I suppose I am dating myself, but I honest-to-goodness remember a time when Dennis Miller was actually kind of funny:
Of course, that was a really long time ago.
(via)
This post is in: Clown Shoes
I suppose I am dating myself, but I honest-to-goodness remember a time when Dennis Miller was actually kind of funny:
Of course, that was a really long time ago.
(via)
This post is in: Open Threads
I had dijon mustard on my sandwich for lunch, and it was delicious. I also felt a strange urge to read Chomsky afterwards.
by John Cole| 85 Comments
This post is in: Clown Shoes
This is what punditry looks like on autopilot:
In the case of the Sotomayor appointment, while she’s likely to coast through the Senate given the Democrats’ sheer numbers, the American public needs to understand why this is such a radical pick. The Obama/Sotomayor idea that judges, instead of making impartial rulings based on the law and the Constitution, should base their decisions (at least in part) on their own experiences and ethnic background, is outrageous. It is perfectly appropriate for Republicans and conservatives to make this point, and there’s no reason why they can’t do so in a respectful manner. In short, the upcoming Sotomayor fight isn’t really a fight about whether she should be confirmed — Republicans pretty much lost that one last November — it’s a fight about whether Obama gets to define Sotomayor as a “moderate.”
Noticeably absent from this critique, of course, is any evidence that Sotomayor has ever made any ruling that was based on something other than the law. Not one case. In order for Republicans and conservatives to “make that point,” they would in fact have to have one.
But they don’t. They just have a word salad they barf up every time they think it is appropriate- “reverse racist!” “activist judge!” “legislate from the bench!” “not a strict constructionist.” And that is pretty much what we can expect the next couple of months.
Sonia Sotamayor has more judicial experience than any other person nominated to the Supreme Court in decades. There are literally hundreds of rulings and opinions of hers out there. Surely they could come up with some examples of her “basing her decisions on her ethnic background.” Surely there must be a paper trail. Surely Mr. Klein can come up with some evidence for his smears and assertions.
We’ll be waiting.
by DougJ| 57 Comments
This post is in: Clown Shoes
I guess the Republican 11th commandment trumps the Bible’s 2nd:
And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” — Mark 14:30 (ESV)
[…..]The incidents of late with Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Dick Cheney, and others is why I raise this. Putting it bluntly, were these guys on the left, their fellow leftists would at best be cheering them on and at worst silently nodding along. There wouldn’t be any on that side rushing to the nearest microphone to condemn them
[….]Peter denied Christ three times. Our goal should be to not deny Christ and also to not deny the valuable members of our own movement. Embracing them does not mean we embrace every word and every deed. But it should likewise mean we don’t race to the nearest microphone to condemn our own when they do something [indiscreet]. The people we should shun are the ones who are quick to throw the rest of us out for daring to stand up for our friends.
(via Ben Smith)
by John Cole| 66 Comments
This post is in: Clown Shoes
Apparently now the new meme du jour floating around the WingNet is that Chrysler dealerships were closed in such a manner as to punish Republicans. Anyone want to bet how this is going to turn out?
Also, I’ll just note that the same people now screaming about this were, just a few weeks ago, screaming about the sanctity of contracts trying to make sure that the bondholders would get their way and push Chrysler into bankruptcy and be liquidated and cause every single Chrysler dealership across the country to close. But it would hurt the UAW, so then it was ok.
Really just the most tedious people on the planet.
This post is in: First Posts, Popular Culture
Because there are a number of Terry Pratchett fans here, and some suspense /mystery readers as well, I would like to recommend Castle Freeman Jr.’s novel ALL THAT I HAVE. It’s a little book, only 165 pages, because that’s exactly enough pages to tell the story (stories) it wants to tell. Imagine Sam Vimes as a Vermont sheriff, responsible for 17 towns in a mostly-depopulated corner of a thinly-settled state — or maybe the son of Captain Vimes and Esme Weatherwax, serving and protecting Lancre and a double-handful of similar hamlets in his own remote corner of the Ramtops.
Sheriff Lucian Wing (as he’s known in this corner of the metaverse) has to deal with a bunch of very dangerous people From Away, who are looking for something the local bad boy may have taken from them, while dealing with various domestic complications caused by the fact that very few people can be content with exactly what they’ve got. This doesn’t sound humorous, but (as told in Sheriff Wing’s dry voice) it’s very funny. And it doesn’t sound tragic, although many of Wing’s anecdotes concern all the sorrows of the human condition. It’s one of those rare books you read quickly, because you can’t wait to see how it comes out, and then go back and start re-reading immediately, because you’re afraid you might have missed something the first time through.
I think I picked it up on a recommendation from a Boston Globe review, comparing ALL THAT I HAVE to one of Donald Westlake’s novels. Which is a pretty good comparison, if you can imagine one of Parker’s plots narrated by Dortmunder. It’s available through Amazon, as are a couple more novels and some essays by Castle Freeman Jr., which I am already starting to acquire.
(Late-night test post, not related to anything in particular, just to see if I can get this thing off the ground without getting caught in the trees.)
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
I just wanted to take a moment and let you all know that we will have a new front page poster starting soon, and the newest member of the staff is frequent commenter “Anne Laurie.” She’s feisty and opinionated, loves animals, and I’ve been a fan of her comments for some time now. Probably far more to “teh left” than me, although when Democrats are doubling troop strength in Afghanistan and holding hands with Republicans to shovel billions of dollars to the FIRE crowd, and the right wing apparently spent the last eight years combining the highly successful tactics of Code Pink and the comedic stylings of Hee Haw!, I honestly don’t know what the heck “the left” and “the right” mean anymore.
I hope you will all say hello and treat her with the same amount of respect you treat all the rest of us. In other words, feel free to nag her, correct her spelling, mock her, call her a moron, bicker incessantly, and the like. And may God have mercy on your soul.
Welcome aboard, Anne Laurie.