Clark Stooksbury at the American Conservative runs down the topics at the National Review election post-mortem:
Liberal Media: threat or menace.
Remember Bill Clinton, wasn’t he awful?
Did we discuss Ayers, Acorn, Rev. Wright, etc. enough?
Why haven’t we bombed Iran yet?
We would have won if we had only nominated Romney or Thompson.
Some people were mean to Sarah Palin.
Will Obama bring back big government?
You know he is right.
FWIW, I just got my first copy of TAC in the mail.
Stuck in the Funhouse
Those guys should be doing Letterman’s top ten routine.
Tom65
– will Sharia law be instituted immediately, or will there be a break-in period?
Not My Fault
In a year with no shortage of disgusting displays, I am particularly disgusted by the neo-con’s open “we’re done using him so we can throw him in the trash now” attitude toward Powell.
Don’t get me wrong. I am no Powell lover. The first image that will always come to mind when I hear his name was his testimony at the UN. He will go to his grave with a lot to answer for that act.
Powell destroyed himself in service of the neo-cons. If the conventional wisdom be believed, he did it against his better judgment. I’m not sure I believe that, or if I even care. This argument sounds a lot like: “John McCain is a good man who is running a dirty campaign against his will.”
So, no sympathy for Powell, but still revolting to see those who used him (with or without his heart being in it) turn on him so viciously.
Maybe this means I do have sympathy for Powell, but I just can’t get my head around what he did.
Zifnab
Islamist Radicals: One moved next door. Should I call the police or are they in on it, too?
I’ve cleaned out Walmart’s Guns’n’Ammo section and I’m reduced to eating creamed corn out of the can because I’ve maxed out my credit cards. This is the worst economic crisis in our nation’s history. Thanks for nothing Obama.
SNL is full of anti-American traitors.
Palin ’12 bumper stickers are on sale next week.
Tin Foil Hats! Back in style.
Steve V
I always thought that Republicans were only useful in opposition, because they were so obsessed with trivial marketing stuff ("Joe six pack!") and because they love sniping at those who are governing more than actually governing. This isn’t completely true of the entire party, of course, but it’s what talk radio is all about: bitching. It’s funny that the conservative movement’s supposedly preeminent publication is going the same route.
Atanarjuat
Or how about this one?
Will BJ commentators write supportive comments about their preferred presidential candidate WITHOUT spewing vitriol and undying hatred for conservatives?
Yeah, I know. That would be asking for too much.
Country First.
Dave
Sarah Palin: Great Candidate or Greatest Candidate?
cleek
and Atanarjuat runs right into the pie factory.
mmm. pie.
Josh Hueco
Atanarjuat – Furry fan or just a homo-repressed, buzzcut-wearing gun freak?
Atanarjuat – Sister or goat?
Atanarjuat – Bottom or…okay we know he’s a bottom.
Are Atanarjuat’s posts getting lamer because he lost his thesarus?
Ladies First
Dave
The lead story at the Corner on January 21, 2009:
Why the power of the Presidency must be restrained: a 20-part series on re-establishing balance in our system of government.
aimai
Won’t all those blog posts be written "from an undisclosed location" or from the last place on earth where sharia’a hasn’t been instituted? I mean, of course, Vatican City since Socialist Canada must be avoided?
aimai
jenniebee
Excuse me? Why does there have to be a "conservative" response, or even a "liberal" response or any other kind of categorized forced-dualism opposition in the response to this? If the Democrats released an internal memo indicating that they were strongly opposed to pederasty, would that necessitate a "conservative response?"
What the hell is wrong with everybody being on the same side of a big issue (and climate change is one hellofa big issue) every once in a while? What is with this opposition for the sake of opposition? Gaaah!
Svensker
I’ve been giving a subscription to TAC for Christmas to my Rush/NRO-loving brother for the last 3 years. Not only has he never thanked me for the gift, but he hasn’t even acknowledged it. Wonder if he reads any of it before it goes in the garbage?
Stuck in the Funhouse
Not right away. First we’ll need to properly fit Malkin and her soul mate Melanie Morgan with Burkas. After that, we can sharpen the hatchets.
John Cole
@jenniebee: Tim has written at length about that in the past, about how the Republican position on global warming is not so much about global warming, but knee-jerk opposition to anything the evil liberals want. Maybe he can dig some of them up.
Jon H
Why the power of the Presidency must be restrained: a 20-part series on re-establishing balance in our system of government.
Don’t forget, this will be prefaced by an in-depth examination of how the Democrats illegitimately tilted the balance of power among the branches, allowing the executive to seize power, and totally ignoring Bush and Cheney.
Tim F.
This is a good example of my feelings about the conservative “position” on climate.
NonyNony
Amusing:
John Cole posts a blog entry about conservatives making fun of other conservatives. In said entry he notes that his subscription to American Conservative Magazine has just shown up in the mail.
Commenters under blog entry post their own amusing bits completely on the topic at hand.
Resident "most amusing troll on the intertubes" Atanarjuat cries because commenters are making fun of conservatives and extolling the commenters to go off topic to praise Obama instead.
I love Atanarjuat. He’s like the bestest troll ever. Even as I suspect he’s a parody, in my heart I hope he’s real because he’s just so much fun.
joeyess
You know that a movement is dead or at least in serious trouble when you can’t tell who is mocking who. I swear, I clicked over to the link and for a moment couldn’t divine who’s tongue was in who’s cheek.
SamFromUtah
@Jon H: …totally ignoring Bush and Cheney.
Yup. I expect some articles like:
Bush: liberal hallucination or just Liberal?
Bush: liberal president or the liberallest president?
Reflections on the 16 years of Bill Klintoon’s Presidency
etc.
Or more likely, deafening silence.
Comrade Face
Obama wins….it’s all Clinton’s fault
Here’s why checks and balances are so important
Signing statements are unconstitutional and illegal
How to
lynchimpeach a Black manWalmart’s great deals on white sheets, crosses, and gasoline
Tsulagi
Sure, those topics in the blockquote will come up. But the first bullet from the Pub wingnut firing squad will go for McCain. With many more to follow. I look forward to RS Erick, he of the “Awesome is made of McCain!” post after the Palin pick, to put his keyboard weapon on burst.
Lying, incompetent government, Constitution shredding, retarded nation building adventures? All fine and previously cheerleaders for that. But McCain will have committed the unpardonable sin even Jesus cannot wash away. He will have lost the presidency to a Democrat.
Country First.
cleek
TIDOSY knows . and his commentors know how to fix the problem:
chrome agnomen
bush: signing statement disallows election result if not suitable.
TAC subscriptions orders soar after slogan is changed to "the magazine for unthinking conservatives"
mccain: POWNED
Comrade Ed Drone
You know, I still say that looks like a target prioritization list.
Ed
Walker
His use of "Country First" as some neocon version of "Peace Out" is particularly awesome.
PK
You are so right. McCain will feel the full blast of their hatred, contempt, and fury. They always knew he was not a true republican. If only he had attacked more, or brought up Obama’s cocaine use, his gay affairs or reverend wright.
I almost feel sorry for what McCain will face after the election when he climbs out of the gutter.
The Moar You Know
@Atanarjuat: Why? That’s what we come here for. Lured by the snark, we stay to abuse.
Warren Terra
This is way, way off topic, but there is a very funny post at the New York Times political blog The Caucus (I’d hyperlink, but no cut-and-paste when phone blogging): Apparently, Obama just did a rally in Florida where he was introduced by a half-dozen members of the Rays, and made a joke about being such a uniter that he could bring fans of different sports teams together – so McCain tells a rally in Pennsylvania that Obama is a faithless panderer for not denouncing the Rays (because, after all, Obama is a White Sox supporter and after their elimination declared himself a temporary Phillies fan).
I knew McCain believes we shouldn’t talk with our nation’s adversaries, and should sing songs about going to war with them … but I didn’t know this attitude continued all the way down to include sports rivalries!
bedlam UK
Just out of curiousity, but what does that ‘Country First’ bit mean?
I’m not american and we here are very ‘For Queen and Country’ and we’ve made some dumb ass decisions putting country before self.
But I always thought that your country worked on the principle of a society built around the ideal of the individual. Make your own money, your own dream and the country is protected to protect that ideal.
So if the Country is first does that mean the dream is second? or you are second? and the Country (I assume that means government) is first?
How does that work? Isn’t that Communism ( community first )??
Just curious as it seems to go against the basic ideals of the rugged individual ‘american’ all working together but as single identities.
Sorry if thats a poorly worded question.
The Moar You Know
And in a spectacular display of irony, the GOP will then give McCain the "Jesus" treatment. Oh well. Every movement needs a martyr.
-Illegal Alien Muslim Queer Welfare Queen America Haters First
SGEW
O/T (kind of: "clown shoes" covers a lot of ground):
From the LA Times article on Sarah Palin’s college years:
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!
The Moar You Know
@bedlam UK: It means "Heil Hitler", minus an actual real live Hitler. But the meaning and intent is exactly the same. Oh yeah, it’s an Official McCain Campaign Slogan, as well.
Comrade Jake
@Warren Terra:
I think the problem for McCain is that Philly fans have a pretty good nose for douchebaggery, and McCain is pretty much the grand poo-bah of douchebags these days.
gwangung
It’s a Communist slogan. (And that’s not a joke).
Napoleon
@bedlam UK:
McCain is using it as a campaign slogan. It has no other independent cultural meaning.
Doug H. (Comrade Fausto no more)
Remember that in wingnut speak Country equals Party, and it’ll all make sense.
cleek
it’s a stupid slogan McCain is using because McCain, stupidly, likes to accuse Obama of putting his campaign before his country.
it’s also a slippery way to accuse Obama of treason.
AkaDad
The best evidence of McCain putting Country First™ was choosing Sarah Palin.
Atanarjuat
Okay, let’s try this again:
It’s true, conservatives are responsible for all the ills of America. They are a cancer eating away at the very foundation of our great nation. On the other hand, liberals are the stalwart pillars of a just and compassionate society, whose many selfless contributions inarguably make freedom and democracy possible.
Praise Obamah
As-Salamu Alaykum
Does this kind of writing allow me to join the Ayers-nuzzling leftist hive mind, or do I have to include a weepy tribute to Hugo Chavez as well?
Country First.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Warren Terra:
Here’s the story you were talking about.
Doug H. (Comrade Fausto no more)
Unamusing spoof is even more unamusing.
DFD
"Country First" is Atanarjuat’s heel clicking, goose stepping way of telling us that he is Pro-America and that we’re not.
Krista
Atanuarwhateverthehellyournameis:
Not bad, but you forgot to talk about how getting an abortion actually tickles the nether regions quite delightfully. And you also mentioned nothing about gay sex.
I give you a 3/10.
boonagain
Perfect, now let’s move on.
Comrade Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
"First we’ll need to properly fit Malkin and her soul mate Melanie Morgan with Burkas. After that, we can sharpen the hatchets."
Is my face red! I thought we were using chadors and machetes.
Comrade Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
Y’know, you’re in a bad way when the Buchananite wing of your party are considered the sensible ones.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Comrade Ed Drone:
Kinda like To Serve Man?
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
So why is everyone calling Atanarjuat "he"? Assumptions. Tsk.
(And no, not my construct.)
cleek
Atanarjuat is the name of a Canadian movie, about Canadian Inuits.
the guy can’t even pick an American movie to rip off.
Krista
Why the hell would I want to watch a Canadian movie?
DFD
Atanarjuat is a hermaphroditic, glue sniffing troll. Please refer to it as "it"
P.S. I still say that "it" is actually Todd Palin.
Cris v.3.1
Samuel Johnson is right about Olson Johnson being right!
Brian J
I am surprised nobody mentioned this yet. Via Ezra Klein:
The right can’t even get its appeals to hysteria correct lately.
SGEW
Aha! Yet more compelling evidence of the Northern Fascist Menace, up there sharpening their ice skates, planning on swarming south of the border to bask in our precious, liberal country.
A menace, I tells ya!
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Krista:
Meatballs was good.
The Moar You Know
Canadians make movies? Doesn’t the film stock freeze up in your igloos?
NonyNony
One of the many reasons that I’m afraid that Atanarjuat is probably a parody. It makes his sign off of "Country First" so amusing that it falls into the "Too Good To Be True" column.
And stuff like this makes me think "parody" too, because seriously – Chavez? Here? Really? I’d buy bringing up Bush Derangement Syndrome, or Palin bashing, or any number of other swipes, but praise for Hugo Chavez? That’s just cut-and-paste wingnut parody.
But if it isn’t, it makes me love Atanarjuat THAT MUCH MORE!
Please post a link to your blog, Atanarjuat – I’d put it in my RSS reader and read it every day. Promise!
mantis
It now seems clear that the strategy from the top of the Republican party is real vs. fake America.
My guess is that the Republicans plan on challenging the votes of everyone who lives in a well populated area and is not a plumber, as those people aren’t real and shouldn’t get a vote.
It’s all I can figure.
Also, these idiots can’t seem to figure out that audio recording devices exist, and are often carried by journalists.
Punchy
For reasons that are hard to describe, this is some funny shit.
Not My Fault
In a completely unrelated story, Sara Palin has doubled down on her ignorance of the VP’s role.
Dracula
Wow, I had no idea this was true. I guess I haven’t had enough abortions today to notice.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@mantis:
It now seems clear that the strategy from the top of the Republican party is real vs. fake America.
All the McCain campaign has done is repackage Hillary Clinton’s "hard working white working class voters" strategery.
SamFromUtah
@cleek: and Atanarjuat runs right into the pie factory.
Is there a way to piefilter responses to the trolls as well as the trolls themselves? Any post mentioning the name in its body, say; that wouldn’t catch people who distort the trolls’ names, but it would pare down the most pointless bits of the thread a fair amount.
Warren Terra
Go read Not My Fault’s link. The only question is whether Mooselini was pwned by an actual 3rd grader or if we shouldn’t give the 3rd grader too much credit in Palin’s self-destruction.
Brian J
It looks like the National Review has bigger problems on its hands. Via Ezra Klein:
The clowns on the right can’t even get their appeals to hysteria correct these days. Better right wingnuts, please!
cleek
in theory, i could write something that would kill anything which linked back to a troll post… but that sounds like work.
b. hussein canuckistani (comrade)
Bon Cop Bad Cop is a great Canadian movie, and best enjoyed by people with friends on both sides of the Quebec border.
And I have a shameful fondness for Strange Brew.
SamFromUtah
@cleek: in theory, i could write something that would kill anything which linked back to a troll post…
I’ll have a look at the script. I haven’t done any javascript coding, but I might be able to figure something out.
Evinfuilt
Close… The individual we are built around is not ourselves, but a hand-picked Republican (donor, friend, crony, president) that tells us how to think. If he wants in our house, we let him. But if someone else tries to get in, we shout screaming, this is not your house… out out!!!
Remember "We’re all Individuals"
I’m not…
Comrade Darkness
Not My Fault is channeling me. Where do I go to register that this is happening?
Johnny Pez
Nitpick: Signing statements modify congressional legislation. You’re thinking of an executive order.
And yeah, I think he just might try it.
ImJohnGalt
While not technically Canadian (Canadian Director, Several Canadian Actors), Juno was a good movie. So was A History of Violence, which was Canadian.
Black Christmas, not so much.
cleek
@SamFromUtah:
if i had the energy, here’s what i’d do:
leave the current stuff basically in place – except add code to find and store the IDs of each troll comment (aka "story"), as it’s caught, in an array.
then, loop through all the comments again, looking for any comments which contains an A HREF to one of the troll comments (by looking at the HREF target vs the contents of the ID array). if you find it, do the same thing that you did to the troll comment.
SamFromUtah
@cleek: Thanks – that’s more sophisticated than what I had in mind, which was just to find the comment bodies as well as the cite-blocks for the posters’ names, then match them against the badguy list too. That way, any time the troll was even mentioned, whether there was a back-link or not, the comment would get scrubbed.
For the moment, I’m happy enough with your script the way it is (and I thank you for it every time I read this site, BTW). But if this site gets like Sadly, No! where 3/4 of the activity is troll-related (on a bad thread, anyway), I’ll get looking into it.
Jim Pharo
I think you all miss what the right wing’s agenda is starting November 5th-ish:
"The Many Scandals of The Obama Administration: Start Impeachment Proceedings Now!"
There’ll be no shortage of fun. Like, "Obama: Continuing Clinton’s Legacy of Sleaze," and "Michelle’s Affairs: Did She Spill State Secrets?" And when the girls are old enough, we’ll no doubt have "Chastity Watch 2012," and "Why Won’t Obama Accept His Daughter’s Purity Pledge."
These people are as predictable as the sunrise…
Comrade Darkness
I think the question is more along the lines of: why would such a slogan hit a sweet spot in the psychology of McCain’s base? Esp. given how it contradicts other classical right wing values such as Individual Ruggedness.
Let’s see, first there is the either/or nature of Republican tactics at work here. That’s part of it. It means, We are this, therefore They are the Opposite, by default. In group/out group rules on the Republican side. And I really think they do this kind of divisive rhetoric far more. For one thing, the Dems tend to be too diverse for it to work.
I think Country First the opposite of Party First in this case. It summarizes McCain’s longstanding brand as someone not willing to always toe the party line (correct or not, I’m not arguing that’s true, just that it is his brand). In this election, he MUST distance himself from Bush, and Country First, I think, is code for NOT party first, i.e. not the party in power first because that’d be political suicide.
Even though Individual Independent Ideals rule the rhetoric of the right when anything with a whiff of social services is being proposed, they really aren’t about individual identity. The right base strongly identify self with flag and country, to the point where any criticism, even constructive, is taken as a personal attack, rather than as democracy in action, a masterstroke of association by the right-wing leaders. It gives them enormous power without having to explain any details or do any real work to get their agenda supported (even agendas not beneficial to their base).
tripletee
@Dracula:
You do get desensitized after a while. Take a break from abortions for a week or so (you can occupy your time with gay orgies instead), and it may help sensation return.
You could also try burning a Bible or befriending a terrorist. That’s usually good for a tingle or two.
bago
Or Burning Man.
r€nato
I’ll add:
Jamey
Hey, I like some of what TAC puts online, but I will be buggered six ways from Sunday before I put one red cent directly into Pat Buchanan’s pocket.
Sorry, but that’s my wallet talking. Maybe I can drop something into Danny Larison’s tip jar?
Plus the magazine’s name reminds me of a gag from Airplane, a magazine called, "Modern Sperm."
John D
@Atanarjuat:
You are aware, I hope, what that phrase means — Peace upon you (all).
It’s not a terrorist cry, you nitwit.
SGEW
Peace = Terrorism. Duh.
Svensker
That was the old timey conservatives. The New Conservative Party are nationalists, who believe in a strong executive, military might, and The Glory of the Great U.S.A. You people on the other side of the world had some experience with a similar group, oh, sixty years ago or so.
Comrade Darkness
It has to because Pre-emptive War = Peace
Atanarjuat
John D said:
Never said it was, my knee-jerk name-calling friend. I just wanted my proposed liberal message to meet the criteria of cultural tolerance. After all, Islam is the "religion of peace," right?
If I were writing that piece with actual sincerity, then I would have signed it, "Allahu Akbar," which is usually what’s uttered before a "peaceful" Islamist pulls the cord on his explosive vest and takes out a crowd of schoolchildren.
Country First.
Jess
Because that worked so well for her…
The wingnuts are extra vicious and insane when they’re scared. It’s the cornered rat syndrome. And they’re scared because they know the rest of us are fed up with their bullshit and aren’t even listening anymore except when they’re too appalling and/or hilarious to ignore. Their day is over. Isolate them and let them fester in their toxic paranoia and resentment.
John D
@Atanarjuat: Bullshit.
I don’t particularly care if you’re a troll or a spoof — it’s patently obvious that you are, from your handle, to your writing style, to your "points".
It’s tiresome.
Really, *really* tiresome.
Courtesy of the USA, I learned to speak Arabic back in 1990, as an interrogator in the Army. You literally *cannot* learn the language without learning quite a bit about Islam, since the language has been frozen in place by the Qu’ran.
To see the collective freakout going on in my country about this religion is akin to seeing Europeans shitting themselves over Pentecostals, blaming all of Christianity, and instituting pogroms. Insane fuckwits are insane fuckwits, not the norm.
Or do you believe it is fair for me to blame all Christians for pedophiliac Roman Catholic priests? Evangelical homosexuals? Snake handlers? People who let their kids DIE rather than use anything but faith healing?
Stop treating an entire religion as if its worst elements are indicitave of normalcy.
And, by the by, Islam is "the religion of peace", given that Islam means peace. Much like Christianity is the religion of Christ. Or Buddhism is the religion of Buddha.
Cris v.3.1
@John D: I thought that Islam meant "surrender," as in surrendering to the will of Allah. Is that wrong, or is it one of those words with multiple interpretations?
r€nato
Islam means Obama, and Obama means Islam. Also.
PaulB
I see it as more like "England Prevails" from V for Vendetta.
John D
@Cris v.3.1: Arabic is an unusual language, for those of us raised on Romance languages — there are no vowels written, they are inferred from the context. Islam (اسلام ) is derived from salaam (سلم), and only means "surrender" if used as a transitive verb. The closest it can come is "submission (to the will of God)", though peace is as common a translation.