The money and the power, the power and the money
The always-excellent Matt Taibbi is puzzled as to why our press corps enjoys needling ex-Governor Moose Eater even as it spent years kissing Bush’s ass:
What the people who are flipping out about the treatment of Palin should be asking themselves is what it means when it’s not just jerks like us but everybody piling on against Palin. […] You had [the mainstream press corps] eating out of the palms of your hands (remember what it was like in the Dixie Chicks days?). Now they’re all drawing horns and Groucho mustaches on your heroes, and rapidly transitioning you from your previous political kingmaking role in the real world to a new role as a giant captive entertainment demographic that exists solely to be manipulated for ratings and ad revenue. What you should be asking yourself is why this is happening to you. Even I don’t know the answer to that question, but honestly, I don’t really care. All I know is that I find it extremely funny.
The answer is extremely obvious: this is happening because the press corps worships power. When the GOP ran the show in the early part of this decade, we heard all sorts of stories about how rock-ribbed Republicans were in touch with Real America while fruity-assed Democrats only appealed to snooty college professors and swishy Europeans. Now that they’ve lost power, they’re looked upon somewhat less favorably, although that hasn’t stopped Politico from writing daily pieces on how the GOP is destined to win a 5,430-seat majority in the 2010 midterm elections.
I think people who complain about a “liberal” or “conservative” media largely miss the point — the biggest problem with most of our press is that it’s in equal measures shallow and flat-out stupid. Indeed, most horse-race-obsessed political reporters shift their allegiances based on weekly polling and quarterly fund-raising numbers and are no better than 18th-Century French courtiers. Jake Tapper, Evan Thomas, Maureen Dowd and the whole Heathers crew at Politico could give two shits about what issues are actually at stake. The most important things for them are to be amused and entertained by catching politicians making silly off-hand remarks that they can spend weeks ridiculing.
I’d also like to point out that while Ex-Governor Moose Eater is indeed frightfully ignorant, her views aren’t all that out of line with standard Washington orthodoxy, especially when it comes to Israel. As Dan Larison notes:
The trouble with Palin’s views on settlements and Israel-Palestine is not that they are on the fringe, but that they are as deeply misinformed about political realities in the region as so many of the consensus views mentioned above. As with all of those, it is the ill-informed and ideologically-driven position that prevails when it comes to policy decisions.
Very true. And if ex-Governor Moose Eater’s polling numbers ever start to significantly climb (which I don’t think is very likely since she’s one of the most disorganized politicians I’ve ever seen), then expect the Village courtiers to proclaim her as the voice of Real America.
OK, so as much as I like to criticize the press corps for doting on silly off-hand remarks, I am not above guffawing at a Republican state senator who complains about teh gheys “stuffing it down his throat all the time”:
(Via.)
Brad, the single biggest problem with the media is that it’s under the control of the entertainment division of most of its parental authority.
Remember when network news was under the news division? We had Chet Huntley and David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, Edward Murrow.
Newsmen made decisions.
Now with conglomerations and aggregations and god help us, a Fox network, news cannot inform, it must entertain first and foremost.
Hate entertains. Information does not. Hate is a product of the right wing (actually, either extreme wing, but the left does not have corporatists enough to impose that viewpoint on the nation).
I think your average Villager would really prefer a status quo similar to the Bush era, where Republicans were on top, Democrats were unmentionable, and there were lots of nice, exciting wars to keep the press entertained and giggling.
But yes, they also worship power, so they’re enjoying spitting on the powerless Palin and kissing up to the Democrats who they think have power.
Still doesn’t mean the country wouldn’t be vastly improved if you shot Broder and Tapper and strung their bodies up in their newsrooms as reminders to the rest of the Villagers that they’re expendible.
Meanwhile, we haven’t even begun to avenge the Dixie Chicks. Anybody has any tactical ideas, count me in.
The news media are worthless. They’re worse than worthless. The whole lot of them could get put in the B Ark and shot off to . . . prehistoric Earth and we’d never miss the dumb fuckwads. There is no group on this planet I despise more, after Republicans, than the press. I fucking hate them. A hundred and fifty thousand soft, fat, well-comported news anchors at the bottom of the ocean is a GOOD DAMN START.
I just wish that people would switch this garbage off for good. Nothing would please me more than to see Chris Matthews roaming the streets in rags, begging for food.
One of the things that people forget about W is that, for all of his tortured diction, stumblebum clumsiness and general appearance of dullardness, he excelled in one particular aspect: keeping track of grievances and evening the score. He fulfilled that role in at least one of his father’s campaigns, and during his 2000 run he kicked one documentarian off the campaign plane well before the end, for no particular reason, except perhaps to provide an object lesson to the rest of the press corps.
And they bought it, hence the much-criticized lapses in credulity among the corps regarding the excuses for going to war with Iraq. They kept it up long after it was obvious that W had turned the White House press corps into a joke (exhibit A, in more way than one: Gannon/Guckert), and they kept it up until things in this country were such a clusterfuck that they turned on him to keep people from laughing at them.
Palin requires no such obeisance; she craves the attention and uses their abuse to whip up support among her base. It’s a near-perfect symbiotic relationship that she’ll keep feeding as long as she’s still getting those six-figure speaking fees, and probably for a while afterward.
@The GD Batman — and one of W’s virtues as a campaigner was to dutifully read off whatever Karl Rove decided he should read off as his message of the day. Palin doesn’t have the discipline to do that and likes to clumsily “improvise.” She may be a hit with the GOP base but she doesn’t have the focus to win a national campaign.
“…the country wouldn’t be vastly improved if you shot Broder and Tapper and strung their bodies up in their newsrooms as reminders to the rest of the Villagers that they’re expendible.”
How can we be sure if we don’t try it?
The news media are worthless. They’re worse than worthless. The whole lot of them could get put in the B Ark and shot off to . . . prehistoric Earth and we’d never miss the dumb fuckwads.
We wouldn’t miss them because we would evolve from them, if I correctly recall my Douglas Adams.
Let’s fire B Ark into some other planet for a change.
She may be a hit with the GOP base but she doesn’t have the focus to win a national campaign.
that’s b/c she doesn’t have her own Rove & Cheney…yet.
Now, don’t anybody write a bad review of Palin’s “book” at Amazon, lest we bring the wrath of Dennis down upon us.
Avoid! Avoid!
Let’s fire B Ark into some other planet for a change.
I vote for Traal, where the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast can have them.
Failing that, if we can aim carefully enough, Tatooine, right into the mouth of the Sarlac, where they can slowly be digested alive for one thousand years.
Launch ’em at Klendathu and starve the brains suckers to death!!
I think people who complain about a “liberal” or “conservative” media largely miss the point — the biggest problem with most of our press is that it’s in equal measures shallow and flat-out stupid.
I totally agree with this, but I also think that the newsmedia are “conservative,” in the sense that they are thoroughly corporatist. The actual values that they reflect aren’t really relevant, and choosing between MSNBC and Fox is like choosing between Cheetos and organic Cheetos. It might make a small difference, but is it going to stop the slide of our democracy into stupidity and complacency?
Palin doesn’t have the discipline to do that and likes to clumsily “improvise.” She may be a hit with the GOP base but she doesn’t have the focus to win a national campaign.
Brad,
What I recall from the 2008 campaign was that McCain was absolutely loathed by talk radio. The thing that unnerves me is that Palin has the Limbaugh/Hannity/Beck crowd eating out of her hand and it’s only 2009.
The religious right regards “Going Rogue” as equivalent to the Newest Testament. The neo-con crowd will vie with each other to whisper sweet war cries in her hear. Hell, it was Bloody Bill Kristol who was one of the first that discovered Palin.
The only GOP demographic not lining up in her column so far is the money boys. That’s only because they want to be reassured that they be allowed to continue fleecing the public.
Palin doesn’t need discipline. 3/4 of the GOP are already running interference for her.
How about the Hulk planet, where they would be quickly stepped on.
her hear
Make that “ear” instead. I wish I could blame Word Press for that typo.
Failing that, if we can aim carefully enough, Tatooine, right into the mouth of the Sarlac, where they can slowly be digested alive for one thousand years.
That would be needlessly cruel. To the Sarlac.
“…and the whole Heathers crew at Politico….”
I will be stealing this and using it like a whore.
Profit & utility aren’t the sole reasons for the press to focus on bloopers or wardrobes or sleaze … ads are a major reason.
Ads get played every 15 minutes or so – after all, as Noam-Tse-Tung himself said, fragmented time-segments do a dandy job of narrowing the main spectrum of public thought down to a laser-beam.
(this comment brought to you by means of a generous grant from The Hunchentoot Foundation)
Your newsletter: I wish to look at it.
I vote for Venus.
Vote withdrawn if B Ark has landing-gear.
I vote for Venus.
Vote withdrawn if B Ark has landing-gear.
Veiled penetration reference.
Sarah Palin is angling for a Radio/TV gig.
She’ll never run for office again.
Not enough money, and she doesn’t have to be elected to any office to control the Republican party.
As current events illustrate.
The most important things for them are to be amused and entertained by catching politicians making silly off-hand remarks that they can spend weeks ridiculing.
Hey, don’t knock it. Change “politicians” to “right-wing bloggers” and you’ve got the raison d’être for Sadly, No!.
Sarah Palin is angling for a Radio/TV gig.
She’ll never run for office again.
That would be the smart play.
Still waiting for evidence that she is capable of running the smart play.
Like W had discipline and focus?
The republicans can elect a ham sandwich for president if its wrapped in a flag and pierced with a cross. They almost did last time … a sane country would have defeated McCain Palin by like 75%-25%. It was still frighteningly close. Obama was boring enough that they could never get a real scandal … if there had been anything at all in his past like Whitewater, McCain would have already died in a tragic hunting accident and we’d have President Palin right now.
The problem with the media is they are a perfect reflection of America. 45% belligerently and willfully ignorant, and vocally proud of it so it seems like 90%. 45% too chickenshit to stand up to the belligerence and too exhausted to bother correcting all the ignorance.
If reality is going to do comedy so crudely and unsubtly, let me join in and say “Chris(co) Buttars(e)”.
Badoodle-boo-yeah, loony libs! Looks like you got wind of Dat Ass Tapper’s latest scoop- that the Obummer takes smoke breaks every now and then and is thus a big fat honkin LIAR! Take THAT to the bank and smoke it, silly socialists! Your Messiah has let you down, big time! Dat Ass Tapper speaks a SPREAD of TRUTH to power, and ya better believe that I’d totally hold Super Sarah, the Power Palin, to the fire if she were President I promise no really I swear! Heh indeedy, gotta go take a sheedy, Tapper out.
Sarah Palin is angling for a Radio/TV gig.
Presumably involving speaking. Can’t agree that’s the smart play.
I’m sorry, but when someone with a name like Buttars starts talking about gay sex, he’s just asking for it.
(Ridicule, I mean. Not gay sex.)
I think people who complain about a “liberal” or “conservative” media largely miss the point — the biggest problem with most of our press is that it’s in equal measures shallow and flat-out stupid.
This is true. I had the unhappy experience of being stuck at a dinner table full of wingnut Fox News aficionados at a business meeting back in summer 2004, and when I finally couldn’t stand it anymore, I spoke up and said, “Fox is a joke of a news network, and CNN is not liberal”. To which they all snorted and landed on me with a thump, screeching about how I must be a bleeding heart liberal if I watch CNN. I continued: “I don’t watch CNN either – they’re almost as worthless as Fox. The problem isn’t that they’re liberal – the problem is that they aren’t doing their job. NONE of news media does a good job.” I went on to say that when a news network, broadcast, or personality takes it upon him or herself to demonize a certain segment of the population over nothing other than a disagreement over public policy, then that news network or personality has an agenda, and that agenda is not “what’s best for the country”. Because anyone who wants what’s best for the country wouldn’t try to turn its citizens against one another over mere disagreements regarding public policy – the way Fox does. I quoted Lincoln with “a house divided against itself cannot stand” and noted that the “agenda” of Fox news, and (at that time) most tv news was to demonize anyone who disagreed with the president or his policies – which was the most un-American thing I could think of, and that anyone who bought into the horseshit that they were selling “patriotism” while actively encouraging the country to rip itself apart was a dupe and a tool.
There were murmurs of assent, and after I got done speaking, not a single one of them would or could look me in the eye.
Of course, after dinner I’m sure they all went back to their rooms and switched on Fox News. The great irony here is the place where we had dinner (New Orleans) was under water just one short year later, thanks to the bumbling incompetence of the guy they all thought was best qualified to be president because he made them feel like it was ok to hate on other people who happened to have different ideas than they. And some of those wingnuts at that table lost everything.
Still waiting for evidence that she is capable of running the smart play.
Not only is it the smart play, but it is also the play that makes her shitloads of money and requires a lot less work than running and actually, like, governing.
Really, I’d like to see her run for President. The primary debates would be HILARIOUS.
“The most important things for them are to be amused and entertained by catching politicians making silly off-hand remarks that they can spend weeks ridiculing.”
To be fair, that’s pretty much what you do to right-wing bloggers. The difference is you have much better material to work with.
I’d like to see her run for President. The primary debates would be HILARIOUS.
Yeah, hilarious: “Thousands Dead at Presidential Debate”
Oh yeah, a Palin ticket would be hi-la-rious… until it won. Then I guess the rest of us who don’t have to live in Hell might find it funny, like Bush was sorta funny from the outside when you didn’t have to think about the rotting bodies in New Orleans and Iraq… which to be fair was not often, because there were so many of them… anyway, I’m rambling.
Hey, don’t knock it. Change “politicians” to “right-wing bloggers” and you’ve got the raison d’être for Sadly, No!.
Up yours, pal! They totally make fun of politicians here, too!
That [i.e., a TV/radio gig] would be the smart play.
Still waiting for evidence that she is capable of running the smart play.
I’m not sure that it IS a smart play for someone who speaks as incoherently as she does. You can’t do everything off cue cards. I think she’d be better suited for a career as blogger (complete with ghostwriter), except that you can’t really make scads of money that way. RNC chair?
Yeah, hilarious: “Thousands Dead at Presidential Debate”
From what? Their brains leaking out of their ears?
I had last Friday off, so I went to a bar to do some writing. They had FOX X-TREME NEWZ on…and since I rarely watch it and absolutely never midday, I was kida taken for a trip on how absolutely unhinged it is. The commercials were the best- one was from some Macedonian (really!) tourism board inviting wingnuts to move to Macedonia (really!) to escape Obama’s socianazimuslihomomarxist policies. Really!
This really didn’t have much to do with anything, I just found it teh funnay.
I’m not sure that it IS a smart play for someone who speaks as incoherently as she does.
Hannity is pretty incoherent and yet he’s made a career of repeating the same dozen lines over and over.
I’m not sure that it IS a smart play for someone who speaks as incoherently as she does.
Two words: Norah O’Donnell.
Jennifer, your takedown of your dinner companions was awe-inspiring. I once found myself in a crowd of Republicans forced to defend single-payer healthcare and did a much worse job. I am humbled.
Yeah, hilarious: “Thousands Dead at Presidential Debate”
From what? Their brains leaking out of their ears?
I was picturing an analogy between her speaking and one of the Joker’s poisons, but on the limited sleep of the last week, I can’t quite hit it.
Biatch
Biatch
I’m not sure that it IS a smart play for someone who speaks as incoherently as she does.
Hey, no fair holding her to standards at this point.
RNC chair?
Good question. Does the RNC
haveeven need a chair at the moment?Lurking Canadia – hey, you would have really dug the eulogy I gave at the funeral of one of my good friends a few years back, on the topic of “values”. With a Baptist minister sitting right there to the side of the podium.
Really, I’d like to see her run for President. The primary debates would be HILARIOUS.
Does she really make it that far? I wonder. I mean, she is doing this book tour, going to friendly locales, and is still pissing off substantial numbers of would-be supporters.
And. She got a pretty soft ride from the media, the McCain campaign kept her away from too many situations where she could derail in front of the cameras. She was a Veep candidate, not The One Who’d Be In Charge. The scrutiny level (even with the lumpen press corpse) would go up to a much higher level. The phrase that comes to mind? “Self-immolation.”
To recap: The Palin Plan
1) Produce Book
2)Go on book tour
3)Piss off potential supporters in droves
4)Watch as their unhappy posts pile up on Facebook
5)?
6)Preznit!
I just realized that my co-worker is totally a mini-Palin, Midwestern sorority sister version, down to the annoying, incoherent, condescending speaking voice. No wonder I get more work done when she’s not here.
T&U,
I just realized that my co-worker is totally a mini-Palin,
That reminds me of this 2008 editorial cartoon:
http://www.seattlepi.com/horsey/popupV2.asp?SubID=4253&page=4>itle=Sarah%20Palin%20Cartoons
I just realized that my co-worker is totally a mini-Palin, Midwestern sorority sister version, down to the annoying, incoherent, condescending speaking voice
Um, should we start a preemptive bail bond fund?
I’m speechless.
I despise the idea of the “everyman” politician, the idea that we want someone who resembles the normative American running the country. The problem is that most Americans, normative or otherwise, are as deeply uninformed as Palin. There’s just too much to digest in the work or crafting good policy.
We all have jobs to go to, kids to raise and lives to live. We simply don’t have the time to be experts. But, that’s what we need but never ask of our leaders. We need people who can become well informed on the issues on which they vote. This idea that any schmuck can be a leader results in us electing people who don’t care about policy.
Um, should we start a preemptive bail bond fund?
Ha! Maybe. It was a close call this morning. I’m not a fighter, but she’s 100 pounds soaking wet and I’m almost six feet tall, so I could really do some damage without even trying.
I’m not a fighter, but she’s 100 pounds soaking wet and I’m almost six feet tall, so I could really do some damage without even trying.
[Homer] Mmmmm. Office mud-wrestling. [/Homer]
Ah, the joys of misreading.
“a preemptive bail bond fund” came in as “ball bond fund” and boy, did that elicit a different sort of mental image than Looch intended.
“Willy said,
November 24, 2009 at 19:49
I’m speechless.”
Oh yah. I lived in Columbus for six years. These are just simple farmers. These are people of the land … the common clay of the New West. Y’know: morons.
That reminds me of this 2008 editorial cartoon:
Oddly enough, she really is a mini Bush, too. Down to living off Daddy’s money and legacy. It’s funny to hear her talk about how hard it is to support herself when she makes almost as much as I do and she doesn’t have student loans and has a brand new car that’s paid off completely and Mommy makes her dinner three or four times a week.
[Homer] Mmmmm. Office mud-wrestling. [/Homer]
Ew ew ew ew. Reminds me of the time that she made a joke that she and I should wear bathing suits to the office because it was so hot and this older guy who works here said, “YEAH, you totally should.” Ew.
she’s 100 pounds soaking wet and I’m almost six feet tall, so I could really do some damage without even trying.
Interest, website, newsletter
I vote for aiming Ark B directly at the sun. With Beck and Limbaugh seated with a front-row view.
As for Palin’s aspirations to higher office…Eh. These are strange times, and if the economy continues to get worse under the benign, watchful gaze of our current corporate, ‘centrist’ president, I think the Rethugs have a significant chance to snatch the White House back next time. And circumstances could well be fucked up enough to somehow land the Wasilla Grifter into the driver’s seat…if the Big Money Boyz decide they want another easily manipulable marionette moron of a Prez who’ll be popular with the rubes. Bush was very good to them, after all. Pity about the country, and all that, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, and so on. That Sarah might not be all that willing to take orders is surely apparent for anyone with the eyes to see, but she doesn’t have the enormous political apparatus behind her that Bush had to protect him. That’s obviously a disadvantage for her if she actually wants to take a shot at the White House, but I can also see why it might lead certain people to look on her as being a lot more easy to control than she is…
Would Sarah go along with this? She’s almost entirely empty-headed, and I agree with the point that she’s just interested in fame and money, and running for office again (let alone the Presidency) would be far too much work for our dear Moosilini…but don’t forget she’s got an Ego as big as all outdoors, and is as big a media whore as any we’ve seen during the past 20 years. Which is saying something, given the competition. I doubt that she’s capable of recognizing her limitations (did she while campaigning with McCain?), and she’s certainly arrogant and mean enough to think she could succeed…
Really, who knows? I guess we’ll find out.
but don’t forget she’s got an Ego as big as all outdoors, and is as big a media whore as any we’ve seen during the past 20 years.
I see her as the right-wing version of Jerry Brown: someone the ideologues can pin their hopes on…hell, I voted for Brown in the primaries…but ultimately too unacceptable by the mainstream of her party even to be considered seriously.
I vote for aiming Ark B directly at the sun. With Beck and Limbaugh seated with a front-row view.
What, and risk the sun going supernova on us by suddenly increasing the density so drastically?
she’s certainly arrogant and mean enough to think she could succeed…
Sarah Palin would eat her own children if she thought it would get her elected president. The problem is, she’d do it on national television.
Sarah Palin would eat her own children if she thought it would get her elected president
Now, I presume you mean cannibalism and not some sordid sexual act.
Cause if it was the latter, I’d watch!
I had to stop watching that YouTube video after about one minute. The deeply, deeply, deeply uneducated nature of the devotion these people have is frightening to me. For those of you unwilling to click, the video is a set of interviews with supporters at a Palin book signing. Every one goes like this:
Q: Why do you support Palin?
A: She’s exactly what America needs, she represents the best of America.
Q: Which of her policies do you most want to see enacted?
A: Umm, policies? Well, I hadn’t…Hmm, I can’t think offhand of any of her policies right now.
I would feel less sick if he had found some hardcore wingnuts willing to say “We should drill for oil in all national parks!”, or “We should nuke the crap out of the Ay-rabs”, or “We should lock up women who have abortions and execute their doctors” because at least that would indicate that these people have a reason for voting as they do. As it is, yeeesh.
“On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” – H.L. Mencken
I think we’ve lived through those days already. I don’t see us lowering the bar even further.
The ’00’s did actually happen, even though they have ceased to exist in the conservative mind. There are enough people out there who remember and are not going to take another chance on an ignoramus.
Yes. “Slay, cook and eat.” But the point still stands, I suppose.
Although she’d probably skip the cooking part. Too much work.
And circumstances could well be fucked up enough to somehow land the Wasilla Grifter into the driver’s seat…
I think that there is no way in hell that this could happen. Then again, if you had predicted half of what happened in the last decade in early 2000, I would have thought you were a fucking lunatic. And probably would have moved to Canada just in case.
I don’t care what the gays get up to in private; I just don’t want them rubbing Astroglide all over their agenda and sticking it up my ass without so much as a reacharound.
This was obviously ghostwritten
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33540
Then again, if you had predicted half of what happened in the last decade in early 2000, I would have thought you were a fucking lunatic. And probably would have moved to Canada just in case.
I would extend that straight through the election. When Obama first started floating balloons I thought that he was about as likely a contender as Kucinich. Not because of his politics but because of the whole thing.
Man, that haiku really did a number on my career choice. When did the ink stained wretch stop being a romantic idealist and turn into the gutless shitbags they are now? What happened to the olden days when foreign correspondants had to cope with the adulation of hordes of eager women in between bouts of high adventure? Or at least the rambunctious defusing hijinx amongst dedicated and die-hard professionals a la Mary Tyler Moore or Murphy Brown?
Well, at least I didn’t make my decision to become an investigative journalist because of Bob Woodward.
Where it really started to go to shit was when the broadcasting companies decided to hell with that journalistic-standard-public-interest-unbiased-news-coverage that they promised the public in exchange for a
broadcast licenselicense to print money, and forced ‘news’ to have to compete for ratings and advertising dollars like the shittiest sitcom. Goodbye, Walter Cronkite – hello “Action Zing-Bam-Pow Celebrity-Update News®™©!!!”TruculentandUnreliable: “And probably would have moved to Canada just in case.” Has anyone else noticed a basic difference in wingnut v liberal rhetoric? Remember the long-ago days of the Bush Administration when libs were almost daily talking about moving to Canada, Australia, or New Zealand in reaction to the latest constitution shredding travesty? Now that Obama is President, and wants to give Americans universal health care, what do the wingtards talk about? Armed revolution to “take our country back.”. Granted, if libs had said those same things during the past eight years, we’d have been sharing a cell with Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and also granted, wingtards would have had to move to Somalia to find their idea of paradise, but still…we gotta get tougher.
Jeebus, not that Buttars fuckhead again. I almost wish I lived in his part of the Salt Lake Valley so I could vote against him.
And as for Palin…she’s not Bush in a skirt, She’s George Wallace in a skirt.
More Onion and throat-cramming:
Obama needs to know that there’s still one American willing to watch his body drown in its own deadly internal toxins rather than have long-overdue reform crammed down his throat.
I would extend that straight through the election. When Obama first started floating balloons I thought that he was about as likely a contender as Kucinich. Not because of his politics but because of the whole thing.
See, I wasn’t really surprised by that. I remember saying in 2004 that if we were going to have a black president any time soon, it would be him. In fact, it seemed like he was being groomed for it immediately after his DNC speech.
I thought that he might wait until 2012 to run, but really, 2008 was a good time to strike because he could ride on the growing anti-war sentiment, not only against any Republican, but also against any serious primary candidate. I thought for sure he’d be in the top three, at least.
Then again, I voted for Edwards (twice!), so what the fuck do I know?
Satch,
How many libs actually moved, tho?
That’s precisely the number of right wingers that will put down their bags of Cheetos and pick up a rifle.
Either way you slice it, it’s cowardice. They just talk tougher and therefore sound funnier.
When did the ink stained wretch stop being a romantic idealist and turn into the gutless shitbags they are now?
Ronnie started the ball rolling with dropping the requirements for diversified ownership of media, so large media now is corporate. The innertubes have made captive audience ad revenue a thing of the past, so they can’t afford to pay a real news staff anyway. Noting that tabloids are cheap to produce and are always popular amongst the lowest-common-denominator set, they adopted that production model, and there you are.
Combine that with the Know-Nothingism of the last two decades of Republican rule, and real news becomes an uphill slog editorially, financially, and politically.
Seriously though, remember in Broadcast News, that thing that finally pushed William Hurt into the bad books? The big ethical slip-up of his – and how SPOILER ALERT all was forgiven because he was such a charming rogue with great ratings?
c.f.
but still…we gotta get tougher.
Meh. I’m pretty much always being hyperbolic when I say that, especially since moving to Canada isn’t going to do much when you have insane people with their hands on the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet just south of you.
Besides, saying “I’m moving to Canada” is about as effective as saying, “I want my country back!”–it’s pretty useless either way. The main difference seems to be that liberals aren’t deluded enough to think it is our country.
And circumstances could well be fucked up enough to somehow land the Wasilla Grifter into the driver’s seat…
I think that there is no way in hell that this could happen.
Careful. I’m old enough to remember when the thought of Ronald Reagan as president was considered ludicrous, unimaginable, beyond the pale, no one could be that stupid…sound familiar?
if buttars doesn’t want things stuffed down his throat, all he has to do is say so. he sure gives some mixed messages sometimes.
“Two words: Norah O’Donnell”
mmmmm… with the sound turned down, that is good TV!
I think the real problem is this:
FoxNews is tops in the ratings – and has been for a very long while. The psycho Sarah suppositories, er supporters – they may be a minority, but they are incredibly vocal and they watch teevees allthefriggingtime.
Geezebag shut-ins are driving the media market so of course it’s gonna skew towards geezebag-shut-in lurve.
What kills is that Fox is also tops in the demo. That is fucking insane. Sure there are a lot of bow-tie wearing dandies and cheeto-chomping assholes, but that many of ’em? WTF?! I mean, yeah – it’s not like they’re ever going out so each one counts for a lot of hours of network news consumption, but yikes. Maybe CoD4:MW2 will be enough terrarist shootin’ to make a dent in Fox’s ratings.
They average nearly a percentage point of the populace in prime time.
she’s not Bush in a skirt, She’s George Wallace in a skirt.
Really, there’s little difference on the attract-o-meter.
Careful. I’m old enough to remember when the thought of Ronald Reagan as president was considered ludicrous, unimaginable, beyond the pale, no one could be that stupid…sound familiar?
Yeah, I really shouldn’t jinx it. But what were Reagan’s ratings like nationwide in 1978-1979? I tried to find some numbers to compare, but I haven’t been able to. Currently, 7 out of 10 Americans think she’s unqualified to be President, and she’s not gaining any more political experience in the next couple of years. Reagan was a grizzled, highly-experienced politician compared to Palin.
Reagan actually served two terms as governor of our most populous state. Whether or not he did anything worthy of note – I have no idea, but I’ve never been overwhelmed by his work ethic, morals, or brains – he actually put in the time. She couldn’t manage one term as a part-time governor of the 47th most populous state.
Reagan was a grizzled, highly-experienced politician compared to Palin.
There’s that, and people hadn’t been shat on by 28 years of Reagan Revolution when Reagan was running.
Busted hippie heads!
She couldn’t manage one term as a part-time governor of the 47th most populous state.
Yeah, and I think that might sink her with independents. A man can hope, anyway.
There’s that, and people hadn’t been shat on by 28 years of Reagan Revolution when Reagan was running.
At the same time, some of the narratives from the Reagan Revolution have pretty much entrenched themselves in our society, no? I’m not even sure that most people (even people who were around before) can even point to Reagan-style ideology as the cause of a large portion of the shit we’re in right now.
Yeah, and I think that might sink her with independents. A man can hope, anyway.
Although, on a TV (tube, not transvestite, so Actor can calm down) segment about the lines for her book tour, they had some nitwit in line saying “she was the governor of a big state.” Acreage doesn’t vote, no matter how much people in the Mountain Time Zone might wish otherwise.
Xecky is excluded form my previous time-zonist snark, of course.
But what were Reagan’s ratings like nationwide in 1978-1979?
We can infer some numbers. Carter enjoyed an approval rating of 51% in 1978, so any candidate was likely to have under 50%. Reagan had challenged Ford for the nomination in 1976, so probably enjoyed some name recognition beyond what a candidate in 1978 would have had, plus the Prop 13 revolt in California (which Reagan was smart enough to get ahead of) probably helped his recognition.
Let’s say he polled somewhere between 35% and 40%, to be safe.
Yeah, and I think that might sink her with independents.
I’m pretty sure it will. Furthermore, while I never understood the mad masturbating over Reagan’s communication skills, they were certainly better than Palin’s. If she at least *sounded* qualified, she might have a better chance.
Let’s say he polled somewhere between 35% and 40%, to be safe.
The issue is less positive approval than negative. People on the east coast knew Reagan from a few national appearances, from shilling for GE, from bad movies, and from a few quotes (Vietnam, bomb, parking lot). His negatives were probably no higher than a generic Republican’s. Palin has negs approaching 50% and that’s unwinnable.
I’m not even sure that most people (even people who were around before) can even point to Reagan-style ideology as the cause of a large portion of the shit we’re in right now.
Fair point, but I have a hard time seeing there being any such thing as a Palin Democrat – or at least, not in the numbers that Reagan reportedly converted them. Or were Reagan Democrats a myth that glossed over the low turnout in ’84?
Xecky is excluded form my previous time-zonist snark, of course.
Thanks, and no worries – I know what this place is like.
mad masturbating over Reagan’s communication skills
While shilling for GE, he perfected stating idiocy in a tone of trembling sincerity. People are used to encountering that skill only when dealing with clergy, so they thought he must be a holy man.
one was from some Macedonian (really!) tourism board inviting wingnuts to move to Macedonia (really!) to escape Obama’s socianazimuslihomomarxist policies.
Don’t know about Macedonia, but my mother was telling me the other day about one of their (fellow) wingnut friends who was threatening to move to Australia if healthcare reform passes. I said, “What the hell’s the point of that? Australia has government healthcare already.”
They’re not too clear on this other-country thing.
We all have jobs to go to, kids to raise and lives to live.
A-hem. Speak for yourself, bourgeois loser!
Musical history.
Let people keep losing jobs and a shit Republican can beat a shit Democrat.
Let people keep losing jobs and a shit Republican can beat a shit Democrat.
Agreed. But not a shit R with 50% disapproval. It will be some other gomer, like Huckabee.
Fair point, but I have a hard time seeing there being any such thing as a Palin Democrat – or at least, not in the numbers that Reagan reportedly converted them. Or were Reagan Democrats a myth that glossed over the low turnout in ‘84?
I guess the Reagan Revolution stinking up the political system probably has no bearing here…it was more of an idle observation than anything else.
And no, I don’t think there is any such thing as a Palin Democrat. Democrats pretty much universally hate her. I think that the modern day “Reagan Democrats” are more likely independents or Republicans who have been radicalized by the culture wars.
Unless Obama is filmed eating babies, there’s no way that most Dems would vote for Palin. (I think I’d still vote for Obama over Palin anyway). She has to win over the independents, and unless she does some serious damage control and starts to present herself as a serious candidate, I don’t think there’s any way that she could do that.
That’s my general feeling, but the disapproval comes largely from Democrats and it’s a game of chicken nobody should be playing. Political junkies knew Reagan was a kook when he started trying his runs at the presidency. Palin has more to conquer and I think she’s too stupid to do it, but hey, black guy named Hussein in the White House – I can’t pretend I saw that coming.
it’s a game of chicken nobody should be playing.
We’re all playing it unless BHO stops worrying about what the R’s will think and does what the people who voted for him want him to do: govern left. Jobs program, health care, ending (slowly, if need be, but finally) both wars. And he has to continue not being JSMcC, but I think he’s got that one down pat.
I think that the modern day “Reagan Democrats” are more likely independents or Republicans who have been radicalized by the culture wars.
They’re the Blue Dogs, the folks who elected Lincoln and Nelson and Lieberman even and we need them now, unfortunately. Working class white people. We need to make them understand that we are engaged in economic warfare against the powers that be, and not with some vaporware notion of liberal elites.
The media has been controlled by the left for decades. There is nothing new under the sun. They ran negative stories about Reagan and Bush and will do the same everytime a Republican is in power.
The fat doughy leftwing dinosaurs who run our nation’s news agencies portray as negative anything that is conservative or patriotic.
I would like to get just five minutes with one of those leftwing news anchors. I would punch him right in his fat doughy belly.
It will be some other gomer, like Huckabee.
He’s my pick for Repub nominee right now. Obviously, it’s too soon to say, but he has the fundie appeal without being too scary to the general electorate. I just can’t see Romney as the Republican nominee at all, especially in light of the fit-throwing over McCain’s initial VP pick of Lieberman.
Sad but true fact about journalism in the U.S. today. It started when some bright spark decided that it was stoopid for reporters to spend so much time and column inches* on in-depth investigative stories when they could run a lot of shorter stories that glossed over an issue. And leave more room for ads, because it’s a lot easier to cut up a broad brush story than a long investigative piece.
When people still bought the paper they had another great idea. “Hey, why are we paying these reporters at all?” they said. Let’s get some people who can take accurate notes. They can write down what other people said and we’ll run that. After all, what someone is news, right? We’ll even get them to write down what someone else said that contradicts the first person so readers get both sides of the issue. And if the transcriptionist doesn’t have enough copy he can throw in his opinion and we’ll call that analysis!
They haven’t quite reached the point where they just hire people to wank off over keyboards and print the results of their dicks hitting the keys, but we’re getting close.
NOT THAT I’M AT ALL BITTER.
*Not a VPR.
Morans at the Mall. (NYT video.)
Palin can’t even get the whole Republican party behind her, just the nuts. Hell, she’s lost some of them if my evangelical Jesus friends are anything to go by.
Hell, she’s lost some of them
Like I said, it’s the negs. In the spring and summer of 2012, positive approval will matter. Right now, it’s not being known as the asshole of the world that matters, and Palin loses right there.
I think people who complain about a “liberal” or “conservative” media largely miss the point — the biggest problem with most of our press is that it’s in equal measures shallow and flat-out stupid.
Yes, but it’s understandable that people confuse “shallow and stupid” with “conservative” so easily.
They’re the Blue Dogs, the folks who elected Lincoln and Nelson and Lieberman even and we need them now, unfortunately.
I think things have to get pretty fucking shit-tastic for the Blue Dogs to vote for Palin. I can see them voting for Romney or Huckabee, but Palin? Plus, Obama’s practically a Blue Dog Dem at this point anyway.
Maybe I’m wrong and insufficiently cynical, though.
Maybe I’m…insufficiently cynical
Everyone is, always. The world is always stupider and more fucked-up than we expect.
A Facebook item that I’ll just betcha Sweet Sarah wrote all by her lonesome:
The media has been controlled by the left for decades.
::blink::
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH
Of all the ignert, half-assed, knee-jerk, out-of-the-ass statements you’ve made here, Troofie, this is without a doubt the motherfucking STOOPEDEST thing you have ever uttered.
Are you drunk or did you miss the short bus this morning?
I think things have to get pretty fucking shit-tastic for the Blue Dogs to vote for Palin.
An oil crisis, perhaps.
I wish the media was half as liberal as these people think it is.
Thomas, I think that deeply uninformed is giving her way too much credit. I don’t think Republicans are uninformed or confused about what’s going on. I think they’re LYING. And they KNOW it.
And our press corps, being the bunch of useless urinal scrim that they are, have no interest in informing the American public. Instead they do this:
I think things have to get pretty fucking shit-tastic for the Blue Dogs to vote for Palin.
An oil crisis, perhaps.
Particularly if it happens in the same year as an act of terrorism by someone not named Chauncey DePew VI.
Come 2010 the Republicans will retake control of Congress and your black guy will become a lame duck President.
You thought the American people wanted change? Sorry, but socialism wasn’t the change they had in mind. The only reason Obama even won the Presidency is because the Republican party ran a moderate.
If the Republicans had run an actual conservative of which their were several in the primary, then Obama never would have been elected.
I like Sarah Palin, but my support is going to Congressman Steve King of Iowa. A solid conservative who will secure our borders, deport illegal aliens, defend America from the islamist threat, and reduce the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy.
A true conservative who would crush Obama in any election.
The only reason Obama even won the Presidency is because the Republican party ran a moderate.
I amend my earlier statement.
THIS is without a doubt the single stoopedest thing you’ve ever uttered in your entire life!
The day’s still young, actor.
Good point, X.
Any relation to Malcolm?
Speaking of the Reagan Revolution fucking us in the ass.
Jesus Christ. Maybe the teabaggers should be worried about death panels. My generation grew up with the idea that we would at least do as well as our parents, but we’ve been saddled with debt, a shitty healthcare system, and a complete lack of job prospects. On top of that, we’re supposed to take care of the Baby Boomers and the veterans who are coming back from wars that most of us didn’t support.
If it weren’t for the massive amount of student loan debt we have had to accrue, I would be a little more hopeful. As it is, I don’t know how the fuck we’re going to do it.
If the Republicans had run an actual conservative of which their were several in the primary, then Obama never would have been elected.
Not our fault you couldn’t wake up Fred Thompson from his afternoon naps.
Dream that dream, baby.
If the Republicans had run an actual conservative of which their were several in the primary, then Obama never would have been elected.
Just curious—whom did you have in mind? And what’s your explanation as to why he didn’t get the nomination?
Paul, remember to start off with “The fact is,…”
You’ll hit your word count target faster that way.
your black guy
Those were the days, eh, Paul?
Just curious—whom did you have in mind? And what’s your explanation as to why he didn’t get the nomination?
Mike Ditka and Alan Keyes. After they were found to be lovers, the Republican base dumped both.
Just curious—whom did you have in mind? And what’s your explanation as to why he didn’t get the nomination?
I think the folks who make this argument are usually Fred Thompson fans, though I could be wrong.
Also, nice “cultural” reference, Paul Mantarakis. If it were a song, it would totally be a deep cut.
Tommy Thompson.
I don’t understand why Paul thinks we’re concerned about Obama’s re-election.
After all, he’ll run a strong campaign, and when the votes are tallied up, he’ll file an affirmative action pleading with the Supreme Court who will issue a one-off decision handing the election to Obama, following the other affirmative action President, George W Bush.
Problem solved!
They’re not too clear on this other-country thing.
Sundance Kid: Australia is no better than here.
Butch Cassidy: That’s all you know.
Sundance Kid: Name me one thing.
Butch Cassidy: They speak English in Australia.
Sundance Kid: They do?
Butch Cassidy: That’s right, smart guy, so we wouldn’t be foreigners.
” it’s understandable that people confuse “shallow and stupid” with “conservative” so easily.”
‘shallow and stupid’ is to conservative as ‘white’ is to rice.
Well, looks like the GOP has it’s winning 2010 platform now:
Census worker Bill Sparkman committed suicide and deliberately made it look like murder as part of an insurance scam, Kentucky state police have concluded.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/police_sparkman_committed_suicide_made_it_look_lik.php?ref=fpblg
I imagine that Michelle Malkin is feeling especially aggrieved and giddy at the same time. I say “I imagine” because there is no way in hell I’m visiting her website to confirm that.
’shallow and stupid’ is to conservative as ‘white’ is to rice.
White people contain less roughage than darker shades of brown? Who knew?
Mike Ditka and Alan Keyes. After they were found to be lovers, the Republican base dumped both.
Hey! No fair ripping on Iron Mike!
On the other hand, if you want to go after Buddy Ryan, have at it.
“If the Republicans had run an actual conservative of which their were several in the primary, then Obama never would have been elected.”
Oh NOES! Conservatism has been failed again!
Conservatism has been failed again!
Is conservatism like virginity? I mean, seriously, if the Republicans run a candidate, he’s conservative. Until he loses.
And even if he wins, like George W Bush, he stops being a conservative the minute he does something…anything…resembling compromise.
I mean, is there like some “technical conservative” thing that a Republican can take to the confessional and say “but at least I didn’t lose my virginity!”?
“White people contain less roughage than darker shades of brown? Who knew?”
Not only that, also, too both are bland, common and not very good for your health in the long run.
On the other hand, if you want to go after Buddy Ryan, have at it.
I’ll stick with making fun of Jack Ryan. The google pictures allow me to spend more time in my bunk.
Any relation to Malcolm?
Sure. And cousin to Citizen K.
My support was initially for Congressman Tom Tancredo. The reason he didn’t get the nomination is for one he didn’t have the name recognition and two McCain/Fiengold has greatly hindered anyone but millionaires from running for President due to it’s unconstitutional restrictions on campaign contributions.
I’m a bit surprised the GOP hasn’t decided to rehab Fred Phelps. He hates all the things they hate, and he hates very, very loudly. The base would vote for him in a heartbeat.
Conservatizm needs a brave leader like Doug Hoffman, who will lead them to grate viktory … oh, wait …
If the Republicans had run an actual conservative of which their were several in the primary, then Obama never would have been elected.
In what bizarro alternate reality is John “Bomb everybody we don’t like” McCain not a conservative?
My support was initially for Congressman Tom Tancredo.
Citizen_X, I am afraid you were correct.
Sure. And cousin to Citizen K.
So then you know Special K, too, the rapper?
If the Republicans had run an actual conservative…
Ah yes, Actual Conservative. He’s a cousin of mine, you know. We catch up on family news during reunions.
a woman who’s looks resemble that of
Aiieeee! My eyeballs just committed suicide, you jerk. Alas, it was far too late for my brain to take any similar action.
Similarly, the only reason why McCain did as well as he did was because Palin was his running mate.
Where have y’all been the last year? Geez.
My support was initially for Congressman Tom Tancredo.
BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!
Sure, he would totally have won, if we only disenfranchised every single voter of Latino descent in the United States.
My support was initially for Congressman Tom Tancredo. The reason he didn’t get the nomination is for one he didn’t have the name recognition
Name recognition. Not Tancredo’s best ally.
Sure, he would totally have won, if we only disenfranchised every single voter of Latino descent in the United States.
How did you get a hold of his campaign book????
Let’s see. McCain supports amnesty for illegal aliens that’s number one. McCain/Fiengold that’s number two. He supports gun control legislation and recieved an F rating from Gun Owners of America. He was a member of the infamous gang of 14 which prevented the nomination of President Bush’s more conservative judicial nominees.
And that’s just the beginning. McCain has repeatedly been a thorn in the side of conservatives in congress for years. He is too eager to receive praise from the liberal media that he will routinely stab conservatives in the back just to be seen as “reasonable.” John McCain is a patriot for serving his country and he is a war hero. But he is no conservative.
HTML tags. Need more practice on them.
“If the Republicans had run an actual conservative of which their were several in the primary, then Obama never would have been elected.”
Ye gods. That is wrong on so many levels, it’s near sublime in its wrongness.
McCain has repeatedly been a thorn in the side of conservatives in congress for years.
And yet, he whipped up on….lemme see…carry the one…EIGHT of the best conservatives the Republican party could whip up, including Tancredo.
And you can’t say McCain had more money that Romney.
Ye gods. That is wrong on so many levels, it’s near sublime in its wrongness.
IT’S A MIRACLE! You can read again!
Where the dinner menu includes haggis and bitter herbs, no doubt.
And yet, he whipped up on….lemme see…carry the one…EIGHT of the best conservatives the Republican party could whip up, including Tancredo.
And you can’t say McCain had more money that Romney.
By their standards, Romney’s not a conservative either.
Where the dinner menu includes haggis and bitter herbs, no doubt.
Why is this seder different from all other seders?
Hey Paul!
How does it feel to have your hero Tancredo slink off the stage like a beaten cur after he got pwned by the Great Orange Satan:
http://www.dailykos.com/tv/w/002322/
we’re supposed to take care of the Baby Boomers
Thank you. I was starting to worry. When can you start?
My support was initially for Congressman Tom Tancredo. The reason he didn’t get the nomination is for one
he didn’t have thehis name ended in a vowelrecognitionThe only reason McCain won the primary is because of open primaries. Independents and Democrats temporarily switching their party affiliation all vote in Republican primaries.
The Republican primary should only be open to previously registered Republicans. While Independents are very important in the general election, only the Republican base should have a say in who our party’s nominee will be.
IT’S A MIRACLE! You can read again!
Yes, it’s, um, LOOK OVER THERE! *run away*
Just to be clear: Fuck Ronald Reagan and Fuck anyone who worships him.
I doubt this country will recover from his vile influence in my life time. Mockery of those who praise him is too kind a fate.
You insecure intellectual chickenshit. John S. McCain, decorated Navy POW, wasn’t conservative?
Every time you Republicans foist a gigantic truckload of fail on us, you run away like little sissies with your fingers in your ears screaming LALALALALALALA as your former idol upon a pillar goes up in scorching nuclear fire as their stupidity catches up with them. Then you turn right around and pretend you never heard of ’em or that they are a disappointment to your ideology when — get this — all they did was execute your dumbfuck ideas in reality.
You don’t fucking get it, blithering mumblefuck asstarded fuckwad. THOSE WERE YOUR IDEAS IN ACTION! Those failed ideas, that failed leadership, that completely steaming shitwreck of a party, that IS YOUR PARTY. Be a MAN and fucking OWN what you say and OWN what you do or SHUT YOUR FUCKING CHICKENSHIT FACE.
While Independents are very important in the general election, only the Republican base should have a say in who our party’s nominee will be.
This will be chiseled in the tombstone of the GOP.
I doubt this country will recover from [Reagan’s] vile influence in my life time.
This country still hasn’t recovered from John Calhoun’s vile influence.
What Malkin typed:
When will the Left retract the Kentucky census worker case smear?
You asked.
Are you still here? Are you not listening? SHUT UP. You are a liar, a stupid hypocrite, all wrapped up in a useless lump of splat on the floor bullshit.
McCain was YOUR MAN. Stand by your candidate or SHUT THE FUCK UP. Quit whining about the process, sissy. It works just fine when YOU win, after all.
What a fuckin’ crybaby. Gawd, what a loser.
“Census worker Bill Sparkman committed suicide and deliberately made it look like murder as part of an insurance scam, Kentucky state police have concluded.”
Ohhhh, he lynched himself. Mayberry PD does it again!
Now on to uncover the truth about Dr. Tiller’s suicide!
It seems to me the main qualification for being a “true” conservative is being an automatonic talking points machine. Any individual thought or principles and out you go.
Ohhhh, he lynched himself. Mayberry PD does it again!
Now on to uncover the truth about Dr. Tiller’s suicide!
It worked so well for finding the anthrax terrorists…
Quit whining about the process, sissy. It works just fine when YOU win, after all.
And even when you don’t. *coughBushv.Gorecough*
Oh no, their ideas are PERFECT! Don’t you understand?! They’re ALWAYS failed in the IMPLEMENTATION!
But he has a point! It’s a proven fact that ACORN showed the darkies how to vote for McCain, ’cause everyone knew he was a loser! W/o ACORN’s criminal activities the retired Congresscritter would have been a shoo-in!
Thompson/Thompson 2012!
Yes and I voted for McCain in the general election. He is a war hero and a moderate conservative patriot. However I would have preferred a candidate who was tougher on illegal immigration. The issue that only the bravest of candidates wants to talk about. The issue that will mean either the life or death of our once great Republic.
By the time the primary came around in my state, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, and Fred Thompson had all dropped out. I voted for Mitt Romney who had it at least somewhat right on illegal immigration. Unfortunately Mike Huckabee and McCain conspired in West Virginia, a state that Romney had won and he was forced to dropout of the primary.
Thompson/Thompson 2012!
Oh, lay your hands
Lay your hands on me
my mother was telling me the other day about one of their (fellow) wingnut friends who was threatening to move to Australia if healthcare reform passes. I said, “What the hell’s the point of that? Australia has government healthcare already.
I have a friend in Paris who said that French leftists had the same problem in reverse when Sarkozy was elected. Where to go if healthcare and education are slashed? The US?
Tintin/Snowy 2012 !!!
And then Republicans get insulted when genuinely intelligent people mock them for being morons.
Where’s the BEEF, assholes? Prove to us that your fucktarded ideas worked ANYWHERE. EVER.
Huh. So nobody wanted the real conservative candidates who would surely have won. Let me consider the mathifications involved here.
N__B!
GET! OUT! OF! MY! HEAD!
Doctor! Doctor! Can’t you see I’m burning, burning!
Yes and I voted for McCain in the general election
What part of SHUT UP, you LOST do you not get?
You’re still whining like you’ve got anything of use to say. Get a hankie, little boy, and go sob in the corner. Nobody here gives a ripe fuck.
Stupid. I said it earlier and i will not repeat myself again. McCain won thanks to open primaries. Period. End of discussion.
Unfortunately Mike Huckabee and McCain conspired in West Virginia, a state that Romney had won and he was forced to dropout of the primary.
So let me see…we have a conspiracy of independents and Democrats AND Mike Huckabee AND John McCain…
I’m starting to think the 9-11 Truthers have a better grounding in reality.
Unfortunately Mike Huckabee and McCain conspired in West Virginia, a state that Romney had won and he was forced to dropout of the primary.
OK, I know I’m going to be sorry I asked, but…what the HELL are you talking about?
Period. End of discussion.
If only, if only…
What Malkin typed:
When will the Left retract the Kentucky census worker case smear?
OK, fine, have it your way. As the officially-appointed representative of the Left, I retract the smear. Happy now?
actor212 said,
November 25, 2009 at 0:11 (kill)
N__B!
GET! OUT! OF! MY! HEAD!
But it’s so warm and cozy. Room to stretch out and throw-pillows everywhere.
I said it earlier and i will not repeat myself again.
Why can’t I believe you?
Wait, wait….McCain *would* have won on November 4 IF a severe cold front had cut off the power supply to Southern California while simultaneously on the East Coast a tsunami caused by the collapse of Cumbra Vieja forced the evacuation of everyone from Florida to Maine…except Georgia and South Carolina, miraculously…
But it’s so warm and cozy. Room to stretch out and throw-pillows everywhere.
Could you at least throw away the dead flowers my ex-girlfriend left behind…
McCain gave all his delegates to Mike Huckabee to prevent Mitt Romney from winning West Virginia.
I don’t want the gays stuffing it up my butt all the time:
only the bravest of candidates
Oh, he was not afraid to yell
Brave Sir Tancredo
No, he was not afraid to yell
Brave, brave Tancredo
When Markos reared his lefty head
Tancredo bravely turned and fled
Brave Sir Tancredo
.
McCain gave all his delegates to Mike Huckabee to prevent Mitt Romney from winning West Virginia.
So basically, not enough conservatives voted for a coservative to prevent McCain from taking the nomination.
What was it we heard in 2001?
You lost. Get over it.
McCain gave all his delegates to Mike Huckabee to prevent Mitt Romney from winning West Virginia.
Yeah. It’s called politics. Romney gets shut out of one little state and that’s a fatal blow? Kind of a pussy, if you ask me.
I’ve been taken in by this video that I think was put together for Tancredo during the primaries.
we’re supposed to take care of the Baby Boomers
Thank you. I was starting to worry. When can you start?
Yeah, uh, hey…look, about that…I mean, I know your retirement portfolios are all fucked and shit, but like, we don’t have *jobs*, you know? So, uh, we’re just going to live with you until you die and take your jobs instead! Doesn’t that sound great?!
voted for a coservative
Is a “coservative” a mix of “cobag” and “conservative”? If so, I like it!
Umm, excuse me Mr. Revisionist Historian, but we Hillary supports had to endure this kind of screeching ceaselessly after the Usurper stole the nomination from Our Girl the legitimate Democrat candidate in 2008.
This sinister McCain/Huckabee conspiracy was carried out to get Obama elected instead of Romney or Tancredo?? I’m so confused.
This sinister McCain/Huckabee conspiracy was carried out to get Obama elected instead of Romney or Tancredo?? I’m so confused.
McCain gave his votes to Huckabee, knowing that the only way to win the nomination was to win West Viginia – or lose, but deliberately.
A 5,430 seat majority isn’t as comfortable a majority as you might think. Now if we play our cards right and standpat long enough to raise enough money to get that up to a 5,431 seat majority, we might see some real change. Promise. Now why don’t you guys come kick this football I am totally going to hold out for you…..
When will the Left retract the Kentucky census worker case smear?
What smear? People speculated about the motives of his supposed killer. Did someone’s name come up? Is Malkin feeling defensive?
It’s a “smear” now to speculate about unnamed, unknown people?
Perhaps if we said SEIU thugs did it, she’d be happier.
John McCain is a patriot for serving his country and he is a war hero. But he is no conservative.
Really? Check out the Political Compass and try to say that again with a straight face.
However I would have preferred a candidate who was tougher on illegal immigration. The issue that only the bravest of candidates wants to talk about. The issue that will mean either the life or death of our once great Republic.
Fuck you, you fucking ignorant bigot. Maybe if your beloved conservative party hadn’t spent a couple of decades shitting all over central and south America, you wouldn’t have desperate people trying to cross the border.
Where’s the BEEF, assholes? Prove to us that your fucktarded ideas worked ANYWHERE. EVER.
What slippy said, with fuckin’ bells on.
If the Republicans had run an actual conservative of which their were several in the primary, then Obama never would have been elected.”
I thought even wingers hated Rudy Giuliani…
Fuck you, you fucking ignorant bigot. Maybe if your beloved conservative party hadn’t spent a couple of decades shitting all over central and south America, you wouldn’t have desperate people trying to cross the border.
You know what I find fascinating? Most of your small-government types want a return to the politics of the 19th century, when “America was truly free” because anybody could buy nitroglycerin at the Sears-Roebuck, or whatever. But, the 19th century was also a time before passports and border controls, and a time when robber barons were importing every Mick, Dago and or Coolie they could get their grubby mitts on to build their railroads or work in their dark Satanic mills.
So how did “tough on immigration” become part of the “true conservative” program? Shouldn’t “true conservatism” be all about open borders and the rights of rich men to hire whatever swarthy-but-industrious peons they want?
It’s a “smear” now to speculate about unnamed, unknown people?
…if I had a nickel for every time I’ve been hassled trying to pay by check!!!
Of course he’s tired of having the gays shoved down his throat. He’s a normal guy: he just wants a little variety, you know?
Paul is not bothered by Tancredo being a chickenhawk- remember when the shitbag claimed he was in the National Guard, and was being sent to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division, which is not a National Guard unit? I can’t fathom how such a gormless, dishonorable lying sack of crap could even show up here again.
The “smear” is that some people were saying that Beck and Malkin types were creating a toxic political environment in which things like the murder of a census worker were more likely to happen. But now, since it turns out the guy lynched himself, it should be clear to everyone that all that rhetoric and screeching is totally benign and that “you should arm yourselves and definitely don’t trust any feds, who are in a big conspiracy against you” isn’t really saying to shoot anyone qua shooting.
Whose throat do I have to stuff my cock down to get some better trolls in here?
Yes, please!
In fact, only people who have marched in teabagger parades should be allowed to vote in the GOP primaries.
Pleasepleasepleaseplease…
People who hate government can’t be expected to run one – except into the ground.
As conservative writer P.J. O’Rourke put it, “Republicans are the party who says that government doesn’t work, then they get elected and prove it.”
So how did “tough on immigration” become part of the “true conservative” program? Shouldn’t “true conservatism” be all about open borders and the rights of rich men to hire whatever swarthy-but-industrious peons they want?
Lurking Canadian (from a lurking-ish Aussie): I think they’ve figured out how to have their cake and eat it too. That is, they still get the open borders benefits (through NAFTA, bombing the bejeesus out of many other countries, globalisation, etc) and the rich-men-hiring-swarthy-but-industrious-peons deal, but they also get to blame the inevitable results of the free market fairyland on folks who dont want to slaughter Mexicans.
voted for a coservative
Is a “coservative” a mix of “cobag” and “conservative”? If so, I like it!
It could be someone who only dresses up like a conservative (see: cosplay)
robber barons were importing every Mick, Dago and or Coolie
Hey! Dino, Desi & Billy! great band…
Do you have any kind of analysis to back this up, or like everything else you say, it’s just the faked-up bullshit you want to believe and you’ll just keep repeating it over and over and over and over again because you want it to be the truth?
Do you even have a smidgeon of understanding about why you are not taken seriously? You just make shit up that suits your points and then go for it.
The only reason McCain won the primary is because of open primaries. Independents and Democrats temporarily switching their party affiliation all vote in Republican primaries.
Because it’s not like the Democrats would have saved their vote for their own candidates or anything. The Democratic nomination was never in doubt. Nope.
It’s like Paul lives in this little bubble where all air has been methodically removed and replaced with gaseous stupidium.
Ronnie started the ball rolling with dropping the requirements for diversified ownership of media, so large media now is corporate.
Yeah, I’ve had a front-row seat for that, most of my career. If you want to be all conspiracy-minded, you can imagine a scenario where the oligarchy saw their boy Nixon get taken down by the press … so they decided to work slowly & subtly to eliminate that source of opposition by buying it up & making the news that it produces nothing but happy talk and reduces serious issues to “you’re pulling the plug on gramma!” “The president bowed too low to a Jap!”
The only reason McCain won the primary is because of open primaries. Independents and Democrats temporarily switching their party affiliation all vote in Republican primaries.
Maybe it’s my UN mind-control chip acting up, but I seem to recall Rush Limbaugh and company encouraging his listeners to vote for Hillary Clinton in Democratic open primaries.
Which is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from what you’re whining about, right?