In case you wonder how NJ is feeling about their Gov these days pic.twitter.com/ZRCWQI7Iwi
— Chris Fralic (@chrisfralic) January 9, 2015
Fellow GOP wannabe-candidate Mike Huckabee has a book to sell. Early reviews, from Olivia Nuzzi at the Daily Beast:
… If the contents of Huckabee’s latest book – due out January 20th – are any indication, the overarching message of that campaign will be that the government is, um, having its way with the American public in a method that Huckabee, a Christian conservative, finds rather repulsive.
“Bend Over and Take it Like a Prisoner!” is the title of the 10th chapter of Huckabee’s 12th book, God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy – which, as a whole, is an achievement in the genre of poorly written pandering.
The chapter, ostensibly about the TSA and IRS, is a soaring crescendo of latent homosexuality homoeroticism cloaked in almost libertarian – but not libertine! – conservatism…
Julie Bykowicz, at Bloomberg Politics:
… God, Guns, Grits and Gravy doesn’t get into many policy specifics; some of what Huckabee proposes he dubs “Redneck Remedies.” Like his head-shaking at Miley, his political views are hardly surprising: Obama is bad. Same-sex marriage is a sin. Guns save lives. Government is intended to be as local as possible. The IRS is a criminal enterprise. Climate change is probably hot air. The “Get Off My Lawn” chapter wraps up with Huckabee boldly asserting that “part of the solution is better citizens obeying the laws we already have so we don’t have to pass new laws to further explain and expand the old ones.” Good luck with that…
In a bit of wishful thinking, Huckabee writes about how unfortunate it is that Republicans waste money attacking one another in primary fights. “The goal of conservatives should be to build up America—not blow up the Republican Party.” He argues that the Club for Growth is a “suicide bomber” and says the group ruined his chances in 2008.
Though its unlikely that anyone at the Club has yet read God, Guns, Grits and Gravy, the group has already vowed to attack the author again if he runs.
***********
Apart from rooting for injuries, what’s on the agenda for the start of the weekend?
? Martin
Someone should get a raise for that photo. That’s darthworthy.
jl
Huh. I did mention that the needle Christie needs to thread is very fine. I didn’t expect his region to be first to notice and get riled.
Maybe instead of ‘needle to thread’ it should be ‘bra that fits’? Might be rude, but always helpful to have vivid imagery to fix our intuitions about the fundamental nature of a problem.
Schlemazel
Gaaawd I can’t imagine life with one of these assclowns in charge. But then really the only thing worse than Clinton is anyone else so far running, hinting or even mentioned. At least there would be some sanity in the White House with Hilary.
Elizabelle
I love that photo. You made me laugh. Good catch.
Betty Cracker
Gotta admit, though: God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy is a better title than most political potboilers get. Better than A Call to Lead: An American Leader Reflects on American Leadership, or whatever Mittens’ ghostwritten tome was called.
MattF
I’m guessing that the Republican candidates don’t quite get the concept of a ‘book’. It’s something anyone can read, even if they’re not wingers. In this vein, note to Ben Carson: Plagiarism just doesn’t look good– even in a book that praises your own integrity:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/conservative-darling-dr-ben-carson-caught-plagiarizing-for-book/article/422806
jl
” Climate change is probably hot air. ”
Is that Huckabee’s message? “Probably”? It’s a sinister hoax, for sure. Huckabee going RINO.
He’s going to pretend to be considering contemplating to explore possibly thinking about maybe entering the 2016 GOP primary from the left?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: Hey, Mitt may run again. That should help.
Belafon
Rooting for injuries?! I will donate to whatever fund buys guns for Huckabee and the Club for Growth.
jl
@MattF: Maybe it’s a group effort, to get the media to generically say GOP plagiarism is not really news by Jan 2016.
Roger Moore
You first, Gov. Hucksterbee, you first.
bemused
@BillinGlendaleCA:
He told donors he is considering another run. As a friend said, looks like he’s listening to the same advisors from last time. Heh.
hells littlest angel
Huckabee thinks there are too many laws. Like that stupid one against torturing animals to death.
Belafon
@Roger Moore:
– Serenty (with apologies to Joss Whedon for tying this to Huck)
NonyNony
@bemused:
The Universe does not love me enough to see Mitt make a third tilt at that windmill.
Also the “advisors” he’s listening to are probably mostly his own ego. Nothing else seems to pierce that thick headed skull of his.
BGinCHI
Huck and Christie in a Texas Cage Match.
Who wins?
Tag line: “We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Cage.”
ruemara
that is so wrong. & hilarious.
hells littlest angel
@BGinCHI: Extreme Sumo.
Tree With Water
I have never rooted for an injury in my life. Admittedly, there are times when I think, “that’s a shame, but if it had to happen, now’s a very good time”. I did attend a Raiders pre-season game once circa 1975 when the crowd cheered with great gusto when Terry Bradshaw limped off the field, when for all they knew his career had just ended. In a pre-season game! for crying out loud, and I was genuinely shocked. That day I understood what made Raider fans different from the Niner fans I grew up around. The Raiders-Steelers rivalry back then was as intense as any I’ve ever seen, outside of those English soccer clubs that used to/still stomp each other for kicks.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
Fun fact: “A Call to Lead:” is actually about stocking up on ammo.
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
You want the campaign book title to reflect the candidate. That’s why Mitt’s book title made people think of the Pointy-Haired Boss. It sounds to me as if Huckabee is signaling a Tea Party presidential candidacy.
Major Major Major Major
how do you keep a cat from chewing on power cords?
Amir Khalid
@Tree With Water:
It was the fans; and it wasn’t even regular fans, but gangs of hooligans that wore club shirts as their colours.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
That picture will haunt my dreams, and I will wake up laughing. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when Bully Boy has to pretend to laugh at his own expense.
Amir Khalid
@Major Major Major Major:
Werebear is the Juicitariat’s source of cat wisdom, and her Way of Cats blog is on the blogroll to the left. I think she might recommend something like bitter-apple spray to discourage kitteh chewing.
muddy
Seems like the title of the book was aiming to be something more high-minded – God!!! Guns!!! – and then he got distracted: “grits…gravy…mmmm”.
jl
@muddy: if that is what happened, then where is “squirrel brains”?
Mike in dc
Anyone notice that there are an inordinate number of candidates on the GOP side? The debates will probably be limited to the top 8, which means a lot of humiliated aspirants.
Major Major Major Major
@Amir Khalid: Danke!
Anne Laurie
@Major Major Major Major: Taste deterrents like Bitter Apple for Cats. And distractions, including stuff he can chew on that won’t kill him. Our own WereBear probably has some good suggestions at her WayofCats blog!
scuffletuffle
@Major Major Major Major: Try wrapping them with tin foil…cats usually don’t like to bite it any more than we do.
jl
@Mike in dc:
Inordinate number of candidates on the GOP side, you say? Did I hear you right?
Reports: Mitt Romney Told Donors He’s Considering Running For President. Again.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/report-mitt-romney-considering-president-2016
I gotta go find that Meatloaf serenade to Mitt, it might come in handy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I think we can all agree that Jesus would find prison rape jokes high-larious!
Also, too…..
The same upstanding, bright young thing who tried to board a plane with a gun. In 2007
Svensker
@jl:
LOL.
The sequel.
Howard Beale IV
And of course, Huckabee’s grifting like mad:
Elizabelle
Friday, not news dumped: NYTimes alert:
Amir Khalid
@Mike in dc:
If there are too many candidates for a single debate event, the Republican party should organise them into two debate groups, the “possibles” and the “probables”, according to current poll results. That might be fun, especially a fringe-candidate debate among the “possibles”.
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid:
The possibles, the probables, the indictables, the imbeciles …
jl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I did not know that. If he cooked and ate the dog, would that make it a good thing or a bad thing? Has Sarah Palin chimed in on it yet? I need to know what to think about it.
dedc79
@Tree With Water: In 1979, Dennis Potvin, playing for the NY Islanders, injured Ulf Nilsson of the New York Rangers. Potvin retired in 1988, but Rangers fans never forgave him for the injury. And if you attend a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden today (any game, not just against the hated Islanders), you’ll hear fans start to whistle and then shout “Potvin Sucks!” in unison. http://www.potvinsucks.com/
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
As others have suggested, Bitter Apple spray or tinfoil would make it unpleasant to chew on. Now that he’s let you know what kind of toys he prefers (long and stringlike), this type is probably a good one to buy.
ETA: Actual string is a Very Bad Toy, because it’s way too easy for them to eat, get it stuck in their intestinal canal, and incur a very expensive vet bill.
mdblanche
@hells littlest angel: Or the dumb one against murdering law enforcement officers.
@Mike in dc: It takes a lot of candidates to make a stew…
Amir Khalid
@Major Major Major Major:
Bitte sehr.
KG
@Mike in dc: there’s always an inordinate amount this early. There will be a bunch that drop out after some early straw poll makes them look bad. That the white guy last time from Minnesota that I can’t remember. By the time we get to actual debates there won’t be much more than 8.
Also, unrelated, but I’ve recently started commenting at the American Spectator blog because their newish blogger is an Internet friend of mine. And it’s funny hearing a libertarian leaning catholic woman being called a DFH because she doesn’t like Huckabee and doesn’t mind the gays getting hitched.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: Or, do it like NCAA basketball. First round, sweet 16, elite 8 and final 4. Think of the marketing potential.
Tone in DC
@Tree With Water:
Raiders fans are no worse than Philly fan (though, admittedly who could be?)
You get NO love in Philly.
Elizabelle
@KG: Tell them you are extremely well groomed and shod.
And that you STILL don’t like Huckabee.
Tree With Water
@Elizabelle: I’d be interested to hear what James Risen has to say about this little chip of a news drop.
SiubhanDuinne
@trollhattan:
Gots to love me some homographs.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: Knew that about string :) even hid the floss. I guess we’ll pick up dangly-thing-on-a-stick of some kind from the conveniently located pet store across the street.
@Amir Khalid: Ach! Du lernst jetzt Deutsch, na ja? Ich habe vergessen.
Tree With Water
@Major Major Major Major: In the name of Darwin you let them keep chewing, that’s what you do.
WereBear
@Major Major Major Major: I wrote a post about it:
Dear Pammy, My cat is a chewer!
Howard Beale IV
@Elizabelle: If Holder plays true to form, Petraeus will skate-he’s too high up and too well connected to face an indictment.
To paraphrase the late Leona Helmsley: “Only the little people get indicted.”
KG
@Elizabelle: I’m actually waiting to see if I made some heads explode by pointing out what the Article I Section 8 meaning of general welfare is with respect to Obama’s JC tuition plan. I said it was a good idea, especially since higher education didn’t have tuition until the 1970’s. I was told it was illegal and responded by quoting the constitution and a Supreme Court decision that explains its more than lip service. Waiting to see how they respond.
WereBear
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s a mental health consensus these days that there’s something very very wrong with a person who is cruel to animals.
Which lets out Huckabee and Mitt and leaves in Newt.
Yet, I also feel there is something very very wrong with a person who is cruel to humans.
And down goes the rest of the Republican field.
Major Major Major Major
@WereBear: Ooh, a rubber snake might indeed be the ticket.
Amir Khalid
@Major Major Major Major:
Ich lerne die deutsche und französische Sprachen als Hobby seit fast sechs Jahren. Gerade lerne ich auch Spanisch.
WereBear
@Elizabelle: It does look like some kind of liberal conspiracy that so many of their heroes are clay all the way up.
But that’s reality for you.
Adam
So this is the next entry in the Balloon Juice book club right?
Major Major Major Major
@Amir Khalid: Das ist richtig, jetzt erinnere ich mich.
mdblanche
@jl: Marquis Mitt the Nevereth isn’t going to take Prince Jeb III’s attempt to usurp the title he bought fair and square lying down. Throw Baron Vladimir Christie into the stew and an unelectable parvenu like Cruz or Santorum might finally be able to lead a successful peasants’ revolt while the GOP establishment is distracted reenacting the War of the Roses.
But seriously, I thought the GOP had decided to unite behind a single candidate before the primaries. Who’s trying to spoil the stew?
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
That won’t do much to cut down on the list.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: Yes, but can you still speak Malay?
Amir Khalid
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Sudah tentu boleh.
burnspbesq
All you youts who never understood why your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles thought Bruce Springsteen was all that, follow the link below, and buy, download, and listen to the legendary August 1978 Agora show. I promise that all will become clear. And you will have something in common with Chris Christie. Sucks, but it can’t be helped.
http://live.brucespringsteen.net/live-music/0,11757/Bruce-Springsteen—The-E-Street-Band-mp3-flac-download-8-9-1978-Agora-Theatre-and-Ballroom-Cleveland-OH.html
Elizabelle
JCole’s put up a fresh thread about Petraeus’s legal jeopardy.
Another GOP contender down.
The indictable category.
mdblanche
@Roger Moore: In less politically correct times, based on which IQ band they fell into, the intellectually disabled were subdivided into imbeciles, morons, and idiots.
Elizabelle
@KG: You’re fighting the good fight, but on very hard ground.
Isn’t the Spectator pretty hard-core conservative?
Elizabelle
@mdblanche:
And there are the other categories — thank you — how could we forget the morons (that’s moran to you) and idiots?
The GOP Full tent strategy, in all its glory.
SiubhanDuinne
@Amir Khalid:
Anda bercakap Melayu dengan baik, mengikut Google translate.
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: His German isn’t half-bad either. :D
KG
@Elizabelle: I’ve only recently started paying attention (it might have been in my long list of reads when I was actively blogging, but that was 10 years ago) because of my internet friend. The writers I’ve seen on the blog seem fairly conservative/libertarian but not the teabagger stupid/crazy way. The commenters, however, are… Well, as they’d say in the south “bless their hearts”
Ripley
Christie and Huckabee: The Club For Girth.
catclub
@Amir Khalid:
With relegation for poor performance and promotion to the big leagues for good performance.
chopper
Grits n Gravy is my favorite pro dice player.
catclub
@Elizabelle: Is a felony conviction a bar to running? Ollie North should be running.
He did run for Senator.
PurpleGirl
@Mnemosyne: In 2014 one of the foster kittens at Tiny Kittens managed to swallow his collar. Swallowed it whole. I believe he did need surgery to get it out. No one, even the chatters watching, could see when or how he swallowed it.
jl
@mdblanche:
” I thought the GOP had decided to unite ”
The very recent wingnut revolt against Boehner for Speaker had 25 votes against him uniting behind 10 different candidates.
The Democratic caucus revolt against Pelosi had 40 votes behind one person.
So, until the election looms very large, it’s “every man a king” with GOP politicians in the early going.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
Yup. And within a week or two he will be fluent in Spanish.
Citizen_X
@Amir Khalid:
Screw that. I say they put them all in a mud pit, and dump a box of knives in there.
kc
Wow, that’s really crass. Huckabee’s been hanging around Ted Nugent too long.
Tree With Water
@mdblanche: “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”
George Carlin
Amir Khalid
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m flattered, but it’ll take a bit longer than that. Even though already knowing a Romance language does help.
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: He’d better not learn Ukrainian, because then he’ll be a fascist.
jl
@Tree With Water: I only think like that when commenting on Balloon-Juice.
mdblanche
@jl: Oops, I meant to say the GOP establishment. The klown kar kandidates are of course going to run no matter what, but the adults in the party and the big money were supposed to pick who the rubes would fall in line behind after a mercifully short primary season. If Mitt and Jeb both run, won’t that split the GOP establishment and spoil the plan?
mdblanche
@Citizen_X: Don’t forget the pills.
jl
@mdblanche: I don’t know as much about practical electoral politics as a lot of commenters here, but won’t it take Christie a while to realize that he is politically defunct presidential candidate? I think Christie will be in there also, long enough to provide some more entertainment.
Tree With Water
Digby writes in Salon.com today…. “Arthur Goldhammer wrote a very insightful piece about this latest horror in Al Jazeera. He pointed out that Charlie Hedbo was more than just a satirical magazine. It followed a certain unique French tradition that was “an equal opportunity offender, and it reveled in its freedom to vex, irritate and derange.”
That explains their veneration of Jerry Lewis. I finally understand.
satby
Know there’s Michiganders on B-J, 150 car-truck pile-up near Kalamazoo, one truck carrying fireworks caught fire and exploded. So far reporting one person killed. I know Hillary Rettig is from around there, hope she’s ok.
RaflW
Where, pray tell, does Huck intend to find these better citizens? Or does he have a free market plan for how to improve the ones we already have?
Roger Moore
@RaflW:
I think he’s going to strip citizenship and deport the ones who don’t meet his approval.
sm*t cl*de
I dunno. In most countries, and in most periods of history, cruelty to animals has been normal behaviour. This may be another case of psychologists taking their aspirational value judgement and presenting it as objective reality.
RaflW
@satby: Wow, as bad as it looks, thankfully gubmit had in mind to install a cable median barrier. In days gone by, a few of those involved spinouts might have crossed into the opposing lanes.
Also thankful for gubmit firefighters, hazmat experts and EMTs.
All that said, I feel terrible about the person killed, and by the looks, probably at least a few serious injuries (though the story seems to suggest mostly minor injuries other than the trucker who was killed). Anyway, eeep.
Citizen_X
@RaflW: So, the candidate from the Party of Small Government wants to be in power so he can swap out our inferior citizens for better ones, eh?
They don’t really get this “democracy” thing, do they?
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@RaflW:
That’s a big part of why the Fed DOT started pushing retrofitting medians with cable guiderails.
RaflW
@Roger Moore: Well, yeah, I suppose “better citizens” is meant as winger code for “not them dirty, dangerous illegals.”
mdblanche
@RaflW: He’ll dissolve the citizenry and elect a new one.
Roger Moore
@RaflW:
I think it’s an open-ended statement that’s intended to let the listener mentally fill in whatever category of undesirable he chooses: immigrants, blacks, gays, atheists, liberals, etc. That’s the advantage of being vague.
Buddy H
@Major Major Major Major: Smear them with vicks vaporub?
Or louisiana hot sauce?
(I would assume a cat would not gnaw a power cord if they smelled like that.)
WereBear
@sm*t cl*de: Yes, and random casual cruelty to humans was also business as usual.
I think it’s the reason Mr WereBear can watch Games of Thrones without flinching. He’s an amateur medieval historian.
howard beale iv
Roy tarpley 50 liver failure
Tree With Water
Jeff Nussbaum over at Atlantic Monthly.com proposes a few sensible reforms the powers that be in the NFL would be wise to ponder. The Shield is taking on water, and his suggested changes to the game are offered in the spirit of righting the ship.
rikyrah
I can’t wait for this show
………………
Your Head Might Explode When You Watch the Trailer for the ‘Black Dynamite’ Musical on Police Brutality
Photo of Tambay A. Obenson
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
January 9, 2015 at 11:36AM
Here’s the trailer for the “Black Dynamite” musical special that will tackle a topic of the day – police brutality. It airs tomorrow, Saturday, January 10, at 10:30 PM.
Titled “The Wizard of Watts,” the episode will follow Black Dynamite as he attempts to take a vacation, when the police start patrolling the streets, and a riot breaks out. Black Dynamite is then hit in the head with a brick, which causes him to hallucinate, taking him into the “Magical Land of Oz-Watts,” where he is called on to defend the community, against the police.
It’ll be an hour long (episodes are typically 30 minutes), and will feature guest appearances by Erykah Badu, Tyler, The Creator, Tim Blake Nelson and J.B. Smoove.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/your-head-might-explode-when-you-watch-the-first-trailer-for-the-black-dynamite-musical-on-police-brutality-20150109
Felonius Monk
God, Guns, Grits and Gravy —— I guess the working title Blowin’ Smoke Outta My Ass Again wasn’t catchy enough.
kindness
Weekend? Football. Run the dogs somewhere by water. Maybe barbeque. It’s not raining now so that wouldn’t stop it.
Low key weekend. After a month of holiday action I’m happy to be flying low.
Jamey
@Gin & Toni