Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

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

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

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

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

The lights are all blinking red.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

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Open thread

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Serious question: someone tell me who the hell cares enough to commission oppo research about Lindsey Graham. Although life often proves me wrong, I have a hard time with the idea that some compelling national interest moved a reporter to spontaneously scan through the Air National Guard service records of the lowest polling Republican candidate for President (nutshell version: not much service to record). It seems more likely to me that someone cares enough about a guy who would lose the Republican nomination to Chelsea Clinton that they spent what must have been a couple thousand dollars to dig up this nut and tip off the Post.

You know what? I bet it’s Trump.

Chat about whatever.

***Update***

Of course I’m kidding. Trump wouldn’t be that subtle.

Reader Interactions

56Comments

  1. 1.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    I’m hoping to write a three sentence description of my novel. Actually, I probably need several of them, tailored for different needs. I’m bad enough at writing something that summarizes the story. I have no idea where to begin on one designed to motivate people to buy it.

  2. 2.

    Amir Khalid

    Serious question: someone tell me who the hell cares enough to commission oppo research about Lindsey Graham.

    Well, if you believe commenter Right To Rise, it’s just Jeb releasing his opposition-eliminating Kraken.

  4. 4.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    When is Graham up for re-election? If he was just re-elected, it’s probably Trump. If he’s up in 2016, there could be several people in both parties who might be interested in torpedoing him.

  5. 5.

    ThresherK

    Okay, Boatmen and TiCats on ESPN2.

    Scrambling QB has ball knocked out of hand by Defender 1, and after the ball is free, about 1/5th seconds later, Defender 2 (on ground) lifts a leg to trip the QB, and contact is made with the QB’s leg.

    Why is the subsequent fumble recovery by defense negated? My instinct would be “assessed against defense” and whoever recovered the ball keeps it.

  7. 7.

    JPL

    It didn’t get much coverage outside of the Washington Post. It’s not like Kerry and the Purple Hearts.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): he was just reelected. His need to tamp down a Tea Party primary challenge is, IMHO, the reason Benghazi! outlasted “Please proceed, Governor”

  9. 9.

    Anne Laurie

    You know what? I bet it’s Trump.

    Nah, it’s JEB!’s people. All that schlub has left is his vast monetary advantage & trained ratfvckers corps.

    Shivving Ms Lindsay as an opener for when they start going after the serious competition is such an easy job, whoever’s in charge this round might’ve thrown it in as a gimme to keep the Bush Crime Cartel sweet while they wait to see how badly JEB! will flub Thursday’s debate.

  10. 10.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @ThresherK: I’m pretty sure that the dividing line on whether a penalty negates a turnover is when the ball is recovered, not when it is initially fumbled.

    Then again, it’s Canadian rules, so maybe it’s because the defender was within a yard of the QB when the ball was dropped. Or socialized medicine.

  12. 12.

    Jeffro

    I think it was Graham himself…dude is self destructing right before our eyes and he could pull a Pvt Pyle in the barracks any day now. Why else would you put a phone in a blender? The only thing wackier than that would be using a machine gun to cook bacon.

    Dead-enders, all of them…

  14. 14.

    Tim F.

    @JPL: Right? It’s not Watergate or even Rathergate. A national figure did very right by the ANG’s budget so they let him play dress up once or twice a year. At least huckleberry earned favorable treatment, and unlike dubya it’s not like the alternative was getting drafted.

  15. 15.

    germy shoemangler

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Here’s a tip: Imagine it’s been published, and is a best seller. It’s been made into a film. (You can even imagine the film’s been nominated for an academy award.)

    So imagine the description is a capsule explanation of the movie plot, in Leonard Maltin’s film guide.

    And then just remove “based on the best-selling novel” from the capsule.

    Sometimes you just have to think big.

  17. 17.

    ThresherK

    Now an onside kick in Canadian Football, that’s so much more fun than in American rules: A much wider field, and (a la rugby), the last team to touch the loose ball before it goes out of bounds gets possession.

    But Toronto won’t claw their way back tonight.

  18. 18.

    sharl

    Adam Weinstein posted an image on twitter of a short paragraph to the Editor (NYT) written by Alan Greenspan in 1957, extolling the virtues of Atlas Shrugged.

    I knew that Mr. Andrea Mitchell was a long time fan of that troubled libertarian person, but it still causes a shudder to remember how much power he had and how much adulation he received from the Village for years, and how he chose to use/not_use his authority to set up the economy for a huge crash.

    And anytime one’s response to critics includes the word ‘parasite’, you just KNOW that’s the good shit, right there.

  19. 19.

    ThresherK

    @efgoldman: The favourite actual CFL penalty I know of is “objectionable conduct”. They have “unsportsmanlike” penalties, but “objectionable” is a wonderful word showing, I believe, what Canadians get upset about, and how to properly describe such upset.

    My spouse knows juuuust enough about football to not be fooled when I tell her that a Canadian team can be penalized for a faux pas, or for “unseemly countenance”.

    PS Tonight’s Hamilton game is at Tim Horton’s Field, which must rank right up their with your local Dunkin Donuts Center for caffeine ‘n pastry.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    Beside myself. Just heard my best friend’s older son has died, probably from an overdose. A week ago tonight we finished a week-long backpacking trip where he turned 23. Am in utter shock.

    Parents, chase down your kids and hug them. Mine is in for a little too much dad facetime for awhile.

  23. 23.

    BobS

    It’s more likely Trump than any of the others. Maybe as a shot across the bow after Graham insulted Trump while defending his friend McCain– Graham is vulnerable with regard to persistent questions about his sexuality, and Trump is just the asshole to turn it into a national conversation.

  30. 30.

    Lamh36

    hmmm…no reviews on Fantastic Four yet. it comes out Friday…thats not usually a good sign.

    Well, even if I don’t go see it, I might be buying a ticket online to contribute to opening wknd box office…just to spite the assholes who have problem with Micheal B Jordan playing the Human Torch based on race alone.

  32. 32.

    Germy Shoemangler

    How to frame a story, NYTimes style:

    Headline:
    Vigilante Effort by Palestinians Marks Change in West Bank

    The village of Duma had found a peaceful accommodation with its Jewish neighbors, but attitudes changed after extremists were suspected of firebombing a house on Friday, killing an 18-month-old boy.

  34. 34.

    Germy Shoemangler

    Today’s debate:

    …what voters got from Monday night’s candidate forum in Manchester, N.H., was a lightning round of questions with hurried responses and awkward interruptions, a necessity when trying to cram 14 speakers into two hours of television.

    The candidates were interviewed one at a time, while others looked on from the front row. And in that sense, the camera’s cutaway shots provided one hallmark of an actual debate: the indifference and disdain of rivals rolling their eyes, smirking or, in Rick Perry’s case, picking his nails.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    @Anne Laurie:

    Shivving Ms Lindsay as an opener for when they start going after the serious competition is such an easy job, whoever’s in charge this round might’ve thrown it in as a gimme to keep the Bush Crime Cartel sweet while they wait to see how badly JEB! will flub Thursday’s debate.

    I’d think the tactically sound move would be to shiv the guys who are most dangerous first. Graham is never going to give him a serious challenge, so there’s little point in going after him first. The handful of voters who preferred him are going to go for somebody else, and that might wind up giving strength to a more serious challenger.

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Lamh36:

    I still say they should have cast Jimmy Smits and Ming-Na as Johnny and Sue’s parents just to point out it’s a goddamned movie, so lighten the hell up.

    It seems to be really hard to make a decent movie out of The Fantastic Four. Not really sure why, except that I don’t think the group has that many compelling storylines, and Reed Richards is a bigger jerk than classic comic book Superman.

  39. 39.

    EriktheRed

    You have a good point, Tim, but since Graham is such a warmongering POS, I applaud any and all efforts to publicly discredit him anyway.

  40. 40.

    Morzer

    My guess is that it’s an attempt by Trump to make John McCain squirm by going after his bestest buddy. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the target is Graham’s record of lawyering in the face of the enemy while presenting himself as a “veteran” of the Iraq wars. Trump spent some time vehemently denouncing McCain as not a real war-hero, so going after Graham on the same grounds would let him say that birds of a feather flock together.

  43. 43.

    RaflW

    @Roger Moore: Graham isn’t up for reelection to his Senate seat for 5 years. This was a warning shot to him to prepare his revolving door/retirement plan.

    Clearly at statistical 0%, it isn’t about this race for Preznit.

  44. 44.

    Chuckles

    It’s not even really 11-dimensional chess to think Graham’s people might have planted it themselves. I literally didn’t know he had even been in the military until now. And I would bet my house that well more than 3% of the GOP electorate is spiteful and defensive enough to vote for somebody specifically because the WaPo is perceived as attacking him for chickenhawkery. Now, all Graham needs to make the first cut is to be laughed at enough on the internet for the next day. Hell, he’d probably spike up to 6% if Jon Stewart laughed at him. He’d clinch the nomination if Obama could retroactively kick him out of the Guard. Yesterday he had no chance at all.

  46. 46.

    Tree With Water

    “..The impulse, here, is to say that hitchBOT was “destroyed,” but that is nonsense; what is the actual consequence to hitchBOT of detaching its parts? A loss of function? What function? It had no function. It was a pile of trash. Providing a cathartic release for some pissed-off Eagles fan is the closest it has ever come to usefulness. In its violent disassembling, it found, briefly and for the first time, an actual purpose..”.

    theconcourse.deadspin.com/hitchbot-was-a-literal-pile-of-trash-and-got-what-it-de-1721850503

  47. 47.

    Tree With Water

    From the folks who put Rush Limbaugh in their state’s hall of fame (also posted Deadspin.com):

    “..A task force led by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon recently unveiled plans to build a new stadium that would cost nearly $1 billion, with almost $400 million of those costs being covered by public funds. Stan Kroenke, who is worth more than $6 billion, is now one step closer to pulling nearly half-a-billion dollars out of the pockets of St. Louis residents without even asking..”.

    A Missouri judge ruled in favor of this plan. A very stupid Missouri judge..

  48. 48.

    RaflW

    From the Times coverage of tonight’s event:

    Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey awkwardly said aloud what many have been wondering about his candidacy: “Am I washed up?”

    You are, Blanche, you are.

  50. 50.

    Anne Laurie

    @Roger Moore:

    I’d think the tactically sound move would be to shiv the guys who are most dangerous first. Graham is never going to give him a serious challenge, so there’s little point in going after him first. The handful of voters who preferred him are going to go for somebody else, and that might wind up giving strength to a more serious challenger.

    If it was JEB!’s people, they wouldn’t be doing to impress the voters. They’d be addressing the other candidates: Clean out while you can, because we have the dirt on you, as well.

    As the Chinese proverb goes: Kill a chicken to frighten the monkeys.

    Especially since ‘he didn’t do much to earn those promotions’ is hardly the worst rumor we’ve heard about Graham. He gets to think about the feelings of his revolving cast of potential first ladies, or whatever excuse he come up with, before the nasty stuff makes the front page.

    Hell, I can see the Bush Crime Cartel setting up at least one or two no-hope competitors whose public withdrawals can be staged to push JEB!’s next failure-to-launch fvckup off the front page. “After the First Debate: Trump Makes Inflammatory Statement; Graham, Carson Withdraw; JEB Defends Iraq War As ‘Well Worth It for America’s Munitions Firms,When You Get Right Down to It …”

  51. 51.

    Anne Laurie

    @efgoldman:

    He just says out loud what the wamongers are saying in private.

    Every good military parade needs a drum major in a fancy shako.

  52. 52.

    cckids

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    I still say they should have cast Jimmy Smits and Ming-Na as Johnny and Sue’s parents just to point out it’s a goddamned movie, so lighten the hell up.

    Yes. Around 1997, Disney/ABC remade Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with a multi-racial cast – Whitney Houston as the Godmother, Brandy as Cinderella, Whoopi Goldberg & Victor Garber as the Queen & King, Paolo Montalban as the Prince, etc. People were flipping about how the various family/racial mixups were “possible”???

    Maybe because it’s a FAIRY TALE, people. The degree of “thought” some put into this crap makes me tired. Add to it the poutrage last year about a black “Annie”. Not a historical figure, dudes.

    Some people need actual problems in their lives, obviously.

  53. 53.

    Bruce K

    Spent an hour this morning in an MRI tube. Not the best way to start the day.

    I did, however, uncover evidence in favor of my theory that any song in existence is made better if it is covered by Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. Exhibit A:

    youtube.com/watch?v=h4Bq69HfR0Y

  54. 54.

    Sondra

    I just found out that his initials are L.O.G and that they are fitting. From now on I will refer to him as LOG.

    If I ever refer to him at all…what a waste of a perfectly good uniform.

  55. 55.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Tree With Water:

    but the United States is not a receptacle for twee Canadian garbage. It is a grownup land where the humans know each other

    And KILL THEM, as grownups do!

  56. 56.

    msdc

    Who cares enough to oppo Lindsey Graham? Somebody who is desperate to win the South Carolina primary. Meaning somebody who wants to appeal to conservatives but is afraid they won’t win Iowa or New Hampshire and is looking to SC to keep them in the running.

    The obvious answer would be someone like Ted Cruz, but that presumes a level of rationality not previously observed in Sen. Cruz’s antics. (He might’ve commissioned the research, but somewhere there was a bacon machine gun that needed firing.)

    Occam’s razor answer: if it’s in the Republican primary and it’s dirty, it’s a Bush. This goes double if South Carolina is involved.

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