Been assuming if Bush gets in, Mitt stays out. But this is intriguing:
http://t.co/yyDxmYoSX7
— Billmon (@billmon1) December 16, 2014
If a Clinton/Bush matchup might kill Cole, another Romney run would certainly be bad for my health:
…[A] new Washington Post-ABC News poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents said that Bush leads the potential Republican primary field if Mitt Romney doesn’t run…
But in a field in which Romney did run, Bush is in second. The poll found Romney with 20 percent followed by Bush with 10 percent, Paul with 9, then Ryan with 8, and then Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with 7 percent. Not a single name left on the list gets more than 6 percent.
Spoilt for choice — emphasis on the spoilt. Is there any Repub who’s ever served above the level of county commissioner who isn’t “considering a presidential run” in 2016?
Pataki just the man America needs right now, says Pataki. http://t.co/OscJ5ppsi7
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) December 16, 2014
***********
Apart from packing the clown car a little more densely, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Chopper
As I said before, it ain’t so much a clown car as a clown TARDIS.
Anonymous At Work
We need a new tag and/or Lexicon update with “America is Awesome” as a way to show American exceptionalism without the messy and timely and realty-based research that goes into proving that America is exceptional.
Seriously. Kevin Drum had a good article on the prices for various medical procedures varying greatly in the US but 1-3 orders of magnitude cheaper in the EU. I thought as I read it, “But the defense against changing our health care system to be like theirs will be ‘America is awesome’.”
raven
The utility locator’s are out there and the tree removal begins in the morning. There is going to be a big uproar when it happens even though they have been marked for 6 months!
Roger Moore
I haven’t heard any suggestion that John Boehner is going to run. And the Governator isn’t running either, for obvious reasons.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
anybody else feeling a bit nervous about the wounded, angry, possibly drunken bear in the room?
raven
Hmm, I wrote that the utility locators are out and the tree removal starts in the morning. Not sure why that got 86’d?
Hungry Joe
Dan Quayle. And he’d fit right in.
He did toss his beanie into the ring in 2000, but withdrew after he finished about 87th in a straw-poll field of nine or so. Became an investment banker, though I gotta believe he was a figurehead because nobody with half the sense that the FSM gave geese would trust him to look after so much as a roll of dimes.
As I said, he’d fit right in.
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes.
raven
What the fuck?
Elizabelle
Horse race with less appealing horses.
I am sick of thinking and talking about Republicans.
askew
At least they get a primary. We get a coronation and a media blackout for the next 2 years while the GOP goes through a competitive primary.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Exactly the results I expect from the true believers. They like Romney but wish he would punch down even more.
But the general would be a very different story, and GOP moneymen know it.
@askew:
If you think anything about the GOP primary will be “competitive”, I want some of what you’re smoking.
That’s the most ludicrous thing I’ve read today, and I’m reading some serious bullshit what with the employee self-reviews and all.
srv
You people just don’t understand the crushing bootjack these real Americans have lived under for the last 6 years. Could you have survived under Hitler for that long?
As the end this tyranny nears, you will see an exponential rice in interest in the new leader.
@Elizabelle:
You really, really are on the wrong blog.
Elizabelle
If we want to discuss sinking ships: it’s disaster at sea night on Turner Classic Movies.
The Poseidon Adventure at 8:00 p Eastern (Shelley Winters, in the drink)
A Night to Remember at 10:00 p
and several more.
Elizabelle
@srv:
Yeah, I know.
Turgidson
As painful an affair as Jeb vs. Hillary would be in the day-to-day pissing matches between the campaigns and the media’s inevitable herculean effort to foist yet another Bush on this country, I have to say, I’d worry not at all about the outcome of that matchup.
Hillary: “Remember my husband? Eight years of peace and prosperity? Let’s do that again. Let’s not elect another fuckup Bush.”
Jeb: “Uhh, George W. Bush? Never heard of him. You think he’s my brother? No no, I’ve never met him. My dad was a mediocre-at-best one-termer? Get outta here! That’s the first I’ve heard of that!”
Anne Laurie
@Anonymous At Work:
We’ve already got “Foam Finger Nation”, among the already-too-many categories. But I should probably find an embeddable copy of that clip for the Lexicon, yeah.
Cacti
Breaking: GOPers have gone so far round the bend, a winger Federal District Judge has declared the President’s EO on immigration unconstitutional, when it wasn’t even an issue before the Court…
In one fell swoop, Judge Arthur Schwab has violated the Case and Controversy clause of Article II, and the Supreme Court prohibition on US Courts issuing advisory opinions.
srv
@Anne Laurie: I think America is Shock & Awesome sounds better.
cmorenc
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
It will be competitive for awhile – until the GOP establishment firmly steps in and stomps out such nonsense. And they won’t wait nearly so long this time around as in 2012 to squash whomever the hard-right Tea Party types rally around. Democracy in the form of genuine competitive primaries is something the GOP establishment views as something to entertain the little people at the base of the party with for awhile, and not as any serious way to pick a nominee. Actual selection of the nominee is done somewhere in a corporate boardroom or fancy hotel suite attended by the swells.
Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)
I am WAY too cranky this week. I’m going to unplug tonight for sure, and maybe for the rest of the week. Plus I’m way behind on my holiday knitting and need to get my butt in gear with that.
Heliopause
Why? Who could they possibly run that wouldn’t cause general consternation on the left?
I’m all for a Bush-Clinton or Romney-Clinton matchup. I prefer our oligarchy to be honest about how they’re running things.
Turgidson
@cmorenc:
I hope the knuckledraggers unite around one idiot candidate early this time to make the job harder for the party overlords. But I see it being pretty easy this time. Rand Paul will take some of the teabagger dolts (the ones with batshit monetarist views) and his father’s collection of socially-damaged yet energetic Ayn Rand nutballs and glibertarian fucks, and Ted Cruz will probably take the rest of the wackjobs. With both in the race, neither is a threat to actually win. That split will allow Jebbie or Mittens or whatever bile-soaked yet “electable” hairball the elites prefer a nice glide path to the nomination, again, as usual.
But if it was quickly a one on one matchup between Jeb or Mitt and a true believer (or a con man who talks like one) with an army of braindead activists behind him, things would be interesting.
mdblanche
At the mall and on the telescreen CNN is rinning the headline “Sony hackers threaten 9/11-style attack. I’ve got to learn to do what everybody else here is doing and ignore the damn thing.
NotMax
All meaningless and not worth giving them any credence by mentioning such polls at this time.
eemom
Now that, is an awesome post title.
KG
@Turgidson: it would actually be interesting if Mitt and Jeb got in, splitting the “establishment” vote, just as Cruz and Paul are splitting the teabagger vote. That could be quite interesting.
JGabriel
Anne Laurie @ Top:
Mitch McConnell and John Boehner. No one else worth mentioning.
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure those two are worth mentioning.
Mike J
@Chopper:
It’s dumber on the inside!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@KG: and throw in Christie on the Establishment side and Santorum on the Tea Bag/Bible thumper side. I don’t think Santorum has a chance, but he would force the others to talk about abortion– does even Santorum still talk about a “pro-life” amendment?– and while I think at Christie’s age, he should wait, I think his ego is too strong to do so.
schrodinger's cat
Who cares who the Republicans choose as their nominee, they are all vile.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
The Last Voyage (12:30 a.m.) is kind of interesting to watch from a technical standpoint. Rather than build sets, the producers bought a real ocean liner which was to be scuttled, did the filming on board and proceeded to destroy and flood it on camera. Lots of instances of ‘we get this take or we are totally screwed’ moments. Not to mention some real danger to the cast and crew.
And Woody Strode, in those pre-steroid days, is built like a human I-beam. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
mdblanche
@NotMax: I find these polls are quite entertaining if you rephrase them in a more appropriate format:
“And they’re off! Hal 9000 is out in front by a length with The Man with No Name, Aqua Buddha, Eddie Munster, and Major Kong bunched up behind. With every lap still to go and the list of entrants still not finalized, it’s still any horse’s race!”
JGabriel
NY Daily News:
Translation: George Pataki says he’s waiting until he’s 70 to decide whether or not to run for the most demanding job in the world.
Mike J
@schrodinger’s cat:
When it comes to policy most of the Republicans are identical. That’s why I want the most obviously loony to get the nomination.
I’m sure they’ll end up with the most boring white guy who decides to run, but I want them to keep the crazies out front.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
there’s something happening here…
I await the outcry from the Libertarians
Davis X. Machina
@Cacti: Salus populi, suprema lex… In saving the Republic from the Kenyan usurper, all those niggling little objections must be swept aside.
Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)
Purple Batgirl pajamas arrived in the mail today, so definitely unplugging tonight. Laters!
? Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
And if it takes you more than 750 milliseconds to process the command, we’ll shoot you dead just in case.
If you are deaf, best to not ever leave your house.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah. I just read somewhere that Apple and other foreign stores are shutting down because the ruble is falling so fast they don’t know what to charge. Looks like a looming clusterfuck for sure.
rlrr
@Betty Cracker:
I blame Obama…
Baud
@Cacti:
Thank God we no longer have liberal activist judges.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: Thanks. WIll record it, and probably catch a bit of it.
George Sanders is the captain.
Betty Cracker
@rlrr: We’ve got a commenter here — not exactly a troll, more like a persistent bum rash — who will be along shortly to make that case for reals.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Whew. I read your last comment and thought you were going to leave also.
Baud
@rlrr:
I blamed Obama for Russia this morning. Find something else to blame Obama for.
:-P
Bobby Thomson
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: of course in the two Cleveland cases, they never said anything to the victims. Just executed them on the spot.
tybee
@Hungry Joe:
so my home-made “Palin/Quayle” T-shirts will finally be useful again.
JPL
@Baud: No kidding.. I so wish MSM would blame him. Where is Ted Cruz and Rand Paul when we need them.
Elizabelle
@Baud:
Kind of restless and Bushed out.
Plus: no Batgirl pajamas.
raven
@tybee: How bout them Cadets??
? Martin
Not getting better.
It was 35 rubles to the dollar a few months ago. Russians just saw their purchasing power cut by ⅔ in about 2 months. They’re completely fucked. Somehow I suspect Putin will come out of this okay, though.
Jay C
The 2016 Republican Presidential field: in a nutshell….
Belafon
A thought experiment: Imagine your spouse were president of the US 14-22 years ago, and make up the kind of presidency your spouse would have had given, say, Clinton or Obama’s years in office. Now imagine you were running for president. How much of your presidency would be like your spouses? How much would be different?
Seanly
Can the clown car please be packed with explosives? Or at least be a Pinto with an out-of-control semi headed towards it?
Gin & Tonic
@? Martin: I commented this morning that it’s not just the rate, it’s the spread between buy and sell rates. I saw photos of exchange dealers who were buying at 62 and selling at 90. That’s insane. Nobody wants rubles.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
I’ve been there. ;-)
me
@? Martin:
The trigger for the loss of confidence was the Central Bank of Russia doing a $10billion favor for Rosneft which is run by one of Putin’s pals.
mdblanche
This ruble meltdown seems far more alarming than the hacker-terrorist tripe CNN was pushing earlier.
Tree With Water
I just watched the scene in Unforgiven in which Gene Hackman kicks the snot out of Richard Harris. For the very first time I noticed that the final lick Hackman delivers is by swiping his hat, ineffectually, towards a prostrate Harris. And it’s funny. That’s a Clint Eastwood direction, I’d guess. Whoever thought it up, it was inspired. Because that scene ranks as one of the greatest shit kicking scenes in all of film history.
Betty Cracker
@Belafon: Interesting question. My husband and I agree politically on most things, though he’s a bit more of a firebagger than I ever thought about being. But even if you come in with identical philosophies, the times shape presidencies so much that it’s hard to say where you’d differ.
Patricia Kayden
@Cacti: Can he be sanctioned or punished for that? Talk about an overreach.
sharl
CNN put up a hash tag on Twitter, #AskACop. They may regret that; it’s popular in ways they perhaps did not plan (maybe it was Don Lemon’s idea? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
Just a sampling from that swiftly running hashtag stream:
Elizabelle
Jeebus. I turn to Jeopardy to get away from politics and the very first category attempted is “Pictures of Politicians.” And the very first politician is — you guessed it —
Jeb Bush.
Contestants weren’t Balloon Juice calibre.
Picture of “a high school prom king” (clearly Paul Ryan, looking less Eddie Munsterish): “Who is Trent Lott?”
Photo of Tip O’Neill: no one even attempted — one contestant after the buzzer: “I might not even have been born.” (ouch)
Ultraviolet Thunder
If Jebbie runs the GOP primaries will be the show of the century. I can’t wait to see him attacked from the right for his nearly reasonable positions on immigration and education. He’s such a fat target sitting there at the top of the heap.
srv
https://twitter.com/life_in_russia
WereBear
@Elizabelle: Ironically, Shelley Winters was a high school swimming champ.
Anne Laurie
@Tree With Water:
Not necessarily — Hackman has a great flair for physical comedy, which he doesn’t get to use much because he did so well as “the Heavy”.
I wouldn’t have believed any actor could match Walter Matthau in Hopscotch, but that was before I saw Target. Watching Hackman switch from “schlub Midwestern lumber salesman” to “murderous assassin” in a heartbeat, and back again, was astonishing.
The Other Chuck
The snark in this thread is so full of win. YOU win an internets! And YOU win an internets! And YOU …
Davis X. Machina
@? Martin: They’ll need to recall all the rubles, and issue a new currency pegged by the price of London real estate… The Canary? The Holland Park?
Elizabelle
@Davis X. Machina: The Belgravia.
lamh36
Watching the remake of Miracle on 34th Street with Richard Attenbourough, Elizabeth Perkins and Dylan McDermott!
I love both the original and the remake. Does that make me less of a snobby “movie’-phile…lol
WereBear
@Davis X. Machina: Sounds more like they should adopt the Banana Standard.
chopper
@Mike J:
it’s the grift that keeps on grifting.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
The Chelski.
sparrow
@Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): me too, and I’m only making pot-holders! sigh.
chopper
@mdblanche:
russia’s meltdown this year is insane. i love how RWers keep talking up and down about how putin ‘ate obama’s lunch’ because the only thing they care to notice is swagger. meanwhile, in the back room, obama has basically led a movement to utterly devastate russia’s economy.
seriously, putin has to be wondering how the guy did it.
schrodinger's cat
You guys may not be ecstatic at the thought another Bush running but the Snooze Hour Punditubbies were salivating at the prospect.
gogol's wife
@sharl:
Those are good.
Baud
@chopper:
I’m guessing Putin isn’t an idiot, and knows exactly how it was done.
Our media, however, is captivated by the RW noise machine.
@schrodinger’s cat:
They believe all will soon be right with their world.
Patricia Kayden
@schrodinger’s cat: True dat. Hope the country feels the same after they’ve taken over Congress for the next two years and overreach.
Tree With Water
@Anne Laurie: I think of Eastwood because of humorous bits from his other movies- like the dog in Josey Wales who growls after getting splattered with spit on its forehead. Funny in a few split seconds, I guess I mean. But kudos to whoever thought it up.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
A fellow Hopscotch fan! I think if I lived in Britain I would donate to Glenda Jackson’s campaigns, but I do miss her in movies. And Mathau’s great. I’ll have go check out Target. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.
WereBear
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Target is surprisingly good. Then again, I’m a Hackman fan.
Chris
@WereBear: And free on youtube! I love Hackman and had never seen it..streaming it to the TV as we speak
tybee
@raven:
mackeral snappers?
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@Betty Cracker:
“A”?
Chopper
@Baud:
If Putin was that smart he’d have seen it coming, I’d figure.
Mike in NC
@Baud: Our idiot media will declare 2014 to be the Year of Putin. When we were in St Petersburg six months ago the people kept apologizing for him, sort of like we had to do with Dubya.
J R in WV
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
But the kid would have legally allowed (if he was of age, I suppose) to carry a real, loaded, semi-automatic handgun there in that park. Ohio is an open carry state! The cops at most should have told the person (the 12-year-old boy) to put his hands up, to lay on the ground, something like that.
They can’t shoot someone in Ohio for carrying a gun any more. It’s like shooting someone for reading the newspaper: “He’s reading a Newspaper, stop him, shoot him!” That doesn’t make any sense, and neither does shooting someone holding a gun in an open carry state.
The same goes for the black many near Dayton who picked up a product from a shelf in Walmart and got shot for being a black man, armed with a BB-gun in public. It was legal for him to have any sort of gun he wanted in there. Walmart sells real guns!! Rifles and shotguns for sale, for hunting and home defense, real ones!
What if this guy had bought a gun, and had been carrying it around shopping for his next purchase? “Shoot him, shoot him, quick!!”
I don’t think so.
Zinsky
More evidence of the utter stupidity and brain-dead cluelessness of Americans and Republicans, in particular. Most have the historical memory of a rutabaga and completely forget or don’t even know about the damage this vile family has caused to America. Forget about Mars and asteroids, NASA needs to send a probe to look for signs of intelligent life on Earth!
ItAintEazy
Witness #40 in Michael Brown case is a racist liar.
Jesus Christ, when I first saw the crayon scribbles during the first document dump that featured some idiot who just happened to go to a black neighborhood to find herself and stop calling blah people n****rs, I thought that was just some scrap of paper the prosecution was forced to include in the mountain of testimony and that nobody in their right mind would think that piece of “evidence” was credible. Now we know it was written by one of the key witnesses that got Darren Wilson off the hook. You really can’t make these things up.
Edit: Guess people (rikyrah) are already talking about it downpost. Can’t be posted enough though.
Cacti
@Patricia Kayden:
Having read about it a little more, the Judge did not issue an injunction of the EO to go with his “ruling”. So, it amounts to philosophical wanking and little else. But even at that, it’s fairly unusual behavior for a federal Judge. I’m curious whether this gets a complaint with the Court of Appeals for his circuit.
BruinKid
@Turgidson: Jeb Bush: Third Time’s the Charm!
I wonder if a Dem strategist could ratfuck them by suggesting that as a slogan, and make them think it’s a good idea, because it automatically reinforces the image of George W. Bush in everyone’s minds, lest they had blocked it out of their memory, and the last name wasn’t enough for them. (And for the non-zero percent of Americans who actually do not know they’re related. Yes, these people do exist, and some of them do vote.)
Radio One
I agree with Josh Marshall when it comes to Jeb running. I just don’t see him going the Mitt Romney route and debating the tea party crew countless times over the next year unless he’s the obvious favorite to win it right now. No poll shows him remotely close to that, and I’m not seeing any evidence that he’s consolidating support for a knockout run anywhere but on cable news.
Bob In Portland
This. And this: