Jonathan Martin can barely keep a straight face as Matthews nailed him tonight:
While watching that, I was reminded of all the times that Pat Buchanan knows he is full of shit and giggles and runs with the company line anyway, because that is what JMart looked like tonight. We don’t need to know ask the VP why he goes to the Politico, Jonathan. He goes there because he knows your boss will act like a stenographer and simply reprint whatever he says, and there is no chance in hell you guys will fact check it or rebut it, because that would get in the way of all the Drudge and wingnut links. Cheney knows an effective PR firm when he sees one- you’re simply his new Office of Special Plans.
The funny thing is that when Allen and company act as useful idiots, serving the same role that Facebook does for Palin, they probably pride themselves on their “scoops.” Or maybe instead of funny, it’s just sad.
(via the Allegedly Awesome Bob Cesca)
General Winfield Stuck
Jeebus, where did everybody go? I love the way Kornblut jumps in to rescue the good name of Politico, in a Village co-dependent way. Mathews can do good work, when the Gerbils in his head let him be.
TR
Just saw that myself. Priceless.
Funkhauser
Isn’t Jonathan Martin good tire-swing friends with loads of Goopers? I seem to remember a profile about this, from the campaign of 2008.
Tom
I don’t know how I feel about Politico releasing Cheney statements. I mean, he is a vice president. What he says is newsworthy. So I don’t really mind them posting statements by him. I believe they’ve critiqued what he’s said later on, correct?
I don’t know. It just doesn’t bother me as much as it does others.
Rhoda
Sometimes, Mathews reminds you that he walked into the DC cesspool w/Carter.
That was very cool. I love the look on Martin’s face at the end before the clip cuts off; he is pissed off, lol.
And I hate how instinctively Kornblut tries to stop the food fight rather than sit back and let a competitor get burned; damn it all. These folks outed your health care fund-raising dinners! That’s money that would have saved WashPo jobs Anne, put on your team colors and let Politico stew in this PR mess they have brewing. Fan the flames a little…talk about their ownership.
This is why journalism is dying IMO. It’s not the corporate bullshit; because the MSM was always corporate. It’s because in the old days; WashPo would be determined to crush Politico. They would have documented every eff up to kill their credibility and done the whole thing on their site and stolen Calderone and Smith who are the only two beside Rozen worth reading there. Because that’s how they made money; by having more readers and getting them by being the best. That goal, of being the best and not getting scooped is something that’s dying.
Elisabeth
This should be a reply to Tom.
Politico, and anyone else, should fact-check a statement before posting it. Just like with old-fashioned print news no one reads the correction.
mcd410c
Sorry, completely off topic … Michael McDonald is on TV? Is this The 40 Year Old Virgin?
Go TCU & Boise!! Suck it, BCS.
calipygian
Learn to speak Tea Bag: Because other languages are just too hard!
H/T: K-Lo. I would have never caught it if I weren’t such a devoted reader of the comedy/terror website known as The Corner.
K-Lo might be the dumbest motherfucker on teh Intertoobz. She posted this, almost without comment, and without any attempt to refute what the animation says.
mcd410x
Oh, come on. Remember the heady days of Dan Quayle and Walter Mondale quotes after their vice presidencies?
Good times!
Pasquinade
Just when you though Orly Taitz couldn’t get any crazier…
http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/?p=7140
demkat620
Kinda OT but from the http://www.huffingtonpost.com headline story about what dems need to do to win in 2010
Heh. Good luck with that. These are democrats you’re talking to.
maye
That clip is hilarious. Politico as Cheney’s personal PR Newswire. I love it.
And – what Rhoda said.
Annie
@calipygian:
LOL. Or cry out loud. It would be really funny if it wasn’t so true…This is the state of political and policy discourse courtesy of our fearless Republican leadership and their patriotic and informed following of real Americans.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
Dasm!! I was flipping channels earlier and saw Martin to changed the channel. I wish I’d have known he’d make an ass of himself. Today must have been one of those days where Tweety was off his meds, so to speak. Either that or drank too much eggnog over the holidays.
demkat620
@Pasquinade: Wow, I read that too quick the first time. I thought that said Negro Magnetic attack.
God that woman is nuts.
Phoebe
One thing I liked about the Colbert WH Correspondents’ Dinner Smackdown was his nailing home of their role as stenographers. I know everyone recently said “it was beautiful but it didn’t do any good” about that speech, but it called them out on something to their faces that I hadn’t seen done before, or at least not so well. The image of the press as typists for the powerful is just perfect, and damning in just the right way. And it sank in, and chewed on some of them, like Matthews obviously. I very much suspect the awareness of this particular trend owes a lot to that speech of Colbert’s.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@Rhoda: What they considered scoops thirty and forty years ago aren’t what’s considered scoops today.
Tom
Well, that’s the thing: how do you fact-check an opinion? Cheney was giving his view on Obama. That in and of itself is newsworthy. His opinion is news worthy. And, in essence, releasing his statement is like printing an op-ed.
In fairness to Politico, they’ve also ran counter arguments to Cheney’s.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31098.html
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@Phoebe: But it doesn’t always sink in with Tweety Don’t you remember his TDS interview last year when Tweety was plugging his latest book(Life Is Like a Campaign .. or something similar).
calipygian
@Tom: Just how the fuck is are the opinions of that cowardly, draft dodging, war criminal piece of filth failed vice president “news worthy”?
You probably don’t think Newt Gingrich gets enough air time on the Sunday gabfests if you think anybody should give two fucks about what that bald, old man shooting, impotent motherfucker thinks.
Tom
Um, because he was arguably the most influential vice president in the history of our nation.
You may hate him. I may think he was the worst vice president we’ve had, but he was vice president. That makes his opinion newsworthy, like it or not.
JenJen
John, I am so glad you flagged this. Ever since watching that segment earlier I’ve been pissed off, just yearning to smack the smirk right off of J-Mart’s face, and I’m happy to learn I wasn’t the only one. It was infuriating to watch, it really was.
I will totally cop to having an anti-Politico bias. For example, I can barely stand the sight of Official Cheney Stenographer Mike Allen, who shows up nearly every morning for backslaps-n-bullshit from the Morning Joe crew. This isn’t entirely fair, but Mike Allen has a face for radio, amirite?
I was at least relieved when Tweety informed J-Mart that what they’re doing over there at Politico isn’t “reporting.”
Don’t know if any of you saw “The Ed Show” earlier, but Jonathan Alter called Cheney a liar for claiming that the President doesn’t believe we’re at war. When challenged a bit Alter pushed on, saying Cheney isn’t a stupid man and so it’s obvious the former VP knows he’s lying through his teeth. Alter then said the former VP is emboldening terrorists by making these comments about the President, and I happen to agree with him 100%.
Mark Centz
Tweety wasn’t calling out, he was expressing envy and jealousy.
demkat620
@Tom: No it doesn’t. He controls nothing. He has no office or power. He’s just a cranky old bigot living in the middle of nowhere shouting at the rain.
Elisabeth
@Tom:
I’ll give a bit on that. But it’s a bit hard to take someone printing Cheney’s statement without mentioning the areas where Cheney and/or his boss were deficient in the same areas they claim Obama is. Too often we’ve seen Politico and others let the claims that the Bush Administration kept us safe go unchallenged (amongst the other crap). Perhaps if they had called them out for that lie I’d care what Cheney has to say or forgive Politico for printing it.
Of course, that probably says more about me than it does Politico.
General Winfield Stuck
Dick Cheney is also a lying sack of shit, many times over and damn his shit filled soul to hell.
h/t neill
Blue Raven
@Tom:
So, when do we hear from George Bush the Elder these days on such matters? He was both VP and President. Shouldn’t he be getting quoted on a near-daily basis on such matters as national security? How about Carter’s VP, Walter Mondale? Or Al Gore?
Tom
OK, you’re all right. Cheney’s opinion isn’t newsworthy as evident by his remarks fading away into obscurity.
Fact is, any president or vice president’s opinion is newsworthy. Cheney’s is especially newsworthy since is held office so recently and played such a large roll in national security issues.
Any one who doesn’t think Cheney’s opinion is newsworthy is just being obtuse.
Tom
As far as I know they haven’t offered their opinion up.
demkat620
@Tom: They probably have but they don’t have Mike Allen on speed dial.
drew42
This is why Matthews bothers me so much. Because sometimes he shows that he could be so much more than a loud-mouthed frat boy.
What a waste of potential and influence.
Roger Moore
@Rhoda:
The part about not getting scooped is still there. The problem is that “getting a scoop” used to mean being the one who put out an important, well researched story. Now it means being the stenographer of choice for a politician with a score to settle or points to be scored.
General Winfield Stuck
@Tom:
The problem isn’t that what he says isn’t newsworthy, as you say, he was once a vice presnit and most experts agree likely the most influential one in our history. The problem is the same as it was when he was in office. A timid and or fawning press that should have long ago parsed his false words with a heavy hammer of condemnation they deserve.
What folks are objecting to, I think, is just leaving the newsworthy thingy out there without the proper context of where they come from. Damn lies, not statistics, nor stenography.
Ash Can
Then he belongs in the history books, not the current public political discourse. If he had anything useful or valuable to contribute, that would be one thing. But he demonstrates time and again that he doesn’t.
Elisabeth
@General Winfield Stuck:
This.
Tom
@Elisabeth
I said originally that I wasn’t sure how I felt about politico releasing statements uncommented on, and I think it’s because it’s a new phenomenon of the Web. But to me, it’s essentially an op-ed.
The biggest duty of any journalistic entity is to convey information. For this reason, I don’t mind them printing what Cheney has to say, just because, as I said, he’s a former vice president and his opinion is newsworthy.
Now, if they later go back and do an analysis of it or an op-ed piece on it, all the better.
Elisabeth
@General Winfield Stuck:
Yep.
DCLaw1
More of Politico tilting its ridiculous hand:
http://insideoutthebeltway.blogspot.com/2010/01/dc-journalists-love-them-some-hackery.html
General Winfield Stuck
@Ash Can:
Shut the fuck up Dick Cheney.
We will wait awhile to see if it worked.
Elisabeth
@Tom:
I really just want him to go away. Bottom line.
Ailuridae
@Tom:
Al Gore did offer his opinion up in the lead-up to Iraq and the MSM
1) made fun of his beard
2) made fun of his weight
3) claimed he was mentally unbalanced and implied he was off medicine he was required to take for said mental illness
4) he was bitter about losing in 2000
Of course, Al Gore was obviously right about the Iraq war at the time and was proven undeniably correct in the interim.
7 years later Dick Cheney gets the same media to uncritically report personal attacks on the President that run counter to all facts and these are reported uncritically without even a single claim that he’s just outright lying.
There is a similarity here. Its that the mainstream media is too lazy to fact check people’s statements unless its for “gotcha” moments.
I think you might want to start reading some old Somerby.
Midnight Marauder
@Tom:
I think that’s the element you keep missing out on in your pseudo-defense of Politico. It’s all well and good to quote the statements of former Vice President Dick Cheney, but when keeps feeding you transparent, easily debunkable lie after transparent, easily debunkable lie, at what point do you either start pusblishing the lies within their larger real world context, or stop reprinting his lies all together?
If this sentiment represents your expectations of the Fourth Estate, it makes sense why you are half-heartedly defending the clowns over at Politico.
calipygian
@Elisabeth:
I kind of don’t.
As long as that stupid motherfucker can’t keep his fucking trap shut, Mr. 19% Favorability Rating becomes the face of and mouth of the GOP. He reminds people of how shitty the Cheney/Bush years were. And people are going to start seeing what a degenerate fucking liar he is.
Not even David Broder could say with a straight face that keeping the bald fuck front and center is Good For Republicans (TM).
Ailuridae
@Tom:
Op-eds aren’t supposed to be written by reporters.
asiangrrlMN
@General Winfield Stuck: I agree with this. I don’t see how printing that Cheney thinks Obama is soft on terror is newsworthy at all without related information such as how Cheney and his gang fucked up this country so badly, we elected a black man AND enabled the terrorists to do even brisker recruitment because of their (Cheney and W’s) corrupt and incompetent ways. So he was VP? So what? That counts for exactly nothing when he has absolutely nothing of importance to say.
I also think much of the objection is to how suddenly, it’s ok to fawn over the ex-VP when he’s shitting over the current president whereas with the last VP (Gore), he was considered treasonous for offering mild criticisms of the way W. handled 9/11. It’s the double-standard that really irks me coupled with the fact that Cheney’s words are worth nothing.
And ‘simply reporting’ would entail noting that Dick Cheney is a lying sack of shit every time he spoke. It’s lying by omission to pretend that what he says is ‘just an opinion’ with noting his very vested interests.
maus
@Tom: “I believe they’ve critiqued what he’s said later on, correct?”
Not that I recall.
MinneapolisPipe
Heeelaarious!
maye
Opinions are not “news.” They are opinions. If Politico or anyone wants to print Cheney’s opinion, put it on the opinion page.
If it was news, Cheney would be put to Q & A, and a story would be written reporting something.
But Cheney will never answer real questions, because he will never interact with a real news outlet.
drew42
Cheney’s opinion isn’t newsworthy. Neither is Sarah Palin’s opinion on anything this Administration is doing. Or Newt Gingrich’s opinion, for that matter. And pointing it out doesn’t make one obtuse. But Cheney’s opinion is “newsworthy” in terms of trash media journalism.
Cheney’s opinion is “newsworthy” only because he’s a controversial figure making controversial statements. Whether his assertions have merit is not even considered. In fact, the more outrageous the statements, the more “newsworthy” it becomes.
Read what he said. Nothing of factual substance, nothing informative, nothing that could be considered in the realm of constructive criticism (which is the only kind of criticism an ex-Vice President should be giving, by the way — he somehow managed to become more of an asshole after leaving office). Just fearmongering and sneering insults. That is simply not newsworthy.
danimal
Tom–I agree that former VPs deserve some news coverage when they make public statements. The fawning attention given to Cheney, however, is something different.
Let’s compare Cheney with another former VP that has been in the news. Al Gore spent years establishing an expertise on climate change and now his comments on the climate crisis are newsworthy. His books and speeches contribute a new perspective to the civic discourse. Gore leveraged the prestige of his office and made news by contributing an original point of view. Cheney, by contrast, simply regurgitates egregious talking points that would be quickly jettisoned if written by a third rate hack. He adds nothing to the public discourse. His comments are less than useless, they are deliberately deceptive. Newsworthy? Perhaps. But the fact checking that should accompany his hackish press releases is missing.
slag
This is kind of funny because it does, once again, illustrate a serious difference between liberal and conservative media. Let’s compare what happens to Obama when he shows up on Rachel Maddow to Cheney when he shows up at Politico. Rachel beat Obama up pretty good back in the day. Imagine what she’d do to him now. Apparently, Cheney’s such a tough guy he needs his lackeys in the media to treat him nice.
I know liberal bitch-slapping of Obama has its downfalls. It can be counterproductive at times. But still, I watch stuff like this, and I can’t help but think our way is better. Or at least more democratic.
KCinDC
How is it newsworthy that Cheney doesn’t like Obama? Do we have to have a new “scoop” on that “news” every week?
Max
@demkat620: My problem with the meme I see building about the Dems losing seats in 2010 is that the party in the WH always loses some seats, yet the GOP and the manic-progressives are going to paint this as “Obama lost his base”.
I really loathe these people.
How many seats did Bill “The Blowjob” Clinton lose?
On topic –
I like Tweety. Especially his contempt for Cheeney. He called him the Troll tonight. hehehe. I record Hardball, I don’t record Keith or Rachel. Not sure if that says something about me or them.
Annie
@Ash Can:
Exactly. He had nothing useful and valuable to contribute while he was VP, so why suddenly he is trying, with the help of a compliant media, to come off as a wise and thoughtful national security voice now?
How exactly did Cheney’s policies make us safer? How exactly did Cheney’s policies contribute to US leadership abroad? Iraq is a disaster. Read the article today on Iraq in the WP, and its move towards fundamentalism. Great. Cheney great contribution to Middle East peace has been to create another country led by radical fundamentalists — And, he managed to do this with our tax payer dollars and the lives of our military.
It is not that Cheney should be shunned — which he should.
It’s the lack of accountability where Cheney is concerned.
Elisabeth
@calipygian:
I kind of agree with you. :)
Except we have short memories. I read somewhere that Bush Jr.’s poll numbers are going up; granted he’s got a looooong way to go before they are anything to write home about but….if Cheney et al are given a platform to spout off, given that their veracity has yet to be challenged by most of the MSM, I worry that even incidences like the tighty whitey terrorist (h/t Wonkette) will make the more vulnerable among us in the electorate wonder if there isn’t some truth to the Republican POV.
General Winfield Stuck
@drew42:
While I will defend anyone’s right to free speech even that which gives me the raging doowillies (new word, don;t ask) it becomes a debatable point to where “fearmongering” especially from a recent national leader, crosses the line into the FS exclusion of “shouting fire in a crowded theater”
Something to ponder
maye
@Max: I used to like Chris Matthews. But in the last couple of years, he and his medium make me sick.
drew42
Re-reading my previous comment, it just occured to me that “asshole” isn’t used nearly often enough when people desrcibe Dick Cheney. Because really, what living American embodies the word “asshole” more than Cheney?
People like Beck and Limbaugh say these things because that’s part of how they make their living. Cheney says them because he’s an asshole.
From now on, every sentence I type that contains “Cheney” will also contain the word “asshole.”
Tom
@Elisabeth
That we can agree on.
MikeJ
@Max:
Clinton was -54 in the house, -8 in the Senate in ’94. St. Carter was -15 in the house, -3 in the Senate in ’78. LBJ was -48 and -3 in ’66.
FDR was -45 and -8 in 1942. World War II had been going nearly a year, and yet the Republicans attacked him and won a shitload of seats.
jwb
@Max: If the Dems lose seats it will have far more to do with the economy than the “lost” base. If the economy improves substantially by summer, the Dems pass health care, and there is no unexpected disaster, I expect the Dem losses to be minimal. (If the teabaggers push the goopers into full wingnut, the Dems may actually gain—though that is a long shot.) The actual economic performance and not the loss of the base is the reason it was rather stupid and short-sighted of Obama not to have pushed for a larger stimulus early on.
Max
@MikeJ: Wow! Thank you.
So, when Obama loses 18 H and 4 S, that proves that he’s the worst.president.ever.
I fucking loathe these people.
@ JWB – I’m agree and I wish the media and the crazy left would discuss that, rather than Obama’s lost the base and let everyone down.
I never vote mid-terms, but I sure will this year.
MikeJ
Did this guy from Princeton (Prof Johnson) on teh News Hour just say “there is no magic missile answer to terrorism”? Automatic hit for 1d4 per level of caster? No wonder we’re losing.
Never trust anyone from a school with a tiger as a mascot.
jwb
@MikeJ: Clearly if you are a Dem President and want to be re-elected, you need to lose 8 Senate seats during your first midterm. If you only lose 3 Senate seats, you’re toast.
KG
I know I mentioned this earlier today, but really, I think this just Cheney’s people laying the groundwork for the “Draft Cheney” campaign. Cheney remains in the public mind, if only on the fringe, he remains “strong” in the view of those most likely to support him, and he can tout a life time of service (of course, we know how well that worked for McCain). For this to work, it will require a fractured primary for the GOP or for everyone to step aside (neither of which are likely, but are semi-plausable given the current state of affairs in the GOP).
That’s the only end game I can see: President Cheney.
Again, I can’t imagine it will work, and it will likely lead to the end of the GOP as a major party (and that may not actually be a bad thing).
John O
@Phoebe:
Beautifully put.
As much as I’m bearish on my country’s future, every now and then I wonder if the “new media” may not just eventually save it, sadly, long after I’m dead.
The humiliation of these abject and not even pretending-to-be-sincere morons has to take a bit of a toll over time. John C. was right: You can tell when Pat knows he’s full of crap, and I like him for it, not to mention his knowledge of history and brutal take on politics.
All I ask for is transparent bias coupled with factual analysis. Another thing that will come long after I’m dead, if we’re lucky.
maye
@KG: the only end game I see is Cheney’s face (and venom) remain in the spotlight and he can continue to command high speaking fees.
General Winfield Stuck
@MikeJ:
Those are daunting numbers, but I can’t help but think we are in a new political pair-a-dine of some sort. Part of it is the GOP in complete disarray that has gone to the wall with being negative and have succeeded in bringing down dems and Obama’s numbers, but also their own, which were already low.
And when the campaigning starts, the crazies now seemingly empowered on the wingnut side are going to show front and center just how unhinged they really are. It will be a freak show like none other, I think, with no lucid ideas on governing.
My own prediction is if we start producing positive job growth by say march or April, then dems might do better than history has shown for a first term midterm. They are going to lose seats, but maybe not as many as conventional wisdom projects, just thinking out loud.
Dems are going to lose some house seats in the south for sure, no matter, just on pure tribal grounds, and some in the lower midwest. The advantage was already favoring dems in the senate, as far as seats up for reelection, so we shall see.
Martin
@Pasquinade:
Damn. I was pretty close in my first iteration, though I thought the Pelosi homo pill was a better Orly conspiracy in the end.
Neuro magnetic attack. I wish I could dream that kind of crazy.
MikeJ
@jwb: You’re right. I left out Harry S who lost 54 and 12 in ’46. He narrowly escaped tigerhood, attending UMKC rather than the main campus of Mizzou.
Annie
@John O:
While I agree that some of us can tell when Pat knows he’s full of crap, two problems emerge. One, a lot of people can’t tell when Pat knows he is full of crap, and two, what he does believe in is truly scary….
El Cid
Does no one remember the disclosures from, I think, the Scooter Libby investigation, where the Cheney team remarks that going on Tim Russert’s show is so clearly a kiss-ass medium that it would hurt their spreading of propaganda, because the lazy shit Tim Russert would happily act as a conduit for whatever bullshit the Cheneyites and Bush Jr’s would want spewed?
SteveinSC
@Elisabeth: My worry is that Cheney, proponent of a state of permanent war and thence to extra-Constitutional powers, is staying visible and loud in hopes or anticipation of some new terrorist outrage. With that, fascism will come to this country, maybe with this vile, fat fuck on a wooden horse. And handmaiden to this possibility will be the stenographers.
This man has damaged the honor and good name of the US more than any terrorist. I won’t be satisfied until this murderous war criminal is tried, convicted, and hung, hopefully with his fucking head popping off when the trap door is sprung.
Corner Stone
I’m a big Eddie George fan but I just don’t want to see him analyze anything. He is not good.
Corner Stone
Iowa Hawkeyes and the Rambling Wreck?
Does anyone really want to see this contest?
Honus
OT, but why is Ralph Nader refereeing the Boise St/TCU game?
Corner Stone
@Honus: I’m glad someone else round this place found their Y chromosome.
Thank you Mr. Wagner.
Corner Stone
TD Horny Toads!
Cat Lady
@El Cid:
I remember everything from that time. Cheney could count on Tim Russert to catapult the propaganda.
Corner Stone
Man I loves me some Michelle Bachmann.
Elisabeth
@SteveinSC:
Him and his cohorts chortling “I told you so” all over the tv if such an event were to happen is enough to give me nightmares. I believe in my heart of hearts that Cheney, not so deep down, wishes for something to happen just to prove him right if only in his own mind.
Midnight Marauder
@General Winfield Stuck:
We’ve had this chat before, General, but like you it would appear, I am honestly not too concerned about Democrats losing big in the 2010 midterms. For starters, there’s a long way to go until Election Day, and a lot of time for a lot of good to still be done. I think that’s the second biggest thing the Democratic Party has going for it.
The first thing, obviously, is that the Republican Party (as it currently exists) is batshit insane. From the top of the ladder with their “leadership,” to the bottom rungs of their “grassroots”–Teabagging, know-nothing, insane, conspiracy filled loons. And you have no idea if I’m talking about the leadership or the grassroots right now, do you? No, you don’t.
Their bench of potential presidential candidates is abysmally thin and woefully unprepared for the big leagues. And the thing people keep forgetting about the Republican Party facing us today, is that they still have to battle each other before we even get the chance to destroy these motherfuckers. They have to go through a gauntlet of Certifiable Crazy before they even get the chance to regroup and prepare for the ass-whupping awaiting them in the general.
And one more note on the point of Cheney (the asshole) and his alleged newsworthiness. There is nothing newsworthy in what he’s saying. Nothing at all.
But why he’s saying it and how he’s saying it–now there’s your news story.
Comrade Jake
I’ll give you that the first time Cheney said something like this, that it was news. But that was a few months before Obama was elected. He’s been repeating the same shit every chance he gets.
Will it be news again next week if Cheney says that he thinks Obama’s soft on terror? How about the week after that? At some point, when does it become news that he’s saying the same shit over and over?
ajr22
@Corner Stone: Hell ya, but I’m a recent Iowa grad so I’m biased. Our last two qb’s have passed out on the couch at my old apt GO HAWKS haha.
Elisabeth
@Corner Stone:
FWIW, I took Iowa as my ESPN college bowl mania pick.
Corner Stone
@ajr22: roofie colada much?
Annie
@Corner Stone:
Yuk…….talk about having nightmares….
Corner Stone
@Elisabeth: in the more general sense, what geographic area might you inhabit?
MattR
@Corner Stone: I kinda enjoy watching a good option offense.
Mike in NC
His future statements should be from a cell at Gitmo. If they ever remake “1984”, the Big Brother character will have to be completely based on that bastard.
Corner Stone
@Annie: don’t you mean “dreamsicle”?
General Winfield Stuck
@Midnight Marauder:
I would agree that it is too early to tell how 010 will shake out, and that the whacked out GOP is a mitigating factor in dems favor. It will be the economy stoopid (not you) and jobs, and if we get another burst bubble say with CRE, or a double dip recession, then it’s lights out, or way dimmed for dems. Otherwise, I am sorta optimistic.
Comrade Mary
Eww. Slash FAIL.
SteveinSC
@Mike in NC: You’ve hit the nail on the head! The republicans are howling to keep Gitmo open, and now we have the solution of whom to put there. Elegant.
Sly
@jwb:
There are open seats in Ohio, New Hampshire, and Florida that will be up for grabs regardless of what happens. If Rand Paul wins the nomination to replace Bunning (pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease) then Kentucky could be in play. Ditto Missouri if Robin Carnahan can stay ahead of Roy Blunt, which may not be that difficult.
The long-shot races are the ones where unpopular Republicans are running against unknowns in states and districts that have greater GOP infrastructure, even if they’re unpopular or losing popularity. DeMint isn’t going anywhere, and neither is McCain or Grassley. The upside of this is the same applies to Reid, Dodd, and Dorgan. I know we’re all supposed to be doom and gloom about these guys, but the fact remains that no credible challenger has risen up to come after them 10 months until the election. All the polling done against a named challenger have been internal ones by the GOP to recruit possible candidates.
It’s possible for the Democrats to win a Senate seat or two if they play their cards right. Financial regulation, scheduled for debate over the summer, provides a clear opportunity to exploit one of the big reasons why the public grew to distrust Republicans in recent years. But I would not argue that House races offer the same likelihood.
calipygian
@General Winfield Stuck:
ACORNS GONNA B BUZY STEELIN LECSHUNS THIS YER!!!!!11!!!!!111!111!11
gbear
MPR ran a lunchtime segment that ties into a few of the BJ threads over the last couple of days, although a couple of the panelists may make you throw up in your mouth a little. I shut it off when I heard that VanderHei was on the panel arguing for the end of the MSM. I didn’t want bits of skull, brains and blood all over the interior of my car.
An ‘Intelligence Squared’ debate features three panelists FOR and three panelists AGAINST the proposition: Good Riddance to the Mainstream Media.
*Jim VandeHei: Executive editor of Politico.
*Michael Wolff: Columnist for Vanity Fair and the founder of news aggregator newser.com.
*Phil Bronstein: Former executive vice president and editor at large of the San Francisco Chronicle.
*David Carr: Reporter and columnist for the New York Times.
*Katrina vanden Heuvel: Editor and publisher of The Nation.
*John Hockenberry: Co-host of Public Radio Program “The Takeaway.”
edit: ‘Intelligence Squared’ is the worst public debate series on public radio, bar none. It always sucks.
ajr22
@Corner Stone: gigity! Ha not much to do in Iowa City besides drink. If you walked around downtown on a weekend sober you would think the bars were having two dollar roofie colada specials.
danimal
@Comrade Mary: Thank you, Mary for taking this thread in a completely different direction. I’ll be back after taking a dose of brain bleach.
Corner Stone
@MattR: Yeah, I get ya. Personally I like watching a nasty defense.
But on offense I like watching a kid with all the throws. It doesn’t happen often but it’s a joy to watch someone throw that 7 yard over-the-LB-under-the-CB out route that gives a receiver a chance for some YAC.
Then come back next series and throw a beebee 25 yards deep. etc etc.
Ahhh, a boy can dream.
Corner Stone
@ajr22: Hmmm…sounds like Casa de Corner Stone.
Strange, that.
*I could go on all night doing Quagmire bits. Just say the word.
valdivia
@gbear:
when The Takeaway began I used to listen hoping it would be better than Morning Edition. I stopped listening for a couple of months during the summer and then when I got back to it they had gone almost full wingnut. They have as a guest a reporter from the Dc Examiner and they never explain that this is a full on right wing propaganda place. They often have very crazy republicans saying crazy shit with no push back at all. I had no idea Hockenberry was so sympathetic to this kind of bs.
MattR
@Corner Stone: That is what Sundays are for, although I think the Boise QB has that kind of arm. Interestingly, while I really like watching the triple option of Navy or G-Tech, I don’t love the spread option of teams like Florida.
ajr22
@Corner Stone: I still can’t believe they gave Cleveland a show over Quagmire. Cleveland can never top quotes like this. “My fellow Americans, I have not been entirely truthful with you. I did gagoogidy that girl. I gashmoygadied her gaflavity with my googus. And I am sorry”
Corner Stone
@ajr22: “Hello, 911? It’s Quagmire. Yeah, it’s caught in the window this time. “
MattR
@ajr22: Did you type that from memory?
ajr22
@MattR: Ha, nope. The only show I can quote from memory like that is the Wire.
Mike G
Every single utterance on anti-terrorism from that black-hearted evil fuckface authoritarian greedy bully Cheney should be prefaced with the fact that he was in charge of anti-terrorism in the Bush Administration from January until September 2001, and did exactly jack shit, as he plotted the carving up of Iraq’s resources with his oil cronies.
Quoting Cheney as an expert on anything except greed, evil and grabbing power is a damn joke.
Elisabeth
@Corner Stone:
I doubt you’ll see my response but I live in Vermont. Grew up in Ohio, though, and am a HUGE Buckeyes fan. I generally gotta go with Big Ten (Eleven) teams.
Preston
So maybe the Brit, Neil Sankey can succeed where the Russian immigrant (from the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic) has failed, bring it on.
Poor little Birthers (still in denial about their losses), Judge Land and now judge Carter, smack down the crazies (case dismissed).
Not even “Fake News” Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly believes the crazies, how funny.
http://trueslant.com/erikkain/2010/01/05/glenn-beck-mocks-the-birthers/
http://belowthebeltway.com/2009/10/29/bill-oreilly-slams-orly-taitz/
http://tesibria.typepad.com/whats_your_evidence/BIRTHER%20CASE%20LIST.pdf
To all the birthers in La, La Land, it is on you to prove to all of us that your assertion is true (TOUGH WHEN YOU KEEP LOSING CASES), if there are people who were there and support your position then show us the video (everyone has a price), either put up or frankly shut-up. I heard Orly Taitz, is selling a tape (I think it’s called “Money, Lies and Video tape”). She is from Orange County, CA, now I know what the mean when they say “behind the Orange Curtain”, when they talk about Orange County, the captial of Conspiracy Theories. You know Obama has a passport, he travel abroad before he was a Senator, but I guess they were in on it.
In my opinion the Republican Party has been taken over the most extreme religious right (people who love to push their beliefs on others while trying to take away the rights of those they just hate) and that’s who they need to extract from their party if they real want to win. Good Luck, because as they said in WACO, “We Ain’t Coming Out”.
I heard that she now wants to investigate the “Republican 2009 Summer of Love” list: Assemblyman, Michael D. Duvall (CA), Senator John Ensign (NV), Senator Paul Stanley (TN), Governor Mark Stanford (SC), Board of Ed Chair, and Kristin Maguire AKA Bridget Keeney (SC). She wants to re-establish a family values party.
I can only hope that Taitz will resist the state collectors that will be hounding her like the “ruff ruff” that she is to collect the $20K.