that’s teh funny!

Atrios’ message should have been “Open thread.”

Post about Tester or the orchids get it!

Gavin, you are my favorite here.

I think this also earns you something like 10 million Cobagitation points*, thus putting you in first place.

*I’ll have to check with Pinko Punko. I was figuring a million for each case of cobagitation above.

[…] Go here and learn to love Gavin M., the best cobagitation going today. […]

I also vote for a special award of cobagitation points for Gavin for this post. Particularly for the Blackberry bit.

Boggington? Nah, TBogg once told us that his last name ended with an “I”. I’m thinking Bogginski.

Hey, John in DC:

I think you’re trying to use the fruit, not the wireless device. Trust me, I’m a geek.

The Somerby clowning was priceless. Well done.

The blackberry bit had me giggling.

Oh my god, this made me laugh so hard I peed my pants cried.

Too. Goddamn. Funny. (markos told me I could say that)

This is funny.

Tbogg is Italian. So it might be “Boggingtoni”.

We’re deep in the meta-weeds now — double-ironic blogger satire! Wow.

Boggicelli. He painted that famous tempera, “Birth of Beckham: Basset on the Half-Shell.”

Oh hell – just when I start recovering from the post, I read “Basset on the Half-Shell”. I love this place.

I agree with Brad R., Atrios needs an Open Thread dig. (I mean, if you can’t pick on people when their blogging software screws with them, what’s the point of blogging, I ask you?)

Maybe change the last sentence to “I’ll just keep posting open threads until you let you me know.”

Bassets on a Half Shell. I love this site!

The blackberry crack was teh funny! I actually laughed out loud.

Good work, cobagz!!!!111!!1

Oh, my God…this is so good I’m having man-crushes!!1!jeden! Which one of you is available for creepy stalking?

Now you’ve completely ruined next year’s April Fool’s Day Parody. FOR REELS!

This is all rather disheartening. I’m taking a hiatus.

Billmon

A recent post to the list.

Hey S,N! Seixon took a dump in your global warming comments. Are you just gonna take that?

All the jokes in the world can’t hide the fact that the leftist groupthink has been exposed.

The fact is that the culture of corruption isn’t thriving in the Republican party, but it’s thriving in the Kosian blogs.

The Kosola has been exposed and the intense paranoia of Kos has been exposed.

These matters are the reason why Mark Warner is not going to be a serious threat in 2008. He’ll be sunk by his links to the far left DailyKos and his links to the far left SEC violating Jerome Armstrong.

Actually, from what I’ve seen in the past coupla days, it looks like the strategy settled on via Townhouse (Hello? Can anyone think of a list name that would more quickly bring to mind the old elitist limosine liberal trope?) is “let’s mock the very idea of Democrats doing something in an organized manner.”

Good work, folks. Way to change the narrative.

What I haven’t seen, interestingly, is a single lefty blog post stating “Well, I’m on that Townhouse list, and here’s my take on what it’s like, and I do/don’t plan to continue subscribing to it, given these recent events.”

Mmmmm…. townhouse cookies.

Gavin, I’m shocked that you didn’t post this juicy tidbit:

Is it “Nedrenaline� or “Joenertia� this week? Let me know.
AtriosJohn in DC

These matters are the reason why Mark Warner is not going to be a serious threat in 2008. He’ll be sunk by his links to the far left DailyKos and his links to the far left SEC violating Jerome Armstrong.

Because the fact is that “Daily Kos” and “Jerome Armstrong” are household words throughout America.

I am highly displeased, Sadly, No! My vengeance shall be swift and terrible…

DISCLOSURE: No, this isn’t the real Kos, who I’m sure thinks, as I do, that this is very funny stuff. Say, why isn’t SN! on that “Townhouse” thread of Left-blog heavyweights?

Well, they’ll be introduced to America as part of the angry extreme left.

And Mark Warner will be seen by every blue collar worker as an aloof millionaire who holds extragavant parties with Cindy Sheehan supporters.

Mark Warner has as much of a common touch as John Kerry. They’re both Northeastern Liberals.

Nice one, Norbiz. They’re crackers, not cookies. Continue eating.

I give the post 1.5 million cobagitation points. Very nice. For a rough draft.*

*I ‘bag.

Didn’t George Bush have some problems with the SEC. back when? Something about insider trading at Harken Energy? His pals over at Enron sure have had a lot of problems with the SEC.

The voters mostly know that heavy-duty corruption and corporate crime are the Republicans’ bailiwick. That’s not the point where Democrats are vulnerable.

I love this post.

Mark Warner should feel the heat of two big questions

#1) Mark Warner, you are still in the process of introducing yourself to the American people. Is Jerome Armstrong representative of the kinds of people you will appoint to important jobs in your Administration?

#2) How many of the Blackwater contractors murdered and desecrated in Fallujah were constituents of yours at the time? How about family members or friends of theirs?

#2 is a reference to his wild party with Kos.

If Warner remains silent, it’s fair to conclude that he supports shrugging off the deaths of Americans with the phrase “Screw em”

Recently discovered Townhouse post:

Hey Guys:

Look, this whole animals/pets thing is nothing but a useless distraction. And no Tbogg, it’s not just you and those damn Bassetts. s.z., I’m looking at you and your entire freakin menagerie. A little more message, a little less pee, ok? Sadly, No, your kittens of mass destruction is costing us valuable messaging space in close races, particularly in the northeast. C’mon people, concentrate, try to stay on message here.

Markos

Reading Gary’s post, I can actually feel my brain shrinking. It’s awesome!

Well, good try, Gary. Jerome Armstrong on the one hand, Abramoff, DeLay, Cunnigham, Safavian, and all the other Republicans who have been indicted/convicted and who will be between now and 2008 on the other? You make the call.

Also, by 2008 I think the main reaction people will have to references to Fallujah is, why did that nut in the White House start this crazy war anyway? We’ll see.

Have a nice day, Gary. Everyone, sorry for feeding the troll…goofing off at work, you know.

Mark Warner has as much of a common touch as John Kerry. They’re both Northeastern Liberals.

Yeah, damn that John Kerry and his Teamster-member, truck-loading, working his way through college, local DA elitism!

Thank god we have a real working man like George Bush to teach these aloof millionaires that any determined American with enough moxie can be handed three businesses in succession by his daddy’s cronies, run each one into bankruptcy, get bailed out out by terrorist-funding bankers (BCCI), swindle the city of Arlington out of $9 million for a baseball stadium (yes, some of us are STILL PISSED about that!), be tapped by oil interests to run the most corrupt state government in the Union (We’re number 1!), be involved in all sorts of unresolved scandals (struck it rich with the Texas Lottery Commission), and eventually work his way up to be handed the presidency in the most hotly contested, dubious election in recent American history.

Why, W’s a new Horatio Alger story for the modern age!

Oh, and who the hell is Mark Werner and why should I care?

Oh, and who the hell is Mark Werner and why should I care?

He’s the guy running for president that Jerome Armstrong works for, who apparently is paying Armstrong to get Kos to get Chris Bowers to use the awesome and terrible power of beer money to enforce strict blogospheric discipline in re Warners presedintial bid.

As best as I can tell, Anyway.

Beer money is probably an overstatement, as well as hearsay. Hence, the mockery by Gavin. Demockracy Roolz!llii11eleven!!

Oh thank you for this Gavin! I needed a giggle today, dealing with a sick Bengal cat Ganesh :=( and this made my day. I started laughing out loud at norbizness ‘work it into a caption or something,’ but the banning of Daily Howler made me fall out of my chair. And I agree, Atrios’s contribution should definitely be threadbot-gone-mad. Well done, as usual. Many cobagitation points!

How many of the Blackwater contractors…

Hey Gary, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you’ve never been in a war zone. Your so-called “contractors” are more typically called by another name. Can you guess what it is? I’ll help you out:

Main Entry: 1mer·ce·nary

Pronunciation: ‘m&r-s&n-“er-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -nar·ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin mercenarius, irregular from merced-, merces wages — more at MERCY

: one that serves merely for wages; especially : a soldier hired into foreign service

Now, in most any war you will find them. They are roundly hated, considered the most vile of human beings. In my war, they mostly fought for the other side, but we had some to, mostly running over-the-fence ops that included assasinations and terror. Try to pay attention here. You don’t like them. You don’t TRUST them. You are killing because your country ordered you to. They are killing for money. They will kill YOU if the price is right. They get no respect, they get no honor, they get no pity. They took money to be there when they didn’t have to. What part of “who fucking cares if they die” do you not understand?

mikey

mikey, not to quibble with the main thrust of your exposition on mercenaries there, but do you realize that one does not have to be a US citizen to join the American armed forces?

The foreigners in the US Army aren’t fighting for “their” country. They’re fighting for your country. Of course, it’s likely many of them are hoping to become US citizens. And then, some of them might be doing it for the money, too.

Tbogg is Italian. So it might be “Boggingtoni�.

I know he is, but Bogginski makes me snicker a little more.

do you realize that one does not have to be a US citizen to join the American armed forces?

I don’t know where you went to law school, but that’s not correct.

Actually, the use of mercenaries in Iraq is just one of many murky legal issues raised by the war.

But, to address the narrow question, no, employees of private security companies are not members of the American armed forces.

What part of “who fucking cares if they die� do you not understand?

Every time the left shrugs off the deaths of Americans in Iraq, they undermine their standing with the common people of America.

The fact is that a lot of the people murdered in Fallujah were veterans who were dedicated to helping make Iraq better.

But we knoe the left isn’t for that.

They wanted to keep Saddam in power.
They wanted to withdraw at the first sign of trouble.
They want to leave Iraq in the middle of a war between terrorists and their government.

There’s not a desire for freedom on the left. They haven’t supported a legitimate freedom movement in a long time.

They support dictators like Khomeini, Chavez, Ortega, Castro, Khaddafi, Saddam, the Soviets, and the Taliban.

They’re more concerned with making the government endorse homosexuality than actually freeing people.

Number of people freed from tyranny by Bill Clinton: 0
Number of people freed from tyranny by George W. Bush: 40 million

I don’t know where you went to law school, but that’s not correct.

Law school or not, According to this:

There are 60,000 immigrants in the U.S. military. They represent two percent of the total service personnel on active duty. About half are noncitizens, with 15,880 in the navy; of those, 5,046 are from the Philippines. More than 6,000 Marines are noncitizens, with the largest group, 1,452, from Mexico. “

So that makes about 30,000 non-citizens in the US Armed Forces. Though, as I understand it, only citizens can serve in the National Guard.

Every time the left shrugs off the deaths of Americans in Iraq, they undermine their standing with the common people of America.

Gary, that’s insulting. Nobody on “the Left” is glad to see anybody’s child or spouse die in Iraq, or, what may be worse, return maimed from that place in a war nobody needed to fight.

It’s amazing that you think Iraq is a political asset for Republicans. But please, keep on believing it.

Ray, you don’t have to be a citizen, just a legal immigrant. There have been numerous media stories about non-citizen soldiers becoming citizens.

Gary-
0 for Clinton, um yeah Kosovo, the Balkans, etc. or do those people not count since a lot of them are Muslims, who unless they directly benefit Dubya, clearly aren’t people in your worldview, right?
Everyone else-
Don’t mention counterexamples of GOP corruption, you forget that to Gary, Jerome Armstrong is far more influential and powerful than Delay, Cunningham or Abrahmoff ever were.

Bas-O-Matic,

I think what robotslave was trying to argue was that the contractors killed in Fallujah were actually members of the U.S. armed forces, not mercs. I pointed out that they were not, in the eyes of the law, which is really the only test that matters, as far as I can see. Actually, the legality of using private contractors to perform traditional military functions is very questionable.
It’s just one of the many interesting legal questions the Bush administration has posed to the American people over the last few years.

Hey Gary.

Fuck off and die, you miserable piece of shit.

NEXT!

Wow um why am I in italics, I didn’t use any html indicators?

Ray, you misunderstand. I am not suggesting that contractors or mercenaries are members of the armed forces. I am saying that one does not have to be a US citizen to join the American armed forces, and though this fact is not widely known or publicized, it shouldn’t take much googling to confirm it.

Ray, I think he was saying that non-citizen soldiers could be called “mercenaries,” so we shoudn’t be so quick to write the Blackwell folks’ deaths off just because they were fighting for money.

Hehehe. Gary always makes me think of the crowds from Life of Brian.
http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian-18.htm I’m not the messiah!

robotslave, you’re right. Sorry for the mistake.

I think I was projecting a favorite issue of mine — legality of the use of private contractors in Iraq — onto the discussion.

Did you guys get the email about kidnapping Gary Ruppert and enlisting him in the Army?

What?

What do you mean “he’s here“?

Oh.

Fuck.

Act like nothing has happened….

(…but I still get his stereo.)

Or, ahem, maybe he can speak for himself 😉

Gary-
0 for Clinton, um yeah Kosovo, the Balkans, etc. or do those people not count since a lot of them are Muslims, who unless they directly benefit Dubya, clearly aren’t people in your worldview, right?

Nobody was liberated there. Those Balkan countries were still independent, Kosovo is not independent, and nothing from that experience changed things.

“They wanted to keep Saddam in power.”

Funny, Gary, I know a couple of presidents who supported Saddam right up until the weeks before he invaded Kuwait.
They were Republicans, by the way.

What media bias?

Time magazine had a reporter and a photographer embedded with the 3rd ACR. When the battle was over, they filed a lengthy story and nearly 100 photographs.

“When the issue came out, the guts had been edited out of the reporter’s story and none of the photographs he submitted were used,” said the admiral, quoting Col. McMaster. “When the reporter questioned why his story was eviscerated, his editors…responded that the story and pictures were ‘too heroic.'”

This is the sort of thing that Bush is having to deal with when it comes to this war.

He is trying to win the War on Terror, a war that the media doesn’t want him to win.

Don’t…resist…must not…Oh, Hell:

>Every time the left shrugs off the deaths of Americans in Iraq, they undermine their standing with the common people of America.

Was it the left who pitched a fit when Nightline read the names of soldiers killed in Iraq? Sadly, No!
Was it the left who drove a pick-up truck over a row of memorial crosses along the road in Conroe, Texas? Sadly, No!
When I posted a memorial casualty count in front of my home, did any of the angry letters demanding I take it down and questioning my patriotism and complaining that I didn’t “support the troops” come from “the left”? Sadly, No!
Was it “the left” who refused to “trouble her beatiful mind” with talk of death and the number of people who’ve died in the war? Sadly, No!
Was it “the left” who banned any photos or coverage of coffins returning from Iraq, the first time in our history I’ve ever heard of this being done? Sadly, No!

The fact is that a lot of the people murdered in Fallujah were veterans who were dedicated to helping make Iraq better.

The fact is that FOUR PEOPLE murdered in Fallujah got more attention from “the right” than NEARLY 1,000 SOLDIERS.
The fact is that Markos Moulitsas Zúniga stated quite clearly in the infamous “screw ’em” post that paying more attention to these four mercenaries than to 1,000 of our *actual* soldiers pissed him (as an ex-soldier) off.

This is the sort of thing that Bush is having to deal with when it comes to this war.

He is trying to win the War on Terror, a war that the media doesn’t want him to win.

Of course Gary. You know it’s really really sad how hard poor George tries, and tries and tries to win this War on Terror. Yet despite his incredible bravery, insight and heroism, he just can’t seem to catch the guy who attacked America on 9/11 or defeat those darn insurgents armies of Al-Qaeda for the past three years. It must be really frustrating to be a servant to a man of such greatness and to see him foiled, time and time again by a shadowy alliance of The Left, the terrorists, the media and Cindy Sheehan.

Truly, he is just, well, underappreciated for the great hero that he most demonstratably is.

Townhouse … elitist limosine liberal

I do not know what kind of townhouses they have in your neighborhood, but I have driven through plenty of wealthy neighborhoods in my day, and nary a townhouse to be seen. I can assure that anyone taking a limosine around town is not living in a townhouse.

Gary, you really showed us how evil we truly are. We are truly sorry.

Respected Comrades,

I’m not getting the talking points that I am supposed to include in my comments in Left Blogistan sites. Would someone please check and make sure I am on the email distribution list? I tried calling the office number but I just get put on automatic hold, with the message that “All our staff are currently busy helping other defeatists.”

TIA.

Yours in terror an subversion,

KRS

KRS…

I’ve had the same problem. It is an extremely disquieting feeling not having my thinking done by Kos. But just remember how much you hate America and want people to die at the hands of her enemies and hopefully we’ll be able to get through this without a round of hugs and three verses of kumbayaa.

I can’t believe the plan worked so well:

1) Establish an apparent leader/command center (Kos) to distract attention from the real assemblage of the machinery of revolution (S,N!)

2) Begin non-covert work on an offensive attack system (Kittens of Mass Destruction), so that if someone does stumble across the true epicenter of the uprising, the establishment will focus their defense preparations unwisely.

3) Await the trigger (a post from Gavin M. using the word “left-blogohoopdy”).

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised! (but it might be blogged … developing …)

What the hell is a townhouse?

AH, excellent question Comrade Flawedplan. A townhouse is a small apartment filled with renters to
such extent that even bloggers can afford to live there. It’s like college, only more so.

Hope this helps!

I would comment on this but Kos said not to.

Please don’t let him get me.

Wait, Gary Ruppert is SERIOUS?! I thought he was doing troll parody.

Tell me he’s kidding. I thought he was a riot!

Damn.

When reality and satire blur….

I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. And I know that sometimes I express opinions that run counter to a lot of people’s best instincts (and I DON’T mean Gary). I don’t do it to be contrarian, or to draw attention to myself. Some of these particular issues light me up, and unlike a lot of blogs, I not only don’t get deleted or banned here, I get interesting, thoughtful responses (again, this does not refer to Gary, who last had an original thought when he discovered you could spray cheez whiz on cheetos). That said, I do want to clarify a couple things. It doesn’t matter WHAT armed forces you are a part of, if ordered, you go to war because it’s your duty. You go to war for a nation you believe in, at least mostly. You don’t have to be a citizen to be in the American armed forces. Hell, you don’t even have to be in the AMERICAN armed forces. British, Japanese, Nigerian, IRAQI. If your orders are to fight, your duty is to fight–that’s the nature of the agreement. You attempt to fight with honor and dignity, and part of that is you know you didn’t go because you WANTED to kill, or even that you were WILLING to kill if the money was right.

Mercenaries have always been loathed by real soldiers, because they’re there when they don’t have to be, and because they kill for a living, not out of duty. You can NEVER trust them because they work for the highest bidder. What is it they are loyal to? It is a loathsome profession, always has been–and it may well be the second oldest profession.

You know, Blackwater and the other “Security Contractors” don’t just hire Americans. They employ a LOT of South Africans, Belgians, French, Germans. If you are retired specops and you aren’t queasy about selling your *ahem* skills, you can find work. Take a look at an english outfit called “Executive Outcomes”. They’re out of business now, but this is what mercs really do. Remember Milo Minderbinder? When he took a contract to bomb his own airfield? And after the bombing run, the bombardier asked him “OK, what now?” And he said “Strafe” The bombadier was shocked. “Strafe??” And Milo told him “It’s in the contract”.

And I’m sure you’ve seen the phrase “It’s OK if you’re a Republican” (IOKIYAR). This seems to be a case of “It’s ok if you’re an American”. These guys are loathsome creatures, they are entirely unaccountable, responsible for MANY civilian deaths (and under current Iraqi law may NOT be prosecuted by the Iraqis), really have no controls and no oversight. It’s funny–it was these same wingnuts were in full cry for the blood of Tookie Williams. So here’s what we’ver learned, children. You can commit the most heinous of crimes and not just get away with it, but be rewarded for it, as long as:

1. You are an American
and
2. Your victims are not Americans

Sorry, at this point in my life, I ain’t buying it. Call me pollyanna, but I want to live in a world with one set of rules, where the rules apply the same to everybody, and one man’s mercenary ain’t another man’s martyr….

mikey

To: Markos
cc: Jerome, Jane, Duncan, John A., Steve G., David E., JMM, Ezra, teh L4m3, Glenn G., C&L, Digby, Gregor Samsa, N-Todd, Berube, annieangel, Tyrannus Boggiscenti
bcc: Bill, Sean, Rush, Hugh, Billy K., Jonah, Rich, K-Lo, Josh T., Gary R., Jeff G., Dean Esmay, Glenn, Michelle M., Ann C., B-Shap, Patrick Bell, Ann Althouse, Ann Bartow, D-Ho, Rev. Swank, Marie-Jon’, Grog,sey, annieangel, Charles J., Rott

Hey comrades! Just to clarify some items from the Chief … Kos, what are this week’s marching orders w/ regard to hating the troops and hoping the terrorists win? I’m a little confused about whether we’re supposed to play down our love of raising taxes on Middle America, and do you think we ought to postpone our planned celebration of Communist atrocities, in light of Zarqawi’s martyrdom at the hands of the imperialist running dog McHallibushitlerwalmartianoilpigpatriofreedomite forces?

I would like to suggest that we of the secretive and elite blog heirarchy all promote candlelight vigils for the dear departed freedom fighter Zarqawi at blog meetups – to be organized by our pathetic lackeys in the Left fring-o-sphere. I have already instructed my own unwitting pawns – Gavin M., Retardo, Brad R. and Retardeau of the useful idiot gathering place, Sadly, No! – to await my further command on this matter (pending my liege Kos’ approval, natch). (To Norbiz: Please, please, please refrain from giving Three Bulls! any important missions … they always fuck things up.)

I would also like to take the opportunity to commend Jerome for limiting the damage surrounding the latest attack from the Liberty-loving (feh!) Right blogosphere. I can only imagine the fallout if those upstanding and moral patriots were to discover that Jerome is in fact siphoning tens of trillions of dollars a year from honest Americans’ bank accounts via an insidious computer virus created by Chicom hackers in the pay of North Korea and Iran! Or that Kos himself works by moonlight as a “coyote”, escorting the dregs of Mexican and Central American prisons across the Southwestern border to wreak havoc upon capitalism!

Thank Stalin our secrets remain safe … and our grubby, hateful hands remain free to pursue our jealous destruction of all that is good and noble and strong!

Kos, et. al., please reply to this message by initialing and timestamping each of the above paragraphs to affirm your agreement with all of the political positions listed. Sign your return correspondence in the presence of a notary public and mail to my front office c/o Fox News, NY, New York.

Yours in hatred of America,
John Murtha

Very funny. I’ve shared the link with some, er, people I know. Like, a few hundred.

What was that about “Fight Club” again?

Hey Gary, did you win your bicycle yet? Thank the good folks in this thread for giving you a big boost towards the goal. It’d only be fair now.

Demogenes Aristophanes said,

June 24, 2006 at 0:44

Get to blogging maggot!

Seriously, DA. What Bas-O-Matic said.

If you’ve got time to leave hysterical 300-word comments, you’ve got time to blog.

Get to it!

So, how much does it cost to get into this, um, Townhouse?

For anyone still paying attention to any of this, Salon has a good bit of reporting up that provides some answers to my snark-laced questions.

Apparantly, to get on the list, you have to pinky-shake with somebody called Matt Stoller.

Also: no, Gavin, I’m not a righty, I’m just a bit of an habitual bastard, and thank you for taking the trouble to respond. I’ll admit I’m a bit nonplussed at “I’m not on the list, but here’s what sort of people are, and the general character of their discussions,” but clearly that’s my problem, not yours.

Since I do not, myself blog, I’d pay no attention to a blessed thing that Markos says… except… well, he is the Kween of teh Gheyz, according to InstaPudenda. And I just gots to listen to herm! I am on an entirely different mailing list, which I cannot confirm is named :The Gloryhole,” that tells me just how swishy I am supposed to be every week, gives me “lisping points,” and encourages me to use certain, nancy catchphrases like, “Oh, snap!”
…what?
Ooh, my “handler” just stamped his little foot and told me to quit spilling the beans. Oops! Who is he? Just some l4m30. Ow, hey!
He gave me such a pinch!

“Jerome Armstrongâ€? is a household word??? Is that kinda like “reductio ad absurdum” is a commonly heard phrase in the Ruppert home?

Hold on.. Maybe I was thinking of “penis in a lobster pot”……
Yeah, that’s the one!

Oh, DA, you forgot a few people on your cc: and bcc: lists. From the good guys list–where’s the Editors and P.Z. Myers? And, from the wingnut list, you left off the ever amusing (if for their names only) Dafydd ab Hugh and Doc Sammoch (not using his real handle ‘cos he Googles hisself! irony!). You know–among others!

Err… that was “Doc Sammich,” durn it all to heck!

Robotslave,

There are like eleven hundred zillion mailing lists on the Internet. For instance, for about ten years, I’ve been on a list for people with ’70s and ’80s Saabs.

There’s also a list for people with really old Saabs from the ’50s and ’60s. And from pure osmosis, without being on that list, I can pretty much know who’s on it and what they talk about. Like the Jack Ashcroft conversions to the Ford-built V4 that came in the post-stroker Saab 96 and the Sonett III. Or the problems with the Triumph engine fitted to the early Saab 99. Et cetera. It’s BORING if you’re not into that sort of thing. I could bore people ALL DAY with that stuff.

(For instance, did you know that the 96 was made with a fiber or plastic timing gear? That sucker often needs to be replaced by an aftermarket metal gear. Strokers are reputed to have engine-block problems, but the real issue is oil starvation from owners not adding oil to the fuel tank. Tom Donney is a legendary and ancient Saab dealer. Belgian-made 99s rust faster than those made in Trollhatten or Malmo.)

Right. So this item comes out in the New Republic saying the equivalent of, “The VSAAB mailing list for old Saab enthusiasts is controlling the entire Swedish-car-enthusiast community through corruption and strong-arm tactics.” And it’s like, That’s ridiculous. What is this guy, on crack? If that were happening, we’d certainly hear of it before that guy did.

Or insert suitable equivalent.

Now, it’s the Volvo guys you really have to watch for. Those dudes are no good.

Right. So this item comes out in the New Republic saying the equivalent of, “The VSAAB mailing list for old Saab enthusiasts is controlling the entire Swedish-car-enthusiast community through corruption and strong-arm tactics.� And it’s like, That’s ridiculous. What is this guy, on crack? If that were happening, we’d certainly hear of it before that guy did.

Now, it’s the Volvo guys you really have to watch for. Those dudes are no good.

That’s a mind numbing way of putting it. (Seriously you said Saab and mailing list. Hey Presto! My brain turned off)

That there is a email list of Democratic bloggers, activists, and whoknowswhats is about the least surprising thing about this. Seriously. When Tacitus started name dropping Townhouse over here over the Online integrity thing, my first reaction was “Duh..” And you know what? Duh. Bloggers communicate outside of their blogs. Again. Duh.

I

“[the Left is] more concerned with making the government endorse homosexuality than actually freeing people.”

What’s the word or phrase I want here? It isn’t oxymoron exactly. Hmmm. Specious logic? Failure to think through to the end of the sentence?

Ray said,
June 23, 2006 at 21:19
I don’t know where you went to law school, but that’s not correct.

As a 20 year vetern of the Navy I can definitely say that you do not have to be a United States Citizen to join the American Armed Forces. I have served along side citizens from England, Australia and the Philipines. Now, you’re not going to get a top secret clearance or hold a sensitive job but yes you can serve the U.S.

You don’t have to be a citizen of the US to join the military. When I was in the Navy we had a lot of Filipinos. All of them were cooks. Very shitty cooks.
I am not a lawyer.

Damn you, Gavin.

I am, of course, one of those Volvo guys. It was quite a coup when I found a way to get my hands on all-red replacement taillight lenses for my ’70 p1800e, instead of the now federally mandated red-and-yellow.

A coup, I tell you.

The thing is, though, that finding a message on that politics list from Kos urging silence on Armstrong’s stock touting is like… (warning: analogy abuse ahead) is like finding a message on a Saab list urging people not to say anything about a report that ten kilos of dope were found concealed in the front fenders of a ’52 97B. Sure, you’d be able to guess that the list members were all fans of floor-mounted ingnition housing, but with a weird “mum’s da woid” message in there like that, you’d sort of wonder if there weren’t a few other mobster types on the list as well, and maybe a little crimes-chat mixed in with the usual gearhead gibber-jabber.

robotslave – sorry but that analogy just doesn’t work. that is a complete micharacterization of the Kos email.

kathleen, you’re absolutely right. After a second reading, I can clearly see that there was no mention whatsoever of “ten kilos of dope” in the Kos email— all Kos did was ask people not to blog about an alleged crime until he’d had the chance to “go on the offensive.”

My deepest and most humble apologies.

After the four mercenaries were killed, burned, dismembered, and hung from that bridge in Fallujah, a Chilean collegue of mine noted that what he heard of interrogation techniques and the search tactics from Iraq reminded him of what Pinochet’s death-squad types used to do.

A quick googling later, turns out that many of the Blackwater USA “contractors” are actually former Chilean special-ops guys. (Another corporate mercenary outfit, Triple Canopy, recruits Salvadoran police and military.) In other words, it looks similar because those guys are Pinochet’s old death-squad types.

I’d like to now request that, prior to eating shit and dying, Gary suck on this and like it: most of your precious mercenary tribesman… aren’t.

The thing is, though, that finding a message on that politics list from Kos urging silence on Armstrong’s stock touting is like… (warning: analogy abuse ahead) is like finding a message on a Saab list urging people not to say anything about a report that ten kilos of dope were found concealed in the front fenders of a ‘52 97B. Sure, you’d be able to guess that the list members were all fans of floor-mounted ingnition housing […]

Aha! That’s where you err, Volvo enthusiast — because the 97 Sonett was introduced much later than ’52. and had the ignition housing on the column!

Seriously, if we’re talking about any direct control by Markos Moulitsas over the blogosphere-as-a-whole, I never heard a word about such a thing until TNR started raising this bizarre hue and cry. Most independent bloggers rarely even link to Daily Kos, and vice versa. It’s like two separate worlds that overlap in a few contingent areas.

So wait, was the p1800e the coupe or the wagonback?

Coupe.

The estate is a fun, funky oddball of a car, but the coupe is a classic. Fuel injection was introduced in 1970, thus the 1800e— the wagon introduced in the next year is the 1800es. Admittedly, the ’70 is less classic than the carburated or, better yet, cowhorn-bumpered models, but there you go.

And yes, I know Saab recently dallied with a column ignition housing, but come on, am I wrong about the Saab enthusiasts? Didn’t exactly greet the change with open arms, now did they?

And no, I don’t think anyone (outside the NRO corral) is seriously suggesting Markos has completed his mountaintop mind-control ray. He does, however, seem to have made a rather ham-fisted attempt at spin control via back channels. And this is what I find odd about the man— for someone who has worked as a political consultant, he seems from time to time to be astoundingly oblivious as to what sort of response his statements or methods are likely to generate.

I mean, do you think it’s more likely that his Townhouse email was leaked to TNR by a supar-secrat right-wing mole, or by a lefty who thought Moulitsas seemed to be overreaching, or perhaps just a bit too full himself, when he requested silence on a matter which, while embarrassing, had little if anything to do with current poliblogotics before Kos tried to put a moratorium on it?

Oh Christ, hold everything.

Cars plus an ever more mulish contrariness…

…am I turning into Mickey Fucking Kaus?

“am I turning into Mickey Fucking Kaus?”

Turning? I thought that was you, Mick.

And yes, I know Saab recently dallied with a column ignition housing, but come on, am I wrong about the Saab enthusiasts? Didn’t exactly greet the change with open arms, now did they?

Nono, the 97 is the model designation for the Sonett, introduced in 1966. It’s the ‘Saab 97.’

This kind of nomenclature causes amazing Abbott-and-Costello routines when I try to order parts for my 99 Turbo, which is a car built in the year 1978, whose model is ’99,’ badged only with the word, ‘turbo.’

But column and dash ignitions were standard until the 99, introduced in ’69.

I must chime in with knowing that foreigners can join the U.S. military.

I served with citizens of Canada, the Phillippines, and one was from an African nation that I can’t remember right now (I think it was Senegal–been 20 years now, so my memory isn’t what it used to be). They all joined to get citizenship.

There have been a number of citizens of Central and South American countries who were KIA in Iraq while serving in the U.S. Army or Marines who were granted U.S. citizenship… posthumously.

I am honored to have a cameo in this post.

p.s. — A Hundred and Frist!

Should I be insulted that no one gives a crap what I write on my blog?