I need one. Here is one of yours:
I’ve been assured Lily is doing fine, but she refuses to pee for Tammy.
At any rate, a shiny new thread for you. Because I care. Really, I do. And I will respect you in the morning.
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Open Threads
Comments are closed.
General Winfield Stuck
Yea, Yea yea. You say that now.
Nice Gorilla rug Lily’s holding down.
Delia
I’m trying to figure out what’s going on in that picture. And it eludes me.
JK
Another unhinged off the wall wingnut attack
Washington Examiner Editorial Page Editor Mark Tapscott has a column comparing Obama to Stalin. His column is titled Beware the Stalin in progressive hearts
I wonder if Lanny Davis will ask Tapscott to be more civil.
Davis has joined forces with Republican Mark DeMoss to launch The Civility Project, an online forum that aims to help people who disagree be less disagreeable.
h/t http://www.civilityproject.org
Excerpt from Tapscott
Source: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Beware-the-Stalin-in-progressive-hearts-8283447-60670137.html
JK
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner publishes an apology to Sarah Palin
h/t http://newsminer.com/news/2009/sep/23/apology-sarah-palin/?opinion
General Winfield Stuck
@Delia:
When I first looked, I thought it was long black haired woman sitting on a couch.
Trinity
What? No Tunch update?!?!!!11!!!
Seriously Cole…you are wrong.
Beer is good.
That is all.
John Cole
@General Winfield Stuck: Not Lily.
@Trinity: I’m in a hotel. Tunch is not. That is a reader’s pet.
Linkmeister
The trouble is, he’s right about that. If the Dems don’t figure out that forced payment for premiums to an industry most people despise isn’t a lousy idea for political reasons alone, not to mention financial ones, they’re gonna be in a world of shit in 2010.
r€nato
@JK:
where do you go after comparing Obama to Hitler?
Comparing him to Stalin I believe.
Where do you go after that?
Christ they turned the volume up to 11 and it still is not loud enough for them. Now they’ve put the speaker up to the microphone and it’s all shrill feedback.
beltane
@Trinity: Tunch can pee and poop without any special assistance. Cats are pragmatists.
demkat620
I got a question. If the CIA knew in ’05 about this Qom facility, why didn’t Bush let Cheney use Nuclear bunker busters on the place?
Did they hate American white culture too?
General Winfield Stuck
@John Cole:
Sure kind of looks like her. but the eyes are different, and maybe ears to. Oh well.
JK
@Linkmeister:
I have no problem whatsoever with strong, principled, reasonable attacks against any of Obama’s policy proposals.
I draw the line though, with comparisons to Hitler and Stalin. This fucking nonsense has to stop. Every time a wingnut employs this tactic, they are insulting the memories of millions of innocent victims of Hitler and Stalin.
Max
Bill Maher is really unfunny tonight. In fact, he’s really been awful for some time. I think I used to like him.
I don’t think he’s very bright. I guess I never noticed.
robertdsc
This is one reason why the public option is so important. If people are going to be required to have insurance, many will definitely prefer to go through the government program that won’t give them the runaround as opposed to private companies that do precisely that.
AhabTRuler
For those that need a fix: Henry being darling, while Momo worries that she’s lost her edge.
JK
Charles Darwin under attack from stupid former tv actor
In a video posted recently to YouTube, Kirk Cameron lays out a plan to subvert ‘Darwin Day’ on Nov 22, 2009 — a date marking the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species.” Cameron says that he and like-minded activists plan to deliver 50,000 copies of an altered version of Darwin’s book to students at dozens of U.S. universities. Cameron explains that this “very special” edition of the “Origin of Species” will include an introduction explaining “Adolf Hitler’s undeniable connection” to the theory of evolution, and highlighting “Darwin’s racism” and “his disdain for women.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/kirk-camerons-origin-of-s_n_294349.html
James K. Polk, Esq.
I made dope greek pasta (con pollo)…
2 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1/4 large red onion
1/2 a roasted chicken, chunked
12 oz feta cheese, cut into small cubes
5-8 green olives (big uns), chopped
4 oz dried tomatoes, chopped coarsely
2t fresh oregeno
1t lemon juice
2T Olive oil
1T butter
salt n pepper
1 large pot water, boiling and salted
3/4 box Farfalle
Add farfalle or desired pasta to water. If you have everything prepped you can do this in the approximately 12 mins it takes to make this pasta type.
Mince shallots, red onion and garlic. Heat olive oil and butter in large pan on medium heat. Add shallots and red onions first with salt and pepper, cook for 2-3 min. Add chopped garlic, cook for 2-3 more minutes. Toss in dried tomatoes, cook for another 2-3. Add chicken and green olives, and some of the pasta water (1-2 tablespoons). Cook until pasta is ready.
Remove pasta from water after it is done and drain it. Add hot pasta to pan. Throw in feta, oregano, and squeeze lemon on the pasta.
Feed to hungry friends.
JK
Good interview with Rick Perlstein in the Columbia Journalism Review
This portion jumped out at me:
h/t http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/q_a_rick_perlstein.php
Craig
So McCoy seriously threw down tonight, eh?
Linkmeister
@robertdsc: Here’s Digby on this idiotic idea:
jl
No Tunch this weekend. Just because this Mr. Cole needs to ‘earn a living’ or something? Bring me that whaaambulance right now. I need one.
At least Cole can sleep easy tonight, and is safe from Tunch, who may just decide he has put up with enough any time now. I tend to side with Tunch on these matters, but I do have some feelings for humanity.
I will check in becuase I am sure there will be an in depth conversation about why Lily will not pee. That is not snark, I will check in out of genuine curiosity.
I grew up on a farm, with farm dogs, who never had any trouble peeing or pooping or doing other doglike things. I’ve had experience with two types of farm dogs, indisciplined mutts and work dogs. The indisciplined mutts were driven by their egos and ids, and did what they wanted, unless prevented by their human masters. The work dogs had workdoglike discipline, and seemed very well adjusted. So this behavior, which seems to be common among pets, interests me.
Max
Sweet Jesus. Forgive me if this has been posted, but this video of Katie Couric trying to get the Beckster to define what he meant by “white culture” is great.
He’s a fucking idiot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKZ1qbDyKOM#watch-main-area
kommrade reproductive vigor
Yeah, yeah. Just don’t expect him to pay for the cab.
Two words: Time Machine.
While he was at it, Hitler burned all Obama’s real birf certificate and the film of Obama springing fully formed from Osama bin Laden’s head. Before returning to his own time Hitler sired an absolute twat on one Barbara Bausmith.
plaindave
Tammy has a Newfie ? And Huck? That’s a dog lover I can relate to. Or does John have two sisters?
AhabTRuler
There are other photos of Henry, as well. He is a pain in the ass to photograph; he always wants to cuddle and never stays in front of the camera.
JK
@Max:
Imagine the hissy fit that Glenn Beck must have thrown today, when Fox News delayed the start of his program to broadcast Obama’s speech from the G20 Summit Conference.
r€nato
@Max:
really? I thought his interview with Michael Moore was really good. I wish he could have Moore on for the entire show.
I’m grateful Maher didn’t go off on one of his vegetarian rants. That shtick gets old…
r€nato
@James K. Polk, Esq.:
I look forward to trying it James.
r€nato
@JK:
I didn’t know they were planning to celebrate Darwin Day.
Shit, I am an atheist and I didn’t know I was supposed to be celebrating it.
Maybe I’ll do so by burning a bible. I’ll send a pic to Kirk.
Max
@r€nato: I like Michael Moore. He was really good on Howard Stern this week.
I just hate when Bill goes off on his why are we still in Germany bullshit and his snarky Obama stuff and how he tries to crowbar in these “observations” like they are just coming to him. His ego bugs me, and he seems to say dumb stuff to be outrageous, but no one cares. Like tonight, with his whole, the terrorists don’t have any bench strength, so we should stop worrying about them talking point.
/end rant
jl
@Max: Yes, I saw that. Beck either has nothing at all in his head to communicate, or he cannot figure out how to respond without giving his cynical game away, or making himself odious to most of the public.
Seems to me Beck spends half the answer trying to maneuver himself into being some kind of victim because he is being asked to simply explain what he meant by the phrase ‘white culture’, which in this day and age, when applied to groups in America, does not have any more obvious meaning than ‘black culture’ or ‘Asian culture’.
I have not been a big Couric fan, but I like her simple straightforward dogged interview style. I think it is unbiased and easy to understand. I hope she treats wingnuts like Beck, BS artists like the Villagers, and ‘the left’ with complete even handedness as she does her interviews. The audience will see what is what soon enough.
And, by the way, ‘the left’ is also becoming a meaningless word. So many people are being tagged as lefties that are not that by any stretch of the imagination. Seems like any traditional conservative, moderate, liberal or progressive who prefers to work from facts as best they can be ascertained, and some kind of reasoning process, are all called ‘the left’ now.
I think the best strategy is to ignore all this empty cynical maneuvering to frame and fix debates beforehand. Do not even waste time responding to this stupid ‘civility’ nonsense. These BS artists are just trying to set people up to be chumped. I say, plow ahead with your arguments, make your case to the public, family and friends, friendly government officials, whatever is relevant and WIN ELECTIONS. Everything else will take care of itself.
If I were a guest on a TV show and some con artist like Davis or Tweety tried to bring up this civility program schtick, I would literally ignore it, and plow ahead with communicating facts and my reasoning on something of interest to the audience. Seriously. Just say what you want to say, and totally ignore the gasheads. Be interesting if someone did that. I wonder what the gasheads would do.
JK
@r€nato:
It wasn’t bad enough that Kirk Cameron polluted the airwaves with a moronic tv show. Now, he’s lost his fucking mind and has embarked upon a jihad against Charles Darwin.
Ben Stein is another person I ‘ve heard who has blamed Darwin for the rise of Hitler.
mai naem
Just wondering – did any of those Georgians refuse federal help because it was provided by the Big Bad Federal Gubmint. Do they still want to secede? What does Saxby Chambliss have to say about this evil godawful soo-suh-lizm? Inquiring minds want to know.
mai naem
@Max:
Bill Maher was bright in his time. Then, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Al Franken, Marc Maron, Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann came along and Bill hasn’t stepped up his game to keep up.
TenguPhule
And he is not alone.
Acceptance of Evolution theory should at this point be required as a qualification to vote.
Tammy
Hi all. “Aunt” Tammy here. In bed with Lily and Sam spooning each other. Lily clearly misses John. I’m no match for the “Who’s a
good doggy” voice however I think she is having fun with her BDFF (best dog friend forever). I took a pic of the girls
in bed and will send it to John for him to upload. In the meantime I am prepared to have a terrible nights rest due to two dogs who are comfortable and have no concern for me. Night balloon juice bloggers.
r€nato
@Max:
I take your point. I still like him though yes he does occasionally say some uninformed things.
I just wish he would never have Ashton Kutcher on the show again. He makes me cringe. Now THERE is a bubblehead.
JK
@Max: @mai naem:
I totally disagree. I find Maher as sharp and funny as ever.
Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Al Franken, Marc Maron, Rachel Maddow, and Keith Olbermann have absolutely nothing on Bill Maher.
I don’t always agree with him, but I think he generally moderates a stimulating and entertaining program.
I just Maher could get Alan Simpson back on his show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFEAqy8GbnA
Comrade Darkness
@Tammy: wait, wait, there is not supposed to be an actual, real reality behind all of this.
Mark S.
@JK:
Christ.
@r€nato:
Satan.
r€nato
@Mark S.:
well at this rate they’ll be there before Christmas. Then what? Comparing Obama to a serial child rapist?
r€nato
Maher’s a smart guy but I wish he had time to do some research on foreign affairs in general and economics/finance in particular. I remember well a show he did recently where he complained, “I have no idea what the Fed does!” then shortly thereafter he was claiming the Fed just prints money out of thin air.
There’s this thing called the internet, Bill, and maybe you could put down the bong for an hour and do some research about it before you spout off on the topic. Or, have one of your assistants do the research and write a briefing paper on it for you.
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
@Tammy: Puppy pajama party!
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
@Max: I agree. I watch his show weekly since I have HBO now, and to me he just seems smarmy. Too much ego – never have liked conceited men.
Santiago
@mai naem:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/
Penfold
@Max, @r€nato:
I dunno….I don’t see Maher on TV anymore due to the lack of HBO, but the clips that have been pointed out to me on the intertubes generally seem pretty strong. I find him obnoxious occasionally, but that’s par for the course. And, as per @r€nato, I could do without the vegan stuff.
But, I do happen to think that some of the points Max mentioned are actually kind of important.
The question of why are still in Germany is, I think, pretty legit. The Germans don’t seem to mind it as much as the Japanese, but that’s due to a whole matrix of historical and culture reasons, and the fact that our soldiers seem less prone to sexually assaulting local women there than in Okinawa. But it’s not a novel, nor I think irrelevant, argument that our too-long stays in the former Axis countries form something of a baseline for our current military empire, the garrisoning of the globe, in Chalmers Johnson’s phrase.
Also, though I can’t speak to the totality of what Maher has had to say about Obama, what I have seen I’ve tended to agree with, e.g. Maher telling him, in effect, to grow a pair. As someone to the left of Obama, I’ve been consistently disappointed in his performance. Except, unlike a lot of people, I expected to be disappointed anyway (his FISA vote and his cozying up the Summers, et al, saw to that), so perhaps “disappointment” isn’t even the right word. At any rate, without re-litigating the whole issue of what Obama may or may not have been able to do thus far with his political capital, I’d like to see him be more aggressive; his speech to the joint session of Congress was closer to what I think he should have been doing from the beginning.
Anyway…uh, just my thoughts, I guess. Really went into that at greater length than I had planned. Too serious, maybe, for Friday night.
Steeplejack
Just got home from work, voted for Bitsy and pushed her up to 1,589. And so my labors are done. Let the drankin’ begin.
Steep +½
Midnight Marauder
@r€nato:
This is exactly what I wanted to say to JK’s post from above. I really like Maher, but I feel like he’s pretty intellectually lazy far too often for someone of his caliber. But when he’s on, goddamn, the man is on.
Midnight Marauder +7 (still including the ones from work earlier…bitches)
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
I’m glad to see this photo journalism blog highlight an important change in direction for the US – Obama at the UN this week. Yes Maher, Krugman, Moore, he’s not all you wanted him to be – I got it. But can the guy get a little fucking credit?
http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/09/back-at-the-center-of-the-world.html
freelancer
@JK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmHN3JtyUXg
Also, to anyone else watching the Mizzou/Nevada game, is Holst’s Mars, the Bringer of War Nevada’s fight song?
It just sounds odd played by a marching band. I’m partial to this version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkOP0CBKtPw
Max
@SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta: Thank you for the link. It pisses me off that he’s the First President to Chair such a session, ever, and the MSM only want to talk about Palin’s Hong Kong Phooey, and the imagined GOP resurgance in 2010.
Wankers.
Warren Terra
Lifting a paragraph from the invaluable Charlie Pierce’s weekly letter to Eric Alterman, because I love his writing:
The linked story starts:
The the comments page to the local article isn’t as bad as I’d have expected, but there’s certainly some nuts to be picked there.
Penfold
@r€nato:
Didn’t see your comment at 43. First: LOL. Second: I’ll just add this addendum to what I typed before: Yeah, there are times when he’s definitely talking out his ass.
@Midnight Marauder
Agreed.
JK
@freelancer:
Kirk Cameron needs to go fuck himself and LEAVE CHARLES DARWIN ALONE GODDAMN IT
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
@Steeplejack: She’s at 1591 now. Go Bitsy!
@Max: Bloody worthless wankers.
Warren Terra
Oy. Can we please get a working version of blockquote? One that can handle multiple paragraphs, or recognize paragraphs containing minimal content?
freelancer
to throw my hat into the maher vs. not maher fight, I’m on the fence.
I find him hilarious, yet I get how when he’s smug, it can be off-putting.
I absolutely agree with him regarding religion.
Where I break with him is when he calls himself a “rationalist” regarding religion, but in the same vein switches gears and talks about health science and embraces “the toxin gambit”. He’s skeptical of the germ theory of disease, and thinks things like milk and our food contain “unnatural chemicals” that poison us. For a good takedown, see Orac.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/07/bill_maher_gets_the_richard_dawkins_awar.php
JK
@Warren Terra:
The Dumbing Down of America is proceeding at breakneck speed. Thirty years ago, the MSM would have had no trouble whatsoever labeling Sarah Palin a COWARD and a QUITTER for resigning because she couldn’t cope with a few frivolous ethics compalints. Today, Palin’s Facebook entries are treated with awe and reverence as if they were pronouncements from the Oracle at Delphi.
With a few exceptions, the MSM is guilty of flagrant dereliction of duty. They have abdicated their professional responsiblity to call bullshit on hysterical wingnut allegations and are hiding behind the farce of he said / she said journalism.
John O
John, it isn’t uncommon for a beloved dog to deviate when his beloving Boss isn’t around.
“I ain’t listenen’ to NO one!,” says the dog.
Lily will die for you. It isn’t hard to see.
You’re a good man, JC.
Fulcanelli
Watched Maher tonight with K-Thug, Fat Mike, John Waters and Elliot Spitzer and I can’t help but think that with all the fucking pervs and serial adulterers on the the Right that either aren’t forced out or just don’t ever leave politics why isn’t there a place in Obamaland for Elliot Spitzer?
He knows how the financial ratfuckers operate the shell game scams Wall Street’s been pulling better than anyone else I’ve seen yet on my TV and I think he would be like a fucking pit bull wired up on adrenochrome once he got a taste of Banking CEO flesh as some sort of special investigator charged with cleaning house on Wall Street and recommending regulative changes. Or something.
He’d be understandably looking for redemption in a big way, he was good at that stuff anyway as NY AG and…
It would send the Right Wing into bleeding from the ears, Grand Mal seizures of hypocrisy after the scandals they’ve had trying to criticize Obama for using him what with Newt, Ensign and Vitter still skanking around. What I would give to see that… Pleeeeese FSM, pleeeese…
Anne Laurie
@Tammy:
Lily clearly considers Tammy a threat to her position in John’s “pack”; Sammy, not so much {grin}.
I can sympathize with your troubled slumbers, though. The death of our queen-bee dog Flicker over the Labor Day weekend more-or-less established “foster dog” Gloria as a permanent member of our household. Now eight-year-old Zevon and three-year-old Sydney (who are also rescues) have to establish a new pack-quilibrium with a girl dog who is just as domineering as the late Buta-Hime-Sama and even taller than either of the boys. Zevon, who was neutered late in his career, at least has the consolation that he’s always been fond of the ladies. But poor Sydney is finding the drop from Dog Number Two to Dog Number Three the longest fall since Milton wrote poetry. Mostly the three dogs get along okay — there are brief moments when they’re all thrilled to be part of a real, more-than-two Dog Pack — but there’s still a lot of noisy semi-serious “scrapping” as everybody works out the detente. And of course all three dogs are in need of much much MUCH more attention from the two people in the household. Our bedroom is just barely large enough for one California-king-sized bed and three terrier-sized dog crates, and competition for the “best” spots still gets a bit stroppy once the lights go out…
r€nato
@freelancer:
yes, I remember when Bill loudly insisted he was not a liberal but rather a libertarian (I never bought it) and now it seems he is hanging around a bit too much with some of the weirder Hollywood types.
For a guy who is so assertive about how rational he is… yes, rejecting the germ theory of disease and blaming most if not all illness on eating food that’s bad for you is pretty irrational stuff. Eating a bad diet will certainly not help one stay healthy, but it doesn’t cause leukemia either.
jl
@freelancer: Maher calls himself a ‘rationalist’ yet he is skeptical of the germ theory of disease?
Koch’s postulates are not rational?
Maybe it’s the dope. I am for relaxing our ridiculous drug laws, but too much of anything can mess you up, dude. How much does he smoke, or eat, or whatever?
I have a theory that there is a certain type of cranky iconoclastic contrarian mentality that eventually corrodes your brain. You start out being insightful, and having interesting points. But if you get rich and famous enough to shield yourself from the standard reality therapy most of us must endure, or if you don’t have the means to insulate yourself in style, are willing to retreat into your own shabby shell, it ends up messing with your head. You end up being a self righteous opinionated uninformed clown, often unwilling to engage with others in a spirit of mutual respect and tolerance.
Perot became a ‘radical moderate’ nutcase.
Seems to hit comics hard, across the ideological spectrum. Carlin, Miller, Maher, and whosits… lemme think… Leary. Carlin maintained some sanity to the end, and he would be willing to argue, from what I saw of some of his interviews. Let us see if the others can do as well as he. I hope so, for their sake and ours. Penn, of Penn and Teller is an ass, IMHO, but he is maintaing a grip of sanity and communication with the outside world, even if I disagree with his philosophy and he irritates the heck out of me. I saw him engaging in a real debate on a youtube clip recently. Good luck to him, he will need it.
John O
@Fulcanelli:
Right on, Fulcanelli.
Weird how some people’s careers are ruined by Spitzeresque antics (see: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, David Vitter) while others get a pass.
I’m completely confused.
trollhattan
Hmmm, the Lily lookalike is resting on an anteater, methinks.
r€nato
@Fulcanelli:
I am STILL waiting to hear why it was Spitzer’s name that was leaked as one of the clients… and NOBODY else.
Who had that done? I bet there was a long list of powerful people who would go on the list of people who wanted to be rid of Spitzer. What a foolish thing he did, setting himself up like that.
freelancer
@JK:
I’m reading this brilliant article by Mark Morford of SFGate
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/09/25/notes092509.DTL
Option two is to try to speak their language, dumb yourself down, engage on the idiot’s level as you try to figure out how their minds work — or more accurately, don’t work — so you can better empathize and find a shred of common ground and maybe, just maybe, inch the human experiment forward.
This is, as you already sense, a dangerous trap, pure intellectual quicksand. It almost never works, and just makes you feel gross and slimy. Nevertheless, plenty of shrewd political strategists believe that the best way for Obama and the Dems to get their message across regarding everything from health care reform to new environmental regulation, would be to steal a page from the Glenn Beck/Karl Rove/sociopath’s playbook, and start getting stupid.
It’s all about the bogus catchphrases, the sound bites, the emotional punches-to-the-gut. Death panels! Rationing! Fetus farms! Puppy shredders! Commie medicine! Gay apocalypse! Forced vaccinations! Exposed nipples during prime-time! Let one of these inane, completely wrong but oh-so-haunting verbal ticks bite into the below-average American brainstem, and watch your cause bleed all over the headlines.
John O
@jl:
I find Penn completely and utterly intellectually consistent, which is all I give a shit about.
r€nato
@John O:
None of the people whom you listed were ruined by their sex scandals.
Clinton – was acquitted
Gingrich – he didn’t get the boot for his serial adultery and the incredibly shameful way he treated his first two wives when it was time to cut them loose. He got the boot because the impeachment jihad was tremendously unpopular which led to the GOP losing many seats in the 1998 midterm elections.
Vitter – last I checked, he’s still a senator and hardly shunned by the Republican caucus.
r€nato
@freelancer:
pretty much everything Morford writes is brilliant.
I’ll check it out.
Midnight Marauder
@Fulcanelli:
You, good sir/madam, just caused me to change my facebook picture to one of Eliot Spitzer (captured in a very studious look) and quote the above statement in my publishing statement.
Kudos.
+12
mai naem
I am impressed by Spitzer coming out so quickly to resurrect his career. A lot of people would just go hide esp. people like him who don’t need the money. I know it’s not altruistic on his part. I am sure its the power aspect of it. Still, you have to have one heck of a persistent personality to do what he’s doing.
John O
@r€nato:
True, such at it is, in Vitter’s case, but I’m a little more skeptical about Clinton and Newt.
The sex scandals sure didn’t help, and I will add that any time Vitter talks “family values” all any sentient person should do is laugh.
John O
@mai naem:
I have a sense that Spitzer knows the public, or at least a plurality of the public, doesn’t care if he was buying prostitutes for hundreds as long as Spitzer was going after Wall St. prostitutes for millions.
Just took a bit of time for most people to get a grip and look at it rationally.
Warren Terra
I could totally care less what one consenting adult does with another, but prostitution is illegal (and while I think a regulated form of prostitution may well be defensible, actual existing prostitution tends to be tremendously exploitative and abusive), and so is money laundering illegal – and more to the point, Spitzer was really hard on both of those as a prosecutor, not that long before. So I’m really not all that cool with Spitzer, not because of the sex but because of the hypocrisy.
That said, the IOKIYAAR really peeves me. As I said above, I’m fine with Spitzer being a political corpse, but you look at David Vitter and John Ensign – both of whom had sexual relationships at least as abusive as Spitzer’s, and both of whose liaisons involved handing over large amounts of laundered money – and it’s obvious that their continued political vitality should not be part of the same universe as Spitzer’s political destruction. Sanford’s affair I’m less critical of, as it seems to have been a completely sincere and non-exploitative affair of the heart – although a governor failing to leaving emergency contact information is not acceptable, and I’d like to know more about who paid for his travels.
Anne Laurie
@Warren Terra: Until that happy day, three dots (okay, an ellipsis) in the line-break between each paragraph will keep your block quote intact. Usually.
Morbo
Proud of my junior senator today for delivering a “your mom” retort to Jon Kyl and doing it in context, no less.
Jason Bylinowski
@John O: “Weird how some people’s careers are ruined by Spitzeresque antics (see: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, David Vitter) while others get a pass.”
Although I agree with you in the larger sense, I must beg to differ with you on David Vitter, who has gotten two free passes now just in the past year when it only took one to bring down Spitzer.
See here for further details on Vitter’s lesser-known antics:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/03/25/david-vitters-airport-rage-goes-unpunished/
WRT Maher, I think he’s a good, funny TV host with a touch of contrarian spirit who occasionally gets a on a rhetorical roll. I thought Politically Incorrect was better, but what’s a guy to do, as it wasn’t his fault that ABC is led by a bunch of pansies. He’s no Colbert or Stewart because he’s mainly in it for the lulz, whereas C & S have this overarching rationale that leans deicdedly in favor of the mainstream left. Either approach is fine, but obviously being a partisan I prefer the guys I can clearly see are on my team to an extent.
As an aside, I wonder why in the world we don’t have a man (or woman) on syndicated radio who can even come close to competing with the flakes we all know and hate. OK, hate might be a strong word. (Except in the case of Michael Savage, I really think I actually hate that guy.) But it would be nice to at least have someone explain to me why this is apparently not possible. Of course, I’m pretty sure I already know the answer: our typical lefty demographic is completely bored by AM radio and more interested in high tech media, whereas all the older more conservative folks as a rule still read newspapers and listen to AM Gold when they wanna get their groove on.
Anne Laurie
@Fulcanelli:
From your keyboard to the FSM’s noodly appendages! Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve been good enough for the Goddess to grant me such a large favor. Obama got to be the first Black American President by being the political equivalent of Jackie Robinson, and unfortunately all of us not in the Republican Golden Triangle (fReichtards/Talibangelicals/Robber Barons) are going to have our cheeks turned whether we chose meekness or not.
John O
@Jason Bylinowski:
Jason, before I go to bed I just wanted to say that was very, very well said.
John O +5.
*snore*
asiangrrlMN
@AhabTRuler: I.Want.Henry. I want him now. He is a complete and utter doll-baby. The Momo link doesn’t work, but I saw her pics, too. She’s a cutie as well.
Best pic evah of lil Henry:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35245798@N06/3934971855/in/set-72157613558841964/
Spitzer: He was stupid to get caught in the very kind of thing he was prosecuting. I am mad at him for being so stupid. There are plenty of women who could have given him what he wanted for free. He could have made a difference against the Wall Street thugs (and he still might).
Idiot.
Me likey the big black doggie in the picture above.
+1 (but it was a big one).
freelancer
@Jason Bylinowski:
AM radio is primarily about stoking outrage or a listeners passions to get them to call in and or stay engaged. One who engages with cold, hard facts gets even more boring than current AM radio. And the bomb throwers on the left who engage in AM radio aren’t that much better. Sam Seder is okay, but I cannot stand Randi Rhodes.
I listen to a lot of podcasts, This American Life, SGU, Rachel Maddow, Point of Inquiry. But AM talk radio wurlitzer shit? there’s a reason rational people don’t listen to it.
Kevin
@Jason Bylinowski: The one and only thing I think is funny about Michael “Savage” Weiner, well, apart from his ridiculous pseudonym, is that he isn’t even on the radio in his home market any more.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Hello… Book recommendation here you might like… It’s a book manages to be both touching and unspeakably cruel.
Jason Bylinowski
@freelancer: Yeah, it’s podcasts for me too these days, although I do like to catch TAL and Wait Wait in the car, as I think they are much better when listened to on the road.
@John O: Alright, that’s it! I am NOT aware of all internet traditions. I’ve been trying to piece it together for months……what is with the +1s and +5s? John Cole does it all the time. Is it an MMORPG thing? That said, maybe we need an entry for it in the Lexicon, or, you know, CONCORDANCE, whatever floats your boat.
r€nato
@freelancer:
ayup. Randi Rhodes is terribly irritating. It only starts with her Brooklyn (?) accent which doesn’t generally go down well with us out west (I suppose it annoys most people west of the east coast as well). Beyond that she is often shrill, and not in the good way. In the ear-splitting, jab-knitting-kneedles-in-my-ears-to-make-it-stop way.
Sometimes I sample Mike Malloy. He has some righteous rants and that’s about all he’s good for. Call-ins from his listeners tend to be rather tedious. Malloy went down a lot better when I had Bush riling me up day after day, I guess.
AM radio is like the geek show at the circus, or better yet, it’s like a wrestling match. Terribly popular with a certain segment of the population, but one shouldn’t wring one’s hands over why the cappuccino-sipping elitists don’t show up… and setting up a Starbucks kiosk for them at the wrestling venue ain’t going to fix that.
JK
@Jason Bylinowski:
In a sense comparing Maher to Stewart and Colbert is like comparing apples and oranges.
The bulk of Real Time is taken up by the panel discussion. The bulk of the Stewart and Colbert programs are generally devoted to joke telling or sketches.
Jason Bylinowski
@Kevin: This is music to mine ears, a million internets for you, sir.
JK
@asiangrrlMN:
Hi,
How was your evening? I thought you were taking tonight off.
Kevin
@Jason Bylinowski: The +1 or whatever refers to how many drinks the person posting it has had.
r€nato
OK so I read Morford and watched the YouTube video to which he linked, which was Frank Schaffer on Maddow basically saying we should not even try to talk sense to the birther/death panel nutcase crowd.
The problem with just ignoring them is:
a) they have quite a few elected representatives in Congress. The health care bill would be a lot different if there were more than a couple moderate Republicans left in the GOP Senate caucus. Of course this touches on a lot of other issues like global warming and energy policy, where even though they are the minority we still have to work with and negotiate with these tools and fools.
b) you forfeit the rhetorical field to the nutcases if you don’t counter Teh Crazy with Teh Facts. Not for the sake of the nutcases, who clearly won’t believe mere facts anyway; for the sake of the broad middle who is neither firmly on our side nor firmly on theirs.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
The KLF and Miss Tammy Wynette.
JK
@Tattoosydney:
Many thanks for the photos of Sagrada Familia and the Mosteiro Dos a Jeronimos. They are both truly spectacular buildings.
auntieeminaz
@AhabTRuler: Henry is irresistible. The link for Momo didn’t work.
r€nato
@Kevin:
sounds like this should be added to the dictionary…
Tattoosydney
@Jason Bylinowski:
Is in there I think… + 5 = Five drinks down. From Dan Rather.
Tattoosydney +3
Jason Bylinowski
@JK: The apple/orange metaphor is surely an apt one in this case, yes.
Does anyone here listen to Tom Ashbrook on WBUR Boston? He’s not just political, and is rather even-handed (for an obvious closet lib), but the level of erudition he brings to his discussions make for a really good late morning in the car (most of my morning is spent in the car, so this is a good thing). Best voice on the radio as well in my opinion.
I like Neil Conan on Talk of the Nation as well – though I hated his recent interview with the NPR ombudsman, concerning the whole “torture” issue. I don’t know exactly what I expected from that interview, I just know i didn’t get it. But mainly he strikes me as a nice moderate rightward-leaning type of guy, the sort with which you can have disagreements without feeling overly bleak about it later.
freelancer
@Jason Bylinowski:
It’s in the lexicon.
Plus (number)
Jason Bylinowski
@Kevin: @Tattoosydney:
TMYK
Thanks.
+0 (Sorry, on a diet right now, will be drinking tomorrow though, just got a liter bottle of Maker’s Mark with my name on it at the red dot today.)
r€nato
@Tattoosydney:
thanks for the link. I so loved the KLF back then… and yes they were well ahead of their time.
JK
@r€nato:
Try these accents on for size.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ba2U5UrjMA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8qTMtr8pE4
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Hi! I put the book on my wishlist at Half.com. I love that song! I’ve never heard that version before. Thanks! Oh, and that video is a hoot.
@JK: Nope. I just went out with my best bud and listened to screaming, aging cheerleaders acting like idiots. Despite the scenery, it was fun. My best friend is teh cooooolest!
How are you? I worry about your compulsive consumption of teh stoopids. It’s gonna make your head asplode.
Steeplejack
@Max:
Thanks for that, dude–not. Now I need a brainscrape. Yeah, I wasn’t quite sure before that Glenn Beck is the faded taint-stain on the underwear of the body politic, so thanks for making that absolutely clear. Jee-bus. That link should come with a warning.
freelancer
http://www.markallencam.com/?p=144
Bwahahaha!
I can’t put my finger on it, something tells me that there was some type of computing technology involved in the creation of her protest sign.
asiangrrlMN
@Jason Bylinowski: Woot! Another bourbon drinker. I had a bourbon and diet coke tonight, but only Jim Beam. If I want the Maker’s Mark, I have to drink it at home.
Steeplejack! How the hell are you?
Tattoosydney
@JK:
The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos was one of the first places I decided I was in love with Lisbon – in this amazing Manueline church standing in a beam of sunlight in front of Vasco da Gama’s tomb, then inside the cloisters, where there is the monks’ dining room. Its walls are tiled in handpainted tiles hundreds of years old depicting bible scenes, so it’s echoey as well as huge. Just as we walked in, a young tourist starting singing a lament in Italian to test out the acoustics, and held the room entranced for two or three minutes.
With that and the best coffee in the world, I had not choice but to fall in love.
Steeplejack
@jl:
Good point. Couric came across really well in this clip.
I still need a brainscrape, though. Ngrr!
asiangrrlMN
Oh, and Cole, don’t lie. You don’t respect us now, so how the hell are you gonna respect us in the morning?!
freelancer
@freelancer:
Nevermind, it’s a Poe, but it’s a fucking brilliant Poe.
r€nato
wow. Just read the wikipedia entry for the KLF.
Well worth a read…
Wilson Heath
Campaign contributions are for closers: And who would they be wasted on?
r€nato
@John O:
still, it’s hardly ruined his career. Now if you were to mention Larry Craig, I’d agree that his sex scandal ruined what was left of his career. But only because it was (attempted) gay sex.
Larry Craig – liked gay sex, married, family-values Christian Republican senator.
David Vitter – liked straight sex in a diaper with prostitutes, married, family-values Christian Republican senator.
One of these men had a career after his scandal came out. One of them did not. What was different about these two situations? Hmmm…
Fulcanelli
@freelancer: Ye fucking gods, man! I’m crushing up some Advil to snort after seeing that picture, teh stupid has left cracks in my skull. Was that a rainbow flag in it’s hand as it stands there and insults the gheys? I got a sawbuck that says her dildo has a kick starter.
JK
@Jason Bylinowski:
Yes, I’ve listened to Ashbrook several times and I enjoyed his program. I also like Warren Olney, Teri Gross, and Diane Rehm.
I like Neil Conan too. Talk of the Nation had several good hosts in the past. It started out with John Hockenberry. Then he graduated to television. Then there was Ray Suarez and later Ira Glass.
Christopher Lydon is another radio host worth checking out. He used to have a program on WBUR. Now you can catch him on
http://www.radioopensource.org
Lastly, you should go to the website for WNYC radio and click on the links for the shows of Brian Lehrer and Leonard Lopate. These guys have been on WNYC for several decades and consistently conduct informative and stimulating interviews on topics covering everything under the sun.
asiangrrlMN
@Fulcanelli: A sucker’s bet if I ever saw one.
Night, Jason B.! Sweet, boozy dreams.
Jason Bylinowski
@asiangrrlMN:
I’ll drink most any kind of bourbon, but my favorites are Bouillet and MM. I’m a Tennessee Whiskey guy too, but keep that under wraps, would you?, as I’m trying to cultivate an air of civility here. Lately I’ve been trying some apple brandys as well and have just been….well….getting very drunk from them, while also noticing that it tastes good, too. Laird’s Applejack mixes extremely well with juice and is very affordable at 14-15 bucks per liter here in SC. Not good straight though, due to the high neutral spirits content, but that’s fine. Yeah, I used to be into wine a little bit too, but that got expensive. Now it’s pretty much all liquor for me, because on top of my natural affinity for bourbon, it’s always great fun to mix and match ingredients and see what you can come up with it. Since I used to be a pretty capable bartender back in the late 90’s it’s nice to keep my skills sharp as well.
& with that said, I guess it’s time to hit the hay.
r€nato
@freelancer:
the protester was being very, very, very sarcastic. Perhaps not successfully.
Brick Oven Bill
Probably + double digits and would just like to note that Glenn Beck is smarter than ACORN. They sue the $1300 filmmakers, opening themselves up to discovery and much, much more TV.
Glenn brings in moms.
This is why the good guys win. They always do.
Ha. Ha.
JK
@asiangrrlMN:
I’ve got other issues that will accomplish that task. Excessive viewing or reading of wingnuts won’t be the cause of my downfall.
Have you seen these Minnesota stories?
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s shifting stance on climate change legislation was deemed a “full flop” by Politifact.
h/t http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/pawlenty-gets-full-flop-f_n_300149.html
New iPod Nano, equipped with video camera, might not be welcome at Twin Cities gyms
h/t http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_13370880?source=rss
asiangrrlMN
@r€nato: Wow. That was sarcasm? Didn’t work.
@JK: Aaaaargh! I hate Ratface Pawlenty. I really do. He can kiss my flat ass!
r€nato
@asiangrrlMN:
I had a feeling the woman was being sarcastic, then I read a little bit of the blog post. Yep. She was a counter-protester in MA against the anti-gay-marriage bigots.
JK
Chuck Norris Tells His Wingnut Brothers and Sisters To Stop Flying the Current 50 Star American Flag
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=110452
r€nato
Paul Krugman brought up a good point tonight… hardly original, but good. Good to be reminded of it.
Remember 2004 when the hot button topic was an anti-gay-marriage amendment? What did Bush do two days after the election? Did he say he was going to go all-out to amend the Constitution to prevent two guys or two chicks from getting married?
No. He annouced Social Security piratization.
It all worked great – the fundies got votes for the GOP while the economic right-wingers enacted their (middle) class warfare and (upward) income redistribution.
The dirty little secret of the people who really own the GOP, is that they love gays. They love gay marriage. They love the breakdown of the traditional family. They love undocumented immigrants. It gets them votes.
If the people who hate gays and single mothers and mixed-race couples ever dropped the hate long enough to figure out what the GOP was doing to them… nobody would ever vote GOP again.
asiangrrlMN
@r€nato: Aw, crap. I hate when snark fails so badly. Sigh.
You are putting way too much faith in the American people, my friend. Those who hate LGBT folk will never stop and think for themselves.
stacie
Any undergrad or grad students here? I’d really like to read the thesis: “TV’s X-Files, 24, and Fringe: Exploring America’s Paranoia Pre- and Post-9/11”
Fringe might need a couple of more seasons to ferment, but shows real promise.
Just sayin…
Fulcanelli
@JK: Bruce Lee should have punched Chuck Norris in the neck when he had the chance.
tc125231
@JK: I’d like to show this arsewipe the Gulag archipelago. These whining losers dishonor the dead.
arguingwithsignposts
hey, just checkin’ in. i’m traveling too, and working a lot, so haven’t had time to dwell in teh comments. it’s good when you know you are loved. that is all, fellow bj commentariat.
Steeplejack
@r€nato:
It’s already in the lexicon.
Warren Terra
By the way, did anyone else notice the new term someone put in the Lexicon?
asiangrrlMN
@arguingwithsignposts: Good to see you! Glad that you’re keeping busy. Keep posting when you can.
MikeJ
They’ve been running on abortion for decades now, and even when they controlled all three branches of government, they didn’t even try to ban it.
Republicans think that fundies are dumb enough to keep voting for them no matter how they treat their priorities, and so far they’re right.
I would say the same applies to Dems and environmentalists, but it isn’t perfectly symmetrical. Occasionally the Dems will make make minor attempts at throwing a bone to supporters. Also, not having Dems in office is makes things very, very much worse, even if having Dems in doesn’t make things any better.
r€nato
@asiangrrlMN:
I would have to partially disagree with that. The current economic crisis has had the effect of focusing people’s minds on important stuff, like, “am I going to have a job next week?”, or, “oh shit, I have to wait 10 years to retire now.”
That’s why the gay-bashing was greatly scaled back last fall, Prop 8 notwithstanding.
(and I bet that playbook would not have been run at all had the economy crashed early in the year rather than mid-September)
It’s been said before… Democrats make it possible for people to become Republicans.
JK
@tc125231:
Yes, every time some wingnut asshole compares Obama to Hitler or Stalin, it diminishes the montrosity and horror that these mass murderers carried out. Any wingnut who invokes either Hitler or Stalin when criticizing Obama, should be banished from polite company.
Even more disturbing, is that the Washington Examiner is a mainstream conservative publication. That smarmy, obnoxious asswipe Byron York, formerly of the National Review, writes for them.
El Cid
Plus, Glenn Beck doesn’t have the, erm, stone around his neck of having to organize to help the homeless or poor people stay in their housing or fight payday lenders! He can just show up on TV and be a loudmouth jackass all day!
Why don’t those ACORN morons learn from him and give up all this ‘working with poor and colored folk’ boring stuff and just go make a wacky TV and radio show?
Fulcanelli
@r€nato: True. So-called ‘cultural abnormalities’ are the ‘shiny objects’ power brokers on the right have used to distract and stoke up the base while they picked their pockets since time began 6000 years ago. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
r€nato
@MikeJ:
I’d say the environmentalists get a much, much better deal from the Democratic party than the Talibangelists get from the GOP.
JK
@Fulcanelli:
Chuck Norris seems to grow more deranged and delusional with each passing day. I agree that Bruce Lee should have given Chuck a good working over back in the day.
r€nato
@JK:
I’m thinking of creating a video which truly compares Obama to Hitler or Stalin.
Let’s see, on the one hand you have Kristallnacht. The Final Solution. Millions killed due to Nazi aggression.
(or, the agricultural collectivization which led to mass famine. The constant purges of the Communist Party. Gulags.)
On the other hand, you have… health care reform. Measures to stabilize the sick economy. A less hawkish foreign policy which aims to use diplomacy as well as military strength.
Yeah, sounds like Hitler/Stalin to me.
JK
@arguingwithsignposts:
Hi,
Jay in Oregon inquired about you the other day.
Have a good time at the concert.
Don’t forget about checking out some independent media for a breath of fresh air from the MSM.
asiangrrlMN
@r€nato: Yes, I agree with you about the recession taking people’s mind off matters that don’t concern them. However, once we’re back in prosperous times, they will be right back hatin’ on teh gheys. It makes me weary.
r€nato
@asiangrrlMN:
yes they will but have hope. Perhaps by then we’ll have drowned the GOP in Grover Norquist’s bathtub.
asiangrrlMN
@r€nato: Oh, you make me laugh out loud. Thank you for that. I just remind myself that we will outlive them. The younger generation cares less about “moral” issues than does the older ones. We. will. outlive. them.
Hey, I think the period after each word for extra-emphasis needs a definition in the BJ Lexicon!
JK
@r€nato:
Despite the fact that Dems now hold the WH and both houses of Congress, it almost feels as if the wingnuts have outmanuevered them.
I’ve never been more disgusted with the piss poor performance of the MSM than I am today.
I just hope Obama can make it thru the first term without an assassination attempt or a someone following in the footsteps of Tim McVeigh.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Sorry to take a while to get back to you. When I get home I fire up my browser, refresh all the Balloon Juice threads I have saved, check the latest open one to get a read of the hive-mind’s mood, then obsessively browse/read the rest of the threads in chronological order to catch up. Just now getting back to this thread. But I digress.
I’m +4 now and have a bit of a rage-on going. Had my “annual review” today at the part-time gig (health insurance! yeah, right, bleah, whatever). It’s retail, a big-box media store [*cough* B&N *cough*], and the whole “review” process is complete overkill for the basically peon-esque, piecework, migrant-worker, slightly-above-minimum-wage nature of the job. And the current store manager and I mutually loathe each other, which adds to the zesty mix.
The only reason I’m still there is because of the health insurance–I do freelance software stuff in my other life, and that has been up and down and sporadic in my specialty the last couple of years–and I try to do a good job (that middle-aged WASP work ethic in action), but I get no respect from management. So it’s torture to sit through a “review” that gets all Newspeak and meta about what is basically a drone clerk’s gig, especially when I get dinged for not being “more responsive to customer needs,” etc., while my average coworker is a community-college dropout who has trouble showing up for four out of five scheduled shifts. Serenity now.
Anyway, it served to remind me that I need to get out of there. I can probably find another job with health insurance where I can be slightly less miserable and still have enough time and flexibility to do the software thing.
Thanks for letting me vent. Obligatory song link.
Fulcanelli
@JK: The thing that makes me throw up in my mouth is how fucking juvenile and phony Norris’ shtick is.
He and the other jackasses like him played the righteously dumb patriot card to no end and acted the same way while they ignored the real threat to the Constitution when Bush wiped his ass with it, and now they see commies under their beds with a Constitutional lawyer in the White House.
I can’t keep up, and I don’t want to. It’s useless.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Aw, I’m sorry you had to put up with that bullshit. Bureaucracy is such a fucking pain in the ass. The whole time, you want to say, “Shut the fuck up, you fucking little piece of shit,” but you can’t. I hope you can get the hell out of there soon.
Interesting song. Not sure if I like it or not. What are you drinkin’ tonight?
Fulcanelli, I’m with you. I am so fucking tired of all the wah-wahing by the so-called macho men of the right. It’s hard for me to take any of their complaints seriously without wanting to scream, “Where the fuck were you the last eight years? Bite me!”
r€nato
@JK:
I think you’re entirely too pessimistic about things. After 8 years of the misery of living under George W. Fuckup… suddenly liberals are terribly disappointed that Obama has failed to deliver on every single one of their pet causes in 8 months, AND fix all the shit Bush broke in those 8 years, AND given them a pony too.
Even my hero Bill fuckin’ Maher was ragging on Obama about how he hasn’t passed any legislation to rein in Wall Street. I wanted to reach through the TV and smack that prick. Hello, heard of health care reform? It’s only sucking all the oxygen out of DC. Obama can’t even get around to global warming legislation because it’s taking so long.
I’m happy to have a president who can speak English, who doesn’t fuck up everything he touches, and who doesn’t think God chose him to be the president. Everything after that is gravy.
Oh yeah, and that crazy bastard Cheney is no longer running the show either.
JK
@Steeplejack:
Interesting song.
I’m piggybacking on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3uaXCJcRrE
r€nato
@Fulcanelli:
People who take their cues in politics from Chuck Norris or Toby Keith are pretty much hopeless morons anyway… just sayin’.
JK
@r€nato:
I’m trying hard to be a realist and not a pessmist. I just can’t ignore the fact that the MSM is practically allergic to calling bullshit on wingnut talking points. Read that Rick Perlstein interview that I referenced near the beginning of this thread.
My problem isn’t that Obama is not moving fast enough.
My problem is that at nearly every turn since Obama took office, the Republicans have been infinitely more effective at working the refs than the Democrats have been. If the MSM is falling hook, line, and sinker for Repub lies now, wait until the midterm election results to see them proclaim Obama being washed up.
Fulcanelli
@r€nato: I can’t wait to see what Obama goes after once the health care bill is passed, and I do think we will get a decent bill, despite all odds.
When I roll the magic 8 ball I see wall street in the cross hairs going into the 2010 election season to tap into the anger and shore up support for the Dems, and if any of them have two functioning brain cells they will see the light, join the pile on and stymie the GOP, and get re-elected. That’s if.
JK
@Fulcanelli:
In the case of Chuck Norris, I think race is a major factor. A while back, he was urging Obama to get all the documents out there so that he could put the birth certificate story to rest.
r€nato
@JK:
I really don’t think the Republicans have been as effective as you allege. For instance, the problem with health care reform has not been Republicans. They have pretty much relegated themselves to sitting in the bleachers and chucking garbage onto the field.
No, the problem has been spineless Democrats and tools like Baucus who keep trying to appease Republicans by watering down reform, when he should know damned well that even if they wanted to vote for a health care reform bill, party leadership would crucify them if they did so.
As far as the MSM’s predilection for reciting Republican talking points… that’s a problem which existed well before black Jesus-in-chief. Just be grateful that Obama is such a dynamic speaker and is running a very savvy press operation.
Actually… now that I think about it… this is how bad the whole thing is slanted:
Republicans can run a total moron – a military deserter! – and get him installed as president twice.
Democrats have to run a candidate as squeaky clean and head-and-shoulders-above-everyone-else as Obama to get him elected. And despite all the crowing, his (popular vote) margin of victory over McCain was really not that large. Perhaps in modern terms yes, but in the olden days you didn’t call it a landslide unless someone won with a percentage margin well into the teens.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Interesting song. Not sure if I like it or not.
I have come to terms with the fact that for me it is all about the beat. If it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it, then the lyrics could be about skull-fucking kittens and I wouldn’t care. Also, this song has a good horn section that comes in toward the end. And wind. Gotta like that.
What are you drinkin’ tonight?
Started with two–three?–Samuel Adams Irish Reds, have now moved on to Mount Gay rum and tonic, with heavy fresh-squeezed lime slices. Nectar of the gods. And I probably won’t catch malaria. Gotta like that.
Steep +5 (6?)
Obligatory related song link. (Song starts at 1:15.)
“I need a little brain salad surgery.” Words to live by.
MikeJ
So first Fire.
Then Fire and Rain.
So I’ll add:
(bad audio, homemade video, fun nonetheless)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95rgM8xLLVo
r€nato
oh and just to underscore my point… if the Democrats, just for kicks, came up with a health care reform bill which was as pro-insurance-lobby as it could possibly be… Republicans would still refuse to vote for it. Then they’d run against it in the next election, demagoguing about how the Dems had screwed the little guy.
JK
@Steeplejack:
Robert Klein has a great bit where he riffs on Dr John and this song.
@MikeJ:
Nice choice.
Steeplejack
@JK:
Love “Fire and Rain,” but it’s not suiting my mood tonight.
If you want to bring rain into it . . .
asiangrrlMN
Ah, my fellow BJers, it’s bed time for this grrl. Have a pleasant night, y’all, and don’t rip up the place too much while I’m gone. I don’t want to miss out on the fun.
P.S. Steeplejack, I dig that song!
JK
@Steeplejack:
I hear where you’re coming from. The Elvis song is a nice choice.
In keeping with the theme, I also like this song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm9xqHjP0fw
Steeplejack
@JK:
Touché. As you know, I have been wallowing in the Beatles remasters, and this fits right in.
My final word on the subject.
Comrade Baron Elmo
In further developments, Senator John Kyl drinks a quart of dog butt coffee:
Just before the Senate Finance Committee wrapped up for the long weekend, members debated one of Sen. Jon Kyl’s (R-AZ) amendments, which would strike language defining which benefits employers are required to cover.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) argued that insurers must be required to cover basic maternity care. (In several states there are no such requirements.)
“I don’t need maternity care,” Kyl said. “So requiring that on my insurance policy is something that I don’t need and will make the policy more expensive.”
Stabenow interrupted: “I think your mom probably did.”
The amendment was defeated, nine to 14.
I smell a great campaign ad for Kyl’s next Dem opponent…
Steeplejack
@MikeJ:
Hey, it meets my criterion for a good beat. Nice and edgy. Plus I always like “cross singing.”
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Okay, almost despite myself, I am perking up.
I think Anne Laurie pointed out that there are some experiences in life that cannot be adequately dealt with without recourse to country music. That may apply to classic soul, too.
Ah, closure.
burnspbesq
ESPN probably caused some wingnut heads to explode tonight. Top 10 plays included cricket and rugby. Surprised they didn’t also include some Aussie Rules football – the Grand Final was tonight.
JK
@Steeplejack:
Good choice. I wouldn’t mind wallowing/reveling in Beatles remasters myself right now. Despite what others think, they will always be the Mount Everest of rock bands for me.
JK
@Comrade Baron Elmo:
My sympathies to Arizona Democrats who are stuck with Jon Kyl and John “bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran” McCain
The confrontation between Jon Kyl and Max Barcus was wonderful. I loved seeing Kyl get so damn frustrated and bent out of shape. I wish there were a chance in Hell that Dems could gain seats in the House and Senate in the midterm elections.
Steeplejack
@burnspbesq:
Dude, I have a guilty secret addiction to Australian rules football. St. Kilda! Footscray! (Not a veterinary condition.) Etc. Missed the final because I was at work tonight. I’m sure they’ll be rerunning it.
Steeplejack
@JK:
I hope you’re still up. Here’s a great song, one of my old favorites. Sitar solo!
“You wanna find the truth in life, don’t pass music by.”
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
For when you wake up.
Started delving in the YouTube archives and found one of my all-time favorite “got a great beat” songs. Coupled with the passion of the lyrics and Eric Burdon’s singing, it’s a winner. “Don’t Bring Me Down.”
Sacrifices I will make
I’m ready to give as well as take
One thing I need is your respect
One thing I can’t take is your neglect
And I realize when I say “great beat” I usually mean “great bass.”
Steep out.
Jay in Oregon
@arguingwithsignposts:
Good to see you.
Today was hard for me.
My wife told me that she feels like she has no friends and no life here anymore. I tried to tell her that she’s wrong, but she is so angry about something…
She is still here, though.
RedKitten
@Comrade Baron Elmo:
Love it!
What kind of stupid arsehole is Kyl anyway? ALL insurance policies cover stuff that certain policyholders will never need.
kid bitzer
proposal for the balloon juice dictionary:
Rule of Law!
A rule stating that only Democrats have to follow the law.
During the Clinton impeachment farce, Republican leaders chanted “rule of law! rule of law!” in order to argue that Clinton must be impeached for a technicality based on a triviality or the entire structure of American society would crumble into anarchy.
As it has become evident that the Bush crime syndicate may have violated laws related to torture, murder, rape, and other serious crimes, the Republicans have argued that there must be no investigation of any of these crimes, or the entire structure of American civil society will crumble into anarchy. (See: IOKIYAAR).
Tom Degan
Did you read Bill Maher’s comment on the Huffington Post yesterday? He was decrying the dumbing down of America.
While I admire Bill Maher a great deal, I am forced to take issue here. This pitiful America of which he speaks is very real. Of that there can be little doubt to anyone who has bothered to pay attention. But like a lot of people on the Left (I am sorry to say) he totally ignores – whether by accident or design – the undeniable advantages of living in the America of the first decade of the twenty-first century.
For example:
I never finished High School. In fact I dropped out at the very beginning of my Junior year. In spite of this unfortunate fact, the I.Q. of my country has dropped to such a horrifying degree in the last thirty years, whenever I arrive at a gathering of, say, two or three-hundred people, I am reasonably confident that I am the smartest person in the room.
Do you have any idea how utterly cool that is? Lighten up, Bill.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
BC
Poor Kyl, stuck in a 1970-1980 mindset in the 21st century. Basically saying that his body type is the normal one – the one that doesn’t need maternity care – and the body type that needs it is the abnormal one. He wouldn’t like for it to be pointed out that this is simple sexism, but such it is. Just wish the Democrats had a framing mechanism so they could do the hissy fit tantrum against the Republicans or even the pro-life groups: “GOP against maternity care for women!” “No health care for fetuses!” “Why does the GOP hate women?” “Why does the GOP hate the unborn?”
I’m pretty poor at this, ain’t I?
matoko_chan
IANARIAC–
I Am Not A Republican– I Am A Conservative
1. Lame attempt to scrape the bushcheney off the speakers shoe when no one is looking.
2. Perpetuation of the mythology that McCain/Palin lost because McCain and Bush were republicans and not “real” conservatives.
Failboat— the GOP
Failcake— conservative philosophy in contemporary American culture.
Baking another failcake — any attempt by Patrick Ruffini, the TAS bloggers, McMeghan or Douchehat, or the now defunct Culture 11 to create persuasive argument for becoming a republican.
matoko_chan
Young Cons
young talentless conservative choads attempting to penetrate hiphop culture. see, failcake
Young Republicans— group of pushing-40 conservative choads pretending to be young. See Audra Shay.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Cool. Nice beat. When I said I dug that song, I meant Right Place Wrong Time.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
When I said I dug that song, I meant “Right Place, Wrong Time.”
Check. I figured that.
Tom Degan
Imagine. Just imagine….
A Liberal Democrat goes over to COMMUNIST CHINA, criticizes the policies a sitting president – and gets paid (conservative estimate) a quarter-of-a-million big ones for his or her trouble.
Can you even fathom the stink the right wing crazies would make at such a scenario? It boggles the mind.
I love Sarah Palin. I honestly and truly hope she never, EVER goes away. To a committed Lefty such as yours truly, she’s just the gift that keeps giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving….
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY