Joe Klein, tomorrow:
In the upcoming issue of Time magazine, out Friday, columnist Joe Klein considers what he calls the Bush administration’s “epic collapse.” He concludes with a statement that may make some wonder if he is hinting that the president ought to be impeached.
Klein claims, in referring to the president, that he has “tried to be respectful of the man and the office” but now he recognizes that the “defining sins” of his administration “are congenital: they’re part of his personality. They’re not likely to change. And it is increasingly difficult to imagine yet another two years of slow bleed with a leader so clearly unfit to lead.”
Two questions.
First, why do does it matter what Joe Klein thinks? I understand him less as a barometer than as a self-important nitwit who is frequently wrong. If anything I’d take this to mean that Bush could defy the Constitution and serve another term.
Second, why so difficult? The idiocy lasted six years already. Even with subpoenas, poll numbers that rival gonorrhea and a party desperate to escape his foul cloud, Bush won’t leave unless Congress impeaches him. The Dems won’t do that, so we might as well prepare for two years of boxing Homer.
As I see it the only hope for change is if Republicans get sick of splash damage from the president’s screwups and initiate impeachment hearings themselves.
MBunge
Klein’s comments are only important in that they serve as both a marker and a signal of elite opinion in the political establishment. Those elites degenerated into a mass of quivering bunny rabits after the combination of 9/11 and the DC sniper. Klein’s words demonstrate that they’re FINALLY recovering from that and they’re a signal to the rest of the elite that it’s okay to start talking about the President in these terms.
Mike
srv
To think it’s been 14 years since I started opposing this moron. I will revel in every minute of this non-stop meltdown. I will laugh as every party member is ejected and crushed by this non-stop train wreck. He is the Chernobyl of the Republican Party and the Hyperpower. His failures will glow for generations.
Two years is not enough for me.
Doug H.
I wouldn’t be so hasty as to rule out the Dems starting impeachment hearings. Pelosi, and especially Reid, aren’t for instant gratification. Their MO so far has been to patiently and deliberately lay out the groundwork first, and then use that to move to the next step. IMO, impeachment’s coming, its just a matter of eroding Bush’s last legs of support (such as ‘beltway insiders’ like Joke Line) first.
Zifnab
Cheers! I’ll drink to that.
Jake
Feh. Another poseur tries to copy John Cole.
Clap harder!
Moll Slanders
I’m afraid you’re right, Tim.
stickler
If the Democrats have been trying to push Bush into ever-more-irrational behavior, they seem to have succeeded. The Sam Fox appointment is a giant, avoidable, and stupid middle finger to the Senate like I never imagined I’d see.
Stupidity, overreach, arrogance, and incompetence are a mean combination. May the subpoenas fly far and true; may the impeachment(s) begin tomorrow.
ThymeZone
Klein has suddenly realized that there is a bunch of material out there that makes him look like a Kool Aid junkie, and he is trying to put distance between himself and the joke presidency that he has enabled lo these several years.
Klein is totally self serving. He’d make a good White House staff member. He can articulate any view, whether it has an ounce of truth or merit to it, or not. He’s a word whore.
ThymeZone
Good line, well stated.
Pb
He’s all of the above–a barometer of self-important nitwittery and wrongness. Let’s see where this goes, if anywhere.
Kimmitt
Klein is getting spanked on Swampland, bad, and I think it’s starting to show.
Dug Jay
A good and rational discussion by a group that couldn’t successfully piss in barrel with a mere one inch distance between them and the barrel.
ThymeZone basically has it right. This is an attempt by Klein to recover a little bit of ground with some of his former “fans.” Truly a wasted effort on his part.
Stooleo
Bush is the millstone around the Republican Party’s neck, dragging them to the bottom. I wonder how long it will take before they realize this, and impeach his ass. My guess is the abyssal plain.
http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/les5/abyss.html
Jake
Or a campaign aide for John McCainiac.
Best description evA.
I’m getting a tad weary of all of these pundicks who suddenly sit up and shout “Oh my garwsh, George Bush is a horrible person.”
I started lurking here during the latter days of John Cole’s epiphany and saw a process, even a struggle as he came to realize he’d been backing a stinker. Some days he sounds more pissed than the average librul.
From other folks, not so much. There’s still a fair amount of bet-hedging and apologizing. (Klein tried to be respectful of the man, WHY?) I also have to wonder how much of this we’d see if the 06 elections had a slightly different outcome. Whores indeed.
mclaren
It matters because Joe Klein is an asskissing suckup who would praise Pol Pot as “a leader with true vision” if Pol Pot were sitting in the Oval Office. Joe Klein has fellated the ignorant incompetent sociopaths in the White House for 6-plus years to the point where everyone realizes this clown makes a lucrative career of ennobling depravity.
So when Joe Klein comes out and says he can’t take anymore…wow. That’s like Kruschev saying Stalin went too far.
As for the claim that we can’t take 2 more years of this hell…hey! You people sneered and jeered at John Kerry when he warned you that a vote for the drunk-driving C student in the White House was a vote for “more of the same.”
You wanted more of the same?
You got it.
More of the same, coming up!
I think the next 2 years of living hell are CRUCIAL. This country full of no-neck ignorant religious fanatics needs to get its face rubbed in its own offal, like a recalcitrant puppy. The 51% of do-nothing know-nothing Rapture-loving fools who eagerly yanked the lever for the sociopath in the White House need to get a full taste of the consequences of their criminally negligent behavior.
Who you vote for matters. When you behave like an idiot and fall for scams and lies and con jobs, and clap your hands raw applauding Swift Boat smears and cheer yourselves hoarse when sociopathic demagogues like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh scream hate speech against everyone who stands up for the basic principles of the constitution of the United States of America, you need to get impaled with the brutal consequences of your own misdeeds. You need to hang there, screaming and twisting, in unbearable agony, for two more long years while crazed demagaogues murder your children in Iraq for no reason…while gas prices doar to $20 per galloon…while masked goons break down your neighbors’ doors and drag them away to secret torture chambers with black hoods over their heads. You need to watch official Fox News propaganda vomit lies over the airwaves until you lose control and hurl a brick through the TV set screaming in uncontrollable rage.
People like John Cole need to learn the terrible of their folly. Democracy is a precious thing, and sociopathic demagaogues like Karl Rove abound, even in America, and if people like John Cole let them, psychopaths like Karl Rove will destroy democracy in a single generation and turn us into an incompetent police state run by corrupt thugs who can’t even evacuate survivors after a major flood.
So enjoy it, former Republicans. You’re going to get 2 more unbearable years of it. New atrocities, new scandals, new lies…every day some gross incompetence will come to light and a new cadre of thugs will rush forward to smear anyone who denies the documented facts. Every day more innocent victims will be murdered or tortured, and new Joe Klein weasels will stand up and accept handsome salaries to ennoble depravity and demonstrate with impeccable logic that fraud is honor, mental disease is patriotism, hate is love, torture is kindness, censorship is freedom, and gross incompetence is sublime skill.
Get used to it. Learn to like it. Embrace the suck, as our troops now say in Iraq.
Then, after the next 2 intolerable year sof living hell crawl past one atrocity and one depravity and one monstrous sadistic lie at a time…think twice when you see a presidential debate.
Don’t just listen to the Karl Roves of the world. Don’t believe the Swift Boaters just because they _look_ sincere.
The big question everyone without partisan blinders on asks about Joe Klein today is:
_Now _this a$$hole figures it out, after cheerleading these incompetent dunces for 6 years? Now??!?!? NOW??!!??!?
The rest of us figured it out during the first debate with Al Gore back in 2000, when the drunk-driving C student couldn’t even name the countries in the middle east and snickered sneering gigles of contempt when Gore started running down the statistics about current problems in America with the snide jape, “Well, I don’t have a calculator.”
Everyone with eyes and ears and common sense knew the drunk-driving C students was a sh*t-for-brains jerkoff back in late 2000.
Maybe the next 2 years of living hell will teach the John Coles of the world to open their eyes and ears. Actually _look_ and _listen_ when you see a presidential debate. If you see an ignorant incompetent sociopath engaged in debate with a former Vice President you _really_ don’t like, PAY ATTENTION TO THE SOCIOPATH.
SPIIDERWEB™
What “epic collapse.”?
Yeah, the public is finally realizing what Bush is and what his atrocious policies have and are doing, but he’s still trucking as they say.
Congress isn’t influencing nor containing the imbecile.
I see nothing differently than I saw things a year ago. What am I missing here?
BadTux
Exactly. The Deciderer is still decidering. Other than impeachment, which ain’t in the cards, he’s still gonna keep deciderin’. It’s like that illegal recess appointment he just made. Who’s gonna stop him? How many legions does Congress have? Yeah right…
grumpy realist
What ever happened to the principled conservative politicians?
When you find yourself rooting for Bob Barr as the voice of reason on the conservative side, you know something has definitely dropped out of the basket.
stickler
Well, wait just a minute there, pardner:
Congress may not have many legions (or divisions, if we want to get our Stalin right). But Congress has a whole hell of a lot of subpoenas, and it’s plain as day that this Administration hasn’t got a clue in hell how to deal with Congressional oversight.
If you were going to impeach this devious sonofabitch, you’d want to lay the foundation carefully, lay it deep, and lay it long. Lay out the bill of particulars so thoroughly that even a stupid hack like Huckleberry Graham could see the mendacity and illegality.
Then send Huckleberry Graham up to the White House to have a Goldwater Moment with the Deciderer.
Chad N. Freude
I think you’re all missing the Truth here: George W Bush is the Manchurian candidate.
Do you think the Soviet Union — er, I mean the Russians — could be any more pleased with what this president has done to the United States? Is China unhappy? Are the North Koreans cowering in fear? This man was maneuvered into office by a coterie of undercover communists specifically for the purpose of doing everything Bush has done to bankrupt the country, destroy the military, use the Constitution for toilet paper, and turn the United States into a pariah. This isn’t incompetence or stupidity. It’s the result of a perfectly executed plan.
The only thing I’m not sure of is whether Angela Lansbury is playing Rove or Cheney.
CaseyL
Two of the soldiers who died today in Iraq died by friendly fire.
One of them had just arrived in Iraq a few weeks ago.
He was one of the thousands sent to Iraq without training.
Bush will never suffer so much as a moment’s inconvenience for that. Cheney will never suffer so much as a moment’s inconvenience for that. Nor will any of the other architects of the war. They will get away with it all, and retire rich and safe.
…and 20 years from now, some of them will be back. And, unless Americans get a lot smarter in the next 20 years than they were in the last, those fuckers will get elected again.
Doug H.
What stickler said. If you’re gonna ITMF then you’d better make sure you do it so that only the die-hard 28 percenters will be left in his corner. You make sure you do it when he’s talking to the portrait of Ronald Reagan and Bob Gates is telling SAC not to take any phone calls from the President.
srv
Like the Easter Bunny, they only existed in your dreams.
The Easter Bunny
Watch it, moonbat, or I’ll be a bad dream you can’t wake up from. Just ask the Canuckistanis.
Northman
Man, would that be fun to watch!
canuckistani
It’s true, we live in a wasteland of civil war between Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. With gay marriage.
stickler
Good grief, DougH:
Not twenty years ago that sentence would have been laughable. And now we know, that it really happened. That Nixon was batshit crazy and so drunk (nine martinis in one session? How?) that he was non compos mentis when foreign leaders rang the Oval Office.
I for one am waiting eagerly to find out just what insane crap is going on in this White House. Is the taping machine still hooked up? Or did Mr. Butterfield’s little revelation provoke its removal?
srv
I said Easter Bunny, not the Undead Easter Bunny.
Punchy
Did you guys know that AQ and Iraq were linked?
No, this is not from 2003. or 2004. or 2005…2006.
2007. April. Cheney said so. Again.
Cheney really IS my dad. Never wrong. Ever. About anything. Ever. No matter what the counter evidence. Amazing.
jenniebee
From Josh Marshall last night:
But loyalty = competence, right?
Marcus Wellby
I’d have to agree with that, but to be fair, also mix in a little of the following:
Klein, Matthews, Broder and all these other fucking morons who thought Bush was like John Wayne and Christ all rolled into one need to go, and go NOW. The GOP and Bush only got this far because the press is part of the problem — if not THE problem.
Walker
And he got an epic smackdown by a declassified Pentagon report on the same day.
ThymeZone
Yes, the world is
bitterbutterbatterbetter without Saddam.Chad N. Freude
But Cheney’s right, because
and we know that they are completely untrustworthy and everything they said must have been lies. If they said there was no cooperation, then AQ and Iraq must have been working together as one.
Who are you going to believe, a dead dictator who kept Iraq from the peace and prosperity it has achieved with the aid of the policies of the Bush administration, or the duly elected (well, for the second term, anyway) Vice President and former chief executive of Halliburton with which he has severed all ties? QED.
chopper
“i can’t believe it’s not better!”
Chad N. Freude
That can’t be true. She studied under the Master, AG Gonsillies himself.
Rome Again
Yup!
Dave in ME
I think impeachment is coming, mainly because of the obstruction of justic arising from the purged prosecutor fiasco. Once the ball gets rolling, all the Republicans will jump on it like a lifeboat, so they can say next year during their campaigns that they “opposed” Bush. Bush is cancer to the Republican party at this point. Amazing it took 6 years to get to this point, but I guess having republicans running all congress helped conceal the crimes and ineptitude.
Rome Again
OT – from WAPO
Gee, I wonder WHY?
Zifnab
Meowgasm
Yes, this is completely off topic.
Still, it’s freak’n hilarious.
Rome Again
Dang it, I think that’s a firewall link, sorry :(
Title of article: Justice Department In New Fight Over Papers on Firings
mclaren
Sure, maybe the current administration is in the middle of an “epic collapse” — but, listen, there’s hope! Just over the horizon!
The GOP base has got two fantastic dark horse candidates for ya!
Just think to what heights America can aspire under these magnificent 2008 Republican Presidential candidates:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0407/3399.html
and
http://www.nysun.com/article/51783
Happy days are here again…
Darrell
The irony is rich that the same person (frequently wrong nitwit?) also wrote this
For starters, how has Bush “defied” the Constitution? Facts please
Darrell
Ah yes, romanticizing the ‘benevolent’ leadership of Saddam.. no mention of his attempted genocide, murderous oppression, and sociopathic tendencies. Those descriptions are reserved for our drunken White House dictator
Fe E
Dear God, I think the first link broke my brain–on the other hand, having a president who can crush the larynx of those who displease him using the power of the dark side of the force is intriguing at any rate!
I know when I wanna get my swerve on, I just try to think of ol’ Newt….
So maybe these guys are on to something.
Jake
That’s nice Dick, now take your shot gun and go hunt down Osama bin Laden. What’s that Dick? Saddam was Osama? And your proof is…? Oh, we never saw them in the same place at the same time.
Mission Accomplished.
ThymeZone
“We refer the honorable gentleman to answers previously given here multiple times, some time ago.”
Lamest Troll Attempt ever, Darrell. You need some new material, buddy.
Darrell
Except that the “lavish coronation” was a $225 ceremony, and the number of resignations were three, not four, two of which had already lined up jobs before Paulose’s appointment. Oh my.
But hey, if the lie synchs with the leftwing narrative being pushed, then keep on parrotting it. Anything to strike back at our White House “sociopaths”.
The Easter Bunny
I’m not undead, you liberal twit. You’re thinking of Santa, who got his fat ass blown up and was then resurrected as a disembodied head in a jar. Considering the lard-encrusted, cholesterol-choked state of his former body, I think they did him a favor, frankly.
Nice try, leftard. Everyone knows that Santa and I, despite our personal animosities, have made common cause against the Canuckistani scourge. Blame the insurgents for the massive bombing, defoliation, and landmine campaign that we’ve undertaken against your country, not us. Don’t you like freedom, moonbat?
Now go play tonsil hockey with your gay husband and quit feeling sorry for yourself.
ThymeZone
You really are losing your touch, pal.
Paulose’s ceremony is the stuff of “left wing narrative?”
Here’s left wing narrative:
The history of the United States in the 20th Century, in terms of domestic policy, advances of rights, liberties and protections, was the history of progrssive thought and government. To the extent that America is part of the community of modern, liberal democracies, it owes that membership to liberal government.
For fun, compare and contrast the great advances that can be credited to reactionary or conservative thought and government during the 20th century.
Darrell, you go first. Take all the time you need, buddy.
What are the great conservative ideas of the 20th century, and where are the examples of their success?
You are about to hear the longest recording of chirping crickets ever played here ………….
srv
That would be you, back when Saddam was really doing all that slaughtering. But we wouldn’t be such assholes to refer to it as romanticizing. But it is another fine example of your trademark hypocrisy.
Fe E
I think we have a new Darrel in the house–that link through his name is a pretty blunt hint.
Becasue I just never got the feel that real Darrel had any sense of irony (sic) at all.
srv
You might as well be Undead, here’s your baby bunny after some proper training, comrade.
Rome Again
Good question…
Rome Again
Wow, you really CAN find anything on the internets, can’t you?
Some Other Brian Guy
She asked for free access to one of the St. Thomas law school buildings. Normally valued at $1500.
The Other Steve
BTW, Tom Heffelfinger, who did hold the USA post up here in Minnesota was a pretty decent prosecutor. He handled a number of pretty important big cases without any major fuckups. Such as the Dru Sjodin murder trial, etc.
The guy was respected as not being a partisan hack.
This Paulose, quite the opposite. Nobody respects her, and she quite obviously is a partisan hack.
Why do you favor the nomination of partisan hacks?
Darrell
Coming from an extreme left partisan hack such as yourself, I’ll take that characterization of Paulose with a huge grain of salt.
ThymeZone
Strnagley silent here, as the search continues for the Great Successful Conservative Ideas of the Twentieth Century.
Where are you Darrell? Libary of Congress? Reading Lewis Mumford?
You’re a good soldier.
Chad N. Freude
As best as I can recall, Darrell, markets in Baghdad were not car- or suicide-bombed nor were ordinary Sunni and Shiite citizens forced from their homes under threat of death under Saddam. I guess talking about that is romanticism.
Yes, I know he brutalized and murdered the Kurds and that they are certainly better off now(but somehow I don’t think the citizens of Central and Southern Iraq are much consoled by that). That mentions genocide.
Any who dared to oppose him politically were murdered, sometimes en masse; his execution was for his conviction of the killing of 148 Shiites in al-Dujail after an assassination attempt. That mentions murderous oppression.
He was a street thug who murdered his way to the dictatorship of his country. That mentions murderous oppression.
By the way, Darrell, if you’ve bothered to read this far, THE ENTIRE POST YOU’RE REFERRING TO WAS SARCASM!!! The Point is that Cheney is still touting the alleged connection in spite of the Pentagon report, which cites Saddam Hussein as a source for their conclusion. Had you complained about my attacking Cheney for this, we might be able to have a conversation. But it seems that you would rather find romanticization of an appalling dictator than exercise the interpretive skills one would expect of a high school student. Tell me, what do you think of the romanticizing of Hitler by Mel Brooks in “The Producers”?
Rome Again
Yes, you were right TZ, crickets are chirping VERY loudly.
Chad N. Freude
Damn! the second reference to “murderous oppression”should have been to “sociopathology”. Damn copy&paste!
Darrell
Except that modern conservatives by and large follow classical liberalism. You conflate the defintion to dishonestly advance your “point”.
Tim F.
Darrell, if you honestly, really don’t get the joke and you’re not just trying to bait me into a pointless argument then there really isn’t much hope for you.
ThymeZone
Send for Darrell’s new booklet, “Great Conservative Thought — Greatest Bathroom Book of All Time!”
Just $19.95 plus S&H { add to cart }
In this commode-side compendium, Darrell reduces all of Twentieth Century conservative thought to a few cartoons, depicting ….
Lester Maddox takes an axe handle to darkies trying to enter his restaurant ….
Our grandparents starving in food lines during the Great Depression ……
Japanese Relocation Centers in WWII …..
and more!!
Order today!!
ThymeZone
BWAAAHAHAHAHA? You mean the Neocons?
Those are your “conservatives?”
Perpteual War is now the guiding principle of your ideology?
Huge, huge winner for your side in 2006. Wait until next year, amigo!
Chad N. Freude
This is correct. Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, James Dobson, John Yoo, etc., are not modern conservatives.
Tim F.
True! John Cole, the Commissar, Gregory Djerejian and Andrew Sullivan clearly attest to that. First liberals recognized that our current admin comes from loopyville, then the modern conservatives followed suit.
srv
POTD. What a riot, I almost fell for it thinking it was the real you.
No, really, who’s playing Darrell today?
Darrell
yes, how silly and uninformed of me
ThymeZone
Yes, for reference, see the mighty 3-way between myself, Darrell and DougJ about two years ago, on the subject of the Neocons and where they came from.
That was the real (or at least, the original) Darrell.
Nutty and stupid to a fault.
And in some serious denial.
Chad N. Freude
I’d really like to know if Darrell believes that The Bush/neocon crowd
Darrell
The old John Cole, yeah..
Chad N. Freude
By the way, does it bother anybody that the meaning of the word “liberalism” without a qualifier has changed, at least in contemporary political discourse, from the days of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill?
Darrell
I think Bush has betrayed many of the classical liberal principles. He is a wild spender and believer in many big govt. programs.
But not in the case of invading Afghanistan and Iraq, as I believe those fall under the category of national defense.
srv
You’re a blithering idiot.
Besides, maybe, Ron Paul, what fucking modern conservatives are you talking about?
None of your Republicans believes in Civil Rights, “Free Trade”, or less Government.
Don’t tell me what that word means, you and your heroes are the ones who don’t know what that word means. After the Gingrich revolution and 6 years of nitwits, exactly what rights have y’all protected, exactly which subsidies have you cut, what constraints have you put on the Fed, and exactly what reductions in the footprint of the Federal Gov’t have you made?
You are Hypocrite Maximus today, nitwit. You don’t even really know what you believe.
Chad N. Freude
was a merry old soul.
A merry old soul was he.
He called for no debt.
He called for no war,
He called for the end of the stupidity, arrogance, incompetence, dishonesty, and dictatorial ambitions of the administration and
An end to their idiocy.
.
Darrell
Actually, I’d say most Republicans believe in all of the above, in stark contrast to Democrats, whose idea of enforcing “civil rights” is to discriminate based on skin color through affirmative action, and who have never seen a non-military govt. program that they didn’t like and want to expand.. “War on Poverty”, government healthcare, etc, etc.
Chad N. Freude
An arguable, albeit wrong-headed, point. Short version of rebuttal: The 9/11 attack should have been treated as a criminal act, not a casus belli. The war with/on/in Iraq was based on provocation that the administration knew or should have known to be questionable if not out-and-out false and did not result from any threat the nation had to defend against.
Perry Como
The modern Republican party is the very embodiment of classical liberal principles.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
srv
Boy, you really are the prototypical modern Republican. Could you shout a little louder “WE’RE ALL A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES, OR WE’RE CLUELESS!”.
We believe these things, but you couldn’t possibly look at the last 15 years and find any evidence of our progress in those beliefs.
You’re a very confused person if you think any Democrats have ever run around calling themselves Classical Liberals…
Perry Como
Here’s a report on the USA swearing in ceremony. Color guard, choir, processional…you know. Modest.
Chad N. Freude
unlike the present Republican administration.
Chad N. Freude
OT, but priceless. Gingrich Speaking Fee Bankrupts College Republican Club.
Matt M
Darrel I missed ya!!! I haven’t seen a thread so thoroughly high jacked by a spoof…. well since the last time you stopped by. Truly the best. Once i saw you’re name, i got out the popcorn, dimmed the lights, and laughed away as i scrolled down.. Good Job!!
Perry Como
They could always pay for it by lowering club dues (taxes).
Bubblegum Tate
Now that’s a great comedy 1-2 combo!
Chad N. Freude
When Gingrich finds out about this, perhaps he’ll apologize in Spanish
Chad N. Freude
This incarnation of Darrell is different. So far no real epithet hurling (one reference to “extreme left partisan hack such as yourself”, one “you’re a nitwit you’re another” exchange), no lengthy off-point arguments. I expect more.
What have you done with the real Darrell?
grumpy realist
Or maybe the College Republicans could actually, y’know, do something to show they Support This War by actually signing up to fight it?
Sorry, son, but “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Any More.”
God I love John Prine.
Darrell
Yeah, and in the face of typical provocations/insults like these
changing the subject
A $225 ceremony is definitely modest by any standard.
Chad N. Freude
Leaving aside the amount of pomp that can be considered modest, the only reference to cost I could find was the KSTP item that says figure.
No documentation, receipts, canceled checks, whatever. Of course they don’t have to provide any documentation, but not doing so encourages speculation.
Perry Como
The cost to taxpayers was $200, not including the $1500 fee waived for the facility. The rest was paid out of pocket. I’m not sure how much a choir costs, but I would assume it isn’t cheap. Nothing about the ceremony appeared “modest.”
Darrell
So, after a biased hit piece news article which was wrong on at least some of the facts (on the number of attorneys resigning, while failing to note that 2 out of the 3 had lined up new jobs before Paulose was even appointed), you blame Paulose. And who says there was “no documentation” or receipts? Or did you simply make that up for dramatic effect?
Darrell
Well first of all, university choirs often perform free. Second, there is no solid evidence of the “color guard” etc, as Paulose’s office already said that the basis of the “news” hit piece was pure bullshit
But since it fits your narrative, keep on parrotting the lies.
Rome Again
Which version?
this version is a former student of John’s who is covering while students are on Spring Break. Once exams are finished and the semester over, then you’ll notice another change, another chance for a former student (possibly the same one we have)to come back and spoof as Darrell while we’re waiting for the next Darrell, who will arrive at the beginning of next semester, obviously.
I have to say, Darrell 1.0 was much more interesting than the Darrell we have now, although the one we have now actually has learned how to relax enough to cuss sometimes. There’s that at least.
Chad N. Freude
Where did I say that?
I stand corrected. I should have said that there was no mention of supporting documentation in the article.
Powerline begs to differ:
I think you should fire your research assistant.
ThymeZone
Just saying.
Darrell
I stand corrected on the color guard then, which not nearly as egregious an error as your “no documentation or receipts” lie.
Rome Again
John doesn’t have time for girlfriends, he has a blog. He is married to the internets.
ThymeZone
So, he’s Pissy Whipped?
MikeF
Still waiting for that list of Conservative achievements….
Chad N. Freude
And you know it’s a lie because
is unclear?
Oh, and you left out the choir.
Darrell
Whoops, I already wrote
You’re certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer are you Chad?
ThymeZone
I checked with Peggy Noonan, she apparently thinks that John Paul was the poster boy.
When you have to go to the Vatican to find an example of constructive conservatism …… well, you have to admit, they have a great uniform.
I’m sure there are other great examples out there.
Say, wasn’t the Tennessee Valley Authority a Great Conservative Idea? Rural electrification?
Oops, I guess not. Well, I thought it might be since it’s in Tennessee and all, and Fred Thompson is from there.
Chad N. Freude
Well, I meant the post I was responding to, but, hey, if it means that much to you, you win.
Re knife: I’m actually more of a spoon, although I have been called one sick fork.
Rome Again
I really liked the examples you chose, actually. They seem so full of liberal thought (that uniform is HOT, where can I get one?)
Perry Como
That’s the oldest looking university choir I’ve seen. Who knew universities had so many balding, white haired students?
ThymeZone
There’s never enough tine, is there?
Darrell
1) Where did you see a pic of the choir. There was no pic in the article you cited
2) do you have even one shred of evidence that the choir cost taxpayers anything?
Chad N. Freude
I’ve been trying to find a reference to where the choir came from, but without success. I guess my fact-checking skills are not as finely honed as Darrell’s.
Darrell, which university were they from?
Chad N. Freude
Did you have even one shred of evidence when you said there was no color guard?
Darrell, your failure to adhere to your own standards is really disappointing.
Chad N. Freude
Sharp!
Perry Como
There’s a video in the article I linked.
No, but the cost to the tax payer isn’t my point. The ceremony was not “modest” by any stretch of the imagination. Unless I’m completely off base and having a choir, color guard, procession and renting out an auditorium is how the swearing in of a US attorney normally occurs.
Perry Como
Pat Robertson’s Regent University. They heard you can get a sweet government job by graduating from there.
Interviewer: “Where did you got to school and what did you major in?”
Interviewee: “I was a Religious Music Theory major at Regent University.”
Interviewer: “Well, science has theories. And you majored in something that has theory in the name. Congratulations, you are now the director of NOAA. We hope you do a heckuva job.”
Chad N. Freude
My inner pedant is compelled to point out that the auditorium was donated.
Darrell
Except that it’s already been well established that they didn’t have to pay any “rent” for the room, as the university donated the space.
How would you know how the swearing in of a US attorney “normally” occurs?
Rome Again
Pointedly so.
Chad N. Freude
Ha, ha, beatcha to it. My timestamp’s earlier than yours. Neener neener!
ThymeZone
What a twit. I have had relatives (close ones, who lived in the same house) sworn in to such jobs. Who worked in the US Federal Courthouse with a US Attorney in the building.
Whaddya think, DOD (Darrell of the Day), it’s some secret ceremony that is held in a cave? Hardly.
More to the point, what the fuck do YOU know about them?
Chad N. Freude
The only thing I can think of at this (ahem) point is “Don’t get me prong.” I’d better stop.
Perry Como
Who gets to pay the taxes on the donation? Is it considered a gift? Is it a personal favor to Paulose or to the office?
Is it “normal” to take months to plan the ceremony, have a choir, have a color guard, etc.? Or is “normal” to have a few people in the judge’s chambers and swear in the US attorney? What say Powerline?
Chad N. Freude
Numerous press accounts. But I suppose that negates the assertion.
Darrell
The donated room was an abomination bordering on unconstitutional.
Rome Again
You apparently don’t eat with utensils?
“Careful with that axe Eugene”.
Perry Como
I will give her points for not anointing herself with oil (or Crisco, for that matter).
Rome Again
Actually, the room was just a simple bit of space with walls, a ceiling and a floor… the abomination is in your own mind.
Perry Como
Well now you are just getting into moonbat Ron Paul/Bob Barr territory.
Chad N. Freude
The Powerline article has two paragraphs on this, saying among other things
Claims it’s very common at that law school.
Chad N. Freude
An
is an eating utensil? Please don’t invite me to dinner.
Chad N. Freude
Where’d you get this from? It was a law school “atrium”or auditorium (depending on the source).
Perry Como
Ok, I’ll take Powerline at its word then (blech). Maybe this is much ado about nothing.
Rome Again
Are you saying atriums don’t have ceilings?
Perry Como
Buildings without their tops on are immoral.
ThymeZone
Edited to sound more like you.
Rome Again
Two points!
Rome Again
I was expecting SOME kind of Ashcroft joke over this, hmmmm.
Chad N. Freude
Damn, I wish I’d said that. I yield to a Higher Power of Pun-gency.
Now if I were Darrell, and I think we’re all glad I’m not (especially Darrell), I would say:
Do you have a shred of evidence that I speak like a hip-hopper, you racist?
Chad N. Freude
Failed to strike
invite. Banish me.Chad N. Freude
No, no, no. Atria in modern buildings have ceilings. They didn’t in ancient Rome, Rome Again.
Rome Again
I rest my case.
Chuck Butcher
Since a relevant part of this article posed the question of whether or not the Republicans would get sick enough of Bush-splash to impeach, I’ll offer this thought. The Republican Congressional delegation are the survivors of 06 which makes them the more hard line bunch and most closely tied to BushCo’s “policies.” They are so closely identified with this admin that impeachment would be a self-indictment. They cannot afford that. I have no idea what they can afford going into 08 or how they’ll manage to disassociate without cutting their own throats. I’d watch for desperation and some very loony politics.
Some, like Greg Walden (R 02 OR) are safe, some are in serious danger, some are just plain done for as things sit today. You know they’ll do whatever it takes to change that equation.
Emile
Hooo kay then, how about an unbiased report from Fox news. They never get it wrong.
Darrell
Nobody is saying Fox is perfect, especially if they used the hit piece as their source, but since you’re making the accusation, care to back it up with a link? This is all that I found at foxnews.com when searching under the name/word Paulose:
Chad N. Freude
Terse, wasn’t it? A little more detail — well, a lot, actually — can be found here and here.
BTW, if you search the Washington Times (not the Post, the Times) for Paulose, you come up with this:
Apparently Rev. Moon’s house organ does not know of Ms. Paulose’s travails or considers them unnewsworthy.
Emile
Alrighty then.
craigie
Fixed.