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    January 29, 2016 at 11:18 am

    @FEMA Camp Counselor: rofl. Love your handle.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  73. 73.

    NonyNony

    January 29, 2016 at 11:21 am

    @amk: This is true – ratings for this debate were guaranteed to be down compared to that first Fox debate.

    But that doesn’t really matter for Trump’s purposes – and why it was a safe gamble for him. He gets to continue to make the focus all about him, gets to claim that the ratings were down because nobody wants to see those losers they all want to see him, everyone is talking about him, and going into the caucuses on Monday he’s got all of the buzz.

    For a narcissist like Trump everything about this is great. And I suspect that Roger Ailes is not a happy man this morning.

  74. 74.

    Brachiator

    January 29, 2016 at 11:29 am

    @NonyNony:

    I’ve been thinking for months that Trump wasn’t going to do well in Iowa because of the lack of ground game. But man, I don’t know – he’s even getting me to start to waver on that front and think that maybe with the way he’s scoring points (and the way his opponents refuse to drop out to provide a solid single “not Trump” alternative) that he might just take the majority of votes in Iowa after all.

    I thought that the other GOP pretenders might actually be able to get some benefit out of Trump’s absence, reminding voters that they were the “real” politicians, and Trump only an interloper from the land of reality tv.

    I guess they tried hard to work this angle, but the post debate reaction suggests that Trump has a lock on a core of GOP support.

  75. 75.

    amk

    January 29, 2016 at 11:30 am

    @NonyNony: we will know in a coupla days whether it worked or not.

  76. 76.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    January 29, 2016 at 11:37 am

    @elmo: If you use The Other Chuck’s CSS enhancements, the back button works. See Steeplejack’s comment for the link. (Both CSS scripts work with Tampermonkey on Chrome.)

    Don’t worry about the jargon – just follow the directions.

    Alain is going to fix that and several other issues when the new comment engine is done (shortly).

    HTH a bit.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 29, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    Out the door and on to an ice floe.

  78. 78.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    January 29, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    What’s a larp?

    “Live Action Role Playing Game” for those nerds who want cosplay with their Dungeons and Dragons game.

  79. 79.

    The Other Chuck

    January 29, 2016 at 1:38 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: One issue with the back button that EBBJ still doesn’t fix is where it puts duplicate entries in your history when you scroll. I think that’s an artifact of some plugin that comes and goes on the new site during maintenance, since I’m not seeing the problem now. Or possibly it’s been fixed already.

  80. 80.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    January 29, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    @The Other Chuck: I think Alain nuked that plug-in when Mike J explained that it was the yoast google analytics plugin.

    Thanks again for your CSS magic! It’s greatly appreciated.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    NCSteve

    January 29, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    I’m late to this, but I’d appreciate it everyone could please be sure to drop by the Gofundme page I’m setting up to buy salt to sow upon the ashes as soon as they’re cool enough to walk on without getting too many blisters and give a few bucks.

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