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You are here: Home / Three Full Shifts Running Round the Clock At the Bullshit Factory

Three Full Shifts Running Round the Clock At the Bullshit Factory

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Great piece by Alex Pareene on the result of decades of profitably telling lies to stupid people:

But the complete and inarguable disaster of the Bush administration—a failure of the conservative movement itself, one undeniable even to many consumers of the parallel conservative media—and his abrupt replacement by a black man, caused a national nervous breakdown among the people who’d been told, for many years, that conservatism could not fail, and that all Real Americans agreed with them.

Rather rapidly, two things happened: First, Republicans realized they’d radicalized their base to a point where nothing they did in power could satisfy their most fervent constituents. Then—in a much more consequential development—a large portion of the Republican Congressional caucus became people who themselves consume garbage conservative media, and nothing else.

That, broadly, explains the dysfunction of the Obama era, post-Tea Party freakout. Congressional Republicans went from people who were able to turn their bullshit-hose on their constituents, in order to rile them up, to people who pointed it directly at themselves, mouths open.

Now, we have a president whose media diet defines his worldview, interests, and priorities. He is not one of the men, like most of those Tea Party members of Congress, whose existing worldview determined his media diet—who sealed himself off from disagreeable media sources. He is, in fact, something far more dangerous: a confused old man who believes what the TV tells him.

If you want to see this in action, yesterday I tweeted up a string about the whole Susan Rice unmasking nonsense:

Basically, it works like this. Some lunatic (in this case, Mike Cernovich, but it could be literally anyone- Jim Hoft, an anonymous poster named IHATEBLACKS at the Free Republic, some random at Red State, the Confederate Wanker Bob Owens, one of the retrograde morons at the Powerline- anyone, really) pukes up some utter nonsense about Susan Rice. It is quickly picked up and amplified by the wingnut noise machine of inplace media sites like the Daily Caller, Red State, Breitbart, WND, etc., ad nauseum.

Then someone in the media will pay attention, in this case Eli Lake, and cover it and give the claim a veneer of respectability. Lake, who last week had to tell his readers he was a fucking idiot for believing the load he swallowed from Devin Nunes has either apparently learned nothing is just a fucking easy lay with a healthy thirst for choad.

From there it creeps into the “respectable” media, like Fox News, the NY Post, the WSJ, etc. That’s when the MSM really has no choice but to cover it, but since they have fired all of the reporters who cover beats and have a deep but narrow purview, it takes them some time to get caught up to speed. Meanwhile, the puke funnel keeps blowing out chunks, and Jake Tapper only has one foot in his HAZMAT suit and is already up to his knees in bullshit.

Additionally, this is another ripe target, for several reasons. First, Susan Rice is a professional and did nothing wrong, but we’re dealing with territory that not a lot of people understand, so it’s super easy to turn “unmasking” into some sort of nefarious deal. Second, civil libertarians tend to be absolutists, so even though Rice did nothing wrong, they’re just pissed she’s doing it at all. Third, the hard left has hated Susan Rice and Samantha Power from the get go. Fourth, Rice is, as we said, a professional, and isn’t going to go spewing top secret stuff to defend herself so the charges will just linger. Fifth, the Obama admin is no longer in power, so there is NO ONE to defend her. And finally, as is often the case, she is a woman and a person of color.

So that’s where we are, as the unmasking puke assault rolls over us. Sure, there are some rear guard actions. Ryan Lizza has a great piece, as doess Brian Beutler, but at this point it’s akin to charging a machine gun nest alone when the rest of your platoon is already dead- we’ve already moved on to Trump claiming Rice is a criminal.

That’s good, in a sense, that Trump is now involved, so this will continue until it has actually been debunked and Rice has been vindicated. But it will just happen again with something new tomorrow, because the bullshit factory never sleeps, and its workers are well payed and highly incentivized. The other day it was released the nutters at Breitbart make six figures, and Cernovich’s punishment for his latest sin against truth? A massive profile piece in the NY Times.

See also this excellent Media Matters rundown.

Reader Interactions

235Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Not to start a flame war, but the big problem is with this

    Second, civil libertarians tend to be absolutists, so even though Rice did nothing wrong, they’re just pissed she’s doing it at all. Third, the hard left has hated Susan Rice and Samantha Power from the get go.

    This is what prevents Dems from being completely dismissive of the puke funnel. They won’t get rewarded for standing up to it.

  2. 2.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    He is, in fact, something far more dangerous: a confused old man who believes what the TV tells him.

    Good description of Homer’s father on The Simpsons…

    Unfortunately, it’s also a good description of the current resident of the WH… someone w/ quick access to nukular weapons… which makes it terrifying…

  3. 3.

    jeffreyw

    It’s not a failed media experiment. It is a successful media experiment. Fox has 1st mover advantage but the rest of them are catching up. I think “America – Land of the Brave and Home of the Free” is the failure.

  4. 4.

    BlueDWarrior

    The Wurlitzer has evolved sentience and is now developing a rather potent self-preservation instinct. Eventually the right-wing reality will self generate with no obvious human involvment.

    Think of it like Skynet for right wing propaganda.

  7. 7.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    Speaking of Bullshit – Cole’s crush:

    Asked for his opinion of Breitbart News, acclaimed journalist Glenn Greenwald praised the news site’s editorial integrity and said the site was “very impressive in terms of the impact they’ve been able to have.”

    Heck of a job, Cole

  11. 11.

    BlueDWarrior

    @debbie: because they believe in utilizing American hard and soft power, and the hard left has a lot of absolutist pacifists?

    Also some racial issues…

  14. 14.

    TenguPhule

    Second, civil libertarians tend to be absolutists, so even though Rice did nothing wrong, they’re just pissed she’s doing it at all.

    In my experience, Civil Libertarians are simply Fascists who like to get high.

  15. 15.

    David

    OT, but I got a chance to jump in early, so I will ask, what’s the acronym ABC mean when John talks about the gal pal?

  26. 26.

    Iowa Old Lady

    As I watch the Syrian and N Korean news and Trump’s meetings with the leaders of Jordan and China, it occurs to me that we’ve all been saying his crises so far are of his own making. And what will happen when a real crisis happens? Maybe we are now at that point. The man’s ignorance, incompetence, narcissism, and laziness are unmatched and dangerous.

  27. 27.

    amk

    German ministers have approved plans to fine social media firms up to 50m euros ($53.3m; £42.7m) if they fail to remove hate speech and fake news quickly.

    The proposed law would give the companies 24 hours to block obviously criminal content after it had been reported, and seven days for other offensive material.

    However, a plan to state explicitly that penalties could be imposed after a single infraction has been dropped.

    Facebook has voiced concern.

    of course, they did.

  32. 32.

    liberal

    @debbie: Samantha Power is certainly despicable. Preaches R2P, but only for countries that are enemies. Then sucks up to Kissinger.

  35. 35.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:: When’s the last time Cole was openly supportive of Greenwald? (Yes, I’m aware of the two-TBogg article he wrote about Greenwald and “Obama raping nuns.”) Because going by his Twitter he’s been firmly anti-Greenwald since at least October.

  38. 38.

    Goku

    This thing can’t last forever can it? At some point reality is going to have reassert itself with these people right?

  39. 39.

    BlueDWarrior

    @amk: there is valid enforcement concerns, because we know a lot v of the platforms can be brigaded and spammed by bots. There are also the obvious problems with free speech absolutists.

    There is something that had to be done along these lines, but how do up actually get it done?

  43. 43.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Goku: well, it’s like were dealing with children who have been taught the wrong values for numbers as adults and wondering why their addition makes no sense to us.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    @Major Major Major Major: Think about it reverse. If a Republican were attacked by some bullshit (or even legitimate criticism) from the left, they would all close ranks to fight it, and they would not insist that the target take the accusation seriously. That’s what makes them effective.

    But if the right attacks us unfairly, our side engages in a complex, nuanced analysis in deciding how to respond, which often boils down to whether the target is part of the preferred clique. For instance, I promise you that if some Republican levied a blatant lie against Andrew Cuomo, this blog would not be up in arms. The end result is that the Dem faces greater political pressure to treat the charge is serious enough to require at least an explanation. And when you’re explaining, you’re losing.

  50. 50.

    TenguPhule

    @Goku: No and no idea. I’m old, I was here when John came into the light and threw off the shackles of being a stupid Republican.

  52. 52.

    Geeno

    @Baud: I’m not sure what blatant lie they could attack Cuomo the Lesser with that would discredit him more than he has himself. Speaking as a New Yorker.

  53. 53.

    Goku

    @TenguPhule: I mean, I guess I know. It’s probably going to take a disaster that kills millions of Americans here at home where it touches them personally. Even then it’s not certain

  55. 55.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    And when you’re explaining, you’re losing.

    Baldfaced lying is an evolutionary trait that some of us haven’t developed.

  58. 58.

    Lizzy L

    Good post, John. Thank you for some excellent links. This puzzles me, however.

    … The hard left has hated Susan Rice and Samantha Power from the get go.

    Who is the “hard left” in American politics? Seriously, I have no idea. There can’t be very many of them. Any jackals care to enlighten me?

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    And what will happen when a real crisis happens?

    It will all go pear shaped. We need a Vetanari and we have Nobby Nobs running the Whitehouse.

  63. 63.

    Geeno

    @Baud: The thing I’m saying is I wouldn’t even pay attention to it. I know what Cuomo is. I might think a particular attack is unmerited, but that would only be if someone pointed it out to me. I don’t pay attention to Cuomo news that doesn’t involve his actions as governor, because he’s set his own reputation in stone already.

  64. 64.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Goku:

    I don’t know… the legend of St. Ronnie continues unabated. Joe McCarthy has his revisionists and posthumous fluffers…

    As long as the likes of Limbaugh and company continue their rage media empire, people like Susan Rice will be vilified.

  65. 65.

    Jeffro

    Cole, this was all covered in “the Republican noise machine” by David Brock about 20 years ago. The main problem now is as Alex Parenne noted even the perpetrators believe their own nonsense now.

  67. 67.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Lizzy L: it pretty much the marginal 5% of Democrats and Liberals who always scream that the party, the left media, and the base are insufficiently down with the cause. You know, the few of them that talk about full nationalization of industry and so on. It rarely crops up when discussing office holders since only a handful of them altogether actually are full socialist.

  68. 68.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): well, if the crush is over, that’s good – better late, than never..

    That said, it’s years too late. He was always a loony conspiracy merchant (ie Bengazhi) and providing him support only normalized his filthy lies..

  69. 69.

    Baud

    @Geeno: Right. I’m different. If someone has a legitimate case to make against Cuomo, fine. If someone on the right wants to lie or mislead about Cuomo, then it’s war. In that sense, I emulate Republicans, but I don’t think a lot of Dems agree with my approach.

  70. 70.

    TenguPhule

    we’ve already moved on to Trump claiming Rice is a criminal.

    Which means under the Republican corollary, Trump has confirmed he is a criminal until proven otherwise.

  72. 72.

    BlueDWarrior

    @amk: tell the free speech absolutists that… i agree platforms like that need outside legal minders.

  73. 73.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Goku:

    The idea of Griftwald and Snowjob shrieking in terror on opposite sides of the world as drones bore in for the kill makes me laugh.

    And I’d DVR any program that involved Assange getting beaten to death with a claw hammer, for repeated viewing.

  74. 74.

    Geeno

    @Lizzy L: The “Hard Left” is a mantle that rotates among various groups on the “left” that are dissatisfied with the Democratic party. I use the scare quotes, because many of them aren’t leftists in any proper sense, they’re really just nominally to the left and dissatisfied.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    @Baud: We learned (or should have learned) from the last election what happens when we allow the other side to pile on and we wring our hands wondering how to respond.

  78. 78.

    Mike in Pasadena

    OT: CNN with sound is on in the locker room of my gym so I hear the Trumpistas blather on about how Syria is Obama’s fault, no mention that Congress refused to authorize Obama’s military action request, but full of bluster about the evil Assad and the horror of the gas attacks. Just a few years ago, Assad was our buddy who tortured at our request people we disappeared – oops, extraordinarily rendered – to Assad. I agree that killing civilians in war or terrorism is awful, but how quickly we forget that we killed many more civilians in our shock and awe terrorist attacks on Baghdad and our bombings all over Iraq. Funny how when the US kills civilians in somebody else’s country, it is entirely acceptable, but if somebody gasses his own people we fill our broadcast and cable news with loud cries of outrage and horror. I am so filled with disgust for Republicans that I can no longer speak with any of them.

  79. 79.

    Keith P.

    I have a new theory on why Bannon was “ousted”….I think Trump read that Kushner is feeding anti-Bannon info to Scarborough and has temporarily demoted him, giving different people different reasons to see what leaks into the news. Clever, no?

  81. 81.

    Baud

    @schrodingers_cat: Actually, my approach is goody two shoes. It’s a simple goody two shoes rule — we do not tolerate misrepresentation of Dems.

    It’s when we get savvy or complacent about the attacks that we get in trouble

  82. 82.

    Geeno

    @Baud: I do in theory, but you’re talking about a guy who convinced 5 democrats to switch allegiance so he could hand the NYS Senate to Republican control. That’s a level of betrayal I can’t find in myself to forgive.

  84. 84.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat: I have a bone to pick with you and Baud about how you both define war. If you’re gonna use it, you better damn well mean it in its proper context and not the adulterated version being rampantly abused by damn hyperbole.

  86. 86.

    Baud

    @Geeno: And other people didn’t forgive Hillary, or Samantha Power, or Susan Rice, or pick the Dem of your choice. Once you start making exceptions, you (collectively, we) will never stop.

  87. 87.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    You’re right about should have learned. Both Obama campaigns were lightning fast in response to each instance of GOP bullshit.

  88. 88.

    Geeno

    @Baud: Oh, I’m not wishy-washy, It would grimly please me to see Andrew Cuomo brought low by the very people he betrayed his party for. Such behavior should have consequences..

  89. 89.

    TenguPhule

    @Mike in Pasadena:

    Just a few years ago, Assad was our buddy who tortured at our request people we disappeared – oops, extraordinarily rendered – to Assad.

    Three days ago he was Trump’s newest BFF in the making.

  91. 91.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: In my opinion letting an independent run as a Democrat was being goody two shoes and then giving in to his demands while he was shitting on the party’s nominee, signaled weakness. People don’t like weakness in a political party.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    @Geeno: I’m fine with that. All I’m saying is that I care how he is brought low. If he’s brought low because of GOP lies, then that hurts me and my party.

  94. 94.

    TenguPhule

    @WereBear: And then show her a picture of how many lawyers the government has to throw at her.

    Take a picture of her face at that moment and frame it for posterity.

  101. 101.

    Geeno

    @Baud: I would love for this to be the party wide attitude so that those who just want to eat popcorn while their personal demon goes down can let the rest of the party carry the ball. I’m sure there are dems I’d defend that their constituents may have reasons not to.

  102. 102.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @Geeno: As Cole has said, he is vile scum whose political future must be destroyed.

    That said, Having him in the 2020 field against Harris, Booker and Gillibrand (or — just ‘batin here — Clinton in the 2018 gubernatorial) will certainly provide a definitive flushing-out of the alt-lefties.

  103. 103.

    TenguPhule

    @Major Major Major Major: Because words matter and their meaning does too. Maybe its just me, but it I find it incredibly frustrating and maddening that “war” has been bastardized into “War on Drugs” and “War on Terror” and “Political War” and a thousand other things THAT ARE NOT WAR. I firmly subscribe to “War is Hell” and that it should not be treated as anything less then the stomach wrenching horror that it is.

  104. 104.

    boatboy_srq

    @Geeno: Another case of the Good being the enemy of the Adequate, no? Especially where even the Adequate beats the pants off the Batshyte-Crazy, the FundiEvangelical On A Mission, and (especially with this maladministration) the Cultural Arsonist. It’s sad when mere banal adequacy in office is laudable, but when the alternatives are an array of grifters, whacks and thieves, at least being able to get the job done without destroying everything around gets the job done.

  105. 105.

    Baud

    @Geeno: Look, I said I think most Dems agree with you. My original point at Comment # 1 is that that attitude makes it more difficult for our Dems to respond to these attacks

  107. 107.

    Geeno

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Cuomo would get CRUSHED by Gillibrand in a presidential primary in NY. After two terms, He may very well lose out to Hillz in a gubernatorial primary, but that assumes she runs. I’d vote for her.
    Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing Hillary take back her old seat if KG wins in 2020.

  111. 111.

    Chet Murthy

    @Baud: @TenguPhule: Baud, c’mon. In -no- sense do Dems wage “political” (or any other sort of) war against the Rs. No sense. If Dems did, at a minimum, Trump’s accusers (of rape and other sexual assaults) would all be well-protected, pressing charges, and their trials would be in-progress, with helpful DAs pushing them along, and giving daily press conferences since ….. last summer. Every billionaire would have bought TV time to run specials about Trump’s mobbed-up connections. And it goes on and on. Heck, back when N. Leroy “Leader of the Civilizing Forces” was hounding Clinton while banging his aide and cheating on his second wife, Dem backers would have added money to Larry Flynt’s pot to really get every case of impropriety out in the open.

    Look at the Trump-Russia thing: where are the Dem mouthpieces screeching treason on every TV channel. Writing op-eds with same. Heck, we can’t even get somebody saying what’s patently obvious: that every time Dampnut cries “wiretaps”, he’s incriminating himself. Instead, it’s all “we don’t know where the trail leads, but we must follow it, yadda yadda yadda”.

    Dems -purposely- do not use scorched-earth tactics. I personally think they have good reasons (though it’s certainly a matter worth debate), but that’s not relevant here. They don’t, and I can’t remember any time in living memory when they have.

  112. 112.

    Woodrowfan

    @Lizzy L: well, it’s relative. I think he means the type of person who thinks Jill Stein is worth listening to and would make a good president.

  114. 114.

    Baud

    @Chet Murthy: I was speaking of a defensive “war” in which we would not tolerate lies levied against us. But I agree with you that even that does not reflect our reality. All I’m saying is that there is a reason that Dems are weaker at some things than Republicans, and it’s a consequence of how we have chosen to respond to things.

  115. 115.

    GregB

    This whole election has scrambled a lot of cut and dried lines among the political and media class.

    For instance, I can tolerate Frum, Jennifer Rubin and Max Boot whom I used to never listen to but I have found Greenwald to be such a double talking putz that I view everything he says with a jaundiced eye. David Sirota is such a sanctimonious dillbag that it is tough to swallow. Jeremy Scahill is dinged by working at Interecept but I still find some of his work compelling.

  117. 117.

    Baud

    @GregB: I often said before the election that this would be a clarifying election regardless of how it turned out. It has proven to be just that.

  119. 119.

    Chet Murthy

    @Baud: @TenguPhule: And going further, we all know Susan Rice’s gonna get hung out to dry by her party. By now, there should have been a phalanx of Dem talkers, all arguing a simple line of attack: “How do you think counterintelligence works? Do you even know what it is? It’s about finding Americans who are traitors! People who think we shouldn’t look for those — what are they hiding? Are they traitors?”

    B/c that’s what the Rs did to Clinton — called her a traitor. And our side — what do we hear? crickets. Mumbling about the details of unmasking and other claptrap that people with 95 IQs will NEVER understand, even if they HAD the attention-span to listen to it.

    ETA: Hell, in the “imagined scenario” that Rice discussed with Andrea Mitchell, she used some conversation between a US person and Kislyak about money or something. It should have been the US person promising to drop sanctions in exchange for help with his election campaign. FFS, she should have gone there. And she didn’t. OK, so maybe it’s OK that she doesn’t. But one of her surrogates SHOULD have gone there. And been backed-up by an army of others doing the same.

    It’s the Cokie Roberts rule, ffs.

  121. 121.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @GregB: He, Jon Schwartz, Murtaza Hussein, and Liliana Segura are the only people worth reading at the Intercept with any regularity (although of the four, he’s probably the weakest on politics).

  122. 122.

    schrodingers_cat

    Please, let’s not just pretend that the stupid is concentrated only on the right. Snowden and Assange fan club, had plenty of membership on the so called left too.

  125. 125.

    TenguPhule

    @Chet Murthy:

    By now, there should have been a phalanx of Dem talkers, all arguing a simple line of attack:

    Which would require a working and mature media for them to get the message out. Which we don’t have.

  128. 128.

    Chet Murthy

    @TenguPhule: Dem talkers are on lots of news channels every day. There’s plennnnty of airtime to get the work done. And we all know that the more lurid the accusation, the more convincing the face making the accusation, the more airtime it gets. So why isn’t that happening? They don’t have the message discipline of the Rs (e.g. when it came to Benghazi). Even when it comes to defending their own from unwarranted attacks.

    ETA: All this said, they’re still my side. But gosh, I could wish for better leaders and better party hacks. Remember the glory days of LBJ’s “of course he’s not, but I wanna make him deny it!”

  129. 129.

    TenguPhule

    @Chet Murthy:

    B/c that’s what the Rs did to Clinton — called her a traitor.

    And when Trump is called a traitor its called fake news and Democrats are partisan. Recognize that its not the Democrat speakers, its the system and rot of decades of GOP poison.

  131. 131.

    TenguPhule

    @Chet Murthy:

    Dem talkers are on lots of news channels every day. There’s plennnnty of airtime to get the work done.

    Spend an hour just watching them and see how they’re treated.

    Then spend an hour watching Republicans (you may drink to help get through this).

    And then check out who gets followed up on by the rest of the print and cable media.

    There is a substantial bias and filter the Democrats have to fight through just to be heard for the simplest of things.

  135. 135.

    Chet Murthy

    @TenguPhule: I just searched Google for “trump is a traitor”. I found Michael Moore, Rick Wilson (R, ffs), Bill Moyers, and Keith Olbermann (who then apologized). WaMo actually had an article “Why Donald Trump is not a Traitor”. Nowhere did I see Dem talkers or hacks with national platforms. Where’s Carville? Where’s Rahm Emanuel? Where’s … heck, Barney Frank? At least, every Dem who no longer wants elective office, should be all over this.

    And they’re not. Instead, we have, basically, the civic-minded amongst the population — Olbermann, Moyers, and Moore. We HAVE NOT learned from the Rs and what they did during the Obama (or heck, Clinton) years.

    Heh: maybe I’m convincing myself that I’m -not- OK with the Dems for this roll-over-and-play-dead behaviour.

  137. 137.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Chet Murthy: maybe I’m extra surly from being in Boston, but I agree with you. Enough of showing up to a gun fight with a gift basket.

  138. 138.

    Chet Murthy

    @TenguPhule:

    Spend an hour just watching them and see how they’re treated.

    I watch ’em. And none of ’em ever, ever step away from decorum. They offer milquetoast. Look: yeah the media has a R bias. But it also has a controversy/drama bias. The Dems offer none.

    Look at Rand Paul with his “Susan Rice must be subpoenaed and testify”. The next time some Dem came up, it should have been “is Rand Paul covering for treason?”

    OK, time to stop. Sorry, guess that “war” talk got me started.

  139. 139.

    HinTN

    @TenguPhule: Even though I am in full accord with your linguistic snobbery, I think it reasonable to ask what formulation you would prefer.

  142. 142.

    Repatriated

    @Chet Murthy:

    ETA: Hell, in the “imagined scenario” that Rice discussed with Andrea Mitchell, she used some conversation between a US person and Kislyak about money or something. It should have been the US person promising to drop sanctions in exchange for help with his election campaign. FFS, she should have gone there. And she didn’t

    What if the reason she didn’t was because that was pretty much one of the intercepted calls, verbatim? Using that as an example might have come too close to revealing classified information, then…

  143. 143.

    TenguPhule

    @HinTN: A “war” is a war. I’m good with Adam’s definition of it as he uses it in proper context. Anything that’s along the line of Regan’s “War on Drugs” or Bush’s “War on Terror” needs to DIAF.

  144. 144.

    efgoldman

    @Geeno:

    many of them aren’t leftists in any proper sense, they’re really just nominally to the left and dissatisfied.

    What they really are is children who stamp their wittwe feetsies when they don’t get their own way, which is always because they don’t know jack shit about politics, government, and winning elections.

  146. 146.

    TenguPhule

    @Chet Murthy:

    watch ’em. And none of ’em ever, ever step away from decorum. They offer milquetoast.

    Dean scream. And why Obama never blew up when the Media was watching.

    The media scale is weighted against the Democrats. They know this.

  147. 147.

    patroclus

    @schrodingers_cat: Good times!! I’m still waiting for Dear Leader Greenwald to say just one mildly critical thing about Trump. Or Russia and the chemical attack in Syria. He praised Breitbart today! Why isn’t Greenwald calling Trump a traitor? What does Greenwald think about the Muslim ban? Or extreme vetting? Or demanding social media passwords by customs agents? He’s been curiously silent about all sorts of issues that were once important to him. I wonder why that is. And why have his former fanbois gone silent about him?

  148. 148.

    J R in WV

    @debbie:

    Third, the hard left has hated Susan Rice and Samantha Power from the get go.

    Why?

    They are both women, black, who were powerful in the previous Black Administration, and accumulated hatred daily as they managed the nation’s intelligence resources.

    Because they did a much better job than the idiots of the Bush administration, they enraged everyone outside their immediate group.

  150. 150.

    TenguPhule

    @Chet Murthy: And the first Democrat official who did so would become the story instead.

    Even hinting about it in the House investigation the media is being both sides about it. Its not fair but again, this is the environment they have to deal with.

  151. 151.

    efgoldman

    @TenguPhule:

    So please stop using that word.

    Here you go again, Fang. After weeks of posting your bloodthirsty fantasies, you’re telling the rest of us how to use a word?
    I don’t think so. Go fuck yourself.

  154. 154.

    gene108

    @Geeno:

    A bad Democrat is infinitely better than any Republican.

    Cuomo’s a dick, but he did ban hydraulic fracking, got same sex marriage passed, and some other things no Republican would ever do

    Edit: Therefore it is worth defending Democrats, who are dicks. Hell, even Lieberman came through, with regards to repealing DADT.

  160. 160.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @J R in WV: Samantha Power’s white, though. And FWIW she has displayed an especial weakness for the kinetic fallacy in foreign affairs.

  161. 161.

    HinTN

    @TenguPhule:

    A “war” is a war.

    I’m good with that. Much like all the other criticism of our collective inability to engage add punch back, I was asking for the flip side. What is the strong single word that conveys the message that “war” does so effectively?

  162. 162.

    JMG

    As has been pointed out here and elsewhere a billion times, Trump could declassify the documents Rice saw and make his case if he chose. He doesn’t choose. My guess is that 1. Jared and 2. Sessions were in conversations with Russians intercepted by US intelligence. Rice has no reason to play clean here. She should demand to be cleared to testify under oath without restrictions. She should do so publicly, too. Trump always folds when he’s called.

  163. 163.

    TenguPhule

    @Major Major Major Major: If I’m wrong, we can all point and laugh at me. If you’re wrong, this country goes to hell in a handbasket and nobody is going to be laughing. So condescend away.

  164. 164.

    gene108

    @Baud:

    I have a lot of respect for Manchin. He could’ve switched parties and guaranteed his seat for life, with the way W.Va is heading politically, but he has some principles that he is sticking to that keep him a Democrat.

  166. 166.

    TenguPhule

    @HinTN: Brawl/Fight/Battle. All of which would be completely true and meaningful.

    They may sound the same to the layman, but there’s an order of magnitude of difference with “War”.

  168. 168.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @Baud: The point stands, but that comparison is monstrously unfair to Manchin.

  171. 171.

    Steeplejack

    @David:

    I’m late to the thread, but I don’t see where you got a straight answer. Her on-line nym is ABConcepts or AlphabetConcepts. (I’ve seen both.)

  173. 173.

    TenguPhule

    @debbie: That expansion was the result of “war”‘s meaning being adulterated over time by various parties.

    I don’t agree that this was a good thing.

  177. 177.

    zhena gogolia

    @LesGS:

    Oh, thanks. That’s what I thought but I couldn’t remember his old nym so couldn’t ask. I didn’t think TenguPhule fit his profile.

  178. 178.

    efgoldman

    @Baud:

    Manchin is another good example of this axiom.

    The thing is, Manchin or someone like him is as good a Dem as can be elected in WVa, and that probably doesn’t last for many, if any, more cycles.
    Cuomo is governor of NEW YORK, ffs – a huge, ethnically mixed, coastal blue state including the world’s most important city, No reason that any statewide Dem should act like a Republiklown.

  179. 179.

    J R in WV

    @David:

    Her initials. Also the initials for her commercial web site. Ann Burr… ABC Concepts. Not Ann, Ann Burr. Pretty sure that isn’t any kind of secret or I wouldn’t share…

  181. 181.

    patroclus

    I think Trump’s absurd allegations against Susan Rice are just his way of responding to the comments by Congressman Castro (and others) saying that they wouldn’t be surprised if people end up in jail because of the Russian connection. It’s tit for tat – if someone alleges criminal actions without evidence, then he won’t be one-upped and responds in kind, no matter how ridiculous it may sound. That’s why I don’t agree with Chet (or Olbermann or Moore) – I think allegations should be evidence based. We don’t need to allege crimes until they can be proven and besides, we’ve got plenty of real (political) ammo already on real issues like health insurance, the environment, the Muslim ban, the wall, women’s rights, the emoluments clause etc…

  183. 183.

    TenguPhule

    @Chet Murthy:

    For his state, Cuomo’s a terrible Dem.

    And probably going to get in trouble for bribery or some other crime if the pattern runs true to form.

  184. 184.

    TenguPhule

    @patroclus:

    We don’t need to allege crimes until they can be proven

    Admittedly it is hard to reach the degree of proof needed when all the Russian witnesses keep mysteriously dying of natural causes.

  185. 185.

    Chet Murthy

    @patroclus:

    I think Trump’s absurd allegations against Susan Rice are just his way of responding to the comments by Congressman Castro

    And yet, both McConnell and Rand Paul have gotten behind ’em -instantly- with “subpoena/testimony/investigation/report”. This is going to be an enormous distraction. I’m not saying elected officials should pushback. But Dems out-of-office (e.g. retired) should do it. Any R who makes this accusatoin is a traitor after the fact. Etc.

  189. 189.

    Lizzy L

    @patroclus: This rings true to me; but also, this is Trump’s pattern, to allege criminality. Remember “Lock her up!”?

    The response, from all Democrats, should be, calmly, firmly, relentlessly: “Prove it. In this country you’re innocent unless and until you are proven guilty. Prove it. Where’s your evidence?” And that’s ALL they should say. No wonky explanations, no lectures about how intelligence gathering works, nada, just, “Prove it.”

  190. 190.

    TenguPhule

    @Lizzy L:

    And that’s ALL they should say. No wonky explanations, no lectures about how intelligence gathering works, nada, just, “Prove it.”

    Doesn’t generate clicks, interesting TV time or catch eyes on print. Media will never cover it seriously.

  192. 192.

    Mike J

    @J R in WV: Sam Power wrote a book about how we stood by and let genocide happen in Rwanda. So of course she’s a filthy warmonger.

    Force should never be your first tool, but there are a lot of people who think it should never be used.

  193. 193.

    J R in WV

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch::

    Sweet! MJS has commented about 340 times in forever, here at B-J.

    I’m not a high-count commenter, and I’m into thousands… so MJS isn’t a regular here, at all. And started about when the Russian trolls were funded. Curiouser and Curiouser.

  194. 194.

    gene108

    @Chet Murthy:

    Dem talkers are on lots of news channels every day. There’s plennnnty of airtime to get the work done. And we all know that the more lurid the accusation, the more convincing the face making the accusation, the more airtime it gets. So why isn’t that happening?

    Democrats have not, for whatever it is worth, gone all-in on the win-at-all-costs mentality that is prevalent amongst conservatives and Republicans.

    The tolerance to push a clearly incompetent or corrupt person across the finish line just because he/she has a ‘D’ next to his/her name, I think, will not be as easily accepted by core Democratic voters.

    We want good government.

    And that means having good politicians, with good, or at least not totally fucking evil, moral values.

  195. 195.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @Mike J: Indeed, Rwanda is what’s made her and Clinton more amenable to using force (and arguably to being overly-friendly with it).

  197. 197.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    @MJS: you can desperately deflect all you want Kellyanne, I’m not the one spreading Benghazi conspiracy theories for profit and white washing racist Breitbart. Only in the cult of Grifttopia is criticizing lies strange, while normalizing such liars normal.

  198. 198.

    Mike J

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): I thought Clinton, after Rwanda, struck a decent balance. I still remember sitting in traffic listening to Amy whatshername complaining about air strikes in Iraq, and then five years later saying arguing (properly) that we didn’t need to invade Iraq since it had been successfully contained. And I don’t think she ever put two and two together.

    That t shirt earlier, the thighs look very R Crumb influenced[1], and the half tone on the umbrella is a certain nod to Neiman, but I couldn’t come up with a name.

    [1] Keep on saltin’?

  199. 199.

    Kropadope

    @TenguPhule:

    I have a bone to pick with you and Baud about how you both define war. If you’re gonna use it, you better damn well mean it in its proper context and not the adulterated version being rampantly abused by damn hyperbole.

    Politics is war by other means. And if you don’t think the Republican party hasn’t been waging a cold civil war on our values and priorities, pay closer attention. The government shutdowns, the brinkmanship over the debt ceiling, even the way they obstructed Obama; these were not the actions of a political opposition acting in good faith.

  201. 201.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    here’s some good news, I think, I hope

    Alex Seitz-Wald‏Verified account @ aseitzwald 31m31 minutes ago
    Jon Ossoff camp says their $8.3 million haul is an all-time quarterly record for a congressional candidate who did not self-finance.

  202. 202.

    rikyrah

    Ken Gude‏ @KenGude

    Important for Dems to recognize that Trump/Nunes goal in absurd Rice attacks is to give GOP a way to get in the game on #TrumpRussia 1/
    …
    Trump’s months-long effort to get GOP to view Russia story as part of Dem sour grapes & plot to undermine him went nowhere. 2/
    …
    Trump got no real support from GOP elected officials with his attacks on the Intelligence Community/Deep State. 3/
    …
    Flynn lying/firing & Sessions recusal kept adding to the momentum and GOP left weakly defending the indefensible. 4/
    …
    Now after trying to make Evelyn Farkas the foil to no avail, Trump found the target that would motivate GOP to go on attack: Susan Rice. 5/
    …
    The ridiculousness of the charge is immaterial; the GOP now has its bete noire, w right-wing media & GOP elected officials joining fight. 6/
    …
    Dem response should not focus only on pushing back on facts of Trump’s claims against Rice, but create costs for GOPs giving Trump cover. 7/
    …
    Dems must now hit these GOPers for aiding a cover up of possible Trump collusion w hostile foreign power to subvert election. 8/8
    0 replies 4 retweets 3 likes

  205. 205.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @Mike J: I was referring to HRC.

    Also, since I saw the complaint about Kissinger upthread I typed in “Samantha power Kissinger” in Google Search. It turned up a New Yorker profile and a review of hers that are ample grounds for criticism…but most of the results for the first five pages are not a good sign.

  207. 207.

    rikyrah

    Adam Schiff‏Verified account @RepAdamSchiff

    The scheme: WH only wanted to show Chairman docs then made accusations to distract. I want full Intel Committee to see docs. WH is resisting

  210. 210.

    different-church-lady

    @schrodingers_cat: Ah, yes, remember those wonderful days when our biggest problem was that the government might be warehousing our email? Good times, good times….

  212. 212.

    Tazj

    @Mike in Pasadena: I’m disgusted with Republicans as well. I have a couple of questions for them.Why didn’t you vote to take military action before if you thought it was the right thing to do and what are you going to do now that you have complete control of the government?

  215. 215.

    different-church-lady

    @MJS: This is just me, but I consider all behavior here to fall within the “strange” category.

  216. 216.

    Ksmiami

    @Chet Murthy: that’s why Dems need to close ranks and bring back the Truman fighting spirit. no more going high, no more mealy mouth language. Start speaking in Lakoff framing – GOP policies kill. It is the truth.

  218. 218.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @J R in WV: I am pretty damned sure that Samantha Power is so white as to be nearly translucent. I agree with the rest of what you said.

  220. 220.

    joel hanes

    @TenguPhule:

    Spend an hour just watching them and see how they’re treated.

    Better yet, go watch a Dem speak, and then watch the reporting. Or read the newspaper.

    Policy proposals, goals, visions, and all appeals to the common good happen in a forest when there’s no one around.
    Only the political jockeying and soundbites make it through this first, worst filter.

  224. 224.

    Marguerite Hill

    @Chet Murthy: Susan Rice did an excellent job defending herself. I wish the House/Senate Intelligence & Oversight committees would subpoena her. Her testimony, along with Susan Yates’, would pave the sidewalk for the perp walk for the current administration. Hillary, when she testified for 9 hours, had me clapping & cheering!!! As long as the GOP & their billionaire bosses own the corporate media, Democrats will have an uphill battle to fight. Don’t let that tear us, the loyal opposition, apart.

  225. 225.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    @Goku:

    This thing can’t last forever can it? At some point reality is going to have reassert itself with these people right?

    I think it was Keynes who said “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”

  228. 228.

    Erick

    I’ve been using a more succinct summary for a while:

    The Reps spent 30 years telling their base that 2+2=5 and now they expect them to make it happen. And making it even worse a good chunk of congress is part of that base who believes it too.

  230. 230.

    Gretchen

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Here in Kansas I got a call today on my cellphone asking for money to fund the Ossoff get-out-the-vote effort. I’m sending all my money to the James Thompson campaign for Mike Pompeo’s seat here in Kansas, but I thanked him for his efforts. He sounded like he’d rather have had some money. I may have to kick in after all.

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