Heh
John Kline (R-Minn) just declared that calls to his office ran 13-1 against the bill. You know that the ‘yes’ calls must have been blog readers, since most liberals know better than to bother with a stone tool like him. Which of you guys called Kline? Fess up.
***Update***
SuzyKhimm: Tea Partiers now clanging bells at Capitol Hill protest. Pro-HCR guy shouts, “Needs more coooowwwbelllll!”
***Update 2***
CSPAN junkies open thread.
March 21, 2010 8:50 pm
Posted in: 59-41 Senate Minority
223 Comments
223 Responses
mcc - March 21, 2010 | 8:53 pm · Link
Is this the new C-SPAN thread?
Grijalva’s statement was really good.
AkaDad - March 21, 2010 | 8:57 pm · Link
[whistles innocently]
pikhoved - March 21, 2010 | 8:58 pm · Link
Social Engineering?
Yutsano - March 21, 2010 | 8:58 pm · Link
Bah. I really should have called in sick today. Of course I’m stuck at work and will just have to flip in between news sites to find out what the hell they’re doing in the other Washington.
PeakVT - March 21, 2010 | 8:59 pm · Link
Does anyone know what the current schedule for the votes is?
gbear - March 21, 2010 | 8:59 pm · Link
I called Oberstar after he switched to ‘yes’ to thank him. I didn’t call Kline. He’s too big a tool. Gawd, he is such a tool.
Does anyone know why Peterson, a D from MN, voted against the bill? Anti-choicer? His vote never seemed to be in play.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:01 pm · Link
@gbear—Peterson (MN-7) is a Blue Dog and anti-choice. He was never in play.
mcc - March 21, 2010 | 9:01 pm · Link
Funny to see the republicans finally deciding they don’t like the mandate in the last 24 hours before the bill passes.
gbear - March 21, 2010 | 9:03 pm · Link
@C. Banana:
Thanx.
me - March 21, 2010 | 9:03 pm · Link
I’m surprised Sean Hannity isn’t drowning in his own tears yet.
Alex - March 21, 2010 | 9:03 pm · Link
This Gwen Moore lady sounds pretty awesome.
very reverend crimson fire of compassion - March 21, 2010 | 9:04 pm · Link
@PeakVT: NYT live-blogging is calling it around 10:30 pm (I assume that’s Eastern time), for what it’s worth.
me - March 21, 2010 | 9:05 pm · Link
Did you know this bill represents the complete destruction of our constitutional republic?
Watching Fox is fun.
kommrade reproductive vigor - March 21, 2010 | 9:05 pm · Link
From Khimm’s
feedTwitter Account (Is that better Cole? Get offa my lawn.):Worst. Pickup line. EVER.
Dennis G. - March 21, 2010 | 9:06 pm · Link
Need more cowbell?
There’s an App for that…
mcc - March 21, 2010 | 9:06 pm · Link
@me: Also socialist communist totalitarianism.
John Cole - March 21, 2010 | 9:06 pm · Link
@kommrade reproductive vigor: what feed?
jl - March 21, 2010 | 9:06 pm · Link
I just turned C-Span on. Not sure I can listen to it.
First guy I heard was a GOP jackass saying that this bill would create gummint run health, the doctors will all be disgraced incomptent dipsomaniac ex-dogcatchers who will beat you to deat with a rusty shovel if you get sick and have the temerity to go see them.
Yeesh. What a nutjob.
I’ll keep the sound off until it looks like the vote is coming up.
I will savor the vote if, as seems likely, HCR will pass. Politically for the GOP nutjob wing, which seems to include everyone of them in Congress, it will be like watching a film of a sinking ship, that suddenly goes end up and sinks out of sight in 30 seconds. Which in this case will be nice to watch.
Edit: CRAP, didn’t turn the sound off soon enough. Now some loon lady GOPer talking nonsense and spewing lies. “A government take-over of the studen loan business” (???) OH NOES, there goes the youth vote! BEWARES!
Edit Edit: I might listen to the smartest GOPER-man in galactic history Ryan. might be nice to see the next captain of GOP self destruction speak.
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:07 pm · Link
@gbear:
@C. Banana:
The fuck? I didn’t know we had so many pro-birthers in Minnesota. Hm. I just checked Kline’s district. Yep. Makes sense. That’s where I went to college (St. Olaf). Oh, the irony.
Note to self: Stay out of the 7th and 8th Congressional Districts of MN, as well as the 6th. Holy shit. One of Michele Bachmann’s middle names is Amble. It should be Ramble!
dmsilev - March 21, 2010 | 9:07 pm · Link
Just finished reading a history of the Army of Northern Virginia. I may be off-base here, but I can’t quite see the current crop of wingnuts volunteering to slog a rifle for a few years for little pay and less food.
-dms
Violet - March 21, 2010 | 9:07 pm · Link
Count me in the CSpan Junkie crowd. Although I just switched over to MSNBC to see what the talking heads were saying. They’re boring.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
Is that Michele Bachmann in the background? I don’t have enough gin on hand to deal with her brand of crazy.
Keith G - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
Just home from work. Quickly surveying the scene. This place has the feel of a street party. I am pretty pumped.
MikeJ - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
@Dennis G.:
But only if Apple approves of it and isn’t being paid off by someone bigger to kill the little guy’s cowbell app.
unabogie - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
I just thought up a great way to refer to the obvious GOP astroturfing of the so called Tea Party.
GOBaggers.
Catchy?
And Another Thing... - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
Rumor has it that there’s a tax on tanning bed treatments in HCR. I think it should be designated the Boehner Tax and that he should take it personally. Heh
dmsilev - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
@kommrade reproductive vigor: What mix? What mix? Jesus wept. I’d be tempted to answer “Chex”.
-dms
boognish - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
l I live in that assshat’s district, i figured my time and energy was better spent by donating to the primary opponents of dems who were opposed to the bill than trying to deal with the brick wall that is the republican wehrmacht – especially considering who my senators are. But, if he’s gonna be especially tool-ish about it, i suppose i will call him tomorrow and ask how Obama’s giant package tasted on its way down his throat.
LT - March 21, 2010 | 9:08 pm · Link
@John Cole: It’s in the diary. Dude, pay attention!
Nellcote - March 21, 2010 | 9:09 pm · Link
Bachmann is sitting right behind (teevee time!) the R speaker and all you can see is her crazy eyes blinking waaay too much.
The Other Steve - March 21, 2010 | 9:10 pm · Link
As much as I dislike Kline… I live in Paulsen’s district.
I don’t get the impression Kline panders to the crazies quite like Paulsen and Bachmann do.
SIA - March 21, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
@PeakVT: Yes, that is one of my questions. What time, so I don’t miss anything
the other – did the missing Sanchez sister ever show up?
the 3rd – so the student loan bill will be passed with HCR?
/all day C-SPAN loser
Tonal Crow - March 21, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
Ryan’s really going off the rails on “natural rights” and “equaliz[ing] the results of peoples’ lives”.
It’s just precious to see Republicans—who never met a kind of torture or warrantless search and seizure or unreviewable enemy-combatant designation that they didn’t like—talking about “lost liberty”.
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
@very reverend crimson fire of compassion: Huh. I read at Benen’s place that it’s gonna be 11:30 p.m. Eastern mumble time. At any rate, way too long from now.
@The Other Steve: I live in Betty McCollum’s. Whew!
Polish the Guillotines - March 21, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
SuzyKhimm == Wheen!!
/Nacho Libre
+Dos
very reverend crimson fire of compassion - March 21, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
“Artificial rights”? WTF??
kommrade reproductive vigor - March 21, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
@John Cole: Updated my comment. Really, I have no idea wtf you call a twitter … thing. Feed? Stream? Twizzle?
Tim F. - March 21, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
@boognish: That would work better as a fax.
I just had another idea. Do you think that you could phrase it in a letter to the editor that your local paper would print? I would screenshot that.
Omnes Omnibus - March 21, 2010 | 9:12 pm · Link
Paul Ryan is an embarassment to Wisconsin and to Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. There, I’ve said it.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:12 pm · Link
@AsianGrrrl MN:
Oberstar’s anti-choice stance is unfortunate, but he’s strong on labor, so there’s that. As for Peterson, he comes from a district where agriculture is a major industry and he’s chair of the ag committee. So he’s not going anywhere. That being said, there are pockets of progressivism in the 7th.
jwb - March 21, 2010 | 9:12 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: You went to Olaf? I went to the other school in Northfield.
dmsilev - March 21, 2010 | 9:12 pm · Link
Paul Ryan just said “My friends”! Everyone drink!
Oh, sorry, having Obama/McCain debate flashbacks.
Drink anyway. We’re all going to need it.
-dms
batgirl - March 21, 2010 | 9:12 pm · Link
I didn’t realize access to health care was a result of one’s life not an equalizing force. Thank you Paul Ryan. Why don’t you state it clearer. Can’t afford health care? Too bad. Go die.
KDP - March 21, 2010 | 9:13 pm · Link
Paul Ryan is confusing me… I thought we were talking about a health insurance reform bill, not the repeal of the welfare reform. When did the house decide to repeal welfare reform?
LT - March 21, 2010 | 9:13 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus: Paul Ryan is bringing on the full Wingnut. Has he ever heard of the Bill of Rights?
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:13 pm · Link
Paul Ryan is a blithering idiot.
His little road map was more like pirate map drawn by a mentally challenged car salesman.
The rhetoric is just infuriating.
jl - March 21, 2010 | 9:13 pm · Link
I like Ryan’s speech so far. It makes no sense and is very stupid, and full of stupid debt scare talk and winger buzzwords.
“We are at a tipping point” -into SWEDEN, May haps!?
Effing A, what are we waiting for! Sweden here we come!
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:14 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN:
Or “Addle.”
PeakVT - March 21, 2010 | 9:14 pm · Link
@very reverend crimson fire of compassion: Thanks muchly!
Mike Kay - March 21, 2010 | 9:14 pm · Link
fucking republicans and their delay tactics.
freelancer - March 21, 2010 | 9:14 pm · Link
@jl:
Don’t forget, he’s their policy wonk.
gbear - March 21, 2010 | 9:14 pm · Link
@Nellcote: She’s actually blinking?? That’s a new trick for her. Usually she has a zombie stare.
AsiangrllMN, I think I’m going to The Grand Creamery to celebrate tonight. And Betty is my rep too. I’m glad.
minachica - March 21, 2010 | 9:15 pm · Link
@Alex:
She was taking down Paul Ryan and his Medicare-killing ideas – her Wisconsin district (Milwaukee) borders Ryan’s. I was cheering her on from here in Madison.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:15 pm · Link
@KDP: To hear wingnuts, Europe is some scabby, forever clouded place where roving gangs of criminals do surgery. The delusions of the right wing are fascinating. Do they actually travel anywhere? Has anyone been to Europe? It don’t suck.
LT - March 21, 2010 | 9:15 pm · Link
Did Ed Schultz just say “Tinkle down”?
Reagan would have liked that.
martha - March 21, 2010 | 9:15 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus: Well, I’m with you on the Wisconsin part…he’s such a complete tool and as you know but others may not, his district was just slammed by the recession. Those people are either out of work or on Social Security…which he wants to take away. (primal shriek….)
My husband calls him Eddie Munster…
General Egali Tarian Stuck - March 21, 2010 | 9:16 pm · Link
I’ll give Paul Ryan some credit. A wingnut with half a brain. He is right about this being largely about the base ideology of the two parties. He got his way with 3 unpaid for historic tax cuts mostly to the most wealthy in the country, and his side got an unnecessary war that cost a trillion dollars and hundreds of thousands of dead innocents.
Our turn—to give life saving health care to millions of Americans in need. I like belonging to my side. you can call me soshulist Obot, I do not care. Kindly sit still wingnuts, and others on my side, and take our medicine – pun intended
Violet - March 21, 2010 | 9:17 pm · Link
Ah, the Freepers. Full of win.
Do you think the Pope could excommunicate the President of LDS? That would be awesome!
Bob K - March 21, 2010 | 9:17 pm · Link
It is notable that a future edition of The Encyclopedia Galactica fell through a wormhole in time, and its entry for the Reagan Revolution is “a bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came.”
Minnesota – Home of Batshit Crazy Shelly Bachmann. The crazy runs deep there
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:17 pm · Link
@gbear: YES! Grand Creamery is awesome! Used to live in St. Paul and then Mpls. Ever been to Krema? Crazy good too, but Grand Creamery has the lovely old school feel you just cannot beat.
mousebumples - March 21, 2010 | 9:17 pm · Link
@minachica: I was impressed with both Gwen Moore and Tammy Baldwin. Of course, my rep is Tom Petri, who apparently feels that 12+% unemployment in my county (not sure what it is overall in the district) is not sufficient cause to vote in favor of health care reform.
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:18 pm · Link
Three and a half minutes of Mike Pence? Must we?
Chuck Butcher - March 21, 2010 | 9:18 pm · Link
@Tonal Crow:
Ryan definitely beat the Randian drum half to death.
martha - March 21, 2010 | 9:18 pm · Link
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: Were you in our kitchen an hour ago when mr. martha was ranting at the R’s and making those very same points? ;)
dmsilev - March 21, 2010 | 9:19 pm · Link
Mike Pence: “We’re breaking history”. It’s official, folks. Obama is a time-traveller; that’s how he faked his own birth.
-dms
IndyLib - March 21, 2010 | 9:19 pm · Link
God, Paul Ryan is an embarrassment as a Congresscritter. I wish I knew how to get a decent Dem in this district to run against the little fuckwit. I’ve met the local Dem. party apparatus in the Pleasant Prairie/Kenosha area and they are part of the problem, I have no idea how to get them to be part of a solution that would see this twit out of office on his ass.
Scott de B. - March 21, 2010 | 9:19 pm · Link
Which one?
Omnes Omnibus - March 21, 2010 | 9:19 pm · Link
@minachica: Did you catch Tammy Baldwin earlier? The WI Dems are doing well.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:19 pm · Link
@ Bob K
It’s less about the crazy running deep in MN (although there is a distinct libertarian streak among the electorate) than that there are three very active major parties and another three minor parties. So the votes get split six ways. Also, the sixth district is gerrymandered within an inch of its life.
Cat Lady - March 21, 2010 | 9:20 pm · Link
@Nellcote:
She’s blinking a message in code to her teatard constituents – “Send more meth.”
Restrung - March 21, 2010 | 9:20 pm · Link
Pence is stomping my freedom again! dammit
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:20 pm · Link
@Bob K:
Taking from the 116th Edition of The Encyclopedia Galactica, printed in 1020 of the F.E. on Terminus with permission of the publishers:
“Tea Party Protests: Long forgotten.”
TR - March 21, 2010 | 9:20 pm · Link
Mike Pence says we’re abandoning the American Revolution! Move over, England! We’re coming back!
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:20 pm · Link
@C. Banana: I was being tongue-in-cheek. I know that most of MN has liberals sprinkled here and there. I am just frustrated with the idiots like Kline grandstanding for the cameras.
@jwb: No way! When? I graduated ‘93.
@dr. bloor: I like that.
gbear, shhhh shhhh shhh! Don’t say that! I refused to listen to anyone gloating about Obama before Keith Olbermann actually called in the vote.
very reverend crimson fire of compassion - March 21, 2010 | 9:21 pm · Link
@Some Guy: “Suffering deepens one, while travel broadens one.” They neither travel nor suffer. They move around, sure, but without ever leaving the mirrored bubble of their own impervious delusions, like an Alzheimer’s patient wandering along the highway.
Sam Houston died fighting for the right to own slaves. Fuck a bunch of Sam Houston.
Annie - March 21, 2010 | 9:21 pm · Link
OMG. Mike Pence: Now we are abandoning the American revolution, and not praying enough….Onward Christian soldiers.
General Egali Tarian Stuck - March 21, 2010 | 9:21 pm · Link
@martha: Could’ve been. I sometimes get lost.:)
carlos the dwarf - March 21, 2010 | 9:21 pm · Link
Great Weigel tweet: “TelePrompTer! ACORN! Chicago-style politics! Van Jones! WHY AREN’T THE MAGIC WORDS WORKING?”
martha - March 21, 2010 | 9:22 pm · Link
@IndyLib: We keep wondering about that—is there no one? If the local party organization is weak, that explains it. I cannot believe that a decent middle of the road Dem couldn’t scare the daylights out of him this year and beat him in the next election.
General Egali Tarian Stuck - March 21, 2010 | 9:22 pm · Link
@Restrung:
Pence – freedom is just another word, for nothin left to lose.
FlipYrWhig - March 21, 2010 | 9:22 pm · Link
@dmsilev:
What was their uniform, the aqua polo shirt with a popped collar?
Max - March 21, 2010 | 9:22 pm · Link
Mike Pence 2012! That would be fun. For reals.
Bostondreams - March 21, 2010 | 9:22 pm · Link
@Violet:
Thanks. Now my brain hurts.
dmsilev - March 21, 2010 | 9:22 pm · Link
@Scott de B.: “General Lee’s Army: From Victory to Collapse”. By Joseph Glatthaar. Good book, It lasted me through Montana, North Dakota and most of Minnesota over the last couple of days.
-dms
kommrade reproductive vigor - March 21, 2010 | 9:22 pm · Link
@dmsilev: You’d be amazed by what some people feel comfortable saying to minorities they deem non-dangerous.
Or maybe you wouldn’t. Bleh.
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:23 pm · Link
@TR:
Hey, England. You know we were just playin’, right?
We love ya. Can we come home? Please?
mcc - March 21, 2010 | 9:23 pm · Link
@Tonal Crow: I was fascinated by the moment Ryan said something about how we got this huge deficit run up by “past legislators who couldn’t keep their promises”. WAIT MR. RYAN WHO MIGHT YOU BE TALKING OF.
MazeDancer - March 21, 2010 | 9:23 pm · Link
Ryan’s on MSNBC. The first one in a long parade they stopped Talking Heads over for his full speech.
Despite his “European Welfare State” (yes, that’s a quote)- or because of it for the nutties – he’s gonna be a contender.
He’s smart, he’s passionate, he sounds like he’s making sense even when he isn’t. He’s just intelligent enough that he can’t be easily dismissed as a complete idiot. He disguises his wingnuttia well. Media likes him because he dresses up and looks good and doesn’t seem like an utter fool. Note how they pimped him as the brainiac Repub during the HC Summit.
He could make the vulnerable feel like they have a respectable guy who helps them “get back their America”. He even said with conviction, “America is an idea.” And the greatest pro-humanity idea ever.
Dannie22 - March 21, 2010 | 9:23 pm · Link
Mike pence is a real wingnut. He’s a wingnuts wingnut.
Cheryl from Maryland - March 21, 2010 | 9:23 pm · Link
We are turning into Sweden? My husband thinks that is teh awesome. What other country has a bikini team?
Malron aka eclecticbrotha - March 21, 2010 | 9:23 pm · Link
“Mr. Speaker, this is the (White) people’s house.”
I swear, the word pops in there every time I hear the word “people.”
Rep Kevin McCarthy repeats the “this administration has run up a deficit larger than all previous administrations combined” lying meme.
Now Smooth James Clyburn is up.
MikeJ - March 21, 2010 | 9:23 pm · Link
@TR:
Thank gopod. I already spend far, far, far too much time in line at Heathrow. This will surely speed things up.
jwb - March 21, 2010 | 9:24 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: An oldster. Graduated in ‘86. I have a ton of friends who went to Olaf, and Olaf has the best fight song ever.
Pasquinade - March 21, 2010 | 9:24 pm · Link
http://gatewaypundit.firstthin.....e-victims/
Right, you teabagger, if HCR had been defeated all those elderly people would have become immortal.
Raje - March 21, 2010 | 9:25 pm · Link
A bit OT, but there’s a Dem Congresscritter I occasionally see who looks just like Mr. Slugworth from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory (see here). Does anyone know who it is? He was sitting in the second row of the Dem side for a while. I always think he’s a Republican because he’s so evil looking…
robertdsc - March 21, 2010 | 9:25 pm · Link
These Goopers are grotesque scum.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:25 pm · Link
@very reverend crimson fire of compassion: Very poetic, yet vulgar, and illuminating. I like it. My own pop culture brain thinks of Austin Powers being unable to master his internal monologue. R-thugs can only hear themselves.
KDP - March 21, 2010 | 9:26 pm · Link
Clyburn’s up! This should be good.
Veteran, Great War of Yankee Aggression - March 21, 2010 | 9:26 pm · Link
@Tonal Crow:
Damn straight- I don’t know why Obama didn’t simply use his Dick Cheney Unitary Executive power to summarily conscript every living American into the Armed Forces, then provide them with single payer military health care.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:26 pm · Link
@jwb
Also, Rose from the Golden Girls comes from Saint Olaf. Y’all really ought to claim Betty White as an alum.
mr. whipple - March 21, 2010 | 9:26 pm · Link
Fineman just compared Obama to a Kenyan marathoner.
Jeebus.
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:27 pm · Link
@Max:
Meh. I dunno. Doesn’t look like you could land anything bigger than a Gulfstream on his shoulders.
Nellcote - March 21, 2010 | 9:27 pm · Link
OMG! Howard Fineman just compare Prez Obama to “those long distance runners in Kenya that get it across the finish line”.
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:27 pm · Link
Howard Fineman just compared Obama with Kenyan runners “crossing the finish line.”
Wow. Get out your decoder ring to figure that one out.
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:28 pm · Link
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: Or, as Jon Stewart said, “You lost. It’s supposed to taste like a shit taco.”
@jwb: You like Um Ya Ya? Seriously? I don’t even know Carleton’s fight song.
Who is the congressman speaking right now? I’m betting he’s a Dem. Sure, he’s talking about all the benefits of HCR reform, but I knew just by looking at him (he’s black).
Ok, Congresswoman from Washington needs to STFU.
rootless-e - March 21, 2010 | 9:28 pm · Link
@Josh: The passage of this socialist Health Care Bill will force us to struggle to assemble Ikea furniture in a bleak collectivist future.
My GOD! Our future is gone.
mai naem - March 21, 2010 | 9:28 pm · Link
@mr. whipple: Idjit doesn’t even realize he should be comparing him a long distance Kenyan runner. Dumbf@#k.
Corner Stone - March 21, 2010 | 9:29 pm · Link
@dmsilev:
I…I..can’t. My arms..won’t move anymoar.
I’ve been historic since drinking every time.
MikeBoyScout - March 21, 2010 | 9:29 pm · Link
McMorris-Rodgers – the teabagger time keeper.
LT - March 21, 2010 | 9:29 pm · Link
@Pasquinade:
And after that, we like totally party the Iraq War. OMISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Tim F. - March 21, 2010 | 9:30 pm · Link
@mr. whipple: I think that Fineman meant it as a complement. Give him the benefit of the doubt, guys.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:30 pm · Link
@Josh: Saw that. Seriously painful. He really thought he was clever. Nudge, nudge. Ish.
South of I-10 - March 21, 2010 | 9:30 pm · Link
I have switched to C-Span and commenced drinking. I don’t know how you have been watching this all day.
Citizen_X - March 21, 2010 | 9:30 pm · Link
@Violet:
WTF, you can start a petition to excommunicate other people? Even non-Catholics? Who knew?
Max - March 21, 2010 | 9:30 pm · Link
@Tim F.: I agree. I think Fineman was fucking with the wingnuts.
LT - March 21, 2010 | 9:31 pm · Link
@mai naem: Just heard that Kenyan long distance runner thing. Do they do this just to get talked about?
Pasquinade - March 21, 2010 | 9:31 pm · Link
@pourmecoffee:
Tonal Crow - March 21, 2010 | 9:31 pm · Link
@mcc: It’s all emo. I just has to sound good to get the wingnuts clapping. That it’s self-contradictory (e.g., expressing grave concern over budget deficits while being foursquare for Bush’s tax cuts and the Iraq war) matters not at all.
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:31 pm · Link
@Josh:
H-O-L-Y S-H-I-T T-H-E B-I-G S-C-A-R-Y N-E-G-R-O P-U-L-L-E-D I-T O-F-F!
rob! - March 21, 2010 | 9:32 pm · Link
How could the state that gave us Bob Dylan, Prince, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Sen. Al Franken also have given us Michelle “Coo-coo for Cocoa-Puffs” Bachmann?
pillsy - March 21, 2010 | 9:32 pm · Link
@Tim F.:
He absolutely did. He just came off like a doofus.
Bobblehead SOP really.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:32 pm · Link
@Tim F.: I know but it is still painful. No benefit. He is a well paid wordsmith. Think harder.
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:33 pm · Link
She got eaten by a dinosaur? Was Jesus riding it?
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:33 pm · Link
Who’s the guy who’s giving time to everyone? HCR is a BLANKET? WTF?
Alex - March 21, 2010 | 9:33 pm · Link
Wow, Capito’s really going to town. It’s a blanket! No, it’s a wall!
gbear - March 21, 2010 | 9:33 pm · Link
@jwb: Ummm…did you know any of the people who were in Modern Entertainment (kind of a comedy music revue)?
mai naem - March 21, 2010 | 9:34 pm · Link
Who TF is this Cathy Morris Rogers? And WTF is she wearing? I have never seen this woman before and I watch CSPAN way more than I should. OMG and now this HCR bill is a blanket? Jeebus, were these people under the influence of the bong when they were figuring out these speeches?
Max - March 21, 2010 | 9:34 pm · Link
Personally, I would like to see Obama stand at the podium in the East Room following passage of the bill and raise his arm in the black power salute from the 1968 Olympics.
PanAmerican - March 21, 2010 | 9:34 pm · Link
Capito: “blacket of legislation”—paging Dr Freud.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:35 pm · Link
@rob!
The election of Jesse Ventura should have tipped the nation off that Minnesota’s politics can be deeply weird.
Of course, after eight years of Tim Pawlenty, I find myself thinking more fond thoughts about the Ventura administration then I would have ever thought possible.
IndyLib - March 21, 2010 | 9:35 pm · Link
@martha: @MazeDancer:
The little cretin comes across as a “nice midwest boy”, on camera and especially in person. He’s gotten much more wingnutty in the last couple of years though, and a hardass candidate would be able to exploit that. Unfortunately in ‘08 the Dem candidate was a nice former teacher from Pleasant Prairie who had never run for office before, so he wiped the floor with her by almost 30 points. So far the only person to declare for the Dem nomination so far this year is a nice former music professor from Kenosha who has never run for office before.
It’s depressing.
jwb - March 21, 2010 | 9:35 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: Um Ya Ya is awesome—and what other school would dare proudly lead with a fight song that was so, uh, mockable! And while I do know Olaf’s fight song by heart (and upside down and backwards—We used to sing it back: “Ya, Ya, Um”), I haven’t a clue what Carleton’s fight song is. Just goes to show you!
And Another Thing... - March 21, 2010 | 9:35 pm · Link
@dmsilev: FTW
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill - March 21, 2010 | 9:36 pm · Link
“...The cold wind of job loss.”
WTF?
KDP - March 21, 2010 | 9:36 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: That would have been Clyburn, I believe. Schwartz of Pennsylvania speaking now.
This woman, Capito, is distinctly florid in her use of language. All this talk of holey, inadequate blankets woven from strong arms and manipulation.
I may just go +1, I don’t normally indulge, but this is a very special occasion.
What happens to doctors who go into politics? All of my doctors are pro-reform.
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:36 pm · Link
Capito: Little do those little American children know that this health-care bill will end the world and bring about a thousand years of Sith rule.
RareSanity - March 21, 2010 | 9:36 pm · Link
@dr. bloor:
Excuse me while I whip this out…
Annie - March 21, 2010 | 9:36 pm · Link
@dr. bloor:
LOL. Someone really needs to tell Ms. Sarah that “tyrannized” is not and never will be a word, no matter how much she appeals to a higher being…
MikeBoyScout - March 21, 2010 | 9:37 pm · Link
@127 Max:
Best comment of the day.
Thanks!!
dmsilev - March 21, 2010 | 9:37 pm · Link
I can only imagine that the DVRs at the offices of The Daily Show are working overtime right now. I think the show is on vacation next week, more’s the pity.
-dms
Davis X. Machina - March 21, 2010 | 9:37 pm · Link
If 3% of the population is barking mad, then the number of frank psychotics in the House is about 13. And all of them are on C-SPAN end to end, intervening Democrats excepted.
Malron aka eclecticbrotha - March 21, 2010 | 9:38 pm · Link
“A blanket. That’s a wall of government. With huge holes. Patches for those holes. Children playing in the backyard. unaware. Hearts beating. Listen to the hearts beating people!”
Madame wingnut Capito is seriously mixing her metaphors.
@Josh: Damn, I see Josh is way ahead of me.
jwb - March 21, 2010 | 9:38 pm · Link
@gbear: Not that I recall, but it’s been a long time. You a Carl?
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
Well, shut my mouth. The guy talking now has a Southern drawl, and I thought he’d be a Republican. He’s not. He’s a Dem and just got booed for saying the Republicans brought no solutions.
@jwb: Ok, yes, the silliness of it, yes. I will agree with that.
How can they give minutes to each other? That’s just bizarre!
TR - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
Phil Roe may be a doctor. But he’s clearly not a member of the Hair Club for Men.
Omnes Omnibus - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
@Max: FTW
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
OK, Phil Roe wins the worst combover award. Guilianiesque.
mai naem - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
@LT: To be perfectly honest, I think Fineman was complimenting Obama although if Fineman did a little research he would know that Obama’s family is not from the Highlands area where most of the runners are from. BTW, they’ve done studies on the runners to see why they appear to have higher endurance/more efficient oxygen use(?) and how that could be used to help cardiac patients.
SIA - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
@South of I-10: I’ve been watching C-SPAN all day. It’s better (no expert opinions, other than the hoohaws on the house floor) but still draining. I think it would have been better to not watch until the real vote, whenever the fuck that’s gonna be now.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
I can’t tell if the republicans’ arguments are making less sense or if I am just getting more drunk. Little from column a, little from column b, I think.
Alex - March 21, 2010 | 9:39 pm · Link
Phil Roe has never operated on a Republican cancer in his life. That’s because Republicanism is a cancer itself. Forest for the trees, etc.
Davis X. Machina - March 21, 2010 | 9:40 pm · Link
This woman, Capito, is distinctly florid in her use of language.
Mercury liberated in the mining or combustion of coal is my theory, and I’m sticking to it. That would make the Power River basin the North American epicenter of teh crazy, and explain Sen. emBamrasso (R-Gamma Quadrant)
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:40 pm · Link
Roe: I’ve never operated on a Republican or Democratic cancer.
Obviously. Have you ever heard of Washington, D.C.?
Violet - March 21, 2010 | 9:41 pm · Link
@dr. bloor:
I like his combover. He owns it. It’s fierce.
RareSanity - March 21, 2010 | 9:41 pm · Link
All I hear from Rep. Roe:
Combover!
Combover combover combover. Furthermore, combover combover combover.
TR - March 21, 2010 | 9:41 pm · Link
Physicians hate this bill? It’s too bad they don’t have a trade association to register their opinion on this. They could call it the “American Medical Association” or something.
Seniors hate it? Again, too bad they don’t have an “American Association of Retired Persons” or something to register their feelings.
Citizen_X - March 21, 2010 | 9:41 pm · Link
I’d like to see him recreate this photo.
Anya - March 21, 2010 | 9:41 pm · Link
I just came back. Did I miss any crazy declaration and gimmicks?
mai naem - March 21, 2010 | 9:41 pm · Link
@RareSanity: It’s BigScaryMuslimNegro.
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:42 pm · Link
@Max: Oh my god. That would be priceless!
South of I-10 - March 21, 2010 | 9:42 pm · Link
@SIA: It may be the wine talking, but Rep. Roe has a sweet comb over.
Omnes Omnibus - March 21, 2010 | 9:43 pm · Link
@South of I-10: I think I need to start drinking.
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:43 pm · Link
@South of I-10:
Is your wine from a box?
South of I-10 - March 21, 2010 | 9:44 pm · Link
@Violet: @RareSanity: Damn it! You beat me to it.
Nellcote - March 21, 2010 | 9:44 pm · Link
@Cat Lady:
It did sort of remind me of when CodePink would position their signs behind the speakers at hearings so they would have to be on camera.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:44 pm · Link
@mai naem: I don’t want to overstress a minor comment from Fine, but because he was trying to be complimentary doesn’t make it a good comment. Obama is not kin to long distance runners anymore than I am kin to Irish cops and my mom’s maiden name is Kennedy.
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:44 pm · Link
@TR: Bwahahahahahahaha! You win!
@Anya: Yes. You missed that the HCR bill is a blanket—and that’s just in the last ten minutes.
By the way, the Republicans are acting like two-year olds with their hooting and hollering and booing.
I love how every Republican emphasizes FLAWED in their canned statements.
SIA - March 21, 2010 | 9:45 pm · Link
@South of I-10: Easy there. You’ll feel differently in the morning.
gbear - March 21, 2010 | 9:45 pm · Link
@C. Banana:
Ventura had some stupid streaks but he wasn’t really all that bad a Governor when it came to the day to day management. Part of the reason that things went to hell for Ventura was that Pawlenty was the majority leader in the House. He was just as much a dickhead then.
Jesse included health benefits for same-sex partners in a state labor contract, and Pawlenty scotched the deal. It was the first time in MN history that the legislative branch had injected itself into the labor negotiations. We wound up going on strike for two weeks because of Pawlenty’s fucking with the state employee’s contract. TPaw’s been doing heavy damage to this state for many many years.
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:45 pm · Link
CANTOR IS UP TO BAT!
KDP - March 21, 2010 | 9:46 pm · Link
Ah, geez, I cannot put up with 4 minutes of Cantor. Time to channel-surf. Oh, goodie, Hannity has ‘starbursts’ Lowry and debunked McCaughey.
Hmm, some one that seems rational, Kirsten Powers, saying that the Republicans have used the same legislative practices.
Annie - March 21, 2010 | 9:46 pm · Link
@Pasquinade:
I just read the link, thinking this was a joke…Don’t these people realize that Republicans were against Medicare before they suddenly became for it? I have said it several times in several threads over the weekend—what is killing this country is the marriage of Republican/conservative politics and the religious right…
SIA - March 21, 2010 | 9:46 pm · Link
@Citizen_X: Please, who is that young person in the photo?
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:46 pm · Link
The scary thing is that they are deferring all their minutes to such fucking idiots! Really? This is the best the Republicans can do?
YOU LIE! Guy who’s talking about how real ‘Muricans don’t want healthcare reform. Oops. Just checked out the video. It’s Cantor. He’s saying they all care about healthcare for the people. I thought he was supposed to be one of their best and brightest?
batgirl - March 21, 2010 | 9:46 pm · Link
I hate Cantor.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:46 pm · Link
@Cat Lady: Cat Lady, you are funny.
Tonal Crow - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
“It will even affect future generations that have not yet been born”—E. Cantor
Malron aka eclecticbrotha - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
Eric Cantor needs to just come on out of that lil closet already.
Annie - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
@TR:
good post….
Omnes Omnibus - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
@Josh: And that’s why they invented the mute button.
TR - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
I’m still convinced Cantor is a Democratic plant. A whiny voiced, weasel faced, used-car salesman lookalike? Come on.
RareSanity - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
Tell ya one thing about Cantor, he’s got one hell of a head of hair on him…
Anya - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
Canter is such a shithead. He is so annoying.
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
Oh look, Cantor is playing to the (peanut) gallery.
freelancer - March 21, 2010 | 9:47 pm · Link
TIDOS Yankee:
Freedom!
Miss Mouse - March 21, 2010 | 9:48 pm · Link
True story: I went to high school with Mike Pence’s niece. She was a bully. I punched her in the face once. Today with health care reform, I’m also metaphorically punching Mike Pence in the face. It’s a great feeling.
Corner Stone - March 21, 2010 | 9:48 pm · Link
Cantor:
“Now that we can’t decide who’s cronies get govt cash, we believe it should stop spending money it doesn’t have!”
mai naem - March 21, 2010 | 9:48 pm · Link
Anybody notice Michelle Bachman(Crz-Dgbt) primping herself. She must be getting ready to do her thang, And now Eric Cantor. Oh, who do I dislike more? Pence, Cantor or Ryan? So many deeckheads to choose from, so little time.
And Another Thing... - March 21, 2010 | 9:48 pm · Link
@dr. bloor: OMG I just baptized my monitor with champagne… Thank you for that.
Omnes Omnibus - March 21, 2010 | 9:48 pm · Link
@RareSanity: Cantor has all the warmth and charm of a young James Woods.
Josh - March 21, 2010 | 9:48 pm · Link
Cantor’s definition of American People: White Republicans.
Nobody else counts. Nuh-uh. No way.
If it ain’t good for the rich, it ain’t good for the country.
Tax breaks = GOVERNMENT RAISING TAXES
IT’S THE APOCALYPSE!
OH NOES! THE BILL COVERS ABORTION!
My brain—-shriveled and dead.
C. Banana - March 21, 2010 | 9:49 pm · Link
@gbear
Yeah, generally agree. Although Ventura’s choice to drain the surplus funds is a decision that in part is contributing to the disastrous budget situation the state is in now. (Not to minimize Pawlenty’s involvement, obviously.)
gbear - March 21, 2010 | 9:49 pm · Link
@jwb:
Nope. They were just friends of mine. I’m a U or M twin cities dropout.
minachica - March 21, 2010 | 9:50 pm · Link
@mousebumples: My sympathies! I grew up in Kansas, so I understand the frustration of crappy representation. I had just moved to Wisconsin the year Tammy Baldwin ran for Congress and canvassed to get her elected, and I was thrilled when she won (and became the first openly GLBT person elected to Congress). I’m just so disgusted with Paul Ryan and all the attention he’s getting; I’m hoping it will backfire.
TR - March 21, 2010 | 9:50 pm · Link
Cantor is now ranting about how the American people don’t want federal money used to pay for abortions.
Take that, strawman! Die!
South of I-10 - March 21, 2010 | 9:51 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus: No time like the present.
@dr. bloor: No, but maybe it should be.
@SIA: I was going to make fun of Eric Cantor, but it seemed too easy.
JAHILL10 - March 21, 2010 | 9:51 pm · Link
@ dr. bloor at 122
Sarah Palin updating her Facebook status to “Tyrannized.”
She got eaten by a dinosaur? Was Jesus riding it?
I think I love you. Har Har Har
And Another Thing... - March 21, 2010 | 9:51 pm · Link
@Woodrow “asim” Jarvis Hill: Best comment abt Cantor evah.. Thinking that Cantor is intelligent is an example of ethnic profiling.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:52 pm · Link
Lord, Cantor is just throwing spaghetti at the wall. Taking freedom, controlling the economy, hating on love and goodness – trillion dollar, trillion dollar, trillion dollar! Cantor is a tool among tools, and that shed houses Steve King and Michelle Bachmann. Feel it.
WereBear - March 21, 2010 | 9:52 pm · Link
@Violet: I would get rid of the child molesters first.
But that’s just me.
RareSanity - March 21, 2010 | 9:53 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
Well played, sir.
SIA - March 21, 2010 | 9:54 pm · Link
Eric Cantor is shrill.
Omnes Omnibus - March 21, 2010 | 9:55 pm · Link
Dave Obey just slapped Lungren down. On Wisconsin!
asiangrrlMN - March 21, 2010 | 9:55 pm · Link
Woot woot! It’s my congresswoman, Betty McCollum! I like her, despite her unreasonable hatred for Al Franken.
Some Guy - March 21, 2010 | 9:56 pm · Link
Anybody watch Flight of the Conchords? Watching the GOP sullenly prance about the well of the House reminds me of this (“Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor“)
Annie - March 21, 2010 | 9:56 pm · Link
@Josh:
gag…almost wasted good wine…
dr. bloor - March 21, 2010 | 9:57 pm · Link
I think we just found Tim Kazurinsky’s long lost twin sister.
mr. whipple - March 21, 2010 | 9:57 pm · Link
@SIA: Eric Cantor eats his boogers.
RareSanity - March 21, 2010 | 9:59 pm · Link
I know she’s a Dem, but if she put some sequins on those shoulders, she could do her own “Beat It” video.
Hey…jokes are bipartisan!
RareSanity - March 21, 2010 | 10:00 pm · Link
@dr. bloor:
Dood!!
You are on fire tonight!
Malron aka eclecticbrotha - March 21, 2010 | 10:00 pm · Link
Loves me some David Obey – he just smacked down some GOP stalling attempt.
DaBomb - March 21, 2010 | 10:01 pm · Link
@dr. bloor: That made me spit beer out of my nose.
Wingnut tears for ere’body!
mousebumples - March 21, 2010 | 10:01 pm · Link
@minachica: I grew up in Sensenbrenner’s district (and in such a conservative town that I thought I was a conservative until I hit college and was actually exposed to intelligent liberals and/or moderates, at which time I rethought my political compass), and now I’m living and working in Petri’s district. We’re a pretty red district, I think – we went for Obama, but by a fraction of a percent, and even with that Obama support, Petri won by maybe 2%. From everything I’ve read/heard as of late, this is traditionally a pretty strong GOP district, but I’ll do what I can in November. And, maybe redistricting post-census will shake things up a bit? (I can only hope … )
Also: Add me to those who are celebrating the awesome that is Rep. Obey! I really kinda love the end remark regarding whose approval the questioning Rep would need and how he should already know that and not need to ask. Snerk.
Annie - March 21, 2010 | 10:04 pm · Link
Grab the alcohol…grab the weed…grab anything you can, John Boehner is speaking…
mr. whipple - March 21, 2010 | 10:05 pm · Link
The orange man haz a sad.
danimal - March 21, 2010 | 10:05 pm · Link
GOP tears taste sweet and salty. I’ll have another mug, please.
They’ve focused their fire on a Dem initiative for a year and weren’t able to stop it. They’ve been unified, and still lost. Now the tattered army of the GOP begins to turn on itself. Enjoy as the blaming begins. Who lost Health Care?
Malron aka eclecticbrotha - March 21, 2010 | 10:06 pm · Link
LOL @ Crying Orange Guy: “Today, after a year of this we should be standing here heralding a year of bipartisanship.”
Boneless is Exhibit A for why I don’t trust people in Ohio.
mr. whipple - March 21, 2010 | 10:08 pm · Link
Yes, we have!
Malron aka eclecticbrotha - March 21, 2010 | 10:08 pm · Link
Boner is Kabuki theater on steroids. Tie-tongued fucker…
very reverend crimson fire of compassion - March 21, 2010 | 10:12 pm · Link
“Shame on this body” Kind of sums up the Right-wing world view, doesn’t it?
mr. whipple - March 21, 2010 | 10:14 pm · Link
Boner: Stop the Kenyan marathoner!
Taterstick - March 21, 2010 | 10:15 pm · Link
Heerree’sss Nancy..!!
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason - March 21, 2010 | 10:16 pm · Link
That’s my representative. Goooo Nancy!