We Should All Be So Lucky To Be So Unknown
Ed Morrissey, pivoting off of Jackson Diehl, offers this up:
Another part is that Obama failed to sanction those who went to the media to fight out the dispute. Neither Biden nor Gates got a dressing-down like McChrystal will get, even though both owe some loyalty to the man in the Oval Office. Biden would have remained a daffy, gaffe-prone backbencher in the Senate had it not been for Obama’s inexplicable decision to choose Biden as a running mate.
When Biden was “inexplicably” selected (if Biden’s pick was inexplicable, how would you describe Palin?), he had been in the Senate for four decades, had chaired the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees, and had a legislative record that was quite accomplished, along with the fact that Obama and Biden had become quite close on the campaign trail and in the Senate together.
I’m reasonably sure Ed has no idea what the terms back-bencher or inexplicable mean. Some might even say that Biden was actually a pretty big fucking deal as far as US politicians go.
This is what I seriously don’t get about current movement conservatism- they are simply operating in their own made-up fictional universe in which history and the English language mean different things to them than to anyone outside the cult.
Reality is for elites and fags. I mean, reality is for elite fags. Too, also.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Biden was also a serious presidential contender who performed quite well during the debates, but that’s so long ago, we can’t expect anyone to remember.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:32 pm
I think Ed thinks it was inexplicable Obama didn’t choose Sarah Palin. After all, she is the greatest eVAR
!
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:32 pm
What did Biden and Gates do to dress down McChrystal?
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Karl Rove really summarized our era when he said, paraphrasing: “We make our own history now.”
These neocons are Revolutionaries, which makes their constant, hypocritical references to “tradition” and “Constitution” so laughable. They are post-modern revolutionaries who would gladly burn down the city in order to have their one, pure, cherished idea (whatever the hell it is that day) given a chance. To fail, of course….
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
I wouldn’t mess with Joe Biden. This is probably a good example of how much of an out-of-touch coastal elitist I am, but I think Joe Biden comes across as pretty darn genuine to most people. After seeing his comments on Joe Barton I’m reminded of how much I really like Joe Biden. He was my first pick for Obama’s VP from day one.
I just can’t see how you get the idea that it’s a good idea to go after Joe Biden. He seems about as ordinary as anyone in Washington EVER does.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Since when was Joe Biden a backbencher. They didn’t call MTP “Meet Joe Biden” for nothing. If he was a backbencher then so is John McCain. Sarah Palin is not even a backbencher; she is more like like a tourist who was caught shoplifting at a Capitol Hill souvenir kiosk.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Hey, back in the day you had politicians working together over regional and cultural issues. Now it’s just straight ticket Republican / Democrat without even blinking.
If you’re not a blind, hysterical ideologue you don’t matter.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:37 pm
P.S. This is how it’s gonna play out in conservative quarters:
Either…
a) Obama doesn’t axe McChrystal. Conservatives will use this as proof Obama is weak, not a good CinC, and all that.
b) Obama axes McChrystal. Conservatives will use this as proof that Obama hates the troops, doesn’t listen to his expert generals, is not a good CinC, and all that.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Joe Biden is a Grandma’s Boyfriend. It’s not smart of the Republicans to be dissing Grandma’s boyfriend.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Really don’t think I know of any good words in English to answer this. Stupefying, maybe? Seems like there should be a good Yiddish term for this…
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
@beltane:
LOL to the fucking ROFL!
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
@Violet: It’s not really smart to constantly inflame one of the fastest growing demographic groups (Hispanics) either but that doesn’t seem to bother them. Long term strategery is not their forte.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:44 pm
ChrisWWW, you forgot the Chicago thug reference in option B.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:45 pm
I think the reason they do this because they are fundamentally lazy. Its hard to wade through health care reform and make strident criticisms of medicare reimbursement rates, but opposing death panels? That’s a no brainer. It doesn’t require any additional argument
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:46 pm
@beltane:
Thanks for that. And, I agree about Biden. Hope he’s in the meeting with Stan the Man McChrystal.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:46 pm
@Brent: Exactly this. He was a potential pick because he performed well (enough) in the primary.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:47 pm
If four decades in the Senate make you a “back-bencher”, what does being half-a-governor make you?
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:47 pm
I think the answer to Ed is pretty simple. McChrystal is an officer in the military who, per the Constitution, is ultimately accountable to the C-in-C. The vice president’s responsibilities, per the Constitution, are to preside over the Senate and cast tie-breaking votes. His only real relationship to the President is to take the office if the President dies. That doesn’t state or imply a hierarchy of VPOTUS being accountable to POTUS.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
@beltane:
I was thinking more that Sarah Palin would be a bentoverthebackbencher.
But that would be so wrong.
Starbursts.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
I disagree that they are totally out of touch with reality. They do know when things sound bad to most people (Katrina) and then churn the news relentlessly to find a way to attach that label to people they want to destroy (Obama’s Katrina). In other words, it’s a movement driven by the techniques of Frank Luntz.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
You are only reasonably sure he has no idea what a back bencher means?! No, this guy doesn’t even understand the most basic of basic clues on what the fuck a back-bencher is, and what the word “inexplicable” actually means in the real world.
Actually, it sounds like you get the current conservative movement pretty fucking well.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Millions.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
@Comrade Javamanphil:
Yeah, but considering that what the Republicans do have is the older, white demographic, insulting a boyfriend-type of women in that demographic isn’t very smart right now, let alone long term.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
@Dave: A wingnut sex goddess. Is that mean? OK, they love her for her thoughtful policy analysis and intellectual heft.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:50 pm
@Dave:
An ernor?
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:51 pm
@JCT:
There are plenty of good words to describe it. It’s just that none of them are nice. I’ll give it a try.
It’s somewhat unclear, but a decent amount of evidence suggests that McCain picked Palin after talking to her once or twice. About what, we can’t say, because when asked anything about the selection process, he and his team became angry and defensive. They employed the same platitudes defending their pick that they used to defend the candidate when she came under fire. It was, simply put, a blatantly political pick from someone whose entire motto was to put the needs of the country above the needs of his own and his party’s own desires. When he picked her, he thrust into the spotlight a woman who has few redeeming qualities based on what most say they want in a leader. He picked this lady who has never demonstrated the maturity, the mental dexterity, or the intellectual curiosity necessary to lead the most significant nation on the planet, showing that he himself lacked the qualities necessary to be president.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:52 pm
I just think it’s a ridiculous comparison.
Biden didn’t trash Gates or Obama, or the military, or the broader plan (which he disagrees with).
Biden came out and stated his preferred (strict) interpretation of the draw-down dates, understandably, I think, because Biden is the Vice President and Biden seeks to cement those dates as a promise. Gates objected to that interpretation. That’s a perfectly valid public disagreement, and well within either man’s job description, and it has nothing to do with civilian control of the military, not to mention neither man trashed anyone else while promoting their position, unlike the General.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:53 pm
From the descriptions I have read the objectionable stuff is mainly McChrystal pissing on Biden, Eikenberry, and some other administration officials.
But didn’t McChrystal get his way on US military plans in Afghanistan. If things are not going well militarily, how is that Biden’s or Eikenberry’s fault.
Seems like an emotionally undisciplined piss party by McChrystal and his staff, or at an attempt to preemptively provide excuses for the fact that McChrystal’s strategy is not going as well as anticipated. Or if McChrystal is really dim, this is a way to pressure the administration to give him more time.
There is one thing this flap has in common with most of our domestic political debate: there seems to be no substance, it is just McChrystal and his staff pissing on people.
This is not same as McArthur heading for the Chinese border.
I agree with Cole: if Obama thinks this guy can still be useful then let Obama keep him. Otherwise he should go.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:53 pm
You wonder what the movement conservatives would make of the UK government’s (the Tory/LibDem coalition) decision to put up the capital gains tax from 18% to 28% overnight. It was announced today and will take effect at midnight.
Obviously that is far worse than what the so-cia-list/fascist/communist guy in the White House does, so what would they call that?
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:54 pm
According to Joke Line, McChrystal has resigned. I assume this came after another White House “shakedown.”
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:56 pm
What’s really tricky is that their fictional history and their private language are superficially very similar to actual history and the actual English language. It’s a lot of the same people/places/things/events/words/syntax, but with strange twists that render them completely bizarre to people who are in the real world instead of in the wingnut bubble. A lot of times, when I see some wingnut screed, I feel like Lisa Simpson when shown a picture of a sign for the Yahoo Serious Film Festival: “I know those words, but that [statement] makes no sense!”
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:56 pm
All Democrats fit into two categories for wingnuts: Grand Master of Evil and bumbling dimwit nobody. Which category you belong to can vary from day to day, depending on what’s in the news and who is at the top of the grand enemies list. Pelosi, Reid, and Obama are usually crafty grand masters of evil whose machinations will turn the US over to gay terrorist mexicans, but sometimes they’re just fools who can’t do anything right. Most other Democrats are bumbling dimwit nobodies most days, and grand masters of evil whenever they do something (or don’t do something) that raises the ire of the outrage police.
So, for these purposes, Biden is some nobody hack who never did nothin, because it fits Brainless Ed’s “argument.” Tomorrow he may be Sauron, Dark Lord of Mordor. The wingnuts have internalized the “Biden gaffes a lot and is dumb” meme, so it’s more often the former than the latter, but who knows what changes a day’s events can bring!
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Updated at 4:41 p.m.] Gen. Stanley McChrystal has submitted his resignation, Time magazine’s Joe Klein told CNN, citing an unnamed source. CNN is working to confirm Klein’s information.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Humph. That “backbencher” who, among other things, improved the safety of women all over the country with his “daffy” little legislating manner…
What I really don’t understand, though, is why this guy made the comparisons to Gates and Biden in the first place. It’s McChrystal who is in the military (unlike Biden) and who has broken the code of military justice (unlike Gates, so far as we know).
Sigh.
May this be a weird, Zen-like opportunity for better options in Afghanistan to prevail…
PS: kay said what I wanted to say, only so much better! (Thanks! I wish you were a pundit instead of the ones we usually hear from!)
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:58 pm
@Violet:
Seriously. If my mother was alive, she’d personally flay the skin off anyone who disses Joe Biden. She lurved him. Just absolutely lurved him. Even kinda pissed my dad off sometimes (and my dad was the world’s most level-headed guy), the way she drooled over him.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Diehl’s big insight is that since civilians in the administration have been allowed to go off message wrt to Afghan policy, then it is OK for a military leader to trash talk the civilian leaders. ‘Cause it’s kind of sorta the same thing, somehow or other So, it is all Obama’s fault. So McChrystal should not be fired. Obama should apologize to McChrystal.
Apologizing to people who are to blame for screwing up and messing you over seems to be another absurd and bad thing initiated by Cheney.
That makes no sense to me, so I assume that Diehl is a contemporary US conservative writer. Not sure where I heard of him before the name seems familiar.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:59 pm
@JCT:
I think the most appropriate description/word would be CRAVEN.
Edit: I know it’ not yiddish, but still works for me …
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Huff Post confirms, resigned.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:00 pm
@stuckinred:
Exactly what should happen. No intelligent high level military officer with an eye to his career would ever have done the stupid shit or said the stupid shit he said in front of a fucking Rolling Stone reporter, ferchrissakes.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:00 pm
@mantis: Bill Clinton was the ultimate in Grand Master of Evil. He personally caused the erectile dysfunction of millions upon millions of Republican men. He haunts their dreams and he will hound them eternally from this life through the next. Do not mess with the power of the Clenis.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:01 pm
@geg6: Fuckin A.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Well, didn’t Biden used to be Sen. Biden, (D-Banking Industry)?
That’s probably the biggest strike against him in my book, but he always seemed pretty solid, a good debater, and a very experienced legislator. A pretty solid pick for Obama’s Veep.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
I had an ex-boss who “submitted his resignation.” That’s corporate-speak for “resign voluntarily or we’ll have security throw you out on your ass.”
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
You get it exactly. They decided in the Bush administration that they would from now on create their own reality, and sadly for them they too often,really believe their own rhetoric.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
@Amanda in the South Bay:
I think he was usually referred to as “the senator from MBNA.”
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Stupid-ass Tweety has got to know but he’s driving on with his interview with the Stone editor without mentioning it.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
@Jeff Fecke:
According to Joke Line, McChrystal has resigned. I assume this came after another White House “shakedown.”
No shakedown, just an insult to every man and woman in uniform (and all veterans, and God), as the president should stay in his place and not question or control the military leaders in any way, because he’s way too black-er, um, inexperienced. McChrystal may also have been thrown under a bus with Obama’s grandmother, mother, neighbors, Kenya, the American people, Hillary Clinton, Santa Claus, Jebus, and the Harlem Globetrotters (it’s a big bus).
We’ll just have to wait for Brainless Ed and the rest of the single-helix crew to tell us why this Commander in Chief shouldn’t expect those under him to follow his commands, and how those expectations just reveal Obama’s arrogance and Chicago-style thuggery (and socialism).
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
@Brachiator:
Am I the only straight male in America who finds Palin completely unattractive?
And John, yes. They are operating in their own fictional, made-up universe. A lot of politics is like that, but my best guess is it’s a combination of neocons being in charge and playing so hard to the tribalist community. Both of them make no bones about their attitude that belief is more important than facts. However it started, it’s completely taken over.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
So if McChrystal has resigned, is this a prelude to him running for President? The Republicans will be drooling all over him.
Personally, he kind of creeps me out. I’m not sure how well he’ll play as a candidate.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:07 pm
@Uloborus: I wouldn’t fuck her with your dick. How’s that?
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Remember what Ron Suskind reported in his famous and oft-quoted New York Times article from way back in 2004:
The historian of science, Bruno Latour – much derided for his discipline of science studies and his advocacy for a postmodernist approach to grappling with the nature of truth – read that and wrote an article wondering whether the true legacy of the postmodernist project was the creation of a fundamentalist neo-conservatism that gave strength to all manners of crankery in the name of “balance” and “subjectiveness.”
You can (warning, pdf) read it here.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:09 pm
@Violet:
He’s gonna have to battle Petraeus for that spot, because Petraeus has been positioning himself to run for a couple of years now.
I can’t wait for the cage match, personally.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:10 pm
@Mnemosyne: I don’t think this deep spook special ops dude is going to run for anything but the border.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:11 pm
@Calouste:
Ya gotta be careful with these comparisons. The Brits are also upping their VAT to 20%, there is a public sector pay freeze, and serious cuts to various social services. In other words, something to make everyone unhappy. Even the queen, who may have to pawn some of her baubles.
By the by, one thing that is interesting about the Brits (and the InterTubes) is not just the relative speed of these budget decisions, especially given the fears of a hung parliament or weak coalition government, but also the relative transparency. The BBC news site has good details about the budget, and you can download the entire budget document itself and review the highlights.
@jl:
I haven’t had a chance to read the entire interview yet (which was linked from an MSNBC story). I’m not sure which comments were attributed to the general, and which to his aides, but it’s a messy situation. I think that the fact that the general offered an apology should be taken into consideration.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:12 pm
@Violet:
I really don’t understand why people keep tossing out this idea like it’s a legitimate option. I don’t think McChrystal would last long at all in a Republican presidential primary. It’s permanent Lord of The Flies season with Republicans; they’re all going to eat each other alive. Personally, I would leave to see wingnut heads explode across the country when Palin, Huckabee, or Romney took their first shot at McChrystal for his “dishonorable service to our country.”
One of the best things that could ever happen for the Democratic Party is for someone like McChrystal to join the Republican presidential fray and serve as another catalyst to their ever-fracturing “coalition.”
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:13 pm
@Brachiator: He resigned, what the fuck does the apology matter?
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:13 pm
“Slap Fight in the Wingnut-o-Sphere!”
Crazy right winger (yet admirable hater of Sean Hannity’s profit-skimming with his not-troop-supporting ‘Freedumb Consurts’) Debbie Schussel is angerfied that Cassie Fiano (thanks to Sadly No! we can all know impossibly minor right wing shit-head bloggers) somehow supported some other nut who’s bothering Schlussel:
Then, Cassie Fiano (“Smoking Hot Commentary”):
This dialogue does, however, prompt the question of whether or not there is a specific prostitute market supplying the needs of anti-Semites. This being the internet, I am afraid to seek answers for that question.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:14 pm
According to Joke Line, McChrystal has resigned. I assume this came after another White House “shakedown.”
No shakedown, just an insult to every man and woman in uniform (and all veterans, and God), as the president should stay in his place and not question or control the military leaders in any way, because he’s way too black-er, um, inexperienced. McChrystal may also have been thrown under a bus with Obama’s grandmother, mother, neighbors, Kenya, the American people, Hillary Clinton, Santa Claus, Jebus, and the Harlem Globetrotters (it’s a big bus).
We’ll just have to wait for Brainless Ed and the rest of the single-helix crew to tell us why this Commander in Chief shouldn’t expect those under him to follow his commands, and how those expectations just reveal Obama’s arrogance and Chicago-style thuggery (and socialism).
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:14 pm
@stuckinred:
Oh, I don’t think so, either. It’s just funny how people have gotten it into their heads that any general who disagrees with Obama is going to run, because they’ve been saying that about Petraeus for at least a couple of years now.
Either that or people are mixing up Petraeus and McChrystal and get confused about which general is rumored to be planning to run (sorry, Violet!).
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:16 pm
@jl:
I don’t think Biden was off-message. He wanted firm draw down dates, and he got them. He’s repeating that publicly to promote the idea that they’re firm. Gates doesn’t agree with that interpretation, and he said so.
Am I now to believe that Dick Cheney wasn’t out and about for 8 years promoting his personal agenda within the Bush agenda on the war on terror, to the public? My ass he wasn’t. He dominated the conversation. The same was true on Iran. Cheney wasn’t selling an Iran invasion, and it wasn’t obvious that Bush and Rice and Gates were the moderates there?
I think the objection to Biden is he isn’t selling endless war. If he were to the warmonger RIGHT within Obama’s strategy, we wouldn’t be hearing this.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:16 pm
@John Cole
For all the focus on Ayn Rand in conservatives’ must-read self-education curriculum, we too often overlook another foundational must-study author for conservatives – Lewis Carroll. One passage they take particularly to heart is the following from Chapter 6 of “Through the Looking Glass”.
Conservatives have extended that concept beyond words to also include history and facts.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Petraeus. McChrystal. Today I heard Honoré’s name being thrown around. Before then—and before he turned all black and shit—there was Powell. And way back, MacArthur.
The GOP really loves themselves some Caesarism, don’t they?
The 2004 Wes Clark phenomenon left me strangely unmoved, probably because of this.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
My advice to those in Washington, where McChyrstal attends meetings Wednesday? Cut the general a little slack. And remember to thank him and his soldiers for their courage and commitment before you criticize their impatience with policy questions launched from thousands of miles from the battlefield where they fight.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frances Fragos Townsend.
I can’t get the damn blockquote to work, that is all Fran.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
They all live in a made up/make believe world where what they say is true. Repeat it enough times and other clueless folks buy into the b.s. as well.
THAT is what I fear with these people.
Obama is owned because a FLY landed on him
Obama is weak because his generals HATE him
Obama is a socialist
Obama overreaches
Obama extorts BP
It’s all garbage and factually challenged BUT they will keep doing it because they think if you keep repeating the bullshit people will believe.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:18 pm
@Mnemosyne:
If McChrystal wants it, I’m sure it’s going to be all his. I might be in the minority on this, but I actually believe Petraeus when he says he has no intention of running ever. He’s been saying it for so long and so resolutely that I’ve never gotten the impression he’s hedging his bets for the “perfect opportunity” in the future or whatever.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:18 pm
@Mnemosyne:
The hell? Since when does categorically denying that you’ll run for office count as positioning yourself to run?
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:19 pm
fdl has link that stan the man has resigned:
Gen. Stanley McChrystal has submitted his resignation, Time magazine’s Joe Klein told CNN, citing an unnamed source. CNN is working to confirm Klein’s information.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Speaking of Turdblossom, his new vehicle that was supposed to be a big challenge to the RNC money-machine raked in about 200 dollars last month.
At least some of the wingnuts appear to be hoarding their cash instead of blowing it on Dink Tanks.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
@bkny: That was posted here 30 minutes ago.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:22 pm
@stuckinred:
Oooooh – Joke Line has got hisself a scoop, whatever the fuck that means in the broader context of things. That should set off hours of fevered speculation among luminaries like Fred Barnes and Luke Russert and Meghan McCain about what it all means.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:22 pm
@Uloborus: Can’t speak for male readers, but speaking for myself, THANK YOU!
And she (not Palin, but Ulmer, below) may be a bit older than your range, but there is
an Alaskan woman who looks pretty good in pictures who Obama calls on for oil and energy policy advice, Fran Ulmer.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:23 pm
@Uloborus:
Maybe. I still wouldn’t vote for her, though.
@stuckinred:
His resignation is faster than an InterTubes news cycle. Most sites I see have his future still undetermined.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:25 pm
@Uloborus:
I’d fuck a snake if somebody held it down, but that woman’s shrieking voice causes my spine to ache.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:26 pm
@Brachiator: Yea, looks like CNN pulled it off.
No, it’s still there but not a banner.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:27 pm
I do not get the perpetual state of angry that I get from conservative friends. These are folk who I might disagree with in the past, but I understood where they were coming from.
Now I get emails like this from a guy I used to have rational discussions with:
Strange.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Am I the only straight male in America who finds Palin completely unattractive?
No. Try as I might, I just can’t find stupid women attractive.
For me, a woman can go from good-looking to ugly real quick just by talking, and a woman can get much more attractive the same way.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
@Uloborus:
No. The Hubster doesn’t think she’s cute either. One of the many reasons I keep him around.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
@Uloborus:
No you are not.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Obama should have picked Carrie Prejean. A much better looking version of palin, who tosses less word salad.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
@Keith G:
They think Obama won’t waive the Jones Act because of pressure from seaman’s unions. Of course, that doesn’t really make sense, but this idea caught fire with them, and they won’t let a good union-bashing go, so….
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:37 pm
@mantis:
Agreed. Also.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
@Keith G:
Tell your friend:
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
@Uloborus:
Jeez, no need to be mean. She’s not completely unattractive. If I were unattached, drunk, and wearing a great set of earplugs, I could go there. My range is broad.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:39 pm
@Violet: They’ve read one book, it was by Mark Halperin and all they know is “win the cycle!” Anything beyond that is too deep for them.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:40 pm
@Keith G:
You can ask your friend why conservatives object to the US government showing a preference for US vessels, when it is determined that there is a US vessel that can provide the same service as a foreign vessel.
I hope he doesn’t hate America.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
@Davis X. Machina:
Fuck it, let’s just put Encino Man in charge.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:43 pm
@Uloborus:
Nope.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:43 pm
@cmorenc:
Okay, but Carroll was being silly, and he’d loathe the modern conservative movement. He was very serious into empathy as an issue, which we know because he wrote a few papers on the morality of social issues of the time.
@Lyrebird:
Yes, much too old for me, alas, but you’re right that she’s good looking in that age group. Just an aesthetically pleasing woman to look at.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Mnemosyne: Pertraus verses McChrystal, reminds me of what Lincoln told McClellan after McClellan’s coup attempt during the Civil War; only victorious generals get to become dictator.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:45 pm
@Michael:
Man, if you hear a rattle…
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:48 pm
A post like this why I just love this blog. JC, thanks so freaking much.
And happy birthday – many more.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:54 pm
@freelancer: What is it about Rolling Stone reporters that makes people say stupid shit out loud?
I’m reminding you who your enemy is. The enemy.
No truer words have ever been spoken.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:58 pm
With regards to McChrystal’s rumored resignation, apparently Obama is not going to make a final decision until he talks to the general.
I’m assuming that you don’t fly almost 7,000 miles to get chewed out by the Secretary of Defense and the POTUS without having a resignation letter ready in your pocket, so I’m guessing that, at a minimum, McChrystal is prepared to offer his resignation even if the president hasn’t decided to accept it.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Um, duh. That’s what I thought about first.
Still not sure what’s the best course of action here, though.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:09 pm
@Ash:
Apparently, the answer is case after case of Bud Light Lime.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Is McChrystal on some kind of diet, or is he sick. He looks gaunt and skinny in his pictures.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:13 pm
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t think I was mixing them up. I’ve hear Petraeus say he’s not running a whole bunch of times. Anyway, I’m just speculating on the potential McChrystal run. It would be irresponsible not to speculate! (Lolz)
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:14 pm
I would describe McCain’s picking Palin as “criminally insane, maliciously negligent, and proof of McCain’s manifest unfitness for the office of President.”
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:16 pm
@Midnight Marauder:
Oh, the irony!
He would have been better off smoking a joint with Sarah Palin.
Also, doobie, too.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:18 pm
@Midnight Marauder: Jesus, they might as well be drinking Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Oh, me thinks you get it.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Re: Sarah Palin’s attractiveness. I find the mind to be a greater part of beauty than the purely physical. Looks will fade away quickly. And with Palin, there’s no there there.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:32 pm
McChrystal stated on 60 Minutes that he eats only one meal a day.
Perhaps that is the reason he got hammered on watered down Bud lime?
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
@arguingwithsignposts: Wasn’t attracting women voters, who were Hillary supporters the rationale behind her selection ? That to me is even more inexplicable.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:36 pm
@stuckinred: Generals walk no battlefields and their acquaintance with dust and sweat is strictly limited. The chance they’ll get killed or injured is virtually nil. The writer should save that sort of respect for the poor buggers who are actually on the pointy end of My Lord General’s bright ideas.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Backbencher? Why, he’s such an important political figure that they were already teaching his speeches in high school thirty years ago.
Right, Sarah?
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:41 pm
@TuiMel: Don’t forget science ( biology, geology, etc.) and logic and probably all 7 Arts and sciences Bob used to go on about. OY. People in serious denial of reality.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:45 pm
@sunsin: Thank you dear I had no idea.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
John
they are simply operating in their own made-up fictional universe in which history and the English language mean different things to them than to anyone outside the cult.
And how is this different than any other cult? Scientology, Jim Jones, teatards, conservatives in general, whatever. It’s part of what makes a cult a cult, their own version of history and sayings to spread the message. Dog whistles with grammar.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Anyone remember when Morrisey was supposed to be the “sane conservative”?
Even back then, I had a feeling that reputation wouldn’t last long.
.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:06 pm
@arguingwithsignposts:
There is that. I think her expression is a lot of it for me. She looks like there’s no there there. All I see is mindless ego and hate in that face.
@GregB:
Does this have something to do with keeping his vital fluids pure?
@schrodinger’s cat:
I heard an explanation I rather liked for that. It’s a lot like picking Michael Steele. Senior GOP officials like McCain view women and minorities as inferior. So Palin’s idiocy and incompetence were simply natural – no woman could be a competent politician anyway – and if she was a little on the dumb side even for him, well, because they’re inferior all women care about is that they’re voting for a woman, right?
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Ruckus:
It’s not. That’s the point.
.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:07 pm
@Bob L:
I have been thinking more about Lincoln’s comments to Joe Hooker:
That is some prime snark, and one of the reasons I love Lincoln.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:18 pm
@schrodinger’s cat:
According to the RS article, consuming only one meal a day, sleeping only 4 hours a day, and running seven miles every morning is part of the general’s persona (a point of pride). That, and the unquestionable pressure of his position, may account for the gauntness.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Wait, wait, wait, do you mean China or India? Cause Palin’s got nothing on Madame Mao or Indira Gandhi.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:29 pm
@TuiMel: No wonder he is so cranky.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:33 pm
@schrodinger’s cat:
Pretty much, yeah. And as an added bonus, she was a sop to the religious right, who weren’t too fond of McCain because he didn’t Bible-thump enough for them.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:37 pm
@TuiMel:
And the assholery. Sounds like a recipe for crankiness.
.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:23 pm
@beltane:
Win.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:23 pm
@Uloborus
Yes, I agree, but the conservatives apparently don’t realize that Carroll’s passage in “Through the Looking Glass” is a snark, they take it seriously.
(I succinctly repeat the key part below):
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:25 pm
@cmorenc:
Yeah, I knew which part you meant. It’s just, you know… having one of my idols associated with the conservative movement in any way whatsoever feels creepy, even if it’s totally justified for them to appear in the same sentence!
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:44 pm
During the Iowa caucuses, I got to know Joe Biden as well as any Obama precinct captain could who listened to at least a half dozen of his speeches and met with him repeatedly at various events. He is an extraordinary speaker and human being – passionate and deeply concerned about the morality of governance, the good of the common weal, and amazingly eloquent. The more I listened to and spoke with him, the more impressed I was. We are lucky to have him.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:50 pm
@JGabriel:
I think the anecdotes about his youth (and the failure by any adult influence to tamp down the often-exhibited hubris) goes further to explain the “assholery.”
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:50 pm
“they are simply operating in their own made-up fictional universe in which history and the English language mean different things to them than to anyone outside the cult.”
They can do this with relative impunity because Americans are so incredibly stupid.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:53 pm
@Jim, Once:
I do not know much about Biden. I have, at times, found him far too in love with the sound of his own voice. But, when I observe him, I usually come away with the impression that Biden loves and cares about the “hoi polloi.” I think he comes across as though he loves people. If I could believe that such love could drive the public service of any politician, I could believe it about Joe (can I call him Joe?). And, as others have observed, he certainly has accomplished a lot for a backbencher.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:56 pm
She is teh yummy to these eyes. Starbursts, I haz!
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:19 pm
@robertdsc:
Um, no.
IWFHWYD.
I’d write it out, but there are ladies present.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:48 pm
@El Cid:
Ask and ye shall receive, whether you want it or not.
Google “Max Mosley nazi sex scandal”.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:58 pm
@Viva BrisVegas: Yeah, that one came to mind, but that’s just an individual case, particularly of a son weirdly, freakishly obsessed with his father’s own pro-fascism.
I meant, you know, like, a market, meaning, not just one or two deranged individuals, but an actual countable market. Hence, I will not pursue this question.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:32 pm
@El Cid:
Let’s put it this way: until it started getting on the news, did you think there was an actual market for people to dress up as teddy bears and have sex with each other?
There’s a market somewhere for anything sex-related. Anything.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:39 pm
I heard a rumour that McChrystal is leaving in order to spend more time with his fami
Wait, wha ?
Never mind
/emily Litella
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:45 pm
@El Cid:
I hate to disillusion you, but SS slut is a pretty standard dominatrix uniform.
Not that I would know anything about that sort of thing.
Pursuing such questions is what the ever cheerful BJ commentariat lives for.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Palin? Hmmm, I’ve started to think that she’s more or less a trial run for the kind of stuff that Berlusconi’s been doing for years. In fact, I’d guess that a surprising amount of recent GOP strategy comes from a close study of what’s worked for Berlusconi. Yes, of course, there are differences but Berlusconi’s focus on controlling the courts (the Federalist Society leading to Citizens United leading to unlimited corporate funding, etc. here), running the party from the top down, controlling the media (his, of course), neutering regulatory groups, using federal law enforcement to tar political enemies, and running bimbos to distract from all of above sure sounds familiar. Take a look at Alexander Stille’s survey of Berlusconi’s various bimbo issues in the April 8 NYRB. For example:
[Berlusconi] “… handpicked a couple of dozen showgirls, many of them young women in their early to mid-twenties, to be groomed as candidates for the European Parliament. Few of them had any political experience…He set up a school to give them a crash course in European politics so that they wouldn’t embarrass themselves during the campaign…”
Palin needed a bit more schooling and, of course, she had a tiny scrap of a paper record but, subtract a few years, add a few IQ points, toss Todd, and I suspect Berlusconi would have considered her.
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:12 am
@robertdsc: ima hetero-grrl so Palin is purely repulsive to me…..but…..but….shes not a MILF…..shes a GILF.
Aren’t GILFs just icky?
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:34 am
@Violet: Ahem. Joe Biden is MY pretend-boyfriend, so there. Seriously, I have a soft spot for Joe. I could not read his memoir, however, as it was just too gosh-darned homespun-y for me.
June 23rd, 2010 at 5:59 pm
@danimal:
Danimal,
And, you know, I don’t get the Republican’s “Chicago thug” insults. You’d think from the rest of their behavior they were going for the thug demographic.
June 24th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
And unlike the dead head Red State “foreign policy experts”...
Biden knows how to say “Bosniac”, knows what it means and he even knows how to use it in context.
The right wing is always so damned predictable in their cluelessness.
June 26th, 2010 at 1:39 pm