Open Threads

Yesterday in the comments section of this Oliver Willis response to an Instapundit post about the angry left, Canadian Robert McClelland wrote:

Reynolds hates reality. And I’ve already told you how to deal with this prick. Stop dicking around and start digging up some dirt on him. He has students. I’m sure there is at least one who knows something he’d rather not have made public. Everyone has a secret, Oliver. Find Glen’s and then beat him black and blue with it.

I found this pretty amusing, and emailed Glenn the following:

You missed the humor in the suggestion that you be blackmailed.

Robert McClelland is a Canadian, or at the very least a resident of Canada, who most recently described the United states as a ‘third world hellhole.’

So, to summarize: An America hating Canadian is so incensed by a post in which you assert that some lefties seem to hate America that he travels to a left wing site to recommend the outright blackmail of an American to stifle political speech.

That ought to play well in the heartland. I officially declare irony to be dead.

Today, our friend from up north gets his panties ever further knotted:

Naturally it goes without saying that these two rubes are lying about what I said. I never said someone should dig up dirt to blackmail Instarube. I quite clearly said they should dig up dirt to crush him like a grape, just like these odious right whingers do to anyone who disagrees with them.

As for how this will play in the heartland of America. Who gives a fuck, John. You don’t hear me mewling like a baby about how your anti-Canadianism will play in the heartland of Canada, do you? No, and the reason for that is we Canadians simply don’t care what an ill informed American right whinger has to say about us or anything else.

Happy thoughts to you.

Other than a well known South park Song, I was unaware of rampant anti-Canadianism (I think we can all be happy the thin-skinned McClelland isn’t, say, French). In fact, I thought of them as pretty good neighbors and allies. But for members of the Michael Moore/George Soros angry left- I defy you to find a better illustration of their self-defeating attitudes and behavior.

Thanks for the clarification, though. I understand now that you wish to destroy people to stifle political speech, not merely blackmail them.

You can’t even parody these wingnuts anymore.

*** Update ***

LOL. This guy is just the gift that keeps on giving. After quoting Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter, and a somewhat off-topic Bill O’reilly quote (O’Reilly, who I hate, states that he thinks Chretien is a bum-and decries foreign anti-Americanism- clear evidence of a tidal wave of anti-Canadian hatred existing in the United States), he oozes:

This is just the tip of the iceberg and it’s not just restricted to Canada. You right whingers have been spewing hatred against anyone and anything you don’t like for years. Just a partial list includes France, the UN, Hollywood, liberalism, the Girl Guides and I’ve even encountered one of your ilk spewing vomit all over Amnesty International. Yes, Amnesty International. How filled with blind rage do you have to be to do that?

As for my hate, it’s not directed at all Americans. I’m actually quite fond of every American that you and your ilk hate (ie. anyone who disagrees with you). My hate is only directed at you right whingers and you’ve earned it, so revel in what you’ve sown. If you don’t like it that everyone except for your own kind now hates you, change, because my hate is only in response to yours and will disappear when yours disappears. Otherwise, lick my balls you mewling sack of crap. My hate toward you and your odious right whinging brethren is only going to grow in response to your growing hatred of me. And who knows, one day we might even get to meet face to face and I’ll have no hesitation about taking our mutual hate to the next level by cracking open your skull in order to let the pent up hot air escape.

Now run along home to your mommy and tell her the bad man threatened you with violence. Then you’d best go play in the sandbox with the rest of the children because you’re too much of a snivelling pussy to play at the grownup game of politics.

Happy thoughts to you.

Like I said- The Angry Left. I am in the process of determining whether I should contact the RCMP.

*** Update #2 ***

Make that the “Angry Unhinged Left,” Robert:

Update: John “crybaby” Cole has responded–if you can call it a response–to my post and not surprisingly has chosen to be a snivelling coward by refusing to admit to his own hatred. He even goes so far as to dismiss that it even exists. It’s not surprising because as we all know, right whingers are accomplished practitioners of the art of deception.

He then goes on to make the declarative statement that the left is angry. Wow! What a master of the obvious this rube is. I eagerly await his next brainstorm where he arrives at the conclusion that water is wet.

It’s no secret that the left is angry at right whingers. After all, we have good cause for it after witnessing them embark on a murderous, 3 year campaign of vengeance that’s resulted in the slaughter of more than a 100,000 people who never caused harm to anyone and whose only “crime” was to have the misfortune of sharing the same complexion as the terrorists who attacked America more than 3 years ago. I mean, who wouldn’t be angry at just that? But when you add in the fact that the right whingers have also engaged in a 3 year campaign of demonization and persecution against anyone who disagrees with them, it’s surprising that anger is the only reaction from the left. Frankly, were I an American I would have by now left at least a dozen right whingers rolling on the ground crying “why. . .why. . .why?” like Nancy Kerrigan after she was kneecapped by Tonya Harding’s boyfriend. That the left has not reacted with the same murderous vengeance as the right is in fact a testament to the left’s civility.

John then caps off his update with a statement that is a real hoot and typical of the mentality of right whingers who send others out to do their dirty work and feel no shame in being emasculated by it.

“I am in the process of determining whether I should contact the RCMP.”

Well crybaby, let me make it easier for you to decide. Have at it and let us all know how the RCMP reacts to your mewling. In fact, I dare you to contact them. In fact, I double dog dare you. Chicken. Paintywaist. Pussy. I didn’t think you’d have the balls. Spineless wuss. Do it. Do it now yellow belly.

I’m not even going to bother. I am just going to treat this guy like I would any other lunatic. Walk away and hope someone gets him back on his meds. I have wasted enough time on this loathesome troll. He needs therapy, not attention.

*** Update ***

Apparently this sort of diseased discourse is par for the course in Canada. Lou (another Canadian) defends McClelland’s vitriole and threats in the comments section, while a Daily Kos denizen (another Canadian), seems to think this is par for the course and states:

There is some more uh.. dramatic and dark humour dialogue that continues.. If you feel like supporting a Canadian’s fight against the US right-wing blog community… please go and visit to give him some support and props

Must be something in the Canadian beer.

The Angry LeftPost + Comments (79)

It appears that Andrew Sullivan is taking a break from blogging, so a major source of my material will soon dry up. Woe is moe.

But then again, maybe he isn’t leaving. Even his farewell post is riddled with the same lack of clarity we have grown to know and love:

After much hemming and hawing, I’ve decided to put the blog as you’ve known it on hiatus for a few months. The Dish will still exist, the site will be updated weekly with new feature articles, and I’ll still post when I feel like it. But it won’t have the regularity or content of the past four and a half years…

Besides, this is my fifth year of daily blogging – I was doing this when Clinton was president and Osama bin Laden was largely unknown – and I’ve always thought it’s a good idea to quit something after around five years or so…

And getting through the US and Iraq elections seems to me as fair a time to take a leave as any. So I’m going to turn this into a far more occasional operation for a while. I’ll keep posting when the feeling grabs me; but I’m no longer going to promise the kind of daily attention to the news that I have practised so far. I hope that after, say, nine months, I’ll return to blogging full-steam with perhaps a new direction or approach to refresh the material. A little distance from the blogosphere might be helpful in that as well.

So he is quitting, except for when it tickles his fancy, and then he will blog, but check back for new material and a site re-design, and he is not really quitting and will be back in nine months.

I, for one, am going to miss him.

The Daily DishPost + Comments (6)

Jim Henley takes me to ask in the comments section of this earlier post:

John, maybe by “gloating” Matt means that this site and others would become an orgy of “find the most disagreeable things our opponents have to say” items, ignoring more thoughtful and even positive items on places like Crooked Timber, Thomas L. Knapp’s site, The Agitator and Political Animal, to name a few. At least Chrenkoff and Vincent are able to devote the bulk of their energy to expressing their enthusiasm for the event itself. All you seem to manage is carping about your enemies. Can’t YOU take any more pleasure in events than your betes-noires? Is the extra sleep doing you so little good?

A fair question- here is my response.

Because when I woke up this morning and found out that the elections had gone off as good as or better than I had ever expected, I was ecstatic. Granted, it was horrible that 33 people were killed (for wanting to vote- that makes it pretty clear the scum we are dealing with), but the event itself eclipses their deaths.

I didn’t and don’t view this election as a complete vindication of the Bush doctrine, I didn’t and don’t think this election mean that we can withdraw are troops tomorrow (which we can all agree is a chief long-term goal), and I didn’t and don’t think Iraq is going to be New Hampshire tomorrow. I viewed the election as a very positive step in the right direction, and I felt relief and happiness.

I felt like we dodged a bullet, and I felt happy for all those who were able to vote. And then I started reading the left wing blogs, starting with Matt, who had nothing but a snotty post up dismissing the elections. Then I went around to the other lefty sites, and rather than celebrating along with everyone else, I saw snotty post after snotty post by people either dismissing the election, struggling desparately for a way to dismiss them, or in Oliver’s case, just being a jerk.

Add to that the mainstream media attempts to frame this election prior as a failure prior to one vote being cast, and I got pissed. I started to wonder- when did the Democrats become the Dick Tuck Society for Sore Losers (“The people have spoken, the bastards.”)? How do you possibly frame this election in a negative light?

But they did, and I blogged about their disgusting transgressions. If my documenting their behavior counts as ‘gloating,’ then we have redefined the term and I am guilty of some major league gloating. My apologies.

However, let me say it again- I am thrilled about the outcome, although I fully expect a wave of violence in the upcoming weeks and months. More soldiers are going to die. And the country may never see Democracy. But I will wait for that bad news, should it come. Right now is for celebrating, and I wish my friends on the left could get rid of their bitterness and join in.

And in case any Democrats who think this election was all a sham and that things were better off under Saddam Hussein, let me point out one little difference between what is going on in Iraq now as opposed to 3 years ago. We dipped their finger in purple ink after arranging the first free election in 50 years. Saddam Hussein hammered nails into their fingers and hands.

The Question of The HourPost + Comments (22)

I got my CPAP machine yesterday (Respironics Remstar Plus) and I wore it last night for the first night. I had no problems whatsoever, and I can not believe the results.

I went to bed at 11:30 last night, and I slept until 3:50. Went to the bathroom, slept from 3:50 until 8:00ish. That may sound uneventful for those of you wihtout sleep disorders, but let me tell you, the difference for me is remarkable.

First, as I was having 54 episodes an hour, waking up only once a night as opposed to 400 is highly preferable.

Second- my sheets are still on my bed. My pillows are still on my bed. I woke up in the same position that I went to sleep. Before, I would thrash around while choking, and rip the sheets off my bed. Often times I would wake up sitting in a chair sleeping (computer chair, living room chair, sitting up on the couch, sitting on the side of the bed), because in my sleep I had figured out that as a way to keep my airway open.

Third- my cat wasn’t watching me this morning when I woke up. He was sound asleep next to me.

Fourth- I actually feel rested. My head doesn’t hurt, my chest doesn’t hurt, and I feel like a 9 year old who has been chugging Starbucks and snorting pure sugar.

Fifth- I smiled before noon. I smiled before coffee. Hell- I smiled.

They say the results become more pronounced the longer you use it- but I feel better already, and I had no problem adjusting to the machine. The only side effects I have found are that for the first twenty minutes I was awake, I felt like someone had spent the last 12 hours blowdrying my tonsils and eardrums. Also, I am stiff- I am not used to sleeping in the same position for 8 hours. A hot shower and some stretching cured that.

Finally, this is going to soound stupid, but about a half hour ago, I almost became overwhelmed with emotion and started crying. I simpy can not describe how much better I feel.

Sleep ApneaPost + Comments (16)

Just got back from the hospital after going in last night for a sleep test, and as I suspected, I have sleep apnea. Should be getting a fancy machine in a week or so.

I slept with the machine on last night from midnight until 5 am, and I feel the best I have felt in ten years. It is unbelievable how good I feel. I am so awake, I am afraid to have a cup of coffee, and I normally drink 3-4 a morning.

Apparently I have a really bad case of it, too. I have always snored like a jet plane with asthma, so I am not surprised. I went in to be monitored for six hours of sleep, and after only two hours of monitoring my sleep, they rushed in and hooked me up to the machine.

At any rate, I am rather excited, like I have been given a 2nd chance on life. You have no idea what it is like to be tired all the time.

Sleep ApneaPost + Comments (11)

As part of a series of lifestyle changes that I am undertaking to add to assist my healthy and longevity, I am finally breaking down and visiting a dietician/nutritionist. At any rate, whenever I discuss diets/dieting with my mother, she invariably mentions her favorite diet of all times, one that one of her co-workers always uses.

The diet? To eat only foods he doesn’t like. Works like a charm for him, and the lbs shed off. My problem is that other than Stuffed Peppers and Liver and ONions, there are no foods I dislike. I like everything.

At any rate, point ofthis post- What foods can you not tolerate?

Food for ThoughtPost + Comments (16)

I am sorry, Glenn. Only unwashed barbarians percolate their coffee. Everyone knows the best coffee in the world comes from a French Press, like this one from Bodum:

Buy one here at Amazon, you will never drink coffee any other way ever again.

BTW- Time to pay for the domain name registry, so if you want to kick in some change, here be the PyaPal icon. Much thanks in advance.

Word for the Day: BodumPost + Comments (10)