Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

So many bastards, so little time.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Let me file that under fuck it.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

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

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Not all heroes wear capes.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: Snapshots from the Great SC Dumpster Fire

Open Thread: Snapshots from the Great SC Dumpster Fire

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Yeah, I know it’s getting ragged, but for a lifelong connoisseur of self-destructive infighting, last night’s GOP debate was a non-stop banquet of gaffes, spite, own goals, stupidity & cupidity. Keep in mind that some of the snarkiest comments below are from Republican supporters and sympathizers…


Reader Interactions

325Comments

  1. 1.

    Oatler.

    Always happy to see slaughter in Dixie! That photo reminds me of a Bob’s Burgers scene:
    “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??”
    “Well, yeah, a little…”
    “NOT YOU!!”

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    It was glorious. I am so glad Scalia died and I decided to watch that debate.*

    *Some of you may suggest a comma is missing. It is not.

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    Anne Laurie,
    Thanks for rounding all those up. And it was artistic genius to place Reince Priebus’ blurb near the bottom to get the full “Baghdad Bob” effect.

  5. 5.

    satby

    I’m almost comatose from happiness today. Scalia gone, the Republican party a mess, the weather here getting into the low 20s today. The sun is even out.
    Things are looking up!

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    The moderators were absolutely awful. Just terribad. The person from the WSJ should be ashamed of herself, if anyone working for the WSJ had any capacity for that.
    And the crowd was clearly in a gladiator mood and completely in the tank for Jeb and second place Rubio. They had blood in their eye for Trump all night. As I said last night, if we could have removed Kasich and Carson the hateful debate would have ratcheted up by a factor of elebenty from the circus it was to an actual implementation of Mad Max Thunderdome.

  9. 9.

    ruemara

    I won’t be happy until they explode, onstage. Like a real explosion due to the universe just saying, fuck your lying asses, now you’re combustible. Then BOOM. Maybe the hand of god writing “Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin, bitches” in fire across the screen.

  10. 10.

    Fair Economist

    This just in: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is still dead.

    I just feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. This is the first time since I was in elementary school in the 70’s that we don’t have a conservative majority on the Court, and the first time in 10 years we don’t have a hard-line activist ideological conservative majority. Suddenly, it’s not in the cards that the Supreme Court is about to end unions, abolish abortion, or doom us to smother in CO2-driven heat.

    God, Alito was confirmed 10 years ago? I feel old. But still, WAY better than I felt yesterday morning.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    The mister nodded off just after the debate started, and the offspring and I woke him up several times cheering as if we were watching a football game. He thought we were exaggerating when we recounted some of the highlights this morning until we showed him clips. Especially enjoyed Trump’s truth bomb on the Bush failures.

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    MSNBC is running some of Scalia’s greatest quips. What a vile, hateful, piece of shit he was.
    Can’t believe how young he looked when he was confirmed to SCOTUS. Yet another reason to piss on Reagan’s grave.

  13. 13.

    shomi

    After last nights debate it should be obvious what has been obvious to me for some time. Trump doesn’t want to win. He also knows he can’t anyways but he really doesn’t want the job and never did.

    So last night he basically tried to burn the house down by siding with the left on a lot of traditional Dem issues. I would not be surprised to see him come out pro-choice and pro-immigration in the coming weeks but that might be too obvious. I think he pretty much did all he needed to do last night to tank himself.

    I don’t expect the “Sara Palin is totally going to run for Prez” and “Kristie Christie is a heck of a guy” morons around here to get this though even after Trump made it so obvious last night.

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    I can’t believe I fell asleep and missed the second half. It was so cold so I let the dog climb up on the couch and curl up with me. An Hour or two later I woke up to the sound of the dog snoring and me sliding off the couch.

  15. 15.

    eric

    Note to those talking about Obama and the SC. The GOP’s message is not directed at Obama. It is directed at the possible nominees who know that if you dont get confirmed the first time, there will be no second time. So, if you are a likely nominee, you would better off waiting for the Dem to win the Presidency. Even if there is a GOP senate you are no worse off than you are now, but there is no election politics to deal with. Plus, there is next to no doubt that there will be another nomination to be made from 2016 to 2020. That is true lay of the land.

  18. 18.

    tybee

    it is not getting ragged, it is getting more amusing by the hour and i am indeed entertained.

    the goopers are caught between a trump and a hard place.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    @eric: I’m not sure it will work that way. It doesn’t seem like the Senate will vote down whomever Obama nominates; it sounds more like they intend to refuse to hold a vote rather than vote the nominee down. If Obama nominates someone who is never voted on, what’s to stop President Hillary or Bernie from putting that person forward as their nominee? It would actually be the right thing to do.

  26. 26.

    eric

    @Betty Cracker: right. but unless you have that agreement ahead of time and you are desirous of the position, strikes me that you wait. I am sure someone will do it, it just may not be choice no 1 (Sri, perhaps) or choice 2 or 3. Sri is a slam dunk in the next dem administration. He would have to know that he is dead to the dems if he says no to Obama.

  27. 27.

    gf120581

    Can’t believe Luntz tweeted that. If the GOP’s king of spin is that openly despondent, you know it was a bad night.

    Priebus is just pathetic, but I imagine after yesterday’s events, he’s got a Brink’s truck full of Tums backing up to his house.

  28. 28.

    Cacti

    @Fair Economist:

    This just in: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is still dead.

    My feelings for the late Justice can be summed up in the Hunter S. Thompson obituary of Richard Nixon (changed for the occasion):

    If the right people were in charge of Scalia’s funeral, his casket would be launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a Justice. Scalia was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. His body should be burned in a trash bin.

  29. 29.

    EZSmirkzz

    For all of their talk about Constitution this, and the Constitution that, the original intent of the document seems to demand that they do their and job govern, the lack thereof – and a unwillingness to follow either the spirit or letter of the Constitution leaves one little room for sympathy for the supposedly “principle followers” of the modern Republican party.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    This should be interesting! Sonia Sotomayor speaking here in Champaign on March 7. I’m definitely going to try to get tickets.

    A Conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor
    The College of Law will host U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, where she will discuss a range of topics with professor Robin Kar. Free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets available beginning Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. by phone at (217) 333-6280, in person at the KCPA ticket counter, or online at KrannertCenter.com.

  31. 31.

    JMG

    Every Republican Senate candidate is now forced to answer the following question. If a Democrat wins the White House, will you vote to confirm his/her Supreme Court nominees. Say yes, lose the base. Say no, you’re saying the people’s vote for President doesn’t matter. Not likely to be a popular stance.

  32. 32.

    gf120581

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t think that stance will be politically viable for them, especially with the vulnerable GOP senators up in 2016.

    I almost pity those poor bastards. As far as their political prospects go, Scalia dying is like getting a terminal cancer diagnosis. They truly are screwed no matter what approach they take.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    @eric: I’m sure Obama has a vetted list ready. Even his number three or four would still be a win for the D’s if confirmed.
    But I don’t think the scenario you’ve laid out will happen. IMO, Obama will have first pick and nominate that person. After that, any way it goes is a win for the D party.

  34. 34.

    Seebach

    I hadn’t been watching the debates but after missing the Rubio meltdown I made sure to watch. Trump makes these, the rest are tedious bores.

  36. 36.

    Fair Economist

    @eric: Failure to confirm by the current Senate isn’t much of a threat. Obama will nominate somebody stellar. If the Senate fails to confirm – either by ducking a vote, or by voting against – the Dems will savage them throughout the campaign for putting politics ahead of country, and sign the (well-earned) praises of whomever they turned down. It will be easy for a Democratic president to renominate that person in 2017.

  38. 38.

    aimai

    @Betty Cracker: @eric: I wish you’d post your greatest hits. We didn’t watch it and I don’t want to spend time looking for clips. Its *&^%$$ minus 1 degree or something here, our house can’t keep its heat up, and I’m just cranky even though the thought that scalia is dead is keeping me toasty (but not as toasty as he probably is).

  39. 39.

    Cacti

    “How can the President be so divisive and nominate a new Supreme Court Justice?”

    -No journalist ever, prior to February 13, 2016

  40. 40.

    gf120581

    @JMG: As I just said, damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

    McConnell’s statement yesterday was, I think, born out of sheer panic. It’s the move of a poker player who knows he has a shitty hand and is trying a major bluff, hoping against hope that he isn’t called on it. Obama wasted no time in calling him on it, so imagine Mitch today. He knows all too well that this could destroy his fragile Senate majority in one fell swoop.

    And if he’s panicking, I can only imagine the reaction of the GOP senators up this year. Kirk, Ayotte, Portman, Toomey, etc., their reactions to this are probably somewhere among the lines of the emotions of the boy who Riley bumps into at the end of “Inside Out.” (The only one I don’t think is Johnson, because he’s too stupid to care.)

  42. 42.

    Corner Stone

    @gf120581:

    Can’t believe Luntz tweeted that. If the GOP’s king of spin is that openly despondent, you know it was a bad night.

    There was a big writeup of Luntz within the last couple years, saying how tired he was of all of it. It made it sound like he retired from politics and was doing sports related crap. So his despondency is not a new thing for him. But it also could have been a ploy to get someone to pay him a bunch more money to “come back”.

  43. 43.

    geg6

    @gf120581:

    I agree. I think a lot of Pennsylvanians will not be very happy with Pat Toomey refusing to do one of the most basic responsibilities of his job. Kirk, Ayotte and Johnson will have to make the same calculation.

  44. 44.

    amk

    @ eric

    You are way overthinking this, dude. It was the typical knee-jerk shoot from the hips rethugs mentality.

  45. 45.

    Corner Stone

    The entire panel Joy Reid just had on MSNBC acted like it is a foregone conclusion, and completely normal, that the next president will nominate a replacement for Scalia. And Joy never said ary a word about how fucking horrible that common wisdom was.

  47. 47.

    MomSense

    Doesn’t the new Congress get sworn in on January 3rd or 4th? That leaves 15 days or so for the new Congress to vote for Obama’s nominee, doesn’t it? Hell I don’t mind campaigning with a Supreme Court nomination fight demonstrating why Republicans lack the maturity and respect for the constitution to carry out their obligations. In most election years SCOTUS is an abstraction for too many on the Democratic/liberal/progressive side.

  49. 49.

    Joy in FL

    I actually watched the debate except for about the first 30 minutes. I cannot believe what a display of ignorance, arrogance, and meanness it was.
    The audience was terrible, too.
    I loved the collection of tweets– thanks for that, Annie Laurie.

  50. 50.

    Ohio Mom

    As a Buckeye, I had a special appreciation for Kasich’s closing statement. All that stuff about all of us regular folks rolling up our sleeves, all of us being the ones that will make things happen, was just a roundabout way of saying, “Elect me and you’re on your own even more than you ever dreamed possible!”

    The reason this really struck me was that yesterday our school board announced there’s going to be a rather large levy this year. We love our district, we’ll vote for it, donate to the campaign, most likely go door to door as we have for past levies.

    But we wouldn’t be finding it necessary to volunteer to raise our annual taxes by a whopping $800+ if Kasich hadn’t slashed education funding. I’m glad he finds my family scrounging around for all that extra money such an inspiring image.

  52. 52.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Corner Stone:
    I’m sure he has a binder full of candidates. There must be a lot of qualified liberal lawyers and legal scholars in this country. I think he has so many he can afford to make political calculations on top of picking someone who would be excellent at the job. I know he will consider competency and a dedication to the actual law and constitution major factors.

  53. 53.

    Frank Wilhoit

    This debate, precisely by its display of irrational aggression, boosted Republican November turnout substantially — and depressed Democratic turnout by the same amount, because what is happening is the discredit of politics itself: not of this political system, in this place and time, but the idea of political systems.

  54. 54.

    Waldo

    @gf120581: I was thinking Reince had to put a happy spin on it for the party’s sake, but at this point it’s most likely for his own sorry sake.

  56. 56.

    Corner Stone

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    This debate, precisely by its display of irrational aggression, boosted Republican November turnout substantially — and depressed Democratic turnout by the same amount

    Where do you come up with so many completely wrong hot takes? Your newsletter. How would one subscribe?

  57. 57.

    burnspbesq

    Yeah, this is al great fun, but don’t forget … whichever sack of excrement survives this process is going to get the votes of at least 55 million of your fellow Americans, and if our side gets complacent, that might be enough.

  59. 59.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Trump’s candidate has led me to an interesting thought. A common assertion here is that the GOP elites have been fleecing their base with dog whistle lies. It may be that the reverse is happening. Look at Eric’s whining about true conservatives. It’s the Republican political class that has drunk the Kool-Aid and believes all the idiotic shit about job creators, global warming as a hoax, religious liberty, constitutionality, whatever. The base were using them to get as much racism as they could get, and now that they have a better source, fuck the orthodoxy. The establishment is bewildered. Surely these were noble governmental principles!

  60. 60.

    scottinnj

    In the Bizzaro Universe – where Mitt Romney is President and Harry Reid is Senate Majority Leader – what would have happened if instead of Scalia passing it was Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Harry Reid said he wouldn’t bring Romney’s nomination of one of Scalia’s sons to a vote. He’d be brought up on grounds of impeachment and treason.

  63. 63.

    beltane

    @burnspbesq:Team Excrement also controls most state governments and has managed to make abortion illegal in all but name in large swaths of the country. There seems to be little hope of changing this state of affairs.

  64. 64.

    Corner Stone

    I also loved it when Rubio went after Cruz with that “you don’t even speak Spanish” jab. And then Cruz tried to freakin’ answer using some pidgin Espanol!!
    Whoever primed Marco to say that at some point last night should be given a bonus. Cruz, all master debater and Princeton sharpie got “yo mamma’d” into doing a Spanish language version of The Dozens! I still can’t believe he tried to respond in Spanish! On a Republican primary debate stage! In South Carolina! In 2016!
    Holy shit that debate was so good. Anyone who didn’t watch it really missed something special.

  65. 65.

    Betty Cracker

    @aimai: This Buzzfeed recap has some of the best clips. I think it’ll be fascinating to see how Trump’s complete repudiation of GWB plays in the South, especially, where most of the Bush dead-enders seem to live.

  66. 66.

    bystander

    I’m really done with the lionizing Scalia thing going on. Does anyone ever realize that using terms like “jiggery-pokery” in an opinion is actually a way of saying, “I can’t say what I really mean without giving away what an unalloyed asshole I am”? It’s a way of avoiding plain speech, not a much-needed breath of humor. These teevee people are harshing my vibe.

  67. 67.

    dww44

    @Frank Wilhoit: I so hope your prediction is wrong. Agree that the GOP base is gonna be motivated, but they really could end up nominating a totally unelectable candidate. And if, the DNC would launch a bunch of GOTV grassroots programs in states like mine where AA turnout could turn the tide then Dems stand a chance.. Maybe Obama should resurrect, really resurrect, the grassroots arm of OFA. Democrats have to always be persuaded to vote.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    @Corner Stone: I liked that also. Really got under Cruz’s skin. Need to file that away for the general election if Cruz is the nominee, especially if we have a Latino Veep.

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    @Frankensteinbeck: Trump has merely revealed the con. If anything, that bolsters the case that the GOP establishment has been using so-con issues to gin up support for a plutocratic agenda for decades. Of course the Trumpenproletariat would rather have their racism, misogyny. gun-nuttery and homophobia straight up. But if we’re lucky, this schism between the Club for Growth and KKK factions will become permanent.

  71. 71.

    Heliopause

    Another day, another obituary for the party that controls both houses of Congress and most state governments.

  72. 72.

    Corner Stone

    @gf120581: Luntz gets paid millions of dollars to mindfuck ignorant strangers. Who would willingly give that gig up and walk away? You could have a whole other career and still find time to tweak out dogwhistle terminology.

  73. 73.

    Germy

    Scalia: “The body of scientific evidence supporting creation science is as strong as that supporting evolution. In fact, it may be stronger…. The evidence for evolution is far less compelling than we have been led to believe. Evolution is not a scientific fact, since it cannot actually be observed in a laboratory. Rather, evolution is merely a scientific theory or guess…. It is a very bad guess at that. The scientific problems with evolution are so serious that it could accurately be termed a myth.”

  74. 74.

    patrick II

    Rehnquist died in 2005, Scalia in 2015. We had a Democratic president and Senate for six of those ten years 2009-2015. Couldn’t at least one of those fascists died at a more democratically opportune time?

  75. 75.

    Kay

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    That isn’t how it works, though. High turnout elections favor Democrats and low turnout elections favor Republicans. We just have a larger pool of potential voters to tap. Our 60% is bigger than their 70%.

    % of what number is the thing.

  77. 77.

    SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel

    @Denali:

    Dunno about Cheney, but the owner of the ranch is a man named John Poindexter. I’m going to assume this is not the John Poindexter (Reagan’s NSA/Iran-Contra felon), but it’s a curious coincidence. Maybe a relative?

  78. 78.

    p.a.

    @burnspbesq:

    February 14, 2016 at 12:08 pm
    Yeah, this is al great fun, but don’t forget … whichever sack of excrement survives this process is going to get the votes of at least 55 million of your fellow Americans, and if our side gets complacent, that might be enough.

    I’ll repeat a comment I dropped in a dying thread yesterday: They don’t need extra incentive for their voter suppression efforts, but this crop of candidates and last night’s display will turn it up to 11. Loretta Lynch better be ready to act.

  79. 79.

    burnspbesq

    @beltane:

    Team Excrement also controls most state governments and has managed to make abortion illegal in all but name in large swaths of the country. There seems to be little hope of changing this state of affairs.

    Fortunately, there is a large contingent of U.S. District Judges who understand the Constitution and the case law better than the average state legislature, and know how to draft injunctions and make them stick.

  80. 80.

    debbie

    @Corner Stone:

    NPR ran a long segment on Scalia and lots of snippets of him reading his opinion reminded me just how much of a slimeball he was. A horrible, despicable human being.

  82. 82.

    amk

    gopolitico

    Insiders: Trump flopped in debate

    The ‘attack on President George W. Bush was galactic-level stupid in South Carolina,’ says one GOP insider.

    ///

    Guess will SC will show him.

  83. 83.

    Kay

    @p.a.:

    I’m kind of worried that Democrats are going to outsource voting to a bunch of outside orgs. That’s what they did in 2004 in Ohio and it was terrible. No one was supervising or coordinating what were a bunch of low level, poorly paid “organizers” for a bunch of different orgs. Voting laws and regs are state-specific. Just sending groups of people out where there’s no coordination or training is a waste of time and money. Obama campaign were right to keep it tightly controlled and (essentially) in-house, because there’s a grifter element too. There’s all this money floating around and no one is paying any attention to what they’re actually doing with it.

  86. 86.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Corner Stone:
    For one thing, challenges to Republican voter suppression happen regularly. Once we have a fifth liberal justice, the SCOTU is going to eviscerate that, and do whatever the law allows to put the VRA back together. CU probably won’t be overturned soon. Abortion rights and contraceptive rights will be strengthened instead of weakened the next time a case comes in front of the court, and that happens regularly. The government’s power to regulate will be strengthened as the court interprets those cases in a way that gives the government broader power – IE, power it was always supposed to have. I think voter suppression issues will be hit first.

  88. 88.

    Germy

    @debbie: Turtle won’t allow a recess. He’ll prop up two republicans, one to talk (to an almost empty room) and the other to pretend to listen.

  89. 89.

    scav

    @amk: But then, do the “insiders” know anything more than anyone else about the “outsiders” or is it just their impressions of the skin of their bubble reflecting back at themselves (amplified and polished by some cocktail chat over bubbly drinks?) Conventional wisdom works until it doesn’t.

  90. 90.

    p.a.

    @Kay: I wouldn’t expect competence from Kerry For President. I do from HRC, but I reserve the right to be bitterly disappointed.

    I am not exaggerating when I say I predict armed bands intimidating minority votes this election. These people aren’t just ‘authoritarian’, they’re fucking fascists and they understand nothing but power.

  91. 91.

    debbie

    @Germy:

    Something popped up on my FB page that might be even better — Photo of Obama with this caption: Delay the SC nomination until after the election so Hillary or Bernie can nominate me.

  92. 92.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @debbie: The link Baud provides at #46 says Brennan was originally an LBJ recess appointment who was later nominated and confirmed. The Senate had adjourned, which was why Johnson did that.

  94. 94.

    BGinCHI

    Any doubt that David Bowie played a benefit concert in heaven, the proceeds of which were to send Scalia on a 1st-class ticket to Hell?

  96. 96.

    p.a.

    @debbie: *ahem* “socialism takers [verb] illegals cantelope calves booga booga [verb] isis Isis ISIS shimmy shimmy coco bop [adverb] [verb] reagan reagan WMD [verb]”

  97. 97.

    redshirt

    I’m now feeling great about this election.

    That was the first debate I’ve watched this cycle and literally the first time I’ve heard any of those clowns speak. And they are all clowns.

    But if somehow Trump beats Clinton (1% chance), I don’t think he’d be that terrible a President, compared to the rest of those truly horrible choices. He’d be terrible, of course, but I don’t think he’d be looking to enact the evil Conservative agenda, and his term would shake up so much of the current political power structure – which desperately needs to be shaken up.

  100. 100.

    Corner Stone

    @debbie: Actually, the translation by p.a. is about as accurate as what Cruz actually said. I listened to it three times and it honestly sounded very off. The generous translation I have seen is something like, “Dude, if that’s how you want it. Say it in Spanish right now.”
    I did not get that out of his mumbles mumbles.

  101. 101.

    Sawgrass Stan

    @dww44: Good idea. I canvassed for Obama in 08 and ’12, but nobody in the local progressive orgs did it for the midterms. Also, we really have to step up our game with state legislatures if we’re going to undo Repube gerrymandering after 2020.

  103. 103.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Shine on Trump, you crazy disrupting diamond. Watching him on stage get all up in their OODA loops was mind blowing. JEB crying when mentioning his parents? Cruz and Marco baiting each other with Spanish like that’s what the base cares about? Kasich appealing to the old way you screw over people – quietly, with deniability and not out and loud? There is literally nothing Trump can’t or won’t say at this point, and we’re still a ways away from resolution. Trump won’t be taken down by those clowns – he’ll make sure it’s all going to be on his terms. It’s fun to watch in that horror movie kind of way.

    Speaking of horror movies, did mistermix ever appear back in that stinking pile of bro he posted to apologize to everyone for being a total fucking asshole?

  104. 104.

    Sawgrass Stan

    How long before Talk Radio says Obama or one of his minions killed Scalia? Should we start a betting pool?

  109. 109.

    debbie

    @amk:

    Oh, they definitely have a clue. What I can’t tell is whether they’re overconfidently thinking they still can control the base or they’re in a panic wondering how to get their base back on their leashes.

  110. 110.

    AnotherBruce

    I was a bit worried that if Trump is the nominee, he would try to jiu jitsu Hillary or Sanders by attacking from the left. But then I thought that the Dem nominee could always handle it by saying “Welcome to the Democratic Party, Donald.”

  113. 113.

    redshirt

    @AnotherBruce: It would be interesting. Could he keep the R brand and the millions of brain dead voters while also openly espousing liberal positions?

    I can’t put anything past this electorate.

  115. 115.

    D58826

    Seems like it didn’t get any better on the Sunday talk shows. According to Rubio:
    1. Obama should not make a SCOTUS appointment
    2. why – well just because
    3. When Mike Wallace mentioned Reagan nominating Justice Kennedy, Rubio said that was different
    4. When asked if he would do what he is asking Obama to do in a final year he would not answer.

    These folks aren’t even subtle.

  116. 116.

    redshirt

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: I can’t believe it’s freaking Donald freaking Trump who is the first person on the national stage to actually say truthful and pointed facts about the Republican party. No Democrat has outright said that 9/11 happened on Bush’s watch and he’s responsible. No Democrat has outright said Bush lied us into a war in Iraq.

    Our side is still so deferential to these asshats, fearing to ever say anything controversial lest they get scolded by the Republican media.

    But when a “republican” says it? It breaks all the rules and no one knows how to respond.

  119. 119.

    redshirt

    I always encourage readers to check out the other side’s websites. FreeRepublic is my favorite. And the tone has definitely changed over there. Shockingly, it’s approaching something resembling rationality. Look.

  120. 120.

    Joel

    @Corner Stone: A quote for Scalia, mentioned earlier on this blog:

    “I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”
    – Ebenezer Hoar

    To which, I’ll add a quote about Scalia’s accomplishments.

    “Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal’s deed, however calculated can be compared. For there to be an equivalency, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private life.”
    – Albert Camus

  121. 121.

    Corner Stone

    @debbie: Different Poindexter. The ranch owner is John B. Poindexter and the Iran guy is John M.
    Ranch guy is a multimillionaire business owner, Iran guy is a multimillionaire criminal. Ranch guy tried to quietly steal 46,000 acres of a Texas state park so he could privatize it and sell to his wealthy ranch guests. Hmmm, maybe they are the same after all.

  122. 122.

    inventor

    I think it is unfair to criticize McConnell for saying that he will block any nominee President Obama makes. He simply wants the power struggle in Hell to play out so they can see who might be available for a possible Republican President.

    Really quite prudent.

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    @Iowa Old Lady: Scalia could have been in the middle of a field quail hunting in broad daylight, get struck by lightning, and Alex Jones would float the Democratic Weather Machine idea.

  125. 125.

    patrick II

    I don’t know why Rubio did not accept Cruz’s challenge to have a debate between them in Spanish. I am sure one of the Spanish language stations would carry it, it might help with the Latino vote, and give Rubio a chance to debate someone ahead of him in the polls in a language he asserts he is more fluent in.
    I guess the RNC wouldn’t approve unless the other candidates were invited — but how good would they be in Spanish?
    It would never really happen, but Rubio missed a chance to show he wouldn’t back down from Cruz. But of course it wasn’t scripted, so Rubio didn’t know what to do.

  127. 127.

    Corner Stone

    @Corner Stone: And dammit, could not edit that comment but:

    ETA, and I’ll add that anyone who says Scalia “served his country” should have photos of this exclusive resort shoved in their face. Being a SCOTUS judge carries enormous perks.

  129. 129.

    scav

    @debbie: maybe, but maybe not. Hard to tell — certainly they probably don’t have many tools in their kit or behaviors in their repetoire for dealing with an unruly base: it not really being something they’ve faced recently. Docile lockstep is their expected context. (which also underlies the assumption that x% of the populace will inevitably vote for whoever gets the official R tiara after the bathing suit competition). They could indeed just be spouting this stuff not specifically at their own base but into the general void, thinking that if they control the “official” dialog they’ll control reality itself (bit of cargo-cult thinking there too, the reach and popularity of the MSM also being a bit tattered). Somehow to me the evidence for their self-awareness, awareness of context, and then recognition of the emotions of others possibly being different than their own is ambiguous. May be a mistake on my part to take the lowest energy assumption of they’re being absolutly clueless.

  130. 130.

    Sawgrass Stan

    Remember when we had to hold our noses to watch the Repub debates? What they’ve lost in civic virtue they’ve made up in entertainment value.
    ‘Course there’s always that nagging doubt that one of them could be elected….

  131. 131.

    sukabi

    My fav of the bunch was Frank Luntz… for a guy that’s whole career has been to spin evil shit for the GOP to spoon feed to their base, he can’t seriously think he bears no responsibility…

  132. 132.

    Baud

    I haven’t seen my favorite Scalia quote posted yet.

    Another development over the past half-century that deters civil-rights violations is the increasing professionalism of police forces, including a new emphasis on internal police discipline. Even as long ago as 1980 we felt it proper to “assume” that unlawful police behavior would “be dealt with appropriately” by the authorities, United States v. Payner, 447 U. S. 727, 733-734, n. 5 (1980), but we now have increasing evidence that police forces across the United States take the constitutional rights of citizens seriously. There have been “wide-ranging reforms in the education, training, and supervision of police officers.” S. Walker, Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice 1950-1990, p. 51 (1993). Numerous sources are now available to teach officers and their supervisors what is required of them under this Court’s cases, how to respect constitutional guarantees in various situations, and how to craft an effective regime for internal discipline. See, e.g., D. Waksman & D. Goodman, The Search and Seizure Handbook (2d ed. 2006); A. Stone & S. DeLuca, Police Administration: An Introduction (2d ed. 1994); E. Thibault, L. Lynch, & R. McBridge, Proactive Police Management (4th ed. 1998). Failure to teach and enforce constitutional requirements exposes municipalities to financial liability. See Canton v. Harris, 489 U. S. 378, 388 (1989). Moreover, modern police forces are staffed with professionals; it is not credible to assert that internal discipline, which can limit successful careers, will not have a deterrent effect. There is also evidence that the increasing use of various forms of citizen review can enhance police accountability.

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    @patrick II:

    It would never really happen, but Rubio missed a chance to show he wouldn’t back down from Cruz. But of course it wasn’t scripted, so Rubio didn’t know what to do.

    No way. That is exactly backwards. Rubio absolutely baited Cruz into that little meltdown and Cruz could not control himself and fell all the way for it. Rubio trapped Cruz and Cruz completely bit hard.

  141. 141.

    Sawgrass Stan

    @Joel: Also, “I’ve never wished anyone dead, but I’ve read many obituaries with great satisfaction.” — Mark Twain (off the top of my head, didn’t verify quote.)

  142. 142.

    Matt McIrvin

    @shomi:

    So last night he basically tried to burn the house down by siding with the left on a lot of traditional Dem issues. I would not be surprised to see him come out pro-choice and pro-immigration in the coming weeks but that might be too obvious. I think he pretty much did all he needed to do last night to tank himself.

    You don’t think he figures he has it in the bag and is pivoting to a general election win?

  143. 143.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @redshirt:

    I watched some of the post debate punditry, and no mention was made of that particular line of attack, just a lot of meta analysis. As someone on twitter said, the GOP and the enabling media will never let the Iraq debacle trouble its beautiful mind. Trump’s not the most thoughtful person, but he’s not delusional and I think he knows that probing that line of attack will bring an end to the Bush Establishment GOP. He just does not like that family at all, and it’s personal. I think he’d be fine walking away from the smoking crater of his candidacy, if he left a bigger smoking crater behind. At least he has another line of work to return to, which he’s probably starting to miss about now.

  146. 146.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl:

    Tickets here at the University of the Pacific last fall sold out in a matter of minutes. But some of my friends went and they reported that she was wonderful.

    We discussed her book in my book group 2 days later, which was amazing to have their experience at her talk as part of our book discussion.

    The entire balcony area of the arena was reserved for local high school groups that were bussed in from all around the county. She marched up to the balcony and spoke directly to the high school students for much of her speech.

  147. 147.

    redshirt

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: It would be far more amusing if it wasn’t in fact so serious.

    I mean, there were several moments where Trump was actively gesturing to the Republican donors in the crowd and badmouthing them. Something that never, ever happens and here it is, happening from the GOP leading nominee. It’s nuts!

    But the media literally can’t follow up on that. VERBOTEN.

  148. 148.

    BR

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Yeah, that’s the thing that’s frightening — he is willing to change positions dramatically and the media is too feeble to call him out on it, so he’d be happy to find a few wedges on the left (say about the Iraq war) to lower Dem enthusiasm for Clinton or find something equivalent against Sanders.

  150. 150.

    hueyplong

    It probably says something about Trump’s makeup and our inability to discern what’s up beyond narcissism when completely opposite motivational strategies equally fit what he did last night. Might have been (1) pivoting left for the general, or (2) driving deeper the wedge that separates the “nationalists” (i.e., racists and fascists) from GOP orthodoxy and, therefore, the other candidates; or (3) could just be a desire to watch it all burn.

    Got no idea which is most likely.

  151. 151.

    patrick II

    @Corner Stone:

    Not everyone has read it that way, but granting that take is true, Rubio could have built on that by “bravely” accepting the challenge that, due to RNC rules, probably cannot happen, or if it did and Rubio, is really more fluent in Spanish, given him an opportunity to show Latinos Cruz’s deficits in their native language.

    But then redshirt’s point is right — what would they debate about — who would deport their fellow Latinos more quickly? Which seems to be at the core of their argument now.

  152. 152.

    redshirt

    Is the site acting wacky for anyone else? Like it doesn’t remember where you last read?

    Like I make this response and the site moves me up 15 responses after I submit.

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    @Ohio Mom: Wow. Some of those were amazing. I’d like to see inside the brain of the person quoted in #19. Did the moderator really say, gentleman don’t make me turns this car around? (or something like that)

  154. 154.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Reich:

    My mole in the White House tells me Obama will nominate 46-year-old Judge Sri Srinivasan, an Indian-American jurist who Obama nominated in 2013 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — and the Senate confirmed unanimously. Having confirmed him unanimously just three years ago, it would be difficult (but hardly impossible) for Republicans to oppose him now.

  155. 155.

    Corner Stone

    @patrick II: IMO there is no other way to read it. Rubio jabbed it right at him in a very derisive manner, Cruz looked a little taken aback, some in the audience started tittering and chuckling, Cruz glanced at the audience. You could see he could not take it that they laughed at him on something the vastly inferior Rubio said to him. Cruz gathered his shoulders, thought for a second and started mumbling bad Spanish.
    Rubio just looked straight ahead and let Cruz choke on it. Anyone who thinks a Republican candidate defending himself in Spanish on a R primary debate stage in South Carolina was a *good* place to be has not seen what the R side is up to nowadays.

  157. 157.

    redshirt

    @redshirt: In case you’re afraid to wade into the muck, here’s the summary of how FreeRepublic is taking Scalia’s death:
    1. A significant percent of them are questioning the cause of death, AKA Obama did it.
    2. A significant percent of them think the RINO’s in the senate will approve the NAZI-LEZBO that Obozo nominates. You might find it amazing that a lot of them hate the Republican party. Too liberal.
    3. A smaller percent have voiced the “obstruct until a Republican President” tactic.
    4. A very small minority are bringing up factual arguments and examples from the past.

  158. 158.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Matt McIrvin:
    He’s not going to go pro-immigration. Calling Mexicans ‘rapists and murderers’ got him here. I’m not sure how much the base actually cares about Iraq, and it never gave a rat’s ass about deficits or catering to the rich. Those were excuses to stick it to the browns. Trump has promised them that he’ll deport the browns (and the yellows, and…) and they can have welfare all to themselves. The evangelicals will care about him defending Planned Parenthood. That will piss them off, but he may not need them if he has the rest of the racist vote locked up, and evangelicals want his racism so bad they may swallow it anyway. The rest of the base is just happy he’s being rude to women. Planned Parenthood isn’t important to them, they just want women to have to shut up and take any abuse they’re given.

    In a way, all that is moot. I don’t think Trump calculates. I think he says whatever he feels like at the time, led by crude motivations like ‘They love it when I rag on Mexicans’ and ‘Fuck you, Jeb. I’m going to tell everybody what a loser your brother is.’ A more obvious narcissist you will not find.

  159. 159.

    redshirt

    @redshirt: A sample comment from FREEP (which is doing their quarterly 88K fundraiser. Yes, a site less technically competent then even BJ raises 352K a year to “run” the website, and the fools pay it every year):

    Sad to hear this and hope he rest in peace.

    Now onto my tin hat theory…….I smell a rat and that “rat” wears a large size pants suit.
    It is no secret that Hitlary was definitely NOT FOND of Justice Scalia and NOTHING, NOTHING would surprise me that the Clinton clan had a hand in this untimely death. More SCOTUS “deck stacking” by odumbo will soon surface.

  160. 160.

    lgerard

    @redshirt:

    My favorite aspect of Free Republic is the economics.

    The first quarter fundraising goal….$88,000

    Which means this guy claims he needs $350,000 a year to operate his 1998 style website.

    And it is 99.9% user generated content!

    Conservatism certainly pays.

  162. 162.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Corner Stone: Yeah I don’t know exactly how reliable that is, but he used to work there, so if he says he has a mole telling him that good chance it’s the case. That someone inside is saying it, I mean.

  163. 163.

    Matt McIrvin

    @redshirt:

    But if somehow Trump beats Clinton (1% chance), I don’t think he’d be that terrible a President, compared to the rest of those truly horrible choices.

    I think the chance that he’d beat Clinton or Sanders is way higher than 1%, and I don’t think we can say that for sure. You’re thinking in terms of the traditional Republican categories of horribleness, in which Trump is genuinely not as bad as these other guys. But he could try to do things they’re not even prepared to think about doing. We could have outright ethnic cleansing, paramilitary raids, secret police disappearing political opponents to death factories, Trump declaring himself President for Life. It’s really rolling the dice.

  164. 164.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @redshirt:
    Obama will definitely ‘deck stack’ the Supreme Court by nominating a liberal judge, as per his job, which will turn the court 5-4 liberal majority. Think of all the nightmare crap the Court has spewed out in the last forty years. Think of it turning around and moving the other way for the forseeable future. This is as big a deal as they think, maybe bigger.

  166. 166.

    jl

    @shomi: I didn’t watch the debate, but did read transcript and watch some clips. I don’t see where Trump changed his positions on anything.

    For example, Trump was just as strong as ever on his xenophobic and dishonest anti-immigration plank, and that was one of the topics where he bludgeoned Jeb Bush.

    If the moderators cannot, or unable through ignorance, to point out that net immigration illegal and otherwise, from Mexico and So America has been zero or negative for awhile, HRC or Sanders will happily correct him at a debate. A big advantage a Democrats will have is that there candidates have gone through actual debates rather than feature length pro-wrestling promos. I know debates often do not make a major shift, but if election is close, that sort of thing will be important in getting marginal voters

  167. 167.

    redshirt

    @lgerard: Indeed. I got the dirt on this a long time ago. It’s a family operation with a literal server in a room somewhere in Fresno. Dad, Mom, and son make a great living fleecing the rubes.

  168. 168.

    Baud

    @redshirt:

    NOTHING would surprise me that the Clinton clan had a hand in this untimely death

    I suppose there are some realities in which that would make Hilary a less attractive candidate.

  169. 169.

    Amir Khalid

    @Bill E Pilgrim:
    I doubt that it would be at all difficult for the Republican Senate cactus to vote down a nominee they approved unanimously for another judicial post only a few years ago. This is not about Sri Srinivasan’s merits, after all. Nor is it about the president’s constitutional duty to appoint someone to fill a Supreme court vacancy. It’s about what Obama wants, and the Republican principle is not complicated: what Obama wants, Obama must not get.

  171. 171.

    Kay

    This is why we have to be careful when we blame Dem voters for “not coming out”

    Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are flooding Nevada with volunteers ahead of this week’s key nominating contest but they face a problem – the addresses, phone numbers and other personal data they need to reach many voters are out of date.
    Nevada, which is more than a quarter Latino, was one of the states worst affected by the 2008 financial meltdown, with hundreds of thousands of families unable to pay their mortgages and forced to move in a crisis that by some estimates hit minorities twice as hard as whites.
    With the foreclosed homes often switching hands multiple times – from homeowner to bank to investor and back to another homeowner in just a few years – keeping up with voters who at some point lived in those homes is difficult.

    The simplest, most straightforward things are 10 times harder when you’re financially precarious. It’s really different if you’re like me and you always get your mail and you’re always registered at the same address and go to the same polling place and you have the same work schedule year to year. It’s easier for financially secure people- everything is.

  172. 172.

    bluehill

    If Trump has gotten some on FreeRep to acknowledge Bush’s failures that is remarkable and I guess that will be a benefit of his otherwise despicable campaign. Actually, if he manages to blow up the current Repub party, that will be the biggest benefit.

    The thing I’ve wondered is if Trump is the nominee will right-leaning voters hold their noses and vote for him anyways because he’s the lesser of two evils (i.e. the dem nominee) in their minds. I have a very conservative friend who hates Trump but I can’t see him voting for Hillary or Sanders. He’s hoping Bloomberg enters the race.

  173. 173.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @raven: Thought it was interesting mainly in that it’s the first even secondhand report about who’s possibly top of the short list. Only other places I saw his name were just lists of people, pure speculation.

  174. 174.

    jl

    @Frankensteinbeck: No! Obama is ‘packing the court’ by filling vacancies. Unfair! It’s GOP BS so that argument has to have merit, in fact, kind of uncivil to even dispute it.

    From news and pundit BS I heard this morning, the GOP BS framing seems to be already the assumed default analysis position of the loons I hear in the corporate media. Probably PBS as well, but I can’t stand to listen to the economic crap and nonsense pumped out be public radio anymore, so that is just me being grouchy, I don;t listen to it.

  177. 177.

    jl

    @Baud: Obama could nominate Baud! 2016! for SCOTUS. If Obama nominates a virtual candidate, who will virtually do nothing but toke up, play the internet slots and poker, and otherwise wander aimlessly through the intertubes, the GOP will have a very hard time not holding a vote

    It will put the woeful Baud! 2016! presidential campaign out of its misery.

    That is what Obama will do. He is innovative!

  179. 179.

    WaterGirl

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: “I think he knows that probing that line of attack will bring an end to the Bush Establishment GOP. He just does not like that family at all, and it’s personal. I think he’d be fine walking away from the smoking crater of his candidacy, if he left a bigger smoking crater behind.”

    You might be on to something there. I certainly hope so!

  180. 180.

    jl

    My comment in moderation and I Blame Baud!

    Obama could nominate Baud! 2016! for SCOTUS. If Obama nominates a virtual candidate, who will virtually do nothing but toke up, play the internet slo_s and p 0 k * r, and otherwise wander aimlessly through the intertubes, the GOP will have a very hard time not holding a vote

    It will put the woeful Baud! 2016! presidential campaign out of its misery.

    That is what Obama will do. He is innovative!

  181. 181.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Amir Khalid: Well right except Reich’s point was that it was what Obama wanted when they confirmed him last time also, and yet they did.

    So “Hey you confirmed the guy already, what’s the problem?” is some pretty good ammunition. They really can’t just stand up in the Senate and say “Yes he’s perfectly qualified, absolutely no objection, I just don’t want Obama to appoint anyone”. They have to make up something. This before the fact stuff about “the next President should choose” is different, once they’re voting it down they have to pretend there’s a better reason than that.

    Anyway was just quoting Reich, not my words. Mainly just thought it was interesting in that Reich heard something about who, which carries some weight.

  182. 182.

    Patricia Kayden

    @shomi: If Trump doesn’t want to win, why is he running? Would be great if you were right and he is running simply to burn down the Republican house and weaken them so much that none of their candidates can win in November. That would play well with the rumor that it was Bill Clinton who encouraged him to run in the first place.

  183. 183.

    redshirt

    @bluehill: To be fair, I think Freep has been hating on W for a while. But from a “not Conservative enough” perspective. Trump aligns with a lot of their predisposed thinking. I mean, a lot of them are anti-Fox News too because its too liberal. Nuts, I know, but it’s true.

  185. 185.

    Corner Stone

    Cruz should never, ever be allowed to go on a TV show with a one to one closeup shot of his face. He probably just lost votes doing that on MtP.
    And boy, I thought pr0n in HD was a bad idea…

  186. 186.

    WaterGirl

    @Scout211: I really want to see her, so tthanks for the heads up. Looks like I can order by phone, on their website, or in person, starting at 10am on Monday. I’m thinking website might be my best option. ???

  188. 188.

    jl

    @Baud:

    Consistent with the substantive nature of the GOP debate, Josh Marshall at TPM attributes Jeb?’s improved performance to Brill Cream, hair dye and manlier man hair-do.

    Upped Jeb’s virtue, virtually speaking.

    Lessons there for Baud! 2016!

  189. 189.

    Anoniminous

    This election is getting fun. Supreme Court Justices dropping dead, Trump causing a meltdown in the GOP, the Clintons running scared of a 157 year old cranky, hectoring, Socialist from Vermont.

    This is so unbelievable you couldn’t sell it as a movie script to the SHARKNADO! SyFy channel.

  190. 190.

    WaterGirl

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I thought Sri Srinivasan was kind of conservative or pro-corporations or something like that. If so, what would make him such a great choice other than it would showcase the republican antics if they wouldn’t even vote on someone they voted on and apparently all approved of in the recent past?

  192. 192.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I do too. Trump has what I think is a really odd relationship with his voters. I don’t think he approaches it from an ordinary voter-candidate frame. He seems to believe they owe him something too, it’s reciprocal, more like “fans” than how we think of voters. I was thinking last night it was as if he’s testing their loyalty- how MUCH do they love him- more than defending Republicans on Iraq? More than their anti-abortion views? I feel like when he says “my people” that’s about what he expects from them as much as what they expect from him.

    It might be hard to run against him because it’s just this totally different..thing he has going on with them.

  194. 194.

    D58826

    >4. A very small minority are bringing up factual arguments and examples from the past.

    I’m sure they will be banned rather quickly. We can’t let those liberal facts interfere with the march toward …… where ever!

  196. 196.

    Corner Stone

    Somebody on Rubio’s camp knows how to tie a tie. That is a beautiful knot.
    .
    .
    ACK! The Ghost of Old Man Kasich just apparated onto my teebee! Yikes!!
    No kidding, Kasich looks like the old owner of the broken down attraction park that has just been unmasked by the Scooby Doo gang.

  197. 197.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Trump has what I think is a really odd relationship with his voters. I don’t think he approaches it from an ordinary voter-candidate frame. He seems to believe they owe him something too, it’s reciprocal, more like “fans” than how we think of voters.

    I can relate.

  199. 199.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @jl:
    At this point, I take it as assumed that most national pundit/journalist figures are Republicans of the ‘Reagan ended racism’ variety. It fits in beautifully with the love of meaningless bullshit over facts, ‘cult of savvy’ arrogance, and obsession with the horse race because policies certainly aren’t important.

  203. 203.

    Redshift

    @WaterGirl: Based on my experience trying to get tickets for various things, I’d do both at once (it even better, get someone to help.) Start refreshing the website just before the on sale time on case their system’s click isn’t synchronized.

  205. 205.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @WaterGirl: Well it won’t let me edit my response for some reason but responding to your added note: Who’s saying he’d be such a great pick, you mean Robert Reich? I think he was just talking about the strategy of choosing someone fairly recently previously confirmed, if Obama wanted to get someone confirmed. Don’t think it was an endorsement.

  209. 209.

    Anoniminous

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    “Running scared” may be a bit o’er the top but you hear or read Bill’s speech in SC a while back? Don’t do that kind of thing without some concern re: your opponent.

  212. 212.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    In a Sanders/Trump shouty old white guy presidential contest where they both go all in on the white vote, I’d put my money on Trump. His “He’s going to give our country away, folks!” line will get all the dogs to come to the yard. He also looks more vigorous and “strong”, just how the whites like their strongmen. I just wish we could game play this out on Sim City virtually first, and not for realz.

  213. 213.

    Anya

    Does anyone know a reliable place where I can get the latest Y’all Qaeda news. I was under the weather when the standoff ended so I am not current on the latest news.

  214. 214.

    p.a.

    @Amir Khalid:Not original to me: many have noted that if Obama came out against drinking Drano or against using 18th century medicinal bloodletting the conservative gross population numbers in the US would crater.

  215. 215.

    WaterGirl

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I think I’ve seen his name on every list that has been floated by anyone at this point. From that, I concluded that “everybody” seems to think he has a good shot at it, but I have seen “too conservative” and other stuff as part of those discussions, too.

  217. 217.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @WaterGirl:
    Right I’d seen him on every list, and Reich’s note was the first even hint that of all those names, he might be at the top.

    Just dug this up, Think Progress, 2013:

    This afternoon, the Senate confirmed Sri Srinivasan to the staunchly conservative United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans already have a plan to prevent anyone else from being confirmed to this powerful court while Obama is in the White House. Obama pulled this one confirmation off because the Srinivasan nomination was practically an act of trolling. Srinivasan clerked for a Republican judge and a Republican justice. He is unquestionably one of the best Supreme Court advocates in the country. And his nomination enjoys the support of Republican legal stars such as Paul Clement, Bush v. Gore attorney Ted Olson, and anti-Clinton inquisitor Ken Starr. Had Senate Republicans filibustered this nomination, it would have been difficult for them to deny allegations that they are acting in bad faith.

    In no small part because of Srinivasan’s stellar legal credentials, the New Yorker’s Jeff Toobin claimed that “if Srinivasan passes this test and wins confirmation, he’ll be on the Supreme Court before President Obama’s term ends.” This claim is premature. At the very least, court watchers — and the President himself — should have some idea what Srinivasan thinks about the law before he joins the most powerful Court in the land, and Srinivasan’s views are largely unknown.

  219. 219.

    WaterGirl

    @Anya: Google this and it will bring up all the latest posts by Adam Silverman. Should tell you anything you want to know:

    standoff site:balloon-juice.com

  222. 222.

    oldgold

    McConnell really stepped in it yesterday. He should have taken some time to get some decent advise and think things through. To quickly declare the Senate would not consider ANY Obama nominee really eff’d the GOP over. His statement, with 11 months left in Obama’s term, is in effect an attempted coup. He is attempting to end Obama’s presidency 11 months before it expires.

    McConnell should have kept quiet. He could have claimed it would be unseemly to discuss this matter so soon after Scalia’s death. He could have then played slow ball, voted down Obama’s nominee in late summer for some made up, but plausible reason, and then declared it too late to take-up
    a second nominee.

    That slow ball strategy is now denied the GOP or would be very costly to carryout, because what McConnell said yesterday lays bare the con.

  223. 223.

    bluehill

    @redshirt: That is nuts, although as evidenced by the yahoos in Oregon I shouldn’t be surprised. I don’t look at FreeRep often, actually at all. You guys have stronger stomachs than I do.

  224. 224.

    Redshift

    @shomi:

    I don’t expect the “Sara Palin is totally going to run for Prez” and “Kristie Christie is a heck of a guy” morons around here to get this though even after Trump made it so obvious last night.

    Uh-huh. As opposed to the morons who believe “you can tell Trump doesn’t really want to win because he’s trying to say things that are so unacceptable that the gets knocked out if the race.” We’ve been hearing that one since his slab on McCain, at least. How’s it been working out?

    (And seriously, people around here who believed Palin was going to run? Name one. I’m guessing you’re just the “JC loooves Christie” troll with a new nym.)

  228. 228.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl:

    I am not sure which is best. My friends were able to purchase their tickets from a friend who bought a block of tickets–whatever the limit was. I can’t remember if the friend purchased them online or at the Pacific box office. Sorry.

    There were big donor tables on the floor and all the high schoolers in the balcony, plus the university women’s studies program (who sponsored the event). Those seats were not available to the general public so the number of available tickets went quickly.

  234. 234.

    Corner Stone

    I was just now considering that I would have equally few regrets if somehow the FSM double blessed us and reclaimed Ron Fournier to her sweet pasta bosom. But then reality hit and the realization that someone would immediately vault into his villager spot, as if he never existed except as vaunted reference. Still, a person can dream.

  235. 235.

    Corner Stone

    Four candidates for the R nomination for president, and then a panel with Kathleen Parker, Chris Cillizza and Ron Fournier.
    On Meet the Press. Sheesh.

  237. 237.

    Cermet

    @Vhh: Wow, that would scare me because there might then be sometype of real karma in the Universe …would be fun.

  238. 238.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    MARFA, Texas — The death certificate for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will list myocardial infarction — a heart attack — as the official cause of death, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told WFAA on Sunday.

    I’m sorry but “Cinderela Guevara” is one of the most archetype-bending names I’ve seen, well possibly ever.

  239. 239.

    bluehill

    @redshirt: True, but after the last election, that really doesn’t seem so long ago, I was hoping for less interesting and more rational or even calm. Yes, I drink to world peace and play the lottery sometimes.

  241. 241.

    WaterGirl

    @Scout211: Thanks. This isn’t a big venue and it’s a university town, and this is being sponsored by the law school, so I imagine there will be a lot of competition for seats!

  242. 242.

    danielx

    This debate audience has turned into a Roman coliseum crowd.

    — Ali Weinberg (@AliABCNews) February 14, 2016

    So pretty much the same as every Republican debate audience, then. They do bear a remarkable resemblance to Jerry Springer audiences, do they not?

  243. 243.

    chrome agnomen

    @redshirt: shit. i went there and read about 100 comments. i love the ones who said they were totally disillusioned with, and hated GWB by 2004. but guess who they voted for in 2004? they’re all having a come-to-jeebus moment now, but they were sucking that dick hard as they could all those years, and every election since. and they’ll vote for JEB! in 2016 should he be the nominee, despite their avowed hatred of the very name now.

  244. 244.

    Tripod

    I have no interest in the game. Only the crash reel.

    Bill Kristol is so goddamned dumb. That war fucked the Bush syndicate. They chose poorly. Their dynastic institutional power is gone. (Powell and his guys know, and have spoken to, how they got rat fucked by Cheney.) All the power players in that cabal are dead or near dead. There will never be another Bush White House. It’s over. The End.

    Trump is a venal buffoon who found a bust out opportunity and is ruthlessly exploiting it. He’s running circles around them. LULZ

  245. 245.

    Corner Stone

    @oldgold:

    His statement, with 11 months left in Obama’s term, is in effect an attempted coup. He is attempting to end Obama’s presidency 11 months before it expires.

    He’s been trying to end it for 7+ years. Why should now be any different?
    McConnell can’t possibly let his Senators up for election this year take a vote on SCOTUS. And at the same time he can’t not have a vote. Going to be fun.

  247. 247.

    hueyplong

    Freeper comment: “NOTHING would surprise me that the Clinton clan had a hand in this untimely death.”

    If Thomas drops next week and rumors fly that it was a Bern Hit, I’m on board with the concept of back-to-back Socialist Presidents “crammed down their throats,” but for now the deliciousness of a Vince Foster-style butt hurt of blame for Hitlery over Fat Tony’s trip to the other side has me leaning Clinton.

  248. 248.

    jl

    @redshirt: The amazing and frightening thing is that the reactionaries are eager to move past guys like Scalia and Roberts.

    I think Scalia was earnest in believing that he was a fricken World Historical genius, and sincere in his BS, but smart enough to be vaguely aware that his ‘original/texitual/plain language-ism flavor of the day didn’t quite add up. Which he attributed to the mysterious of ways of (his own) genius. Who the hell has time for that BS now? And it made the old guy unreliable on some issues, some first and fourth amendment cases did not get the legal product desired by the paymasters.

    And Roberts, WTF, who has time for his finessing shit to avoid chaos and turmoil now, but cleverly setting up further progress down the line on takings or commerce clause? Unreliable and unsound. Money has been paid and reliable legal opinion product must be churned out on schedule. Time Is Money.

    We will get Alito Mark II and III and IV, if the reactionaries have their way.

    The powers that be probably liked Scalia, despite is periodic self-indulgent vagaries, because he was very reliable on hot button social issues, that the oligarchs use to distract their white dupes, while they grind their faces just enough to get them angry and in a mood to blame others, no matter how ridiculous the pretexts.

    Scalia and Roberts are old models, something more efficient low maintenance and reliable is needed now.

  249. 249.

    WaterGirl

    @John Cole: Okay, I looked at your tweets from last night. There were a ton of great tweets to choose from, but I limited myself to the ones about the debates. I’ve gotta go with either the mix tape for valentines’s day or I GOT THIS!

    You really were on a roll!

  250. 250.

    Fair Economist

    @WaterGirl:

    I thought Sri Srinivasan was kind of conservative or pro-corporations or something like that. If so, what would make him such a great choice other than it would showcase the republican antics if they wouldn’t even vote on someone they voted on and apparently all approved of in the recent past?

    Sri Srinivasan has worked for Al Gore, Enron, W, *and* Obama, and by all accounts did a stellar job for all of them. He’s the best “impartial jurist” you could hope to find these days. He would be President wishes-he-could-have-been-nonpartisan Obama’s dream nominee.

    Unless he turns out to be a monster (or a saint) in sheep’s clothing, having somebody like that as the swing vote on the Supreme Court would go a long way to restoring the credibility of the institution.

    In addition he’s absolutely the best to put the screws to obstructionist Republicans, because of extensive work for both sides, a recent unanimous confirmation, and a lot of positive reviews.

  251. 251.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Matt McIrvin: I agree that we shouldn’t take a chance on Trump. We shouldn’t forget that it wasn’t that long ago that some people in W’s administration were saying that the 2004 election should be postponed.. Trump has said lots of unconstitutional things, so he wouldn’t have any compunction about declaring a state of emergency over Zika or who knows what.

    The things Trump was saying last night weren’t that different from what he’s been saying since he announced in June that he was running.

    And I’m the one that made all of the right predictions about Iraq. You know, all of these politicians that I’m running against now, it’s so nice to say I’m running as opposed to if I run, if I run – I’m running.

    But all of these politicians that I’m running against now, they’re trying to dissociate. I mean, you look at Bush – it took him five days to answer the question on Iraq. He couldn’t answer the question. He didn’t know.

    I said, ‘Is he intelligent?’

    And then I looked at Rubio. He was unable to answer the question. He didn’t know.

    How are these people going to lead us? How are we going to go back and made it great again? We can’t They don’t have a clue. They can’t lead us. They can’t.

    He feels no compunction to fit his statements into the GOP or Teabagger orthodoxy. And it hasn’t hurt him one bit thus far…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  252. 252.

    Mike J

    @WaterGirl:

    I thought Sri Srinivasan was kind of conservative or pro-corporations or something like that.

    If Obama nominates the ghost of Che Guevara, Daily Kos will complain he’s too conservative.

    If Obama nominates the ghost of John Birch, Republicans will say he’s too liberal.

    One of the tweets at the top asks who the Democratic Reagan would be. We’ll never have one because we insist on tearing everyone down, and take extra joy if they’re on our side, since that proves our purity.

  253. 253.

    JMG

    Let the record show that this registered Dem household in Mass. received its first primary phone call 10 minutes ago. It was a Hillary supporter. Nice fellow, if not exactly a silver-tongued advocate. I told him undecided, which is true but a mistake as now the campaign will keep calling. Anyhow, when I said that, his pitch was to stress all the issues on which Bernie and Hillary agree. Primary is March 1. You’d think both candidates would campaign personally in Massachusetts, especially Bernie, but I have my doubts they will.

  254. 254.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Cermet: This is a dude who has already promised to mass-deport 11 million people and build a giant impossible wall on the border, and brags about how he could gun people down in the street and not lose votes. You’re sure he wouldn’t go blood-soaked-tyrant upon taking office? This shit happens all the time in some countries.

  255. 255.

    WaterGirl

    @Fair Economist: Thanks for all that great information and for sharing your perspective. I just googled him and saw a bunch of “supreme court” links. My first thought was, wow he really is one of the top names for this and then I noticed most of the articles were from 2013! Off to read some of them now.

  256. 256.

    WaterGirl

    @JMG: “…his pitch was to stress all the issues on which Bernie and Hillary agree…”

    That’s a pretty smart strategy! It would be interesting to sign up to phone bank just to see what the script is like. :-) But I won’t do that because I won’t make calls for her. Still, would love to see the script!

  257. 257.

    Corner Stone

    @Fair Economist:

    Sri Srinivasan has worked for Al Gore, Enron, W, *and* Obama, and by all accounts did a stellar job for all of them. He’s the best “impartial jurist” you could hope to find these days. He would be President wishes-he-could-have-been-nonpartisan Obama’s dream nominee.

    That scares the absolute shit outta me.

  258. 258.

    Cermet

    @Matt McIrvin: He says all kinds of things and I do not believe most is more than feeding red meat to the rabble. I too, have had tin-foil hat moments and worry overly about a lot of things but tRump actually being a real fascist – no. Exactly how would the military back someone like that? Remember, in this country Officers swear to the Constitution rather then the President. So, all Officers must first and foremost defend the Constitution form all enemies both foreign and domestic – that means they MUST dis-obey illegal orders from a President that violate the Constitution. In this, they have no latitude nor real choice. And as an ex-officer, I am certain they would defend the Constitution first.

  259. 259.

    raven

    “I have no illusions that your man will nominate someone who shares my orientation,” said Scalia, then in his 23rd year as the court’s leading and most provocative conservative voice. “But I hope he sends us someone smart.”

    A little taken aback that he was engaging me on the subject, I searched for the right answer, and lamely offered one that signaled my slight discomfort with the topic. “I’m sure he will, Justice Scalia.”

    He wasn’t done. Leaning forward, as if to share a confidential thought, he tried again.

    “Let me put a finer point on it,” the justice said, in a lower, purposeful tone of voice, his eyes fixed on mine. “I hope he sends us Elena Kagan.”

    I was surprised that a member of the court would so bluntly propose a nominee, and intrigued that it was Kagan, the former Harvard Law School dean who was appointed solicitor general by Obama to represent the government before the Supreme Court. Though she had worked on policy in the Clinton administration and had a reputation for pragmatism, Kagan plainly would be a liberal in the context of the court.

  260. 260.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think he says things because he can and it’s what’s off the top of his head and likes the attention it receives, but he’s too undisciplined to be able to focus on being an evil mastermind. He’d be spending all his time trying to fire half the country, suing the other half, and twitterstorming 24/7. He’s a buffoon.

  261. 261.

    Anya

    @Steve in the ATL: Thanks! Great reads. These people are nuts. I am flabbergasted at the elected officials advocating for and supporting these crazy people. The only thing that makes sense is if they were working for the FBI.

  264. 264.

    sparrow

    @rikyrah: Yikes. I rent cars at ABQ everytime I have to drive out to the VLA. Pretty random place to bomb… maybe someone didn’t feel like going in to work today?

  265. 265.

    James E Powell

    @Fair Economist:

    We always have to accept the corporate-approved version of “liberal” – An actual lefty is never mentioned. By that I mean, we don’t get anyone with a history of siding with workers over bosses, the earth over polluters, buyers over sellers, or borrowers over lenders. We never get a Stephen Reinhardt or an Elizabeth Warren.

  266. 266.

    redshirt

    This is the kind of crazy but sorta sane take I love from Freep:

    This was eventually going to happen. As the nation imports hispanics and other non-assimilating left-leaning groups, the various branches of government will fall under leftist domination. Not all at once, but eventually all. The Rats have a near lock on the Electoral college and now, perhaps the judiciary. Low Rat turnout in off-year elections and districting in the House has helped the GOP in Congress, but even those advantages will run out. Adios America. It was a good run.

    It’s true, and great news, for us. It’s always surprising though to see them realize it.

  268. 268.

    Karen

    @scottinnj:

    Then why can’t we do the same for turtle McConnell? Is this when the media says it’s a special case because:

    1. There’s a Dem President.

    2. There’s a Ni-CLANG Dem President?

    Oh the media won’t say those words and the GOP won’t either. But any way you look at it, they will be giving an excuse to why some Presidents are more equal than others.

  269. 269.

    WaterGirl

    @Fair Economist: Just read several of the articles I found on google. I can see what President Obama would like about him – seems like they share the same temperament and ability to get along with people, they want to hear both sides of an argument and reach an impartial conclusion. All good.

    He seems like a great pick if you were guaranteed that future picks for the supreme court would be based on smarts and their ability to communicate and reach an impartial conclusion based on the law. But in a world where the supreme court is filled with very partisan republicans, that worries me. His appointment would be like an act of faith, a building of the future he wants to see for SCOTUS, which would be something President Obama would be inclined to do.

    Actually, it might be more of a return to the past where — pre Bush v. Gore — one could actually believe that the supreme court justices were above politics. That was a sad, sad year for me when I realized how wrong I had been in believing that.

  270. 270.

    SFAW

    @Fair Economist:

    This just in: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is still dead.

    It’s UNSEEMLY for you to mention that …

    … without mentioning that Dead Andy Breitbart is still Dead as a Fucking Doornail. (In 16 days, it’ll be four years, for those of you counting at home.)

    OK, 100 Ave Marias and 100 Pater Nosters for me.

  271. 271.

    Steve in the ATL

    I’m hearing rumors of a shooting on the campus of Arkansas State university but can’t find it on the news. Has anyone heard anything?

  273. 273.

    Oldgold

    Here is great moment from last night’s debate.

    BUSH: He has had the gall to go after my mother. Hold on. Let me finish. He has had the gall to go after my mother.
    TRUMP: That’s not keeping us safe.
    BUSH: Look, I won the lottery when I was born 63 years ago, looked up, and I saw my mom. My mom is the strongest woman I know.
    TRUMP: She should be running.

  274. 274.

    Mike J

    @rikyrah: I can not tell you how many pairs of sunglasses I’ve left in rental cars. One of the reasons I seldom take bombs with me.

  277. 277.

    WaterGirl

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: I think that when you say you think you could shoot someone in the face in the middle of Times Square and people would still love you or vote for you… well, I think if you believe that you feel like you can say anything you damn well please, and they will still love you.

  278. 278.

    gogol's wife

    @debbie:

    Stewardess, I don’t speak Spanish, but I do know that he was using the intimate “tu” form rather than the appropriate pronoun in addressing Rubio.

  279. 279.

    Corner Stone

    @Emma: I’m not enamored of the idea we put somebody forward not having any idea what they think or how they will decide. If Sri is a feint, it’s a risky one for the next 40 years.

  281. 281.

    WaterGirl

    @John Cole: Was that the “showing more signs of life than usual, recognizing his one name” tweet? That was definitely a contender, but I think a couple others were even better.

  283. 283.

    eemom

    @Oldgold:

    Obscure fun fact: Poppy Bush actually said Barb should be running in one of his debates with Bill Clinton in 1992. It was actually kind of a sad moment.

  285. 285.

    JPL

    @Bill E Pilgrim: The Justice of the Peace decided that without viewing the body. I like to think that he enjoyed his last moments on earth, in the same manner as Nelson Rockefeller.

  286. 286.

    Ruckus

    @Cermet:
    All officers and enlisted take the oath to defend the Constitution.
    My point isn’t that they take the oath, it’s that they don’t actually know what the document says, and that you can, and many do, wear a tin foil hat under their service cover. That’s when it gets messy. Most of us are not con law and even among those that are there are huge differences in interpretation so imagine a lowly service member trying to decide what’s right and what isn’t.

  288. 288.

    Anoniminous

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Just this:

    School officials put Arkansas State University on lockdown Sunday after two armed men were spotted walking around campus, CBS News reported. Information on who the men were or what they were doing was scant.

  289. 289.

    WaterGirl

    @redshirt: I was going with total coincidence, but I’ll take that! My mom always said “they can’t say yes unless you ask”.

    Happy to have a new thread.

  293. 293.

    Fair Economist

    @WaterGirl:

    But in a world where the supreme court is filled with very partisan republicans, that worries me. His appointment would be like an act of faith, a building of the future he wants to see for SCOTUS, which would be something President Obama would be inclined to do.

    All true. But, as you say, Obama obviously likes him and it’s easy to see why. Any nominee has to get through a hyperpartisan Republican Senate so we could never get a committed lefty for this appointment.

    It’s still a huge win for us as Supreme Court seats normally keep their ideological leaning for more than one Justice. Our fundamental problem is that we’ve had at least 5 conservative seats since sometime in the 70’s. Justices normally retire only under presidents who’ll appoint somebody similar. Scalia, for example, effectively replaced Burger, so this seat has been conservative for 47 years. Now we only have 4 conservative seats, so unless there’s another unexpected death or surprise conservative we’re likely to have a non-conservative court for the indefinite future.

  295. 295.

    cokane

    what’s amazing is that if Clinton wins the general, 2020 is going to be even worse imo. peak wingnut is a myth

  297. 297.

    J R in WV

    @redshirt:

    I clicked the link, and looked at quite a few mind dead comments. You cherry-picked one of the best:

    It is no secret that Hitlary was definitely NOT FOND of Justice Scalia and NOTHING, NOTHING would surprise me that the Clinton clan had a hand in this untimely death.

    In which world is a guy pushing 80 hard, living the good life, eating Italian food, drinking wine, jet-setting around to fancy resorts to make well-pain speeches, and here he is, 79 years old, and that death is “UNTIMELY”????

    No, no, it was his time, past the average time for big heavyset hard drinking guys who don’t exercise to kick the bucket.

    And they were way, way out in the Tejas back-country, 50 miles from a little art colony, how exactly is someone going to sneak around there to kill anyone unobtrusively?

  298. 298.

    WaterGirl

    @Fair Economist: What you say makes sense. It’s the idea of a surprise conservative that scares me. Or someone like Roberts who says one thing before he gets in and then doesn’t like up to that once he is in.

    Of course, when someone turns out to be more liberal than expected, that’s a good thing!

  299. 299.

    Kilgore Trout

    @Corner Stone:

    Nominating a highly qualified moderate creates a win-win scenario. If the R’s cave and confirm, we just significantly improved the landscape of the SC by replacing a hard-core conservative with a moderate. If the R’s can’t help themselves and obstruct a well qualified moderate, then we have a winning campaign issue about their craven behavior that they themselves will have put front and center with Ted Freakin’ Cruz as the leading spokesman. Win-win.

    The losing play is to nominate a liberal, give the the Senate a fig leaf to cover their obstruction (out of the mainstream!!!), and then lose the election. Scalia gets replaced by another radical wingnut, as does RBG (82 and not in great health).

    Just IMHO.

  300. 300.

    Patricia Kayden

    @cokane: You mean worse for Republicans? Hopefully, a President Hillary Clinton would have set things up nicely so like President Obama and her husband, she wins easily in 2020.

    If Republicans lose in 2016 and they come forward with the same kind of crazy candidates in 2020, they’ll lose again. They need a moderate Republican to run effectively in the general election instead of these wild eyed bozos like Trump and Cruz.

  303. 303.

    Anne Laurie

    @John Cole:

    I had the best tweet of the night and Anne Laurie gives me no props.

    I considered including it (after Drezner retweeted you) but it seemed like apple-polishing…

  304. 304.

    Scamp Dog

    @redshirt: Yes, there are some resemblances, but then there’s stuff like this:

    He should definitely have had the Hildebeest indicted for the murder of Vince Foster, and her faux husband for the murders of Jerry Parks and Ron Brown, just for starters.

    Above all, he should have destroyed the sodomite supremacist movement, at any cost.

  306. 306.

    chopper

    @hueyplong:

    Freeper comment: “NOTHING would surprise me that the Clinton clan had a hand in this untimely death.”

    “untimely”? a hypertensive 79-year-old smoker who never really took care of himself dying of a fucking heart attack isn’t “untimely”, it’s “shit i’m amazed he made it that far!” dude probably ate spite ate a 16oz steak every day cause fuck liberals.

  307. 307.

    NR

    @Mike J:

    One of the tweets at the top asks who the Democratic Reagan would be. We’ll never have one because we insist on tearing everyone down, and take extra joy if they’re on our side, since that proves our purity.

    Not this bullshit again.

    If Democratic politicians would deliver for the people instead of the CEOs, the left would like them.

    It’s really that simple.

  312. 312.

    jl

    @NR: I think Dems are just too reality based. No Zombie Godhead Atman political gods for us. No earthly FDRs, Trumans, JFKs, LBJs, Big Dawgs, or Obamas need apply.

    Maybe in a strange way, Carter will come closest, but for his post-presidential career.

  313. 313.

    NR

    @redshirt: Obama’s first term was nonstop Republican ass-kissing.

    He got somewhat better in his second term, but by then, the damage was done.

  314. 314.

    redshirt

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think the chance that he’d beat Clinton or Sanders is way higher than 1%, and I don’t think we can say that for sure. You’re thinking in terms of the traditional Republican categories of horribleness, in which Trump is genuinely not as bad as these other guys. But he could try to do things they’re not even prepared to think about doing. We could have outright ethnic cleansing, paramilitary raids, secret police disappearing political opponents to death factories, Trump declaring himself President for Life. It’s really rolling the dice.

    While no doubt true, I think Trump is actually the somewhat social moderate billionaire he’s selling himself as. He’s toned it back compared to his earlier days, but it seems pretty consistent for him. Thus, I don’t think he’d begin a genocide or brownshirt brigade or anything else too terrible because he gets it. He gets what makes America special.

    It’s the art of bullshitting.

  315. 315.

    redshirt

    @NR: Bull. Prove it. Understand of course your claim is highly subjective.

    He was the first black man as President. He was inheriting an empire with an economy that just broke because of the lies of the previous 30 years. He’s a Democrat, which seems technically illegal according to Republican thought. I ask you, what more could he have done? And how are you to judge?

  316. 316.

    Matt McIrvin

    I don’t think it’s really a party-specific thing. Reagan was the Republican FDR.

    JFK actually had a Reagan-level personality cult that started full-blown when he took office, though since he was killed after a partial term his achievements were less than the myth (but he was also not particularly tainted by Vietnam).

    Obama had one for about a month.

    LBJ might be as significant a liberal titan as FDR, but he could never have been regarded the same way because he was personally unattractive and drove full-speed into a hopeless, unpopular war. He got a lot done early on just because of Kennedy’s postmortem aura.

  317. 317.

    NR

    @redshirt: Dude, 2009 isn’t so long ago that people don’t remember what happened. I was there. I saw Obama get swept into office because he promised change from the failed policies of the past. People voted for Democrats specifically because they did not want more Republican policies. All Obama and the rest of the Democratic leadership had to do was give them that change.

    Instead, Obama made the rehabilitation of the GOP his mission in life, co-opting and endorsing their policies, and bragging about how many of their ideas he’d included in his legislation.

    The consequences were devastating.

  320. 320.

    a different chris

    @Fair Economist: A fine upstanding No Labels candidate. Best part is how it would make the Purity Pony heads aspload, amirite? (fuckin’ hippies! grrrr…)

  321. 321.

    WaterGirl

    @burnspbesq: Some excerpts from a Mother Jones article from 2013:

    Last Friday, Earth Rights International, a human rights and environmental group, sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging senators to demand answers on Srinivansan’s private-sector work defending oil giant Exxon. In 2011, while working for O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Srinivasan argued that corporations couldn’t be held liable for human rights abuses they are complicit in abroad—specifically, in this case, alleged acts of murder and torture. ERI supported the plaintiffs in that litigation.
    …
    Likewise, the liberal legal group Alliance for Justice said last June that Srinivasan’s record and background “left open some questions about his commitment to workers’ rights and to the rights of everyday Americans facing corporate and banking interests in the federal courts.”
    …
    It’s understandable that liberals might look skeptically at Srinivasan. In 2010, Srinivasan unsuccessfully tried to convince the Supreme Court to grant a new trial for Enron president Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted in connection with one of the most significant financial fraud scandals in recent history.
    …
    Srinivasan also successfully represented a newspaper publisher that fired its employees for using their union to attempt to pressure the paper to reverse what the employees saw as biased interference in their reporting. The DC Circuit hears a lot of labor and regulatory cases, so the fact that Srinivasan has defended corporate clients against unions and plaintiffs alleging human rights abuses might cause some liberal groups anxiety.

  322. 322.

    Gerald

    Well …what do ya know …the TRUTH was told about Shrub, 9/11, the lies about WMD’s, the deliberate deceiving of the American peoples into invading Iraq, the squandering of 4,000+ American lives, the squandering of 2 trillion US dollars and the destabilization of the entire Middle East by the GOP/Republican front runner!

    How many millions were watching THIS??

    AND …how many had already come to this truth and had not said it out loud to the Republican pollsters and focus groups?

    Will the Fox bubble speak of this?

    If so …how loud and how long?

    Ahhhhhhh … the disinfectant know as truth as made its appearance among the willfully ignorant … what next?

  323. 323.

    shomi

    @Redshift: MISTERMIX. In fact he must have posted at least a dozen blog posts here about how he is certain Sarah is going to run for prez.

    Put that in your pipe and smoke it. You people are so friggin naive about things right in front of your noses.

    Also to the other moron who said why is Trump running them if he doesn’t want the job. Because he a friggin egomanic. Hello anyone there??? You really don’t have a clue??? Yikes….the stupid it burns.

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