Things that make you go jeeeeeeeeeeeew

This 2004 “observation” by Tony Blankey was pretty nasty:

…he was a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust.

Along similar lines, Lee Culpepper at America’s Shittiest Website™ on the Republicans’ very own John McCain:

None of us know for sure what McCain experienced during his time as a POW. All we know is that he survived and came home while many other POWs did not. What was it about McCain that was different? Was it family heritage or was it his proclivity for compromising to get what he wants?

We don’t much care for McCain, but holy crap. Why not just call him The Manchurian Candidate and be done with it? Reached the bottom of the barrel yet?

Is it any wonder McCain is a poster child for Democrats and EDS [Erectile Dysfunction Syndrome]? Apparently, he has always needed a little artificial help to get the job done.

Let’s keep digging, ok?

He talks tough to compensate for his raspy little voice. But his tough “hawk” image mainly covers up his waning male virility.

So there’s a reason they call it America’s Shittiest Website™. Like Football in the groin, McCain winning his party’s nomination would be funny on so many levels.

 

Comments: 179

 
 
 

He talks tough to compensate for his raspy little voice. But his tough “hawk” image mainly covers up his waning male virility.

Yeah? I wonder what these guys think of “little blue pill” Bob Dole?

Give me a fuckin’ break.

 
 

But his tough “hawk” image mainly covers up his waning male virility.

Remember W’s “McCain has a black baby” campaign in 2000, loosely based on his adoption of a child from Bangladesh? Maybe this year we can all treated to “Brokeback McCain can’t impregnate his own wife”. It’s alright, all will be forgiven in the end.

 
 

The wingnuts seem to forming a circular firing squad.

Fine by me.

 
 

“Reached the bottom of the barrel yet?”

Bear in mind, they’re digging upwards from far below. It will take them awhile.

Prior to Dick Cheney shooting Valerie Plame’s career in the face, I never thought I’d feel sorry for anyone at the CIA. I have no love for Sen. McCain, but he’s a hard-working senator who now campaigns for the presidency. Hardly the image of lost virility, I’d say.

Do these guys love torture so much they have no sympathy for an American who suffered it from the Communists during the Cold War?

 
 

I mean, isn’t it enough that he is pretending to hate immigrants and gay people now? Does he have to wear a codpiece too?

 
 

“But his tough ‘hawk’ image mainly covers up his ☾ ♂.”

Fixed.

 
 

Well, at least they dropped the pretense. They finally came out and said “It really is a big dick contest to us!”

Maybe McCain can put on a flightsuit so they can all swoon over his “package”.

 
 

This is the party that was clamoring for a chance to suck Fred Thompson’s cock a few months back.

I’d feel bad for them, but, ya know, I don’t. Suck it.

 
 

Despite the wailing over at “The Corner” and “Clown Hall”, I just can’t see Mittens git’n ‘er done, though I’d be perfectly happy to see him spend a lot more of the Romney boys trust fund before he bites the big one. But seriously, does anyone doubt that, if/when McCain gets the nomination, all that stuff will be flushed down the memory hole, and they’ll all fall into line like the good little robots they are?

 
 

But seriously, does anyone doubt that, if/when McCain gets the nomination… (the Republicans will) all fall into line like the good little robots they are?

I’m sure they will. But meanwhile I’m happy to see the all the mutual animosity. Even if they manage to suppress it, it’s bound to weaken them.

 
 

Wingnut bloggers and Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter etc. going off on McCain makes me chortle with glee, especially considering he’ll have the GOP nomination sewn up in a few days. Yes.. YES.. Give in to your hate!

I can’t wait for McCain to win the nomination and lose to either Hilary or Obama! But even if he WINS they lose! Tears of infinite wingnut sorrow! *lick lick* Oh! They’re so sweet!

 
 

You know what would be even better than McCain winning the nomination? Him winning the nomination and choosing Mike Huckabee as his VP. Just drive ’em friggin’ nuts.

This does make me worry about the bottom-scraping that’s surely soon to kick into high gear what with the wingnuts having to cope with the idea that either a black man or a woman might become Big Daddy. I predict some seriously tense folks fighting back Tourrette’s outbreaks on the Sunday gabfests. Christ, what Coulter’s got brewing in her little hangbag of hate is fearsome to contemplate.

 
 

What a lovely election season this is turning out to be. The Dems have two candidates that are exceptional, either one of whom will draw waves to the polls. The Repubs have two frontrunners that everybody hates,☢ and ☣, a preacher who’s staying in just to be a pain in the ass, ✟, and a lunatic who is out-fundraising the other three combined, ⇒.

They don’t make enough popcorn for this shit.

☀☺

All that said, I’m not counting McCain in as done quite yet. His adoption of the “Last Man Standing” strategy was brilliant at the time, given that every other candidate was wallowing in enough shit to drown a caribou migration. Sitting back, shutting up and watching everyone else self-immolate is all well and fine for a backmarker, but life’s a little different at the top.

McCain was the first grand implosion of the season. That is just long enough ago where people seem to forget it. We’ll see how well his “message” holds up when he’s put front and center again. I don’t think it’s going to fly very well. I’m not ruling out the Mittster quite yet, but Tuesday will tell.

Not to mention that while he might be able to dance between “Maverick” and “Glass Parking Lot” for the primary faithful, that pony’s going to run about two steps in a general. Every time he brings up one, he’s going to get smacked with the other. I’ve seen some polls that show him close with the Dem, but I really don’t believe it.

 
 

Wow. They are swiftboating one of their own. They just can’t stand someone who served in the wars they claim are necessary to defend civilization. They would have been happier if he would have died in that hellhole.

 
 

Coulter said that if McCain won the GOP primary, she’d campaign for Clinton. As if the Democrat party would have her…but the fact that the GOP establishment hates McCain *and* Huckabee, and has to find forced reasons to like Romney (who none of the candidates can seem to stand), plus the fact that by comparison with the rest of them Ron Paul comes off as sane…that’s just the schadenfreude sauce on top.

 
 

Wow, the mere act of SURVIVING the Hanoi Hilton and the horrors contained therein, now makes one a pussy. It seems that the only war veterans these Clowns like are dead ones. I guess, living, breathing men and women who have seen battle only remind said Clowns of their own cowardice for never lifting a finger. I’m no fan of McCain; he may be many things, but Jesus Christ, a wuss?

Morons

McCain / Huckleberry ’08!

 
 

Oh, sure, we all laugh…but can you imagine what it would be like to be a candidtate who has to try to bridge all the various mental disorders, insanities and just pure stupid that comprise the Republican coalition of interests? Mental disorders, insanities and stupid they have nursed and encouraged lo these many years in order to “grow the base”?

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of folks.

 
 

If John McCain were a real man, he not only would have broken out of his imprisonment, killed all his captors, and freed all his fellow prisoners, he then would have led the freed prisoners to take all of both North AND South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, with nothing more than captured rifles and grenades, and wouldn’t have stopped until he had marched up through China, bringing it back into the Free World, and then successfully invading North Korea and overthrowing their tyranny and finally winning the Korean War, no more of this “cease fire” crap.

Wimp. Traitor. Surrendercrat.

 
 

Well, at least we know that the haters really mean it.

 
 

Jennifer,

Can you imagine a candidate actually coming out and appealing to said “base” without code words and buried meanings? Y’know, saying it straight up? Without the “If you say that it’ll have you tossed in the loony bin” wordfilter? Good Lord, it would make Michael Savage look like Phil Donahue.

 
 

You know what would be even better than McCain winning the nomination? Him winning the nomination and choosing Mike Huckabee as his VP. Just drive ‘em friggin’ nuts.

Yeah, hilarious, assuming McCain actually loses, which he might not, especially if Hillary is nominated and/or the evangelicals turn out in force for the Huckabee side of the ticket.

1) McCain is getting pretty old and worn
2) A lot can happen in 4-8 years
3) eebakcuH tnediserP. (I don’t ever ever EVER want to be forced to type out those words normally)

 
 

Totally heterosexual, St. Reagan wouldn’t have even HAD to single-handedly win the Cold War if Defeatocrat McCain hadn’t discraced his country so badly!!

I bet if Fred!!!!111seventy-three!111one were captured by the Vietnemese (LOL like he ever would have been capured!) his musky / cigar smoke scent would have rendered them defenseless. They would have been washing his red truck by noon.

 
 

“If John McCain were a real man…”

Bosh. If he were a real man his daddy would have gotten him into the Air Guard so he could off most of his service to campaign*.

*Campaign is street for coke-feuled interstate bender

 
Smiling Mortician
 

If John McCain were a real man . . .

And just leave the Evil Empire of the USSR sitting there? What a chump.

 
 

heh, totally by accident, I left out the word “blow”

 
 

The reason they hate McCain is because torture isn’t a macho fantasy to him. He knows the incredibly ugly reality of it. McCain knows that a nation that engages in torture is not heroic or macho, so that would be why they’re specifically going after his masculinity. The wingnuts won’t be satisfied with anything less than a double-gitmo fantasy.

I’m not a McCain fan at all. That little armour plated romp in the Iraq marketplace and the attitude and ideas that let him think that trip was a good move will hopefully come back to wreck any chances of his becoming president, but at least he has (or had) some notion of what war does.

 
 

All we know is that he survived and came home while many other POWs did not. What was it about McCain that was different? Was it family heritage or was it his proclivity for compromising to get what he wants?

What the fuck does that mean? How many POWs didn’t come home, other than the inaginary ones in Rambo movies, I mean? I believe the North Vietnamese knew enough not to kill any U. S. POWs. I suspect those who did die while held by Uncle Ho’s patriotic forces died of disease rather than torture.

And McCain’s “family heritage” (redundant) of four-star admiral father & grandfather allegedly made the N. Viets offer to release him, but McCain refused the offer. Or so I’ve heard. Yet Culpepper essentially accuses him of violating the code of conduct for POWs, or worse.

As many have said, I’m no fan of brewery boy either, but there is a certain amount of intestinal fortitude & principle on McCain’s part (other than the fact that he let himself be captured after letting himself be shot down) & for this Lee Culpepper to make statements like that is fucking disgusting. Talk about the “politics of personal destruction.” Sheesh!!!

 
 

The truth is that all John McCain’s wounds were self-inflicted. I don’t know what’s wrong with our party that we won’t nominate a true conservative like Mitt Romney.

 
 

Hmmm, I started writing my comment, got a phone call, and by the time I finish and post everyone’s already got my talking points covered. Live and learn.

 
 

Yep, I heard McCain’s cell was locked from the inside….

 
 

I think the wingnut base has become so concentrated they are reaching critical mass. The neutron moderators, i.e. the party hierarchy, have been discredited or removed and fission is accelerating. The question that remains is can the containment vessel hold? I doubt it.

 
 

If John McCain were a real man, he not only would have broken out of his imprisonment, killed all his captors, and freed all his fellow prisoners

El Cid, you forgot that he would have also jumped a motorcycle over a heavily guarded barbed wire fence. That’s part of the ‘real man’ package too.

 
 

If John McCain were a real man, he not only would have broken out of his imprisonment, killed all his captors, and freed all his fellow prisoners.

What, are you asking John McCain to be CHUCK NORRIS? I mean, like, no way, you can just forget it, man.

 
 

Fake Bastion Booger.

Right?

Right?!?!?

 
 

Meet the newest wingnut crayon: black and blue with a smear of red made from the blood, misery, and screams of John McCain in his Vietnam war days.

Wow, gotta hand it to these evil fuckers. They really know how to support a soldier.

 
 

“And on the pages of Townhall.com, the beast turned on itself and began voraciously to feed.”

 
 

“And on the pages of Townhall.com, the beast turned on itself and began voraciously to feed.”

If the tail had a mouth it could start on the head.

 
 

If John McCain were a real man, he’d never have come back alive is what these evil fucks – none of whom have ever served – seem to be suggesting.

 
 

I would urge us not to emphasize excessively the heroism of McCain’s days of dropping bombs on Vietnam. Yes, he did serve in the war, unlike all the recent war criminals in the White House. Yes, he was imprisoned and tortured by the North Vietnamese. Was his service honorable? Well, I guess that’s for history and millions of dead Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians to say.

 
 

I would urge us not to emphasize excessively the heroism of McCain’s days of dropping bombs on Vietnam. Yes, he did serve in the war, unlike all the recent war criminals in the White House. Yes, he was imprisoned and tortured by the North Vietnamese. Was his service honorable? Well, I guess that’s for history and millions of dead Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians to say.

Missing the point much? Nobody here is suggesting the war was honourable. What’s offensive is the suggestion that McCain’s experiences in Vietnam are questionable, what’s offensive is minimizing the hell that was his life as a POW there.

 
 

Y’all are damn lucky you can’t catch this nasty cold/flu over the intertoobs. I feel like a typical Republican. That is, like shit.

 
 

Missing the point much?

Stop being such a bitch. I’ve seen these discussions many times.

 
 

That you’ve seen these discussions many time is irrelevant. You’re not seeing it it in this thread, bitch.

 
 

Lesley, I bow down to you as my political lord and master. Are you satisfied now, bitch?

 
 

why do I suddenly feel like I’m in a VFW parking lot at 1:00am?

 
 

angry little troll, point out where in this thread you’re seeing support for the American invasion of Vietnam.

 
 

why do I suddenly feel like I’m in a VFW parking lot at 1:00am?

I dunno, I was just offering my opinion, and suddenly some know-it-all jumped all over me.

 
 

Lesley, bitch, I am not a troll. I’ve voted Democratic all my life and I’ve read Sadly, No! for a good three years, even commenting on occasion. What’s your problem, anyway? Got your dissertation defense coming up? Don’t take it out on me, bitch.

 
 

Oh, god, ‘bitch’ has been said three times in this thread. Y’all have summoned the specter of Britney Spears.

 
 

It’s Britney, bitch.

 
 

John McCain is a patriot and an American hero so I do not approve of the Town Hall article that was written about him. However even though McCain is a patriot he is no conservative, the Republican party should nominate a true conservative like Alan Keyes to bring our country back on the RIGHT PATH that Ronald Reagan set us on in the 1980s.

 
 

yeah, that happens sometimes. Happens to us all. Still waiting for you to point out where anyone has suggested that what McCain was sent – and thousands were drafted against their will – to do was honourable.

I’m not seeing it.

 
 

‘bitch’ has been said three times in this thread. Y’all have summoned the specter of Britney Spears.

I blame myself. But it was unavoidable.

 
 

oh well, duties call and hell will freeze over before bystander answers my question. no point in hangin’ around.

 
 

Um, some advice bystander : you’d be better off standing by than trying to salvage any credibility you may have ever had.

 
some bystander's mother
 

bystander: Quit calling Lesley a “bitch” or I’ll have to wash your mouth out with soap.

 
 

I’ve read Sadly, No! for a good three years, even commenting on occasion.

Not under that handle.

 
 

you’d be better off standing by than trying to salvage any credibility you may have ever had.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Credibility on Sadly, No!? Credibility for expressing my opinion that McCain isn’t a war hero? Kiss my fucking liberal Democratic-voting ass, PeeJ. Where do these fucking Internet twerps come from? Assholes.

 
 

it was unavoidable.

No it wasn’t.

 
 

Hey, bitches, stop being bitches, bitches, or we’ll become just as bad as Fucking Townhall, bitches.

 
 

Dood, you wanna disagree with lesley that’s fine, that’s what we’re about, but tell ya what, tough guy.

Shove “bitch” up your ass. Not necessary, and I don’t think anybody ’round these parts is gonna be impressed…

mikey

 
 

Yeah, bystander.

Get a grip.

And you’re awfully slow in coming up with the part where anybody here said U.S. involvement in Vietnam was a good thing.

(Notice how I said that without calling you a little bitch or making up stupid speculations about your personal life.)

 
 

Not under that handle.

Probably not. I’m frequently quite drunk when I comment on this site. However, my recollection is that my comments actually were featured on the front page a couple of times. Anyway, what is this, a secret clubhouse?

 
 

McCain/Huckabee vs Obama/Hillary would be the “too funny forever” dream. Ah, wingnuts.

 
 

Hey bystander, how dare you suggest that McCain isn’t a war hero. Anyone who serves their country in combat is a hero. AMERICA IS THE GREATEST NATION IN THE HISTORY OF THIS WORLD! What heroic things have you ever done. You’re the little bitch you sniviling little coward!

 
 

mikey,

I figured you’d pop up. I meant no offense. I understand that the troops were executing their duties as they understood them. I work for a Vietnam vet, 1967-68, and I know quite a few veterans of the war through him.

Can we prevent this place from turning into Eschaton?

 
 

Culpepper’s source on McCain’s experience as a prisoner of war is an October 2005 piece by Greg Szymanski.

In fact, an article by investigative journalist Greg Szymanski depicts John McCain as no friend to POW families.

Szymanski is a kook of the highest order. He thinks the Jesuits run the world. For example:

9/11 Truth Seekers Only Touching Tip of the Iceberg When it Comes to Nabbing Real Culprits

The truth to who caused 9/11 leads right to the doorstep of the Vatican and Jesuit Order. According to an inside source, members of the New York Rotary Club, The Knights of Malta, Opus Dei and Sons of Italy need to be investigated.

By Greg Szymanski, JD
May 24, 2007

New information has surfaced linking the real culprits behind 9/11 to underground connections to the Vatican, including the Monte Carlo P2 Masonic Lodge, the head of the New York Rotary Club, the U.S. organization called The Sons of Italy, Opus Dei and The Knights of Malta, a group working for Rome with tentacles extending to the U.S., Italian and Russian mobs.

Lots more at his Arctic Beacon web site.

 
 

However, my recollection is that my comments actually were featured on the front page a couple of times.

Oh, so you must be Hanx! Pleased to meet you.

 
 

some bystander: If I may make an observation: It’s not a secret clubhouse. But repeatedly calling a regular commenter a “bitch” doesn’t particularly endear you to the commentariat. Now be nice.

 
 

some bystander.

I wasn’t about anything vietnam. Hating on that mother is full-on ok with me. Nothing good ever came out of it, and the hurting never ends.

My point was about Sadly, No. Lesley’s good people. No fucking need to go all Redstate on her. We can have a conversation without shit like that. If you can’t hang, find another place to tell your story…

mikey

 
 

I always thought Little Green Footballs was America’s shittiest Web site. Hmm.

 
 

Can we prevent this place from turning into Eschaton?

I agree. Maybe you could contribute by admitting you were out of line by calling somebody a bitch? And then you could either A) show us the part where we were talking about how great the bombing of Hanoi was, or B) admit you were being a contrarian douche.

 
 

My point was about Sadly, No. Lesley’s good people. No fucking need to go all Redstate on her. We can have a conversation without shit like that. If you can’t hang, find another place to tell your story…

Truthfully, I’ve read a lot of Lesley’s comments on this site and always thought she was full of shit. And I was defending my position, in response to what I thought were unwarranted attacks by her. However, if that means that I can’t hang, well, I guess that’s the way the ball bounces.

 
 

kobie: Well, there are so many deserving of the title. Perhaps it should be a rotating thing, sort of like “employee of the month” or “special student of the week.”

 
 

If John McCain had been a real man he would have fought his way out of the POW camp and from then on he would have worn nothing but his red cape and a leather thong and sandals like those completely hetero dudes from 300 which is the most patrioticest movie ever made and also that Mel Gibson movie where they beat up Jesus for the whole film.

 
 

And I was defending my position, in response to what I thought were unwarranted attacks by her.

You seem to have been affronted by her saying “Missing the point much?” I can’t see how this is an attack, let alone multiple attacks.

 
 

Maybe you could contribute by admitting you were out of line by calling somebody a bitch?

Actually, she is, in fact, a bitch. But enough. I ban myself. Never again will I darken the Sadly, No! comment threads. I’m obviously not high-minded enough to comment here.

 
 

Sorry to get on you for throwing bitch around so profusely. If you must talk like that to people who question your faulty logic, if there is absolutely no way you can converse without name-calling directed at people who disagree with you, then, yeah, maybe you should find some place else to hang.

(Still waiting for a quote or something that shows everybody here getting all nostalgic and teary-eyed and cheering for the massive carpet bombing of North Vietnam.)

 
 

Shorter “some bystander”,

Wahhhh, I’m Butthurt!

 
 

You know, sb, maybe if you had taken a position that was possible to defend, you wouldn’t have had to resort to bitch so early and so often.

Ever think of that?

 
 

What do you think, Lesley? Compost, Crybaby, or maybe Enfant Provocateur?

 
 

heh, totally by accident, I left out the word ?blow”
The word ?blow” applies to dubya on so many levels.

 
 

There is only one antidote for the poison the Grand Old Party purveys, and we all know it.

 
 

I vote for Crybaby.

 
 

I would like to state, for the official record, that should I happen to offend any non-troll, regular commenter here at teh Sadly, No!, I am in fact a douche.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 
 

Duly noted, MileHi.

I will, in future, respect your label choice.

 
 

Hey, fuck all you bitches. Y’all all suck ass!

(It’s blogroll amnesty day over at skippy’s and I’m using it as my “get off the Sadly, No! shitlist” free card.)

 
 

Now I feel like I’ve just watched an entire season of Queer As Folk.

 
 

“Never again will I darken the Sadly, No! comment threads.”

OMG! some bystander is bruce!

And we’ve chased him away again.

Oh! Woe is me! Won’t someone think of the bitches?

 
 

‘Kay, I’m pretty confused.

What part of this was hard to grasp?

What part of you don’t throw grenades in your own perimeter, even if you DO disagree about tactics is so fucking hard to understand?

I’m thinking some folks are just, well, insane….

mikey

 
 

mikey: I’m thinking that once they’ve stepped in it, some folks just don’t know how to graciously step back out. A little “oops! my bad” goes a long way. Funny how so many people just can’t do that.

 
 

“But his tough “hawk” image mainly covers up his waning male virility.”

Pffft. I’d fuck him.

 
 

‘A little “oops! my bad” goes a long way.’

In addition to being taught “never trust whitey” and “never trust anyone over 40”, I was also taught not to trust anyone who can’t admit and own- up to their own mistakes.

Of course, I went public schools and was taught by the original liberal fascists.

 
 

Who the fuck is this Chris St. James bitch, and why is he/she here?

 
 

It’s not just the swiftboating that gets me. It’s that it appears to be reflexive. Questioning someone’s military service–whether it’s Kerry, McCain or that “phony soldier” from Vote Vets–is not a last resort for these people. It’s their *first and only* resort.

 
 

Patriotism is the FIRST resort of the scoundrel.

I don’t WTF this anti-McCain bullshit is.

 
 

“Y’all have summoned the specter sphincter of Britney Spears.”

Fixed.

 
 

[…]“never trust anyone over 40?[…]

Jeeze, your teachers must have sucked something awful – everyone knows it’s thirty that’s the upper limit of trustworthiness.

Trust me on this.

 
 

Please Lord, let Mitt Romney win the nomination. McCain is sooo fucking boring.

 
 

40 is the new 30

bob the hog, sometimes less boring can be really really bad.

 
 

Was I kinda mean to sb?

Perhaps I should be feeling a little contrition, but I’m not.

 
White Male, Jew of Liberal Fascism
 

None of us know for sure what Bush experienced in Alabama during his time in the TANG.

All we know is that he survived and came home while many others did not.

What was it about Bush that was different?

Was it family heritage or was it his proclivity for beer and cocaine?

 
 

” Questioning someone’s military service–whether it’s Kerry, McCain or that “phony soldier” from Vote Vets–is not a last resort for these people. It’s their *first and only* resort.”

Don’t forget Orilly and the non existent Homeless Vets. I guess that having destroyed the Army they are in love with the Mercs.

 
 

There are a number of reasons to dislike McCain as a candidate for President, not the least of which he is old enough that he might not live through a term. Which means we would get stuck with his VP, whoever that might be. I’m still thinking Lieberman. Call me an age-ist, but the Presidency is stressful enough that it is one of the few jobs where I think it does actually matter.

Holding EDD against a REPUBLICAN candidate is just stupid, as most of them are into underage boys anyway, so of course they won’t get it up for their trophy wives.

Holding surviving a POW camp against him is truly despicable. This, coming from the party of people who REFUSE to serve their country, in any capacity at all other than massive consumption of cheetos and ding dongs. (Not you K-Lo, we know you’ve never gotten close to a ding dong).

 
 

What was it about McCain that was different? Was it family heritage or was it his proclivity for compromising to get what he wants?

Umm – why’d they bring up McCain’s family heritage? Is there something about him I don’t know? I mean – really, that seems like a red herring. It’s not like George Bush, being a member of a political family.

And I love their disdain for someone compromising to keep oneself alive. They even disdain basic accommodation – we see that with their stupid comments about women journalists, politicians, and aid workers in the Middle East wearing head-scarves.

They see this like some stupid comic book or Superman movie, where the hero or heroine performs some scenery-chewing tour de force where they defiantly spit in the bad guy’s eye, while being suspended, bound, over the lake of famished crocodiles. They must play out in front of their mirrors scenes where they confront the evil Sheik.

 
 

I’m confused. If “McCain is a poster child for Democrats and EDS [Erectile Dysfunction Syndrome]”, why is it the Republican bloggers whose sites are more likely to be plastered with ads for little blue pills?

 
Sphincter of Britney Spears
 

Never again will I darken the Sadly, No! comment threads.

Take me with you!

*inserts shotgun into mouth and fires*

 
 

Umm, I said it better in a thread a couple weeks ago when I was fully sober.

(J– can find it for you, I reckon)

But the thing is, combat made me crazier than a bedbug. I am in no way qualified to serve as president. POW made McCain full tilt looney toons.

He in no way should be allowed to be responsible for the future of the world. In NO fucking way should he (or I, for that matter) have access to “the football”.

He’s nuttier than a snickers bar. Don’t let this happen, there’s no controlling what you’re letting loose….

mikey

 
 

“McCain is sooo fucking boring”

Not true, I say! McCain is a volatile hot-head. It will be like poking a bear–and on national TV to boot. Besides, he reminds me of a chipmonk and that amuses me.

“Jeeze, your teachers must have sucked something awful”

I’m from Iowa for corn sakes. Cut us a little slack. Everyone knows we’re 10 years behind the times.

 
 

Hoosier X said,
Was I kinda mean to sb?

Naww, I don’t think so. I think you and Mikey handled it about as well as anyone could have.

 
 

mikey – I respect you, and what you say resonates with truth about McCain.

OTOH, we have had good presidents in the past who’ve served. Eisenhower, Kennedy – is the loony-toon-ness due to the specific experiences McCain had as a POW?

I am certainly NOT wanting McCain as Preznit, since he’s a hidebound conservative, but I am curious what you thin of our past Presidents who’ve served.

Although the example of U.S. Grant is one to make us all pause.

 
 

Thanks, noen.

And MileHi?

You are a douche.

 
 

Thanks buddy! That’s real liberal of ya’…

 
 

There’s lots of different kinds of “served”, g. It shouldn’t, and clearly doesn’t disqualify you from being prez. But there has to be some kind of test.

What did you go through. How did you come out.

There’s a whole bunch of us who have genuine mental health issues due to the shit we did and saw and lived through in a war.

The shit John McCain went through? I dunno. Maybe a guy could do that and come home with a firm grasp. Personally, though? I doubt it. I think John McCain IS some kind of Manchurian candidate. Except he’s not being run by Beijing or Moscow or Tehran. He’s being run by the voices in his head. By the terrors and the night sweats and the demons he can’t fight and can’t beat and can’t even negotiate with.

I think there’s an agenda inside his tragic, tormented mind, and that agenda is going to take america in a twisted, dangerous direction. I think hundreds of thousands or even millions of people are going to die if John McCain is elected president because he’s got an itch he can’t scratch, an pain he can’t anesthetize, a torment he can’t quell.

I promise you, if you are voting for John McCain, you are not buying the product described on the wrapper. You are unleashing a set of horrific demons, and empowering them with the whole weight of the american armed forces.

I’m not saying McCain is a bad guy. I actually think he’s not. I’m saying he’s crazier than a broken bedbug, and he’s gonna do things for reasons he cannot describe, and those things are going to be large and scary and tremendously deadly.

mikey

 
 

Thanks, J–. You got a gift for this stuff.

#

mikey said,

January 22, 2008 at 2:14

Until his supreme “whoops” moment, John McCain lived in a bright clean city, ate wonderful food, slept on clean sheets, shit in real toilets and occasionally drove a fast mover up north to drop bombs on some civilians.

I won’t denigrate his service, because after that he had it as tough for as long as anybody, but it’s not like he said “Oh! Infantry Grunt? Sleep in a hole, eat cold rations in the rain, shit behind an anthill and try not to get bitten by anything overly lethal? Well, hell, sign me up for a whole bunch of that shit right now!”

But then again, that’s part of the problem, ain’t it? I mean, I was over there for almost eleven months, never was a POW, never was tortured (at least in the narrowest interpretation of the word), and had some pretty good support around me. And I’m WAY to mentally unstable as a result to EVER be considered for the presidency.

I’m telling you, that dood has GOT to be full on looney tunes. And these idiots wanna give him the football?

Talk about not thinking it all the way through!!

mikey

mikey

 
 

“They see this like some stupid comic book or Superman movie, where the hero or heroine performs some scenery-chewing tour de force where they defiantly spit in the bad guy’s eye, while being suspended, bound, over the lake of famished crocodiles. They must play out in front of their mirrors scenes where they confront the evil Sheik.”

Yay! And j wins the thread!

This is exactly how these people think. I’ll never forget my brother-in-law, after watching some stupid Steven Seagal movie, exclaiming that “Muricah needs to send the Special Forces in to kill Castro and Saddam.”

When I pointed out that this was stupid and unrealistic–considering the fact that these gentlemen were guarded by the full military forces of their nations–my genius brother-in-law, in typical wingnut fashion first accused me of naivete and then accused me of a lack of patiotism.

“Don’t you think our special forces are all that?!! We’d kill’em all”

Sadlys, let’s not forget we are fighting people who are so deeply racist and tribal that they will say and do anything for their cause.

Damn! I miss bruce.

 
 

’m not saying McCain is a bad guy. I actually think he’s not. I’m saying he’s crazier than a broken bedbug, and he’s gonna do things for reasons he cannot describe, and those things are going to be large and scary and tremendously deadly.

this is frigteneing, mikey. What do you think are his reasons?

And I still want to pose a “devils advocate” question, and discussion.

Do you think even after all these years, this is what drives McCain? He can’t outgrow, outlearn, out compensate for it? Unlike George Bush, he seems to at least hold out a level of integrity about the Constitution.

What about a guy like George Washington – Christ, do you wonder whether what he experienced was as horrific as modern war, or worse, or about the same? Yet history tells us he was measured, deliberate, smart, not driven by egos or fears.

The danger of an idiot like George Bush, who only experienced war as a kind of movie or comic book – is this worse? Or different, and if different, how?

I emphasize – I oppose McCain for many more reasons, but my own lack of knowledge about war and combat makes me curious about this particular thing you talk about.

 
 

I’m telling you, that dood has GOT to be full on looney tunes. And these idiots wanna give him the football?

What better way to ensure the handoff goes smoothly?

 
 

I’m with Mikey on McCain. Can’t figure that guy out. How does one survive being a tortured POW in a useless war that should never have happened and advocate continuing another useless awful war that should never have happened.

 
 

Well, listen, folks. I have a leftover hunk of roasted pork shoulder in the fridge that needs to be shredded and sizzled up to make some tacos. I have an avocado, a green salsa, and some cilantro.

Gotta go for a while. If you want some tacos, stop by.

 
 

I heard – out of the corner of my ear today – that a sounds-like “poultry” wingnut is backing Hillary and McCain… Is this possible?

Why yes, apparently so.

 
 

Mmmmmmmmmmmm – tacos.
(gurgling sound)

 
 

What do you think are his reasons?

There really aren’t any reasons. He’s hurt deep, in a place you can’t heal. The scars still bleed. The anger and fear are as close as last nights nightmares. The horror is the helplessness, and the response is to NEVER be helpless again. If it’s me throwing a barstool through the front window at Harrahs or McCain launching a cruise missile strike against Peshawar, it’s the hurt we can’t even bandage that makes us dangerous, and stupid.

What about a guy like George Washington

George Washington was a warrior in a warrior culture. John McCain was a fighter pilot. I was a surfer.

George Washington was bigger and stronger and deadlier than most of the people he met. Sure, I bet he had a few moments where he was scared he wouldn’t make it, but that was who he was, and what his culture expected of him. I seriously doubt if it damaged him on any basic level. Actually, more to the contrary. I suspect he dominated his culture, and kicked the ASS of anybody who was an impediment.

Our world is different, the behaviors in warfare are different, and the horrendous lethality of the modern battlefield is nothing that good old george could have dealt with.

McCain was held by some pretty goddam bad motherfuckers for what, five or six years. They did some harsh shit, stress positions and mock executions and untreated medical conditions and malnutrition and we don’t even know what. How do you survive that?

I’ll tell you how. You build a different world in your head, and you go live there. You create something entirely artificial, and then you make it real and you hide inside it. What else could you do?

And what? You think thirty five years later you can just somehow put that place, that place that HAD to be perfectly real or you were going to DIE, now you can just put that place away, done with it, don’t need it anymore?

What that is, is that’s CRAZY. You are never leaving that place. Oh, you might poke your head out and have a conversation with people who can’t actually visit you there, but that’s home base forever.

And if the idea of a guy who lives there being the president and having all that power doesn’t scare you? You aren’t thinking it all the way through….

Scares the fuck outta me….

mikey

 
 

g,

You said:

“Yet history tells us he was measured, deliberate, smart, not driven by egos or fears.”

Dood, I love you like a brother, but Washinton wasn’t anything but an egotistical bastard. The fact that he didn’t declare himself king is the reason why he is the father of our expirement in democracy.

This is not an issue of “war experience”, it’s about overcoming.

 
 

Annie Razed McCain: Coulter Says She Would Back Hillary

By E&P Staff

Published: February 01, 2008 10:25 AM ET

NEW YORK We know the far right is upset with John McCain as nominee but this is really going pretty far: Ann Coulter on Fox News asserting that if he gets the GOP nomination she would not only “vote for” Hillary, she would “campaign for her if it’s McCain.”

She said on Hannity & Colmes last night that Clinton “is more conservative than he is” and added that in that scenario “she will be our girl.” As president Hillary would be “stronger in the war on terrorism” and would not pull the troops out of Iraq, pointing out that she jumped to her feet at the State of Union speech when President Bush said the surge was working (and Obama allegedly did not).

Hannity said, looking back to 2003: “McCain supported the war.” Coulter pointed out: “So did Hillary.”

Alan Colmes, wonderfully amused for a change, said Hillary would likely say “no” to Coulter’s offer to campaign for her.

But Coulter plunged on: “Hillary is absolutely more conservative” and moreover, “she lies less than John McCain. And she’s smarter than John McCain so when she lies she knows it … John McCain is not only bad for Republicans he is also bad for the country.” Hannity doesn’t seem to agree.

Wtf? Townhall’s freaking out!

 
 

Is it just me or are the Rethugs dropping acid now?

Coulter went on to enumerate the areas in which she finds Clinton preferable to McCain, saying, “He has led the fight against — well, as you say, interrogations, I say torture — at Guantanamo. She hasn’t done that.”

 
 

Mmm, tacos. I shoulda done tacos.

I did my signature fettucine carbonara, but I was drinking and distracted and didn’t do it right. It still was pretty good.

The big question is what goodies are we doing for super bowl sunday?

I’m starting with fresh hot scones, with English sweet cream butter, homemade plum preserves, apple butter and honey.

Then, as the game gets underway, my special guacamole and sausage, mushroom, green pepper and jalapeno mini pizzas.

At halftime? My special turkey/venison chilli, with cheese, sour cream and fritos.

Yep. Fritos. Nothing else will do…

mikey

 
 

Three possible explanations:

1) ideology
2) money
3) attention

Unless she is clumsily trying to sabatoge Clinton using reverse psychology, I don’t see how it could possibly be #1. Well, I do, but it would mean that she really was a liberal plant all along – and as great as that would be for wingnut head asplodey, mine would be spraying the ceiling too.

Shock is her whole schtick so 3 pretty much equals 1. What could possibly be more shocking than pissing on 9/11 widows and calling Bill Clinton a fag? Endorsing Hillary. Plus, if H-dog does win, she sells more books.

 
 

You build a different world in your head, and you go live there.

That sounds disturbingly like Hannibal Lector.

 
 

I’m betting that the Coultergeist is doing this out of a burn the palace attitude over McCain; she hates him so much she’d rather see the rethugs lose the White House than let him win. Nose, spite, face; some disassembly required.

Plus she figures that after 4 years of Hillary it will be easy to win the WH back.

 
 

As president Hillary would be “stronger in the war on terrorism” and would not pull the troops out of Iraq,

Coulter’s going all Trojan Horse on our asses here. Fuck her.

The fact that he didn’t declare himself king is the reason why he is the father of our expirement in democracy.

That’s what was referring to in calling him non-ego-driven. Altho I gotta go back and review my reading.

The tacos are dynamite. No credit to my cooking skills, which are minimal for this, but credit to the leftover oast pork, which is succulent, tender, and tasty. Sizzle it up in the skillet to render some of the fat…..Mmmm!

Tomorrow the men of the house request Buffalo Chicken wings, which I do in a hot oven. Got an organic avocado from the Farmer’s market for the guac.

I’m going to use the rest of the roast pork to make a posole tomorrow, to eat during the week.

We saw “There Will Be Blood” this afternoon, and I’m still buzzing with Daniel Day-Lewis’s crazy dark energy. Damn! A bowling pin!

 
 

Hey Mikey. My understanding of PTSD is that those wounds can be, if not healed then at least staunched. The treatment is to keep bringing them out in a safe place so that over time the return to baseline is shorter and shorter.

When I first came here. “Here” being the place that I currently reside, which is a supportive housing place for the homeless. I was pretty erratic and the smallest things set me off big time. I mean big time as in cutting yourself and ending up in the hospital. I mean screaming at the top of your lungs at someone in the TV room just because he was being a jerk, and so on. I know from crazy, trust me.

It gets better after a while although I do understand that some wounds go very deep.

It gets better and honestly I think that I can see that in you. I believe, if my memory serves, that you’ve improved quite a bit in the time I’ve been reading SN. It’s the God’s honest truth. I’ve tried to improve my own online behavior also. It’s really the best anyone can do, just try.

It gets better, I promise.

 
 

I am doing better in the last couple years, and thank you for noticing. I hope you find it easier to live in your world moving forward.

That said, there’s a difference between my world, your world, and the presidency of the United States. All the raw edges are going to be exposed, and there’s no place to back up and be safe. So the hate piles on the fear which tears at the anger which clamors for immediate action, and there will ALWAYS be the folks whispering in your ear “launch. Kill them. They hurt you. You can hurt them now”.

And you have to make a cool-headed decision. And you can’t. ‘Cause you have something to get from “them”. They OWE you something. And, of course, they’ll pay…

mikey

 
 

noen, I don’t want to be intrusive and feel free to ignore my question if it seems so, but can you describe what a “supportive housing place for the homeless” is? I’m interested because in my city the homeless are largely treated abysmally by a government whose idea of “solutions” are tent cities or more shelters (that don’t protect anyone) instead of social housing with built in support systems (health care, counselling) that mixes up people from different classes. I lived for a time in such a set up in Toronto in the 70s and it worked very well because people weren’t ghettoized. I’ve talked to a number of homeless people who’ve told me they hate the shelters because they don’t feel safe in them, their stuff gets stolen. The people who have dogs aren’t allowed to bring their animals in.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to shelters but they’re a cop out really. We had no homeless people in 1980 because the gov’t invested in social housing and rental housing was affordable then. We also didn’t turn mentally ill people onto the the street to fend for themselves.

It sounds like you’ve got something that works well. I’d be interested to know about it.

 
 

noen, where do you live?

My city has a pretty extensive homeless program. You’re in Southern Cal?

 
 

mikey, I always look for your comments and I read your blog.

I’m glad to hear you’re doing better too.

 
 

I’ve said it before. I LIKE this place, this community.

What I have not taken the opportunity to say.

I am continually touched, and deeply gratified, by the kindness the people in the Sadly commentariat have shown me over the last couple years.

And I believe that this place has helped me heal.

You people are very special, and I am most grateful for the welcome I’ve had here…

mikey

 
 

We like you, too, mikey. A lot.

 
 

Mikey, you may have deep wounds but you’re one of the sanest and most conscious voices I’ve heard. You’d make a great president.

 
 

You are good people, Mikey. And, I am better for your insights and wisdom.

 
 

Hey, mikey, thanks. You know what for.

noen, I’m glad you’re getting better. But not every case of PTSD is fixable. It may just be that I’m less capable of helping myself, but after a decade and a half of therapy of all sorts, every year still sees me spending a week or two showering with a knife in hand, not sleeping, spending my time in the closet and unplugging the phone because I tend to break something when it rings. My default state of being is a level of stress most people arrive at just before they go screaming into the streets. I’ve learned to avoid excess stress, ending up more or less entirely unemployable in the process, and I can’t imagine what goes through McCain’s head that he’s willing to take on the stress of the presidency.

PTSD doesn’t make you a bad person, and it doesn’t even make you inherently dysfunctional. But just as we have a right to decide that only people with a certain level of vision can drive, we have a right to decide that only people who can meet a certain level of stability can be president. By my reckoning, of course, that would have spared us George Bush, and I still think every candidate should have to take a psych test since the electorate clearly isn’t all that good at spotting abnormal psychs.

And Me, not so much. But it is part of a whole mess of coping mechanisms like dissociation, and an awful lot of people do it to some extent. It doesn’t make people into cannibal killers. But it does tend to be a coping mechanism we fall back into at unacceptable levels of stress, and it’s not something your president should be doing.

 
 

I’ll take any of you ‘deeply wounded’ people over the sociopaths who are usually in power any day.

D.Sidhe, if you’re still here: I recall you mentioning Intelligence over at TBogg’s old place awhile ago. It looks like the CBC may be axing the show. (I suspect the current gov’t hates that show as much as they hate the network. ) No one knows if there’s going to be a third season yet. Here’s the lowdown from the producer in case you’re interested: http://thetyee.ca/Entertainment/2007/12/03/NoIntelligence/

 
 

Lesley: Typical. I’m kind of surprised it made it to season two. “The Border” seems like a clone, more or less, so I can’t imagine it’ll last out more than a season, either. Well, as long as they keep us in “Little Mosque” episodes, I won’t complain too much.

 
 

You’re welcome Mikey.

Lesley:
I live in Minneapolis and the place I’m at is called Lydia Apartments and is managed by Commonbond Communities. I was on the street here in the summer of 2003 and in the fall I was at a Salvation army run place when I heard about Lydia opening up and I was lucky enough to get in. You need to be clean and sober to be here. It’s based on this wacky idea that only DFH’s would have that if you just treat people with some respect and give them a chance they will do ok. And what do you know it works. It takes people right off the streets or out of shelters or transitional housing and gives us an apartment. There are a few rules, singles only, no drinking or drugging, visitation is somewhat limited and so on but they are reasonable rules. You can have a small pet if your Doc ok’s it and you have a case manager you need to meet with weekly.

People have been asked to leave because they were unable to stay sober or for other reasons. It happens. The local neighborhood was at first opposed to them putting us here and they picketed it when it was under construction. Now they are our biggest supporters and the community association head comes by regularly.

I don’t think shelters are a cop out, I think they are a temporary solution and the one I went to was a dry shelter. It ain’t no picnic though. At that time in 2003 the social workers did a survey and 40% of those using the shelter were working fulltime jobs, 40hrs a week.

D. Sidhe:
I agree it isn’t always fixable. All I know is what I read and what my therapist says. I don’t think I have ptsd, certainly nothing like what you or Mikey experienced. I have gone through some nasty shit though. The time I got away from my boy friend was because he used a quarter inch acrylic rod on me, it took three days for the bruises to come to the surface. The Docs at the ER made me file a report even though I didn’t want to at the time.

What I have been told by my therapist is that it is a process of gradually getting used to managing stress. Sort of like how people who have a fear of flying slowly overcome their fears bit by painful bit. My therapist is trained in DBT, I recommend it highly. It teaches you some specific techniques for “Distress Tolerance” among others. If you don’t have a DBT or cognitive/behavioral therapist I’d suggest looking into it.

Dialectical behavioral therapy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavioral_therapy

Have a good superbowl guys.

 
 

I think you’re awesome, mikey.

And the idea that I might have played even the smallest iota of a role in your recovery makes me feel wonderful, like I am doing SOMETHING helpful, aside from making my cat happy by swinging the laser pointer around twice a day.

She LOVES that.

 
 

D.Sidhe, The Border is Canada’s 24 with a weenie little conscience. I find the show extremely irritating to watch from the way it’s filmed to its unrealistic portrayal of our intelligence service. CSIS is riddled with incompetence – partly due to being underfunded – and corruption. Ditto for the RCMP, but this isn’t evident on the show. The acting is piss poor. The show employs a jerky camera style, overly dramatic music to compensate for the absence of real drama, and distracting staccato sounds. It disgusts me that the CBC is flogging this show in its advertising and hasn’t a peep to say about Intelligence.

The CBC’s blog has more on Intelligence.
http://www.insidethecbc.com/intelligencebarbs

Btw, I’m noticing the CBC is one of the poorest sources for news now. It used to be our premier source (like the BBC used to be before all the cutbacks and political pressure).

As for Little Mosque, I watched the first episode, liked it, and it all went downhill from there. It didn’t live up to its promise for me. Still, I’m glad this show is around to enrage the racists and fear-mongers.

Don’t know if you get these shows but I love Corner Gas and The Trailer Park Boys.

 
 

Noen, thanks so much for the information. I’m going to pass your links along to some folks I know who are working on homelessness here. I’m glad you’re in a good place and have support.

Re PTSD: I was diagnosed with this a few years ago and sought a treatment that has been used on Vietnam vets called EMDR (http://www.emdr.com). It didn’t work for me, perhaps because my practitioner was just learning how to do it and following from a book. (I felt like an idiot sitting there while she tried to figure shit out.) I don’t know its success rate but I think I’d rather try hypnosis than go through that again. Meditation and yoga have helped a bit. (If I practiced every day, these would probably help a lot.)

 
White Male, Jew of Liberal Fascism
 

Mikey, I join several of the commenters above in saying how much we value your presence here.

We appreciated your polite but firm backup when that idiot started calling Lesley names.

While you and I have had our differences regarding our interpretations of the Second Amendment, it was totally a polite discussion.

It is wonderful to hear that sharing in the fun here at ‘Sadly, No’ has been helpful to your PTSD, and perhaps we might dare to hope that the end of the Bu**sh** administration next year will help you heal even faster.

On the other hand, if your condition ever should, sadly, deteriorate and you should ever feel the need to go totally berserk with your high-powered weaponry, would it be too much to ask that you take the Pantload hostage and force him to sign up for a tour of duty in Iraq?

 
 

Oh, a show of thanks, by the way, to everyone for the support. (Loved Mz Nicky’s “commentariat”. ) I was away from the computer when the exchange happened.

Don’t know why that guy was so hostile. Hating on people who agree with you for the most part seems senseless. I could have left out “missing the point much?” and avoided riling him but since he repeatedly called me a bitch for making a reasonable observation about his comment, I don’t much care.

 
 

It’s kind of reassuring to see that everything has gone completely off-topic and that I had nothing to do with it.

Lesley said,
Noen, thanks so much for the information. I’m going to pass your links along to some folks I know who are working on homelessness here.

Lesley, in Christchurch (NZ) there’s a “Comcare Trust” with a policy that is similar to Noen’s description (“It’s based on this wacky idea that only DFH’s would have that if you just treat people with some respect and give them a chance they will do ok”). By all accounts, this policy is working out rather well, so bear them in mind if your friends need another precedent when they’re negotiating with skeptical city councils. Unfortunately, being DFHs they don’t have a website at the moment, but Google will lead you to a contact e-address for Annette (their housing manager)

 
 

Shorter Ann Coulter, regardless of actual content of latest “outrageous” statement: “Look at me! Pay attention to me! I’m still relevant! Me! Me! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

 
 

Also try here to contact ComCare.

 
 

Some friends stopped by the house a couple days ago. One of them told me with absolute confidence that Barack Obama didn’t believe in saying the pledge of allegiance, that he wasn’t even an American citizen, and how could she vote for someone like that?

It’s not that he’s black and from a multi-cultural background. It’s that he pisses on the American flag after drinking the blood of newborn American babies.

Oh, she also hated McCain for unspecified reasons, apparently thinking a Romney/Huckabee ticket is the cure for what ails us.

For the record, Obama has led the Senate flag ceremonies on several occasions. There was some controversy, which you can find on Snopes, about whether one should put one’s hand on one’s heart during the national anthem.

These fuckers will believe anything. She still believes it, even after I called her on the bullshit she was spouting … only now she thinks I piss on the flag after drinking the newborn blood (lightly chilled with a stalk of celery and just a dash of bitters).

 
 

I think Digby could learn a lesson if she came over here and read the comment threads. Turn your Comments feature back on, Digs…haven’t you punished us enough?

 
 

Digby seems a bit less readable nowadays to me now that she and they have gotten the sense that they are responsibly writing for The Party.

 
 

Allow me to be a bitch and post a link to this post by IOZ:

Kerry On

 
 

You know, there really is no contradiction between (a) one being aware of the actual realities of U.S. intervention in the world; (b) understanding how the upper-class dominated U.S. electoral system not only influences candidate selection, but influence campaign staffing and strategies; and (c ) making one’s rational options based on the electoral choices actually offered, instead of fantasies one might have of how one would prefer U.S. political options to be.

Plenty of us admired John Kerry far more for his post-war dissent than his river boat personal bravery, and knew he was on for losing the moment he saluted the Democratic convention and lurched out “Reporting for Doody!”

Trust us. We got it. But losses by Kerry types aren’t the fault of TruPrincipled Anti-Imperialist Leftists’ failure to advise Kerry correctly, because those types don’t listen to us.

 
 

Crazy is wanting to be President of the Unites States, in my opinion.

“If I came to you with twenty-five of your closest friends carrying a black box with red buttons on it and said, ‘We have all looked for the best person to take care of this box, and we’ve decided that the only one who can protect it is you—if anything happens to it, if you lose it, the entire planet blows up,’ most of us, I mean, two hundred and eighty million of us, would say, ‘No! I don’t want the goddam box anywhere near me! Take it away!’ Yet every four years a bunch of seven or eight guys come out screaming, ‘Give me the fuckin’ box!’ ”

Joe Trippi in 2004

But as Ice T says, somebody’s gotta do it. I just hope for someone who can ride that crazy wave of phenomenal cosmic powers more or less stably.

 
 

While I appreciate football in the groin’s visceral impact, my approach is a tad more subtle, and is teh funny on more levels.

 
 

Why did Digby turn comments off?

 
 

Put your hand to your heart, say a prayer, and haul out some blankets and tinned food for the Royal Bank’s CEO. He just had his bonus cut by a fifth.

Royal Bank of Canada said Friday it cut the bonus of chief executive Gord Nixon by a fifth to $4 million, and his total compensation fell to $11.7 million in 2007 from $12.8 million the previous year.

Earnings growth slowed at Canada’s biggest bank in 2007, in part because of write-downs related to investments in structured products.

*sniff*

 
 

Why did Digby turn comments off?

Digby’s explanations, short and long.

 
 

The truth is that all John McCain’s wounds were self-inflicted. I don’t know what’s wrong with our party that we won’t nominate a true conservative like Mitt Romney. – Bastion Booger

Nu? This is what I don’t get. How is Romney more conservative than McCain?

I know the Dem. establishment has a habit of believing the media is liberal and on the Dems’ side, but I thought the GOP knew better. Did they manage to convince themselves of their own propaganda that they think that the patron saint of pseudo-bipartisanship is actually not conservative enough?

Personally, the GOP should be happy to go with McCain because he’s a conservative that has convinced all the swing voters/pseudo-independents that he is some sort of moderate wanker just like they are … McCain should be able to beat HRC in a head-to-head race with her (especially given how “even the liberal media lurves McCain and thinks HRC is too ‘extreme'”) and even (c.f. the results amongst independents in NH) could beat Obama.

OTOH, Romney will have a hard time keeping the fundies in the base in line and also doesn’t have the media star-power McCain has.

But I guess the real GOP base are the money people who flipped out when the fundies decided that they had enough of being pandered to and backed on of their own and who really use the neo-cons as tools to help justify “intellectually” GOoPerism and to come up with profitable wars — and Romney’s their candidate (c.f. — remember when the actual neo-cons wanted McCain and yet Bush ended up winning the nomination?), so I guess they will do everything they can to push him?

But now that the fundies and the pseudo-intellectuals are tired of just falling in line, maybe they’ll all vote for McCain? That’ll show the moneyed interests … so maybe even if he wins the freak-out in certain quarters will be worth even 8 more years of wars and frightening judicial appointments?

 
 

Digby is less patient with trolls and evil bad-mouthing assholes, and she got an infestation.

I can’t really blame her for that.

 
 

D’s explanation is reasonable but it’s too bad the trolls scored a victory. She might have tried banning their IP addresses.

 
 

Shorter Blankshooter: Brave people scare me. P.S. Support the troops!

 
 

I recall her explanations for closing comments had some assurances that it would be only for a short time and that comments would be back on real soon now. It’s been a few weeks now,right? That’s a long damn time in blogworld.

I understand why she did it, but now it’s just pissing me off. Hullabaloo was my first stop of every blog-reading day, with several refreshes during the day. Now, I check in every couple of days. It’s just not as interesting anymore.

Am I atypical in thinking that, now matter how wonderful a blog’s regular posters are, it’s the commentariat that really makes it worth staying there? Sadly,No! is a perfect example of that. I come for the great posts, but I stay and come back for the great commenters.

Is moderation or registration at Hullabaloo out of the question? Was there no solution to the trolls other than to close comments completely?

This all-or-nothing thing is crap. It smacks of collective punishment. A handful of trolls got out of control, so she effectively punishes all of her longtime readers and commenters and makes her own blog a lot less worthwhile and relevant.

 
 

Christopher Hayes, in his essay in favor of Obama, gives the impression Digby shut down the comments to keep Democrats from hurting each other and the general cause.

It’s gotten to that time in the primary contest where lines are drawn, camps are solidified and conversations around dinner tables grow heated. My friend Dan recently put it this way: “You start talking about the candidates, and next thing you know someone’s crying!” The excellent (and uncommitted) blogger Digby recently decided to shut down her comments section because the posts had grown so toxic. The recent uptick in acrimony is largely due to the narrowing of the field. While once the energy was spread over many camps, it is now, with the exits of Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards, concentrated on just two, leaving progressives in a fierce debate over whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would make the better nominee, and President.

I don’t read the comments at Hullabaloo, so I don’t have the empirical knowledge against which to judge this. Is it a fair assessment?

 
 

Off topic: Have any of the Democratic candidates promised to revoke Bush’s torture bill? Has this come up in debates at all?

 
 

McCain’s got something like an 80% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union, and he’s still not wingnutty enough for them? Jeez. And if you remember that he’s a conservative, you don’t really have to go too far into his head to find the source of his support for the Glorious Iraq Adventure. He was in Vietnam, he suffered greatly for it, and the dirty fucking hippies turned around and lost the war. Not going to happen again on his watch, no sir.

 
Qetesh the Qaveat Qat
 

Just checkin’.

 
Qetesh the Qaveat Qat
 

Hot diggety! That there above is the Korean symbol for a hot bath: if you look at any hotel in the streets, on the sign they’ll have that symbol if they’ve got baths.

Whoo-hoo, I loves me some unicode. 🙂

 
 

♜♝♞♛♚♞♝♜
♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟
☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓
☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐
☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓
☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐
☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ☓
☓ ☐ ☓ ☐ ♙☐ ☓ ☐
♙♙♙♙☐ ♙♙♙
♖♗♘♕♔♘♗♖

 
 

I’d like a hot bath, administered by hot, curvacious korean girls with small hands and compact, firm breasts, soaping me in my most private places and rinsing me with care, kindness and a gentle touch.

Phew.

I’m gonna have to go towel off now…

mikey

 
 

Is there a single unicode symbol for all that?
Apart from ☺.

 
 

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