FIRSTIES!

GO CERB!!!

It may in fact be true that the US will not survive four more years of Obama. But that is because the butthurt wingnuts would rather burn the mother down than work with him, not because of anything he will do or fail to do.

All Obama needs is for Fat Tony to finally get his coronary and Biden becomes a Supreme.

Piece of cake.

Lest we fergit!

(Note: link is to my comment quoting “The Truth”. It appears that the original comment is gone.)
~

But a woman as a running mate for the Democrats?

Yeah! I’m tired of voting for an excess of melanin. This time I want to have a chance to vote for a vagina!

But a woman as a running mate for the Democrats? Now, that could do it. And not just any woman, but the woman who was left high and dry the last time around. The woman currently ranked more popular than Oprah. Yes, a “reluctant,” hope-we-can-convince-her Hillary Clinton.

Aside from this sounding like “advice” that might get our base worked up from a republican operative, I really have no Idea what this means.

.

Thanks too Cerb, for not including a link to teh tiger-infested shores.

Uh, wot s d00d saying? I don’t get it. Swapping Joe out for Hils? Reinvigorate teh Dems? Also too, moar years of Dems in teh Executive will kill America!

It’s like – yeah, ph33r mi 1337 bad faith skillzorz!

Yeah! I’m tired of voting for an excess of melanin. This time I want to have a chance to vote for a vagina!

NigGina 2012!!!

W00t
.

I forgot to offer hearty congrats to Cerb on the jay oh bee.
Also, the answer to the last episode of Name That Website was GayPutzRiot.
Also too, Albin’s musings should surprise no one – it is irresponsible not to speculate, right?

Although true, these pundits failed to realize that the yellow-stream media would spin a Biden jettison in a positive way.

Yellow stream media?!?!

Is William Randolph Hearst come back from the dead or are we talking R Kelly here!

I think before I get to the end of this “piece” my brain is gonna hurt.

I dunno, any day that nutters spend trying to impart advice to people that don’t trust/believe them is better than a day where they try to rationalize nastiness like torture.

At least this brain fart isn’t treated with any seriousness by real journalists. OK, it was briefly, but we’re over that, right?

DKW-

Sorry to ruin your good day, but now we have a link again to tiger-infested shores. Try and use the oars to beat them off the boat.

Now that the 2008 idea to “make history by voting for the first African-American president” is yesterday’s news, what will be done to spice up the current election season?

How about a topless “Girls Gone Wild” Moment with O’Reilly, Goldberg and Romney?

Uh…short of criminal allegations they don’t really replace the vice-president nominee for the re-election campaign

Historical Note: Harry Truman was not FDR’s first Veep. Not even his second

It’s been said over and over again, here at American Thinker and in many other places, that this nation will simply not survive four more years of Barack Obama. If that is true (and it certainly is), what, then, will America be like after four — or even eight — additional years of Hillary Clinton?

First, they said that about the first four years.

Second, is this guy ceding the next two or three elections to the Dems?

Uh…short of criminal allegations they don’t really replace the vice-president nominee for the re-election campaign

Two words: Thomas Eagleton.

Historical Note: Harry Truman was not FDR’s first Veep. Not even his second

Dude that is sooo stone age. The modern era as far as the Wingnuts are concerned began at 24:00 hours Jan, 20th, 2009. So in their view you are talking about the neolithic.
.

Second, is this guy ceding the next two or three elections to the Dems?

Sure seems like it, don’t it? Either that, or he’s laying out the potential blast fax when Obama picks Hillary to run with him.

Two words: Thomas Eagleton.

In fairness, in McGovern’s FIRST term, he didn’t do much

Historical Note: Harry Truman was not FDR’s first Veep. Not even his second.

Pffft… You and your silly “fact” thingies… Facts is soshalism.

How about a topless “Girls Gone Wild” Moment with O’Reilly, Goldberg and Romney?

Show your moobs! Show your moobs! (This just isn’t working for me, for some reason.

Historical Note: Harry Truman was not FDR’s first Veep. Not even his second

Heck, I knew that, and I’m Canadian. Seems like (checks Wikipedia) yep, Honest Abe switched horses in mid-stream, too. I know, I know, I too am shocked that a wingnut would post something without knowing what he’s talking about! (NB: this should not be interpreted as being in favour of Biden’s being thrown over for Clinton.)

Oh they sooooooo so want to run against Hillary they can just taste it! Here they have all of these campaign playbooks marked “Hillary” (Stacked in file cabinets marked “Hillary” lined up in the “Hillary” warehouse), and it would be a shame not to be able to use them, again!

How about a topless “Girls Gone Wild” Moment with O’Reilly, Goldberg and Romney?

Show your moobs! Show your moobs!

Dude. Mitten is not going to muss his hair.

Dude. Mitten is not going to muss his hair.

That helmet is so firmly lacquered that the only way to “muss” it involves 240V power tools.

Sorry to ruin your good day, but now we have a link again to tiger-infested shores. Try and use the oars to beat them off the boat.

Ow! Nice kitty! Anybody got a can of Tiger-B-Gone?

Try and use the oars to beat them off the boat.

Ow! Nice kitty! Anybody got a can of Tiger-B-Gone?

I think if you beat them off, then offer them a cigarette, they’ll be more relaxed.

What Steerpike said. It seems that there is, unaccountably, a ‘hate limit’ for Obama, in public speech at least. It’s a high limit, but it’s there. For Hillary, no such limit exists. With her in the running, they can let their ids out of the cages. I mean, not only did she personally kill Vince Foster, she sodomized his goldfish. Etc., etc.

Ow! Nice kitty! Anybody got a can of Tiger-B-Gone?

Nope, just half a can of bat tiger repellant that the Goddamn Batman left behind when he split.

OT: I will never underestimate the creativity of Gawker commenters again. But I’m sure someone here can top it.

Ow! Nice kitty! Anybody got a can of Tiger-B-Gone?

Nope, just half a can of bat tiger repellant that the Goddamn Batman left behind when he split.

Haters.

OT: I will never underestimate the creativity of Gawker commenters again. But I’m sure someone here can top it.

I would, but I call bullshit. He didn’t call him Muthafucking Ice-T

Congratulations, Cerberus!

Now that the 2008 idea to “make history by voting for the first African-American president” is yesterday’s news, what will be done to spice up the current election season?

Voting for a frothy mix of shit and lube?

Oh, as for the Sadar: Some “let’s just get along” Puma-types trotted out this idea (after it was so clear Hillary was going to loose) but in reverse: Clinton as POTUS and Obama as VP, then in 8 years Obama would have the experience to run for President. Win-Win! 16 years of Democrats in the White House! Exclamation Points!!

Funny how a conservative idea turns out to be something liberals previously dismissed as nuts. Huh.

Many are regretting that Hillary didn’t get the nod for the top spot four years back.

Was I the only one who thought that a “Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton” succession would be unseemly in this country, purported to be a democracy?

I’ve got a much better idea on how to spice up the elction cycle. Given the Republicans are challenging, we do this shit like Thunderdome. Throw all potential candidiates in a big steel cage, throw in some nail bats and tire irons and two-by-fours, and last one out gets to be the Republican nominee. Honestly, I think Obama might actually have a tough electoral battle against Blaster Master.

(Well, until it’s revealed in October that presidential-nominee Blaster Master is in fact Australian and therefore ineligible to run for President.)

The whole “PUMA” farce 4 years ago was nothing more than a sockpuppet for Repubs who were pissed off they weren’t going to be able to run against Hillary. They hadn’t even bothered developing a dossier on a dark horse (pun intended) like Obama, so when he got the nom, they had nothing to use against him. I mean, Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Saul Alinsky? That’s what you’ve got? Seriously? Meanwhile, yeah, they had entire month-by-month strategies laid out to use against Hillary, starting with her “radical” student days, through Watergate, Arkansas politics, “Hillary care”, “Travelgate” and Vince Foster. Not to mention all the stuff they could drag back out of mothballs about Bubba. It was all gonna be too easy! Then this meddling, squeaky-clean golden boy has to come along and ruin it for everyone!

I like the thunderdome idea.

Honestly, I think Obama might actually have a tough electoral battle against Blaster Master.

We all know which of those roles Rick Perry will play!

Clinton as POTUS and Obama as VP, then in 8 years Obama would have the experience to run for President. Win-Win! 16 years of Democrats in the White House! Exclamation Points!!

Was it not in 2000 that it was proposed that there was no Constitutional bar to having Bill Clinton run as the VP on the ticket, then having the P resign, so he could have a third term?

So I propose that Obama fires Biden and hires Bill as his running mate. Then, after Obama resigns, Bill can just hire Hillary as his Veep, and you’d have the first ever husband-and-wife team in the White House.

Or, I suppose, we could design a new low-emissions engine powered entirely by unicorn droppings, which is somewhat more likely than any of these scenarios.

Then this meddling, squeaky-clean golden boy has to come along and ruin it for everyone!

Golden? I think you’re thinking of a duskier hue.

Golden? I think you’re thinking of a duskier hue.

Ormolu?

They hadn’t even bothered developing a dossier on a dark horse (pun intended) like Obama, so when he got the nom, they had nothing to use against him. I mean, Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Saul Alinsky? That’s what you’ve got? Seriously?

They sure as hell tried to “Foster” him. My favorite bit was this, pure wingnut gold meth:

DARSANO RAHARDJO – Childhood classmate of Barack Obama when he attended a madrassa in Indonesia. Was found with his head cut off in a Jakarta alley way in 1970. Many children at the school attributed Rahardjo’s murder to the young Barack Obama. It was likely done as an initiation ritual, since Islam demands that a boy spill another’s blood before the age of ten to prove their loyalty to Allah.

It was likely done as an initiation ritual, since Islam demands that a boy spill another’s blood before the age of ten to prove their loyalty to Allah.

I heard that they pick their victims by driving with their high beams on. They have to kill the first person who flashes at them.

What Steerpike said. It seems that there is, unaccountably, a ‘hate limit’ for Obama, in public speech at least. It’s a high limit, but it’s there. For Hillary, no such limit exists. With her in the running, they can let their ids out of the cages. I mean, not only did she personally kill Vince Foster, she sodomized his goldfish. Etc., etc.

But it’s even sneakier: the Clinton family are bloodthirsty murderers and THIS is the way to smoke Obama.

Was I the only one who thought that a “Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton” succession would be unseemly in this country, purported to be a democracy?

As opposed to what we got, which was Bush-Clinton-Bush-ClintonFunkadelic?

Heh, looks like Scott Walker plowed into an iceberg.

I kinda wish Tw00fie/Pennis/The Fool/Whatever-the-Fuck-Nym-He-Uses were around to bookmark this.

My favorite bit was this, pure wingnut meth:

And then they put unchristened baby blood in their bread!

It was likely done as an initiation ritual, since Islam demands that a boy spill another’s blood before the age of ten to prove their loyalty to Allah.

I heard that they pick their victims by driving with their high beams on. They have to kill the first person who flashes at them.

Red kaffiya for the Bloods, blue for the Crips.

Heh, looks like Scott Walker plowed into an iceberg.

Walker’s not even in Wisconsin today. He’s in NYC for a fund raiser held by the CEO of AIG, Hank “Ought to be behind bars” Greenberg.

One of Walker’s big talking points is the ‘out of state’ money that is backing his opponents. He gets quoted saying this at out of state fund-raisers.

One of Walker’s big talking points is the ‘out of state’ money that is backing his opponents. He gets quoted saying this at out of state fund-raisers.

I wish I had known this. The fundraiser was pretty cheap. I would have loved to ask him about this during the Q&A.

I wish I had known this. The fundraiser was pretty cheap. I would have loved to ask him about this during the Q&A.

I would have asked him if he’d let me punch him in that slack-jawed moronic face for an additional grand.

Man, do I have egg on my face. No, really – I have egg on my face. Just bit into my fried egg and cheese on toasted rye sammich and I ALWAYS forget to be careful. Egg on my face, hands, arm, pants….

Protein on your face is supposed to be good for it, right?

I would have asked him if he’d let me punch him in that slack-jawed moronic face for an additional grand.

Sounds like a fund-raising concept, actually.

Man, do I have egg on my face. No, really

I always wait until she stops ovulating for teh oral sez, but that’s just me.

Actor’s fried egg sammiches must be really tiny.

Incidentally…the NRO printed this in response to the Heather MacDonald nonsense dealt with here.

Actor’s fried egg sammiches must be really tiny.

Caviar, dear.

Hey Steerpike: best on the not-smoking. Believe me, your body will thank you if you hold out. Jennifer had a great idea of tracking what you would have spent on the ciggies and giving yourself treats with that money.

Also, the American Lung Association “Freedom From Smoking Online” program is what helped me finally quit. Six years and counting…

Dragging myself back to the topic: why in the world would Hillary give up her current position of power to be the “not worth a bucket of warm piss” Veep?

Unlike the author, she isn’t stupid.

Dragging myself back to the topic: why in the world would Hillary give up her current position of power to be the “not worth a bucket of warm piss” Veep?

The opportunity to add a biggie to the Clinton Death List. DUH.

Thanks WC. I worked my way down to smoke-free from about a pack-a-day (pack-and-a-half on days off) gradually over about a 3 week period. This has worked for me before, and I’m pretty optimistic this go-round. I was clean for almost 2 years before I lost my daughter. That was over three years ago now, and I need to stop using her death as an excuse for smoking. She certainly wouldn’t approve.

The opportunity to add a biggie to the Clinton Death List. DUH

But I thought TuPac kilt him, yo?

Good luck Steerpike. Soon you’ll have more cash to spend on, um, cilantro.

Why the obsession with “here’s what I think that other guy who doesn’t pay attention to me ought to do?”

But I thought TuPac kilt him, yo?

Nah, that was before Citizens United, so there were no PACs involved.

Why the obsession with “here’s what I think that other guy who doesn’t pay attention to me ought to do?”

Especially since he wants the other guy to lose…

Yeah, I completely respect unsolicited advice from my political enemies: “You know what you guys should do? Yeah, you’d totally win if you did this; man, we’d lose for sure.”

You know what the Republicans should do? Forget all those loser candidates they’ve got now and run Dick Cheney for pres. Yeah, they’d totally win if they did this. Ooh, or even worse for us, Nosferatu crossed with malaria mosquitoes*. Man, we’d lose for sure.

*or do I repeat myself?

yellow-stream journalism

Yeah, that’s a pisser, ain’t it?

DRAFT PALIN.

Mosquito Nosferatu would totally smoke Obama in debates.

Steerpike, if I can quit (four months now), you can.

I started thinking of the smoke as diesel exhaust. That helped a lot.

Good luck.

It’s not so hard to quit smoking.

Why, I hardly remember that it’s been 42 years, 11 months and 26 days since I last had a cigarette.

[catching up]
Cerb: congrats on the jerb!

Steerpike: good luck quitting, you can do it.

Pup: thanks for the tip on the cheap BluRay of Grand Prix a few threads back — I’m gonna have to go grab that. Related: Senna is available for instant streaming on Netflix… I don’t know how long that’s been the case, but I just noticed.
[/catching up]

And as for the “topic” (such as it is), this is really how it’s going to go down:

The dems will win back the house and Nancy Pelosi will become speaker again. Then there will be a convenient “accident” that installs her as Preznit. She will then hire Hillary as veep. Bookmark it!

Hey all… My locust just died. What he had was a twisted foot and if I had the money he would have lived many more days. I blame the idiotic whisky.

Ooh, or even worse for us, Nosferatu crossed with malaria mosquitoes*

Vamsquito for President!

*and yes you do.

This of course immediate reminded me of this, a horrible, train-wreck of a movie produced by the sci-fi channel.
.

Subby brings the sadz.

That should have been Vampsquito.

Sorry for the error.
.

You think you have problems…I have to find a plastic flamingo that will fit in a lawn one inch wide and six inches long.

Hi friends… My shortnose greeneye just died. What he had was an infected tongue and if I had the money he would have lived many more hours. I’m sure you know a shortnose greeneye asks for change but I had no change left.

Surrealism isn’t really my cup of fur.

As a side note, “sleighting” could be a great neologism. Combining “sleight of hand” with “slighting”, creating a phrase for the ultimate in passive aggression: an invisible insult.

But, I presume the author has more intentional neo low jism.

Politics, check. Dick joke, check.

These same O’Reilly analysts also asked, “Why would Hillary want to leave her current role as secretary of state? It’s a terrific position of power and influence.”

The funny thing is, Hillary has already stated that if Obama is re-elected in 2012, she won’t serve as secretary of state.

Of course, they probably ignored this because it also shows her deliberate and clear intention not to run against Obama in 2012.

I personally wouldn’t be surprised if Hillary changes her mind and runs in 2016. But, one set of spoiled GOP head-explosions at a time…

Oh man, I never get to catch up in time to say something timely on the post.

So I’mma gonna say it anyhoo: A veep change is not a fucking “October Surprise”, you idiot. OS is a news story or an announcement a month or less before the election that pushes undecided voters one way or the other. Not a FUCKING LINE-UP CHANGE.

God, the stupidity is worse than the haters, because it reminds me every single time that they get paid for this.

So. Much. Scorn.

And I just read the last thread commentary: Cerb, congrats on the job, it sounds awesome. I love volunteering with the kids at my local(ish) living history museum.

Oh, hey, I have temporarily kilt teh thread. Time for fluffy bunnies!

[picking up from last thread:]

Steerpike! Way to go!

I would like to point out that I am endeavoring to join the ranks of self-righteous former smokers.

Please don’t become one, though! I loathed them when I was a chain-smoker. I still loathe them as a former smoker. Actually, I think my main problem is with self-rightousness in general.

I have now gone 6 full days without so much as a puff. 146 hours and 47 minutes, to be painfully exact.

You posted that 4 hours and 23 minutes ago. You’re damn close to breaking the One Week Barrier! [Insert appropriate footage from The Right Stuff here: Yeager in the successful Mach 1 run.]

Tell me how proud you are of me!

Plenty proud, steer. Keep climbing to Infinity and Beyoooooond !

I have temporarily kilt teh thread.

Something no true Scotsman would ever do!

I’ll second (twentieth?) the Steerpike support. I quit last year, and missed it at first, then didn’t miss it at *all*, especially the smell.

Something no true Scotsman would ever do!

Och aye.

Well-plaid sir.

Tartan to the point.

In a little over 1 hour, I will have passed seven days.

Which, as everyone knows, makes one weak.

Thanks to you all for your kind support

Well, Biden isn’t looking good as a candidate in 2016, but we have quite the crowd to choose.

I wouldn’t be averse to changing the VP – it’s not like they get to do much noteworthy with a non-50/50 Senate. They’re just a politician we hold in reserve who neither gets to do anything nor whose views change day to day activities.

But while I would vote for Hillary in the 2016 general, I think she’s probably better in the thick of it as the other second highest US position. The one that actually gets to do things.

I would have asked him if he’d let me punch him in that slack-jawed moronic face for an additional grand.

Sounds like a fund-raising concept, actually.

I think Actor is on to something. You could have multiple levels of donations, sorta like Shrub’s ‘Pioneers’ and suchlike, ranging from verbal abuse into physical violence.

I’m probably too poor to donate at much more than the Spit-On-Scott level. But I’ll hock up a thoroughly disgusting loogie … and get a me-and-gov photo celebrating my donation. I’ll frame it and hang it in the den.

You could have multiple levels of donations, sorta like Shrub’s ‘Pioneers’ and suchlike, ranging from verbal abuse into physical violence.

How much for his head on a pike? I might be able to cover it.

Shouldnt it be “bookmark it, libs!” With the internet traditions and suchlike

I should really get back to work on the JanusNode troll module.

The fact is, Real Republicans will never take your gays in the military you DemocRATs.

What’s up sloppy communists. May your friend’s lives make you ooze vital organs, you grungy bitches! You’ll get your gay marriage when you pry it out of the cold dead hands of Conservatives.

The fact is, Red Staters who will stop you will never take your Afghanistan pullout you grubby socialists.

Mir mar meeking you fags!! You are the ultimate example of wanton schmucks, you hosers! How’s Obama working for you now? Got your gays in the military yet?

Sad but I’ve actually been thinking about buying some tobaccy. Every few years I just get the urge to smoke

It’s been said over and over again, here at American Thinker and in many other places, that this nation will simply not survive four more years of Barack Obama. If that is true (and it certainly is),

Bookmark and save this sucker, and slap them around the face with it every chance you get before 2016.

Did Sadar write this crap to try to win a bet or did he have to write it because he lost one?

Yes, a “reluctant,” hope-we-can-convince-her Hillary Clinton.

The pointedly central fact is, this is the stupidest fucking idea I’ve read in a while, and I masochistically follow every one of our fabulous Overlady’s mango harvests.

Mosquito Nosferatu would totally smoke Obama in debates.

I prefer Mosquito Nosferatu’s later indie work — after they were tossed off their first major and went back to their second independent label.

Phoenician: Nifty nym. Suggests a person grounded in history and literature.

IV. DEATH BY WATER

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep seas swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

We can use some (non-drownded) Phoenician class here in Sadlyville!. Where are you in for-real life? What do you do?

I have several Facepalm friends, however

Happy Blackout Day everybody!

Lest auld acquaintances be forgot and never come to mind,
Lest auld acquaintances be forgot and 404.

That’s gonna suck.

I would have asked him if he’d let me punch him in that slack-jawed moronic face for an additional grand.

You got an extra grand, B^4, I have a couple of lonks at my joint that would help in punching that wall-eyed motherfucker in the face….

Happy Blackout Day everybody!

So wait…I’m supposed to drink to excess today?

Happy Blackout Day everybody!

So wait…I’m supposed to drink to excess today?

The Blitz is on.

And plant victory gardens and buy war bonds.

It’s not really that different.

Sharks win…twice, and Google, Wikipedia, and Craigslist (only sites I’ve seen so far) are blacked out in solidarity against PIPA and SOPA. As Ice Cube once crooned…today’s a good day.

“It’s been said over and over again, here at American Thinker and in many other places, that this nation will simply not survive four more years of Barack Obama. If that is true (and it certainly is), what, then, will America be like after four — or even eight — additional years of Hillary Clinton?”

Wait, if this nation will not survive another four years of Obama, what point is there in asking what America (this nation) will be like after 4-8 additional years of Hillary? What’ll it be like?! Still gone, having not survived, “certainly,” you’ve just said.

I originally meant to ask whether conservatives think that (1) the U.S. will literally collapse under a second Obama administration, or (2) the U.S. will lose its remaining essence and continue to exist in name only. Albin Sadar’s asking what America will be like under the further burden of a Hillary vice-presidency — and perhaps presidency — suggests (2).

I propose that we get our house in order in all ways except allaying conservatives’ fears about national essence-loss. Let’s make that our last priority. After the economy, for example: we need a robust economy to even think about conserving the national essence.

I should really get back to work on the JanusNode troll module.

ooooh…here’s how to make a lil’ of that sweet wingnut welfare. Combinr Janus Node expertise with the concept mentioned a thread or so ago of the wingnuts and their negative label pairs, e.g. Liberal fascist or commie muslim and build The Wingnutron 3000!

“Never will your NRO posts have been written with such Research and such care”

I, for one, would only deign to look up from my vital American Idol dose and mark a ballot for an interracial (preferably Inuit-Black), lesbian, and trans couple for POTUS and V-POTUS.

I am an electoral hipster – “Oh you’re into voting for black people? That’s so 2008 – I only elect people outside of the gender binary and who are also vegan and have at least one mental or physical disability. I guess you’re just behind in the times.”

Re; blackout. Yay and Go For It and such, but is it only in the US? All the aforementioned sites are totes open and visible here in SA.

OK, disregard previous comment. Wikipedia gone black.
Time differences – how do they work again?

I’m probably too poor to donate at much more than the Spit-On-Scott level. But I’ll hock up a thoroughly disgusting loogie … and get a me-and-gov photo celebrating my donation. I’ll frame it and hang it in the den.

Did I mention the potential for SuperPACs here? We could pool small donations along with large ones and come up with such things as a hundred grand to stake him out over an anthill.

Of course, we’d have to kidnap him first, since it can’t appear to be coordinated with his campaign…

Steerpike:

In a little over 1 hour, I will have passed seven days.
Which, as everyone knows, makes one weak.
Thanks to you all for your kind support

Just remember, quitters never win and winners never qu….

I’m not helping here, am I?

Re; blackout. Yay and Go For It and such, but is it only in the US? All the aforementioned sites are totes open and visible here in SA.

It is only supposed to be the US sites, but I think Wiki had to blacken the English language version.

Q: What is the name of the venue where Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention?

A: Bank of America Stadium

Who says irony is dead?

Only just thought of it now, but I wonder if this insane speculation also is part of the need to “get back at Dems” for how Saint Sarah was “mistreated” and fearing that the Dems won’t have a female vice president to unleash their id at as “revenge” until their mayfly brains forget who Sarah Palin even was.

The right is just mad they never got to unleash their anti-Hillary secret weapon. Whether it was that movie they tried to have run on national TV about how Hillary was a terrible person, to some secret gotcha quote or even a giant Hillary-killing robot, they built it and they want their money’s worth.

Colbert created his super-PAC to demonstrate the ridiculousness of the Citizens United decision, but, he seems to be struggling to find the right focus. Seems to me he should target someone who would actually be in a position to change the law. Someone like Eric Cantor. For example, he should run an ad, in Cantor’s Virginia district, implying that Cantor likes to fuck male donkeys or such. Any thoughts?

I object to the libel on donkeys. They are the useful species of ass, unlike the Repubs.

Hey! I didn’t mean to imply that the donkey enjoyed it!

I had no idea that Chris Dodd was head of MPAA until I started reading the coverage of SOPA and the blackout. Geez. Didn’t he used to be respectable?

Didn’t he used to be respectable?

I don’t think this changes much in people over time so…no.

I think Colbert’s the most diabolical genius in America today. Between him and Stewart, I trust they have a plan to roll out this beautiful piece of performance art.

I’d argue in their defense that right now, the thing to do is to make the point about SuperPACs being bad for electoral politics in a way that citizens will listen to (e.g. make fun of them) because if they make a direct and unfunny attack on a candidate, it will become “librul polticks as youshul.”

They’re jesters, not activists. There may come a time when they feel the point isn’t being made and they warp the goal into direct attacks, but for now, they seem to be getting a message across.

Remember, as much as we may love their insurgent attitudes, ultimately, they are creations of advertising-driven programming. They have their own collars to wear.

Didn’t he used to be respectable?

Chris “I got a mortgage at below-prime interest from Countrywide’s Angelo Mozilo, one of the crookedest bankers in America” Dodd?

Respectable?

I think Colbert’s the most diabolical genius in America today. Between him and Stewart, I trust they have a plan to roll out this beautiful piece of performance art.

Agree! It’s been brilliant so far.

By Thomas Sowell

With all the talk about “disparities” in innumerable contexts, there is one very important disparity that gets remarkably little attention — disparities in the ability to create wealth. People who are preoccupied, or even obsessed, with disparities in income are seldom interested much, or at all, in the disparities in the ability to create wealth, which are often the reasons for the disparities in income.

In a market economy, people pay us for benefiting them in some way — whether we are sweeping their floors, selling them diamonds or anything in between. Disparities in our ability to create benefits for which others will pay us are huge, and the skills required can develop early — or sometimes not at all.

A recent national competition among high school students who create their own technological advances turned up an especially high share of such students winning recognition in the San Francisco Bay Area. A closer look showed that the great majority of these Bay Area students had Asian names.

Asian Americans are a substantial presence in this region but they are by no means a majority, much less such an overwhelming majority as they are among those winning high tech awards.

This pattern of disproportionate representation of particular groups among those with special skills and achievements is not confined to Asian Americans or even to the United States.

It is a phenomenon among particular racial, ethnic or other groups in countries around the world — the Ibos in Nigeria, the Parsees in India, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Germans in Brazil, Chinese in Malaysia, Lebanese in West Africa, Tamils in Sri Lanka. The list goes on and on.

Gross inequalities in skills and achievements have been the rule, not the exception, on every inhabited continent and for centuries on end. Yet our laws and government policies act as if any significant statistical difference between racial or ethnic groups in employment or income can only be a result of their being treated differently by others.

Nor is this simply an opinion. Businesses have been sued by the government when the representation of different groups among their employees differs substantially from their proportions in the population at large. But, no matter how the human race is broken down into its components — whether by race, sex, geographic region or whatever — glaring disparities in achievements have been the rule, not the exception.

Anyone who watches professional basketball games knows that the star players are by no means a representative sample of the population at large. The book “Human Accomplishment” by Charles Murray is a huge compendium of the top achievements around the world in the arts and sciences, as well as in sports and other fields.

Nowhere have these achievements been random or representative of the demographic proportions of the population of a country or of the world. Nor have they been the same from one century to the next. China was once far more advanced technologically than any country in Europe, but then it fell behind and more recently is gaining ground.

Most professional golfers who participate in PGA tournaments have never won a single tournament, but Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have each won dozens of tournaments.

Yet these and numerous other disparities in achievement are resolutely ignored by those whose shrill voices denounce disparities in rewards, as if these disparities are somehow suspicious at best and sinister at worst.

Higher achieving groups — whether classes, races or whatever — are often blamed for the failure of other groups to achieve. Politicians and intellectuals, especially, tend to conceive of social questions in terms that allow them to take on the role of being on the side of the angels against the forces of evil.

This can be a huge disservice to those individuals and groups who are lagging behind, for it leads them to focus on a sense of grievance and victimhood, rather than on how they can lift themselves up instead of trying to pull other people down.

Again, this is a worldwide phenomenon — a sad commentary on the down side of the brotherhood of man.

I don’t know if he was joking or not, but Colbert said last night (on TDS) that he was running an ad in South Carolina wherein he basically calls Romney a serial killer.

Hey Cerberus, I’m no expert on copyright law, but I doubt our copypasta troll cutting and pasting an entire Thomas Sowell column falls under ‘acceptable use’.

From Fixxed News:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/01/18/herman-cain-says-hes-in-on-stephen-colberts-sc-primary-prank-tells-detractors/

Tuesday, Stewart’s pro-Colbert PAC released a commercial in South Carolina that urged voters to cast their ballot … for Cain. None of this came as a shock to Cain, because the businessman is in on the joke.

“On Stephen Colbert’s endorsement of himself as Herman Cain, I find it very clever and humorous, as it should be,” Cain told Fox411. “Anyone who finds what Mr. Colbert is doing offensive, should simply lighten up. To be perfectly clear, I will not be assuming Stephen Colbert’s identity. We are very different when it comes to the color of our – hair.”

Kathy Hoekstra, Cain’s Director of Media Relations, said they were given a heads up that something was happening a few days ago.
“Colbert’s people got in touch with us late last week and Mr. Cain will be taping a segment with Mr. Colbert on Friday in South Carolina,” Hoekstra laughed. “The endorsement of course comes as a pleasant surprise.

Brilliant, indeed.

I don’t know if he was joking or not, but Colbert said last night (on TDS) that he was running an ad in South Carolina wherein he basically calls Romney a serial killer.

No no! He’s not! His definitely not coordinated SuperPAC is, however.

Shorter Thomas Sowell:

Dumb nigras be dum 24-7, yo!

We can expect a very big tuh-do with lots of hugs and hype

does he mean ‘to-do’ or ‘tah-da!’?

The Mitt the Ripper bit was entirely predictable but it’s still damn funny.

also, too…well done, cerbs! now i have to backtrack and see what sort of job ya got…and here i was going to get some work done AGAIN today…

also too steerpike…you can do it dude…

and such…really kiwis? sheep-shearing=olympic sport?

Here is the preamble to the US Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect

Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the

common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings

of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish

this Constitution for the United States of America.

Not one damn word about a “market economy” or “wealth creation” or “capitalism” or “free enterprise.” Why does Thomas Sowell hate America?

bbkf – You’re back! I was worried you were eaten by the Cold Miser. Or maybe the Burgomeister Miesterburger.

Why does Thomas Sowell hate America?

Here’s the thing: his point is accurate. There will always be wildly diverging levels of talent in any business or commercial effort, from sports to plumbing to raping the American economy. The cream will always rise to the top eventually.

His proposal, “well, we should just let the low normals go back to pickin’ cotton,” or whatever his point is, is ludicrous.

Our system should be designed so that those people find what they are good at, and pursue that. Just as every line of work has its stars and its duds, all of us have talents and weaknesses. Rather than force people to fit into slots, let them take the time to discover where those passions and talents lie.

Oh but wait! That would require a well-rounded education with dedicated teachers and fully funded school systems that include programs for, say, vocations that aren’t belittled as “trade schools,” but provide even our plumbers and auto mechanics with a balanced education to create an informed citizenry.

Sure. There will be some people for whom even that won’t work. If they’re just going to give up on themselves, I’m OK with that. If after all that, they’re still willing to fight to find something meaningful to do with their lives, we ought to be supporting them in that.

bbkf – You’re back! I was worried you were eaten by the Cold Miser. Or maybe the Burgomeister Miesterburger.

indeed! i am…i was being responsible and getting some actual work done…and y’all are too much of a distraction!

also, too…it is about to get butt-crackingly cold…-19 with the windchill…ehhhh…

Our system should be designed so that those people find what they are good at, and pursue that. Just as every line of work has its stars and its duds, all of us have talents and weaknesses. Rather than force people to fit into slots, let them take the time to discover where those passions and talents lie.

uuuummm…i believe this is what teh newt says he’s going to do…is it me or does he get puffier and ickier and bad hairer with every passing day? he is really beginning to look like his character in ‘lil bush’…

butt-crackingly

is my new favorite adverb

butt-crackingly cold

You have to let it warm up gradually to avoid having that happen

You have to let it warm up gradually to avoid having that happen

I have my own personal methane-based butcrack warming system that appears to be highly effective.

NigGina 2012!!!

I’d hit it vote for that ticket.

Actually, actor, I thought this line was the worst:

With all the talk about “disparities” in innumerable contexts, there is one very important disparity that gets remarkably little attention — disparities in the ability to create wealth.

Yes. The people who have money can “create” more of it – by getting other people to do work from which they skim profit.

Anyone who has ever had the good fortune to have at least one year with a high income knows that it’s very hard to make over $100K through your own efforts alone. That’s because you either have to take time out from doing the thing that generates the income to perform supporting tasks or hire someone to do those supporting tasks that allow you to concentrate on the activity that generates the income. Think of an attorney with a paralegal and secretary, a doctor with a nurse and receptionist, and so on and so forth. By the time you get to a point where someone is making multi-millions per year, they’ve got a whole lot of people doing the work that generates that income. Since the right likes to trot out Steve Jobs as if he was one of theirs, consider Steve Jobs. Yes, he had good ideas concerning new gadgets. But suppose that every MacIntosh computer built had to be built by Steve Jobs with no help from anyone else. He never would have been able to build enough of them to become a billionaire. Same thing goes for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Should Steve Jobs have benefitted from his talents? Yes, of course – he conceptualized and designed products that people find useful and wanted to buy. He would have been a billionaire even if he had built factories in the US to build his stuff and staffed them with people making $20 per hour. Did the fact that he conceptualized and designed the gadgets mean that it’s ok for him to build them in China and pay people $.30 per hour? No. He could have been a very wealthy man without keeping others in penury.

And in fact that’s something that’s often overlooked – keeping others at poverty level through low wages is one way the “job creators” have of cutting down on competition, because it makes it a lot harder for anyone who isn’t already sitting on top of their own pile of money to challenge their position in the marketplace – they simply can’t come up with the money to compete by going out on their own.

Just as farm subsidies have become perverted to help agribusiness giants put family farmers out of business, so the current stranglehold the “job creators” have over the capital supply makes sure they don’t have to deal with any unruly upstarts. How so? In this way: it’s not at all beyond the realm of possibility that someone could build a factory here to build, say, hairdryers, that would be marketed for $10 more than the crap versions currently built in China, and capture a sufficient market share just by reminding people that their product costs more because it’s a quality product built here in the US by people being paid reasonable living wages. The way to avoid having this happen is to make sure that anyone who might think of doing such a thing never has the money to give it a try, which is fairly easy when no one but the top 1% have the type of money that would be needed to get something like this off the ground, and for the most part make up the investor class as well and demand 30% return, which you aren’t going to get when you’re building a good quality product and paying people reasonable living wages. So the folks who might want to undertake such endeavors are stymied right out of the gate, thereby protecting the haves from having to compete with anyone offering a different model of doing business or a better quality product. Thus is the natural order of the world that God intended preserved.

Science, apparently, doesn’t get much.

BTW, I also have a clip up over at my joint about a guy who’s making a stop-action robot porno.

How’d he get Mittens to take off from campaigning?

I always figured Sotomayor was chosen because she was Hispanic, female, AND impeccably qualified for the job (she was the one who settled the baseball strike back in ’94 after all), so Obama was essentially calling their bluff. It didn’t work, of course, because none of them wanted to admit she was in fact qualified.

Greeting, female. Nice knobs.

Jennifer said it so succinctly that I can’t add anything that would not be superfluous.

Bootstraps! only works if you have a whole load of people doing the actual hauling. Otherwise, you’re under the heel of the boot, and it’s not going to let you up, no matter how brilliant, hard-working, or virtuous you are.

And the Repugs only want to give Bootstraps! to “qualifying” people; i.e., white friends of theirs. They hate being called out on it, though, as last night’s “debate” showed. Racists, every one of them, through and through. It’s the only base they pander to, and they’re in an absolute panic that it won’t be enough, so they have to trot out so many dog-whistles that even deaf cats are going “what?”.

so Obama was essentially calling their bluff

Indeed. and successfully, too. Didn’t stop the ‘Pugs trying to whip up their base into a racist frenzy about “their” Supreme Court. As long as Scaly Scalia is in charge, Corporations are people, Christianity is the default religion, and marginalized people everywhere are SOL, but it makes no difference. Give any person who is not as vanilla as a Mickey D’s shake a job, and it is a sign of Obummer’s master plan to take everything away from white men. Ask Bill O’Reilly!

html fail. Fuck me, WP.

they have to trot out so many dog-whistles that even deaf cats are going “what?”.

So THAT explains why our solid white blue-eyed deaf cat keeps looking over his shoulder…

How’d he get Mittens to take off from campaigning?

I was thinking he’d just hired oneLtwoNs now that she’s dropped out.

re: the Sowell thing…I could perhaps buy that argument if it weren’t for the fact that Americans are more productive than ever. Basically, Sowell’s argument is that we’re just not trying hard enough to be rich. That’s untrue. We’re trying harder than ever; we’re just not getting anywhere. Meanwhile those who are already rich are just richer. And the salaries of CEO’s continue to skyrocket. I’m not quite sure what’s so hard to grasp about all this.

It should also be noted that a sizable portion of the wealthy inherited their wealth. And, yes, it’s easy and fun to make money when you already have it. I mean, gawd only knows what I’d do if I had a big old cushy nest to fall on back on.

Someone like Mittens? Has never known–NOT FOR ONE STINKIN’ SECOND–what it’s like to worry about BILLS. And, I’m sorry, but if you’re like that and you’re whole raison d’etre is making sure people like that have it still easier? You’re a sociopath.

And the Repugs only want to give Bootstraps! to “qualifying” people; i.e., white friends of theirs. They hate being called out on it, though, as last night’s “debate” showed. Racists, every one of them, through and through. It’s the only base they pander to, and they’re in an absolute panic that it won’t be enough, so they have to trot out so many dog-whistles that even deaf cats are going “what?”.

That debate made me not want to live on this planet anymore.

Planet Express ship, take me away!

Also too also too also too let’s not forget that for every Bill Gates and Steve Jobs out there, there’s a Donald Trump or Paris Hilton…people so irretrievably stupid they’d be living under bridges if it weren’t for their inherited wealth. AND, even with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs being Super Nifty Bootstrappy Representatives of all That is Good about Capitalism, they wouldn’t have made it without LUCK. Yes, luck plays a role too, fucknuts. DEAL WITH IT.

That debate made me not want to live on this planet anymore.

I know, right? Fuck them all. They all seem to have “hate” tattooed on one set of knuckles, and “hate” tattooed on the other.

(Their feet, however, have to be tattooed “left” and “right”, otherwise they can’t walk. This is my totally unbiased opinion.)

Someone like Mittens? Has never known–NOT FOR ONE STINKIN’ SECOND–what it’s like to worry about BILLS.

Obligatory.

Greeting, female. Nice knobs.

I am in need of ass istance. My input port is overheated and my data stream is dry. Please provide assistance.

Also too also too also too let’s not forget that for every Bill Gates and Steve Jobs out there, there’s a Donald Trump or Paris Hilton…people so irretrievably stupid they’d be living under bridges if it weren’t for their inherited wealth. AND, even with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs being Super Nifty Bootstrappy Representatives of all That is Good about Capitalism, they wouldn’t have made it without LUCK

Two minor corrections:

Bill Gates Sr was a millionaire, which afforded Jr the chance to drop out of Harvard and found Micro$oft

I cut Trump a little slack on the intellect thing. His dad only gave him a million and he was able to parlay that into a multibillion line of credit for which he was never personally on the hook, but off which he made enormous sums of money. This is a case of “don’t hate the playah, hate the game.” He had to be pretty clever to sort that out.

You have to let it warm up gradually to avoid having that happen

or just not hyper-clench them when outside…

(Their feet, however, have to be tattooed “left” and “right”, otherwise they can’t walk.

Sure it’s not backwards “B’s”?

It should also be noted that a sizable portion of the wealthy inherited their wealth.

About half of them, in fact.

In related news, witness their white-hot, over-the-top, incandescent fury at the unconstitutional Sixteenth Amendment (income tax) and contrast with their repeated claims that they value meritocracy and equal opportunity, and their repeated claims that rich people got rich through hard work! and it’s just not fair to penalize them just for what they’ve earned.

His dad only gave him a million

Only?

Hogeye Grex said,

January 18, 2012 at 20:13 (kill)

Science, apparently, doesn’t get much.

…

A Rutgers University research team recently asked several women to stimulate themselves in a functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) machine.

How come my university doesn’t do studies like this?

Bootstraps!

worst. musical. evar.

Ability is generally gained through sustained effort, but not necessarily through hard work. By national standards, I am highly literate. I spent many thousands of hours becoming so literate. But I was not working hard — I was following my inclinations. I preferred to read all those books. Nevertheless, my literacy is somewhat valuable. One could spend decades on an assembly line, sacrificing the same number of hours and infinitely more in terms of toil and suffering, without attaining some comparably-valuable ability. I was privileged to be in a position to develop my abilities, or some of them.

Conservatives love simple formulas involving hard work and its rewards, or sacrifice, or risk, or ability, or even social context (rich dad/poor dad etc.) but they never give much thought to the interworkings of all that, because they are just looking to justify foregone conclusions about social privilege. /Capt. obvious signing out.

I cut Trump a little slack on the intellect thing. His dad only gave him a million and he was able to parlay that into a multibillion line of credit for which he was never personally on the hook, but off which he made enormous sums of money. This is a case of “don’t hate the playah, hate the game.” He had to be pretty clever to sort that out.

i’m sure he had plenty of help with the sorting it out…also, he MAY (and is say that with deep reservations) have been smart or clever ONCE…i truly believe there is something about megalomania that makes a person become progressively st00pid…

He had to be pretty clever to sort that out.

[citation needed]

Yeah, so he wasn’t stupid enough to blow it all on a fake bridge or something, but it doesn’t take any particular cleverness to parlay $million into a “real” fortune.

And how many times has he (well, his companies) gone bankrupt now? Four, I think. Yeah, he’s a fucking genius.

His dad only gave him a million

Only?

Yes, as in “I only walked into a casino with a thousand bucks but I lost my house”

And how many times has he (well, his companies) gone bankrupt now? Four, I think. Yeah, he’s a fucking genius.

Again, look at how much he’s pocketed and what a free ride he’s gotten. I don’t like the guy very much, either, but you have to admit he’s taken grifting to a new art form.

i truly believe there is something about megalomania that makes a person become progressively st00pid…

Yea, it’s starting to believe your own press. Especially the press you’ve generated for yourself.

A robot horse getting buttfucked? That’s relevant to ALL MY INTERESTS!

Bootstraps!

worst. musical. evar.

But Mel Brooks’ Jackbootstraps was fab.

His dad only gave him a million

Only?

Well almost $400 larGe in a year is “not very much.”

Bootstraps!

worst. musical. evar.

How about now?:

[jazz hands!] BOOTSTRAPS! [/jazz hands!]

[jazz hands!] BOOTSTRAPS! [/jazz hands!]

oh my! it IS all in the presentation! i would totes go see it now!

I tried to warn them about those strapping young boots……….

Again, look at how much he’s pocketed and what a free ride he’s gotten. I don’t like the guy very much, either, but you have to admit he’s taken grifting to a new art form.

Are we talking about Donald Trump or Mitt Romney/Bain Capital?

Twenty years ago I came to this town. I had less than 43 million dollars in my pocket. Now… I own all this.

Are we talking about Donald Trump or Mitt Romney/Bain Capital?

is there a difference? besides the hair?

Hey, I have less than 43 million dollars in my pocket. Quite a bit less.

So you’re NOT happy to see me.

It’s a roll of Sacagaweas, baby.

It’s a roll of Sacagaweas, baby.

if you say it right it sounds super dirty…

OT: George Lucas calls it quits. And is quite a whiny bitch about it too.

This was posted in the comments.

George Lucas calls it quits.

Thank god.

You mean we’ll never see episodes 7-9? I am something-broken.

Long-time Lucas producer Rick McCallum fuelled the claim saying: “Once this is finished… He will have completed his task as a man and a filmmaker.”

So all those movies really were just wet dreams.

It’s a roll of Sacagaweas, baby.

What’s a “wea” and how do you know it’s gay?

You mean we’ll never see episodes 7-9? I am something-broken.

Console yourself with old reruns of Voyager featuring Seven OF Nine

And there’s also this gem from Lucas there also and too:

Lucasfilm’s Red Tails is an all-black action adventure which the director claimed is “kind of like ‘The Color Purple,’ only in airplanes” and “sort of like a Tyler Perry movie, only without jokes”.

Wow, I can hardly wait…

You mean we’ll never see episodes 7-9? I am something-broken.

Uh oh, those coins go everywhere when that happens.

completed his task as a man

So I guess he’ll take one of those light sabers and commit seppuku now?

So I guess he’ll take one of those light sabers and commit seppuku now?

For true atonement, he’d have to use a dull light-saber.

Science, apparently, doesn’t get much.

I see what you do there.

So I guess he’ll take one of those light sabers and commit seppuku now?

As soon as he’s finished raising his goatse

There might be a new mango tree in the form of the Washington Free Bacon, er, Beacon.

Lucasfilm’s Red Tails is an all-black action adventure which the director claimed is “kind of like ‘The Color Purple,’ only in airplanes” and “sort of like a Tyler Perry movie, only without jokes”.

From the man who brought you Jar-Jar Binks.

feh

“sort of like a Tyler Perry movie, only without jokes”.

Tyler Perry movies don’t have jokes.

He would have been better off by saying, “It’s like Saving Private Ryan, only with more flying and black guys.”

OT: George Lucas calls it quits. And is quite a whiny bitch about it too.

Why would I make any more, when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?

God damn, he certainly is.

Watching the Red Tails trailer in a theater made me a little sad or something. It’s about black pilots, but the trailer seemed intent on highlighting how wisecrackingly sassy and badass they are. In that respect I guess it’s no different than a modern kids’ film. Shooting down Nazi fighter planes is to be done with the same attitude you’d bring to finding Nemo. I got the impression of a stupid, shallow film that expects to get a pass because it honors the contributions of black servicemen. But then, trailers hafta decide on one angle or another. The one I saw wasn’t trying to evoke The Color Purple, that’s for sure.

Pup: Thanx fur teh musik linkie thinga-ma-jig..

wisecrackingly sassy and badass they are

oooh! so it will be like the jeffersons in planes?!?!?

It’s about black pilots, but the trailer seemed intent on highlighting how wisecrackingly sassy and badass they are.

But is that any different than how Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett portrayed fighter pilots in Pearl Harbor? OK, there was the whole love story angle which was what sold the film, but to keep the boyfriends interested, the producers threw in some wiseass flying shit.

wisecrackingly sassy and badass they are

oooh! so it will be like the jeffersons in planes?!?!?

I was thinking more “JJ Walker meets Eddie Murphy,” but I like yours better

It’s about black pilots, but the trailer seemed intent on highlighting how wisecrackingly sassy and badass they are.

Translation: someone panicked that not enough white people will go see it, and decided to play up the comedic scenes.

Never Trust a Trailer!

Watching the Red Tails trailer in a theater

Why bother? Wait twenty years for the enhanced version.

gotta love bobo

http://gawker.com/5877256/david-brooks-loves-secrecy-hates-journalism

Shooting down Nazi fighter planes is to be done with the same attitude you’d bring to finding Nemo.

War-as-giant-wicked-fun-paintball-game is pretty much standard fare for Lucas movies. The Young Indy series, of all things, is the only thing I’ve seen by him that actually dwells on how much war sucks.

The Young Indy series, of all things, is the only thing I’ve seen by him that actually dwells on how much war sucks.

Well, there was Willow.

War-as-giant-wicked-fun-paintball-game is pretty much standard fare for Lucas movies.

There are a lot of things I dislike about the original SW, but the worst is how fast Luke goes from mourning to woo-hoo-shooting-is-fun. He’s a sociopath.

There might be a new mango tree in the form of the Washington Free Bacon, er, Beacon.

Who will organize the pool betting on when they hire James OKeefe?

the worst is how fast Luke goes from mourning to woo-hoo-shooting-is-fun. He’s a sociopath.

If the closest thing you had to parents got Bar-B-Qued because you wanted to run into town and buy some cheap droids, you’d be a little blood-drunk too. Looking back, it’s amazing that he didn’t turn out exactly like his dad (of course, Luke had Han).

If the closest thing you had to parents got Bar-B-Qued because you wanted to run into town and buy some cheap droids, you’d be a little blood-drunk too. Looking back, it’s amazing that he didn’t turn out exactly like his dad (of course, Luke had Han).

eh…i can tell this is not going to be nearly as entertaining as the great my little pony debate of aught-11…

Have you noticed that as democracy has become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA BROOKS IS A COMEDY GENIUS!!!

Wait, what?

but the tagfail is always there for me…

Debating the pony.

If the closest thing you had to parents got Bar-B-Qued because you wanted to run into town and buy some cheap droids, you’d be a little blood-drunk too.

I think N__B meant Obi Wan dying, but you have a point.

Have you noticed that as democracy has become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

Yes, you little fucks, you all deserve less democracy and less freedom while you slave away at your jobs that provide less and less!

Saving Private Ryan struck me as believable, though I have not been to war. But would I watch it again tonight? No, I would be more likely to play a video game, or perhaps watch a dumb action movie.

I don’t need many The Pianists (another WW2 film I liked). I guess I prefer when my stupid violent fun entertainment stays away from recent historical themes. I am not ready for a kickass feelgood holocaust or whatever.

Whereas I cannot object to 300 on thematic grounds, but the conservative reaction was foolish — not the filmmakers’ fault? In that case we had a cobbler who plied his crafted knowing of certain fetishists, I’d say, but may not have anticipated the cons would rhapsodize over the shoes as well.

Well, there was Willow.

… Never heard of it until just now. I may check it out if it’s on Hulu or Netflix Streaming.

There are a lot of things I dislike about the original SW, but the worst is how fast Luke goes from mourning to woo-hoo-shooting-is-fun. He’s a sociopath.

I like it. I even enjoy the prequels. But I always found it a weird contrast how the “deeper” “themes” in the movies involved things like “killing a tribe of sand people = Dark Side,” “striking down Sith Lords with all your hatred = Dark Side,” while the rest of the movie is, in your own words, pretty much just woo-hoo-shooting-is-fun.

Have you noticed that as democracy has become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

Wait, what?

Maybe he thinks there is a correlation between the them? Honesty leads to cynicism?

Of course, government (especially local government) has also become more conservative over the years, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it.

“I stole the baby!”

Have you noticed that as democracy has become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

Have you also noticed how the more you staff the government with politicians who’ve dedicated their entire lives to the notion that government doesn’t/can’t work, the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

Sure it’s not backwards “B’s”?

I’m pretty sure it’s backwards everything.

Have you noticed that as democracy has become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

David Brooks is terrified that if he does not keep licking the bootstraps of his lordly masters, he will no longer have an income worth hiding from us peons. I know they’re all projection and stuff, but ringing the Class Warfare! bell over disclosing income for politicians is silly. Most people really don’t care where your money comes from, as long as you’re not outright mugging old ladies and stealing their purses. This is pure pique at being even remotely asked to be held accountable for their actions.

And the defensive mango in the comments is awesome. I had no idea that millions of people were willing to run for office, but the thought of disclosing their income made them go “oh, well, then no!”. We must have a lot of granny-muggers with failed political ambitions.

Whereas I cannot object to 300 on thematic grounds because gerard butler…

fixxed to reflect fantasy…

Whereas I cannot object to 300 on thematic grounds because gerard butler…

Was he the one with the lobster claws?

I think N__B meant Obi Wan dying, but you have a point.

Well, I always assumed that after Luke heard Obi’s voice during the Death Star raid (when I say it like this, it really makes it look like Luke’s a little nuts, don’t it?) he felt more at peace because the guy was still in touch.

Course I never bought the whole “Force Ghost” thing. How come some could come back and others couldn’t? Why didn’t Sith Lords try it? Why the fuck didn’t Yoda mention this to Obi after his master was chopped in half in TPM? Oh well.

On the subject of Red Tails, my basic problem was… I’ve seen that movie before. HBO did an original film on the Tuskegee airmen. Indeed, I’m fairly certain one of the leads from that HBO leads was Terrance Howard, who is now in Red Tails.

So what the fuck.

Was he the one with the lobster claws?

I think that was a CGI version of the Rock who was imprisoned in a mummy temple by an ancient Egyptian god.

Whereas I cannot object to 300 on thematic grounds

Society of mercenaries battles a conqueror. The problems was that EVERYBODY was a good guy.

Oh yeah, and it’s a fine gag that one of the guys dedicated to destroying the federal government wants to act like me becoming cynical about government’s effectiveness as long as assholes like him exist is the reason the government is ineffective.

On the subject of Red Tails, my basic problem was… I’ve seen that movie before.

Yes, but see, in this version Greedo the Nazis shoot first!

Society of mercenaries battles a conqueror.

I liked it better in medieval Italy.

On the subject of Red Tails, my basic problem was… I’ve seen that movie before. HBO did an original film on the Tuskegee airmen. Indeed, I’m fairly certain one of the leads from that HBO leads was Terrance Howard, who is now in Red Tails.

Me too, and it isn’t the first time. Replace “Tuskegee” with “Alias” and “Red Tails” with “Dollhouse” and you have the same story (minus Howard, of course).

Although in this case, I’d say most people didn’t see the HBO movie as HBO-made movies didn’t get much hype back then.

Why the fuck didn’t Yoda mention this to Obi after his master was chopped in half in TPM? Oh well.

Actually, he mentions it at the end of Ep3 as he send Kenobi off to Tattooine with Luke. Can’t remember the exact words, but it’s something like “I have training for you in your exile. An old friend has returned from the other side. I will teach you how to contact him”.

… Never heard of it until just now. I may check it out if it’s on Hulu or Netflix Streaming.

That wasn’t a recommendation….

Actually, Val Kilmer isn’t too terrible in it, but if you’ve seen any of the Henson puppet movies of that era, Willow is the best of the lot.

Which is damning it with faint praise.

come on.
next you’re going to tell me that you found The Dark Crystal less than earth shattering.

Actually, he mentions it at the end of Ep3 as he send Kenobi off to Tattooine with Luke.

Isn’t that, in movie-time, 20 years after the guy died? “Oh yeah, forgot I did…a ghost your old mentor is. Bad my.”

Seriously, the downfall of the Republic has much to do with Yoda being too old to do his job properly.

HBO did an original film on the Tuskegee airmen.

I actually got to meet the surviving Tuskegee airmen a few years back. They visited my Air National Guard unit, which at one time had been a Tuskegee unit (which is how our unit patch came to have a black crow on it).

http://www.121arw.ang.af.mil/units/

Whereas I cannot object to 300 on thematic grounds, but the conservative reaction was foolish — not the filmmakers’ fault?

I think it’s more subtle than that. Remember, the movie unfolds as a tale told by a general in the subsequent battle to pump up* his troops for war. Of course it’s going to have exaggerations and be far more colorful than the actual events as they occurred, but the conservatives missed this point (and truly, I was shocked VDH didn’t at least wink in that direciton in his columns about it) and focused on the massive odds the Spartans faced.

When in point of fact, it was their strategy that was brilliant, not their tactics, which were probably more wasteful than helpful (for example, they could have deployed the Athenians on top of the mountain and protected that stupid goat path.)

Meaning it wasn’t the warriors who were heroes, but the eggheads back home who studied and went to school and figured all that shit out.

Was he the one with the lobster claws?

i dunno…i couldn’t get past the chest and abs…

Whereas I cannot object to 300 on thematic grounds, but the conservative reaction was foolish — not the filmmakers’ fault?

One reason the Spartans were so effective in that battle was partly because they were Heavy infantry defending against light infantry. A Spartan Hoplite was heavily armored almost from head to toe. They didn’t go into battle showing off their manly six-pack abs.

Isn’t that, in movie-time, 20 years after the guy died?

Yes, but Yoda specifically says “recently” as if he himself only just discovered this aspect of the Force.

You’re right, tho. It always bothered me (especially after the prequels came out and suddenly Darth Vader’s ghost becomes young Anakin, but I’ll suspend disbelief there) that some Jedi could come back, but others could not.

omg…you guys are a bunch of nerds!!! how did i not notice this before?

omg…you guys are a bunch of nerds!!! how did i not notice this before?

Don’t get me started on the scientific flaws in the original Star Trek series.

omg…you guys are a bunch of nerds!!! how did i not notice this before?

*adjusts glasses; hides pocket-protector* Nuh-UH!

Tits!

One reason the Spartans were so effective in that battle was partly because they were Heavy infantry defending against light infantry.

Also they were crazy maniacs who grew up fighting and killing so that when they grew up they could fight and kill. With the support of their slaves of course.

Don’t get me started on the scientific flaws in the original Star Trek series.

Are you referring to the scary implications of teleportation or the Planet ‘O Hats they always seemed to come across?

I thought The 300 was thinly-veiled fap fodder for guys with repressed homoerotic desires.

I guess this wouldn’t have been quite as fappable:

http://www.hellenic-art.com/armour/spartanset.htm

I guess this wouldn’t have been quite as mappable:

Those are some nice helmet eye-holes you’ve got there, boychick.

Rassin’ frassin’ autocorrect.

Are you referring to the scary implications of teleportation or the Planet ‘O Hats they always seemed to come across?

I meant how Yeoman Rand never ended up pregnant

Bad my.

Cackled, I did.

I guess this wouldn’t have been quite as fappable

But where’s the spatula for wrestling???

boychick?

boychick?

There’s a character on Boardwalk Empire who always says that.

I think it’s Yiddish slang, as the character is a very nasty Jewish gangster (yes there were).

With regard to the battle of Thermopylae, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Athenians weren’t playing a deeper game. They had the Spartans as bloodthirsty, murder crazed neighbors, and an invading Persian army of almost a million men. That would have have been a perfect time for the old ‘Lets you and him fight’ ploy. Any loss the Spartans took would only help out Athens, and if it slowed down the Persians, so much the better.

The History Channel actually did a very good episode about Thermopylae right after the movie came out.

I hope it emphasized what deranged savages the Spartans were. All of the Sparta love that happened in and because of that movie makes me ill. It was like North Korea with fewer Koreans and lots more slavery.

Re: 300 and its thematic grounds, I mean that I don’t object much if someone wants to make an inaccurate movie “about” Spartans. For my part I understood 300 as a fantasy movie that used real-world reference-points for the same reasons any fantasy uses ’em. 300 lies close to one end of a historical/fantasy continuum. Gleaning lessons from it is sillier than looking to Star Wars or LotR. Those aren’t overtly earth-based, however. We can’t get away with lamenting the post-Frodo decline of civilization, nor credibly ask our warrior class to be like Jedi knights. I think.

It was like North Korea with fewer Koreans and lots more slavery.

And lots more pedophilia.

I think it’s Yiddish slang, as the character is a very nasty Jewish gangster (yes there were).

Boychik can either act as a diminutive of “boy”, or to signify a sharp operator or person who cuts corners. Your Jewish gangsters will probably mean the second.

nor credibly ask our warrior class to be like Jedi knights. I think.

Why not? If we are going to send our ‘just barely graduated high school’ population of young people to conquer the oil bearing parts of the world, shouldn’t we get some good entertaining movies out of it before the entire rest of the world calls us to account for our shenanigans?

Don’t get me started on the scientific flaws in the original Star Trek series.

ROFL – only the original?

Gleaning lessons from it is sillier than looking to Star Wars or LotR.

But people take lessons from those, it’s what myths are for. And the movie itself provides plenty of evidence that what Spartan society existed for was to kill people. It might not be fair to judge the movie by what maniacs think of it, but it’s fair to judge it as horrible people vs. awful people. Naturally the winners have better tits.

The History Channel actually did a very good episode about Thermopylae right after the movie came out.

And even they neglected the 700 Thespians who fought alongside the Spartans.

And even they neglected the 700 Thespians who fought alongside the Spartans.

Did they mention the 1500 or so helots?

Don’t get me started on the scientific flaws in the original Star Trek series.

ROFL – only the original?

By Deep Space Nine, the researchers were just mailing it in and going to lunch.

With regard to the battle of Thermopylae, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Athenians weren’t playing a deeper game. They had the Spartans as bloodthirsty, murder crazed neighbors, and an invading Persian army of almost a million men.

Except that Themystocles was commanding the Greek navy out on the waters by Thermopylae and had his own stunning upset, helped in large part by a hurricane (or brutal storm, at any rate.)

“Why not?” Well, Helmut, it’d be irresponsible, but what’s new? I guess you’re right.

The sticking point as I see it: The Force. Without special effects, The Force sucks. Our armed forces would have to make do with vague mysticism (and their enormous arsenal).

And since when can the rest of the world call shenanigans on us?

With regard to the battle of Thermopylae, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Athenians weren’t playing a deeper game. They had the Spartans as bloodthirsty, murder crazed neighbors, and an invading Persian army of almost a million men. That would have have been a perfect time for the old ‘Lets you and him fight’ ploy. Any loss the Spartans took would only help out Athens, and if it slowed down the Persians, so much the better.

I’ve never heard that before, and it actually makes a ton of sense. It’s also not unlike American policy in World War Two, the Cold War, Iran-Iraq…

To be fair to the Athenians though (I know you’re not dissing them, just feel the need to add this), they did more than their share to stop the Persians, including single-handedly turning back the first Persian invasion while the Spartans (literally) stayed home and partied.

Did they mention the 1500 or so helots?

They mentioned the servant classes, but weren’t there like seven to one ratios of those, so it was more like 2100?

Naturally the winners have better tits.

AHEM, STOOPID, THEY LOSTED.

To be fair to the Athenians though (I know you’re not dissing them, just feel the need to add this), they did more than their share to stop the Persians, including single-handedly turning back the first Persian invasion while the Spartans (literally) stayed home and partied.

Also, and this should not be taken too lightly, both Athens and Sparta received dire oracles from Delphi. Athens had been warned to flee to the ends of the earth, while Sparta was told either the city or the king would be destroyed. Leonidas really had no choice but to battle (despite what the movie said).

Athens asked for a mulligan from Delphi and got a new prophecy that they would be left with one wooden wall (which Themytocles took to mean a navy). So they didn’t send a large ground force, instead building a fleet.

How convenient.

It might not be fair to judge the movie by what maniacs think of it, but it’s fair to judge it as horrible people vs. awful people. Naturally the winners have better tits.

As a former (long, long ago) ancient history nerd, if you forced me to live in either Spartan or Persian society in those days, I’d pick Persia without a moment’s hesitation. If you’re talking Athens or some other Greek state, that’s different, but Sparta specifically? No question at all who I’m rooting for in that fight.

Addendum to above: and if you want to know why, just check the Bible.

“But people take lessons from those, it’s what myths are for.”

I said “sillier” than taking lessons from those; sorry to imply that the whole business was silly. 300 is lighter fare than the LotR and SW myths, in spite of its directly referencing our real world.

I really enjoyed 300. It was a combination of Bugs Bunny and Tom of Finland and nearly as funny.

If you want a good fictional-but-true-to-history treatment of Thermopylae, read “Gates of Fire” by Stephen Pressfield. Then, if you want an even better, longer and more thorough treatment of the Pellopenesian War, read “Tides of War”. Then go and read “The Art of War” for his take on Alexander the Great, and then read “The Afghan Campaign”, where the takes on Alexander’s disastrous conquest of that country, with important lessons about our own folly in that Graveyard of Empires. In Fact, go out right now and read everything by Stephen Pressfield (including “The Legend of Bagger Vance”). I’ll Wait. You won’t regret it.

Also, and this should not be taken too lightly, both Athens and Sparta received dire oracles from Delphi. Athens had been warned to flee to the ends of the earth, while Sparta was told either the city or the king would be destroyed. Leonidas really had no choice but to battle (despite what the movie said).

The prophecy shown in the movie (where the oracles tell the Spartans they can’t fight because of a religious festival): that actually did happen. Thing is, it happened in the First Persian War. And the king didn’t bravely defy the oracles and march north to face the Persians as he did in the movie: in real life, the king and all his troops just stayed home and celebrated, which is what forced the Athenians to face the Persians alone, and win.

Which is why I half-LOL’d, half shook my head at that part of the movie, especially combined with the “Athenian boy lovers and philosophers” line.

A clunky translation of what Herodotus had to say.

If you want a good fictional-but-true-to-history treatment of Thermopylae, read “Gates of Fire” by Stephen Pressfield.

I did. It was quite good.

but the tagfail is always there for me…

And we love you for them, bbfk Bestest tagfails ever. Glad you found some time to check in to Sadlyville.

Thread-murder!

It was Fenwick. In the billiard room. With the candlestick.

Everyone is busy reading Pressfield. Don’t worry, they’ll be back.

Thread-murder!

It was Fenwick. In the billiard room. With the candlestick.

Correct. Correct. A-n-d…Incorrect: In billiard rooms, I am deadly with a pool cue, not a candlestick.

Always have enjoyed your peel-back-the-layers analysis, Chris. Wotcher been doin’ with yerself?

Everyone is busy reading Pressfield. Don’t worry, they’ll be back.

I’m here, but I’m back from reading that bit of the translation of Herodotus not Pressfield.

My favorite bit of Herodotus, by the way, was this:

Now Leonidas was the son of Anaxandridas, who was the son of Leo, who was the son of Eurycratidas, who was the son of Anaxander, who was the son of Eurycrates, who was the son of Polydorus, who was the son of Alcamenes, who was the son of Telecles, who was the son of Archelaus, who was the son of Agesilaus, who was the son of Doryssus, who was the son of Labotas, who was the son of Echestratus, who was the son of Agis, who was the son of Eurythenes, who was the son of Aristodemus, who was the son of Aristomachus, who was the son of Cleodaeus, who was the son of Hyllus, who was the son of Hercules. Leonidas had come to be king of Sparta quite unexpectedly.

That is some riveting reading right there.

Oh FYWP! Post-eating sumbitch. grumble.

FYWP!

I’m feeling much kinder to WordPress for being in the front lines of The Blackout. From now on, I’m going to pretend that FYWP means ‘Fooey on You, WordPress.’

BTW, fun little fact about “Redtails,” a project a wholeheartedly support, btw, George Lucas said of it, “I wanted to make a picture about heroes for teen boys.” (That is not an exact quote, though it is exactly what he said.) I guess teen girls are not in need of heroes. Or–heaven forbid–heroines.

I guess teen girls are not in need of heroes. Or–heaven forbid–heroines.

Don’t be silly, that’s what the Kardashians are for.

Just stab in the head with my kitchen shears.

me

It was a combination of Bugs Bunny and Tom of Finland and nearly as funny.

Nearly as funny as Bugs or Tom?

Both of course.

“Then go and read “The Art of War” for his take on Alexander the Great, and then read “The Afghan Campaign”, where the takes on Alexander’s disastrous conquest of that country, with important lessons about our own folly in that Graveyard of Empires.”

Thanks Steerpike. I found this story in Wiki’s this day in history (this quote actually comes from a different site since I cannot open WIki, but is pretty close):

On January 1, 1842, the British in Kabul and a number of Afghan chiefs reached an agreement that provided for the safe exodus of the entire British garrison and its dependents from Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the British would not wait for an Afghan escort to be assembled, and the Ghilzai and allied tribes had not been among the 18 chiefs who had signed the agreement. On January 6 the precipitate retreat began and, as they struggled through the snowbound passes, the British were attacked by Ghilzai warriors. Although a Dr. W. Brydon is usually cited as the only survivor of the march to Jalalabad (out of more than 15,000 who undertook the retreat), in fact a few more survived as prisoners and hostages. Shuja remained in power only a few months and was assassinated in April 1842.

http://www.afghanan.net/afghanistan-history-2/the-first-anglo-afghan-war/

I left this off, but it certainly seems pertinent here:

“Like other interventions in modern times, the British denied that they were invading Afghanistan but claimed they were merely supporting its legitimate government (Shuja) “against foreign interference and factious opposition.””

Although a Dr. W. Brydon is usually cited as the only survivor of the march to Jalalabad (out of more than 15,000 who undertook the retreat), in fact a few more survived as prisoners and hostages.

Harry Flashman made it out alive.

I guess teen girls are not in need of heroes. Or–heaven forbid–heroines.

Here you go:

http://www.seizethesky.com/nwitches/nitewtch.html

Here’s another one for you VS:

http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/litvak/litvak.htm

I wish we had a Star-Trek-style VR simulation of Stalingrad that every politician could stay in for a few weeks before they were allowed to vote on the use of military force.

If a few died in VR, well, they’re replaceable.

http://www.seizethesky.com/nwitches/nitewtch.html

I applaud their daring use of Comic Sans for that website. It really adds a certain gravitas to the subject matter.

They’re so bad-ass they make even Comic Sans look tough.

I suppose the MPAA would quite naturally be good at projection.

Wow, thanks, Major Kong. Wonder why I’ve never heard of them before. Oh, wait, NO I DON’T.

Chris, haters will hate but fwiw I loved Willow. Definitely worth a viewing.

Wonder why I’ve never heard of them before.

Maybe you did but were distracted by Kardashians.

AAAAAUUUUUUGGGH! Where are my kitchen shears?!!!!

Isn’t that them there, sticking out of the side of your head?

Isn’t that them there, sticking out of the side of the thread?

Maybe you did but were distracted by Kardashians.

you know what’s worse than the kardashians?

dance moms on lifetime…omfg…what a horrendous bunch of things that are supposed to be humans…

okay, i know it’s probably not cool to check out ‘shit my dad says’ anymore, and mostly i don’t because the comics curmudgeon has replaced him in my affections (also, too…i was so very pleased to see that other sadlies enjoy that blog as much as i do) but every once in a while i check it out…the old man came through once again, succinctly summing up exactly how i feel about elections:

“These candidates are dog shit. All we’re doing is picking out the dick that’s going to fuck us.”

All we’re doing is picking out the dick that’s going to fuck us.”

Anyone who opposes picking out the dick that will fuck is anti-choice.

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
Imagine there’s an “us” in my last post
Or else I’ll have to cry

Anyone who opposes picking out the dick that will fuck is anti-choice.

or not horny…

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
Imagine there’s an “us” in my last post
Or else I’ll have to cry

ha…you are on a roll…

or not horny…

Objection! Assuming gender and/or orientation!

you are on a roll…

Slather me with horseradish and call me reuben.

i must vamonos…i am heading out at the buttcrack of dawn to go to a leadership conference…which is being held at an uber-environmentally conscious farm run by a bunch of god botherers…and it’s like 3 hours away…they actually suggest you bring your own linens and towels to ‘help them out in the laundry room!’ screw that! and we have to make our own fucking beds when we get there…and i’m guessing the scheduled ‘social hour’ will not include any alcohol…feck…

Objection! Assuming gender and/or orientation!

oh rilly…and just how do you come up with that?

a leadership conference

When they do the falling-backwards-trust game, let ’em drop and then say you have a bad back. It’s HI-LAR-E-US every time.

oh rilly…and just how do you come up with that?

Some of us are not looking for dicks to fuck us. Not, you know, that there’s anything wrong with that.

When they do the falling-backwards-trust game, let ‘em drop and then say you have a bad back. It’s HI-LAR-E-US every time.

first of all, if we have to play the trust game, somebody is going to get junkpunched

secondly, since i probably wouldn’t really junkpunch somebody, i will give this a try…i’ll even try to say it like daniel tosh would for added effect…

Some of us are not looking for dicks to fuck us. Not, you know, that there’s anything wrong with that.

yes, i see your point…i blame annoyance at said leadership conference and prior discussion of gerard butler and the current dick references for clouding my deduction zones…

Sorry if this is old news, but what?!

Sorry if this is old news, but what?!

The specifics in that article are new to me. The fact that Gingrich is an authoritarian who jerks off to snuff films is old news.

Shorter Newt: “How many divisions does the Supreme Court have?”

Sorry if this is old news, but what?!

it’s almost like your reading ‘the onion’ isn’t it?

The Supreme Court may have no divisions, but I’m pretty sure that, after lunch, Fat Tony can deliver a lethal gas attack.

Gingrich’s interpretations have previously been met with disdain. President George W Bush’s attorney general, Michael Mukasey, has said that a president selectively ignoring supreme court decisions would turn the US in to a banana republic.

At the same election forum, Rick Perry, the Texas governor, said ‘mmmmmmmmm bananaaaaas….did not go so far as Gingrich but he did say that as president he would seek to pack the supreme court with judges who would overturn the ruling legalising abortion.

okay…i effed that last post up…it is time for bed…hopefully the god botherers have wi-fi…if i have to make my own fucking bed, reduce, reuse and recycle, they better have some goddamn wifi…

Good luck, bbkf. I’m guessing that at least the Minnesota variety of god botherers don’t make you handle snakes, like they would if you were down here.

Have you noticed that as democracy has become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

For you and I “open democracy” = “opportunity to influence the choice of leaders and the decisions that are made”. For Brooks, “open democracy” = “full awareness of the decisions that are imposed from above despite expressed wishes of 90% of voters”.

Ugh. Woke up at 3:00. Gave up trying to go back to sleep at 4:00.

Sometimes it takes a few days to adjust to a normal schedule – which is usually right about when it’s time to go back on nights.

Good luck, bbkf. I’m guessing that at least the Minnesota variety of god botherers don’t make you handle snakes, like they would if you were down here.

thanks, jennifer…i can’t decide if i would rather play the trust game or handle a snake…thank bob it’s winter and we are in an ‘extreme cold advisory’ or some such…

I roasted my very first chicken last night loosely based on this recipe and as I had never trussed a bird before and had no butchers twine and was about to employ some straightened safety pins when I came across the following method. Worked brilliantly.

Having no kosher salt or freshly ground pepper i dusted the bird with some fine grain sea salt, some lawreys mixed seasoning stuff which did include some pepper, some onion powder and garlic powder. Fired up the oven to what I hoped was the vicinity of 450 (don’t have a thermometer so not exactly sure) for around an hour, then dropped the temp to around 300 for another ten minutes.

The skin ended up crisp and the bird was as moist as any I have had. I don’t know why I never got around to doing this before, cheap, easy, quick and delicious.

The remaining parts of the carcass and drippings have been retained for boiling down for soup stock.

In the bang for buck department this was full of win. It takes longer to prepare an omelette. and couldn’t have been easier.
.

You can also use a strip of aluminum foil to truss the legs in lieu of butcher’s twine.

Another trick is to set the chicken on top of a bed of diced potatoes, which will soak up all the chickeny goodness while roasting.

Thanks for the tip about the foil, Kong, and while not making a bed of taters, I did through some in for good measure. However from here on out if I have the taters there will be made a nest for the bird.

But the method of trussing demonstrated in the video linked above is so elegant and simple, that I will likely only need the foil option for ornery fowl.

Bedding of root veggies, now that is the freaking ticket…Drain off a little of the dripppings and make some gravy….I am already drooling.

Question: I wonder if there are any religious implications for putting chicken meat in an omelet, along the “you don’t cook a calf in its mother’s milk vein?

If I had known how freaking easy and delicious roasting a chicken is, i would have roast one once a week for the last 20 years.
.

…which will soak up all the chickeny goodness while roasting.

Shorter me: Done and done!
.

MK, that 166th logo is badass!
.

I’m not sure many things top a roasted chicken for a cheap, fast, elegant meal. If you roast it with potatoes, you’re meal is done in one pan.

‘xactly VS! I really was amazed with the outcome, ease and speed and the crispy skin, and tender juicy…nom nom nom nom. I’d be eating some right now if I had not gone a bit overboard last night.

I feel kinda like a kid on the morning after Halloween.
.

HA! That’s awesome it worked out so well for you. Roasted chicken almost makes itself–it’s great.

Last night I made flank steak. But the interesting thing was I marinated it after I cooked it. In a lemon, thyme, garlic, olive oil mixture. It was very nice.

Have you noticed that as democracy has become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

Which is to say we can’t convince the rubes that going to war is fighting international communism and needs to be done to protect Mom, apple pie and the good ol’ U.S. of A. anymore? Which is to say that people have noticed our foreign policy is less about defending democracy and more about defending Mobil and Exxon, than they would prefer we realized? That lots of people have noticed the work of congress is less about maintaining the public welfare and more about looting the public treasury at the expense of our infrastructure, environment, public health and anything else that doesn’t back up pallets of cash to their personal loading docks?

If the candidates want to be viewed with less cynicism they might try being less cynical? If they want to be viewed with a little more respect, perhaps we could stop drawing our political class from confidence men, financial snake oil salesmen, actual snake oil salesmen and overpriveleged under educated scions of luxury?

If David brooks wants the electorate to be less cynical, he might educate for a little more education in history and civics classrooms all over the US. It is a chilling feeling to read about the real history of the US after being spoon fed the sugar coated version for all of our primary education. I personally dread what the high school history books are going to say about the wars of George W Bush.

If David Brooks cared one iota about the cynicism in America today, he could try not being a toadying lickspittle for once. He could try calling out the lies of the powerful. He could mention from his lofty perch how the policies of certain politician are a naked cash grab. He could try exposing injustice rather than enabling it.

People from my home state are racist assholes.

Be honest, who would would like to slap this woman silly? Could she be more repulsive? Could she be more representative of everything that’s wrong with this country?

Honestly, I’d like to punch her square in her ugly piehole, but I don’t wanna invite trollery, so I’ll stop there.

Honestly, I’d like to punch her square in her ugly pinhole,

Don’t. You might catch something.

According to the rumors, the bombshell Newt’s ex-wife has is that he wanted an open marriage.

Hey looks like goodhair Perry is gonna take a powder and endorse the Newtster. Tough nuggies for The Frothy One, I guess.

I’m still waiting for the “Santorum drops out” headlines.

How about, “Perry Gets Behind Gingrich; Santorum Left Behind”

Gingrich shoots his wad in SC; Santorum left behind.

“Perry Gets Behind Pumps Up Gingrich; Santorum Left Behind Discarded”

“Gingrich Comes From Behind Thanks to hand from Perry. Santorum ignored”

Gingrich, Perry, Santorum in Three-Way Behind Mitt.

Oh, and “Open Marriage”? That wouldn’t be a “bombshell”, I’m afraid. Repubs have long since come to terms with Gingrich’s peccadillos. Unless is came out that Newt wanted an “open” relationship so that he could bugger little boys, I don’t think it would matter.

Make that “Black Muslim boys”

In fact make that “be buggered by…”

“…on foodstamps…”

Turns out Newtie was actually a mormon all along. who knew?

Steerpike,

It’s a bombshell to the “one man, one woman” crowd. The group who thinks that, despite shows like “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?” marriage is sacred.

Also, Newt’s a fucking hypocrite.

According to the rumors, the bombshell Newt’s ex-wife has is that he wanted an open marriage.

There’s a joke here about “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Yeah, and I have to wonder how reciprocal that whole “openness” was gonna be in practice. My guess is, in his mind, it meant he could expect to get as much extracurricular action as he could, and she’d damn well better have supper on the table and be waiting for him–alone–when he got home.

Well, technically, their marriage *was* open. She just didn’t know it.

Helmut Monotreme said,
January 19, 2012 at 16:28

Preach it.

Brooks’ whining about cynicism wouldn’t be out of place in the mouth of a CPSU apparatchik, circa 1985.

Have you noticed that as Gingrich’s marriages have become more open, cynicism has skyrocketed and the effectiveness of government has gone down the toilet?

Well, I don’t know about Gingrich’s marriages, and I’m not really sold on his views, but the way he owned the first few moments of the debate, turned the issue around onto the press was nothing short of brilliant. Too bad I’m not a right-winger anymore. If politics is art, he’s Van Gogh. The way he’s been taking command of the debates consistently, with a moment tonight, early in the debate, that is nothing short of historic, has both the remaining Republican candidates and the democrats feeling the weight of his potential, heavy on their minds—kind of like the character in this song.

Heavy on My Mind
Dr BLT
word and music by Dr BLT © 2012
http://www.drblt.com/music/Heavy5DrBLT.mp3