Very shrill indeed. Almost sounds bitter:
Since I began with the Times’ conservative columnist of the moment, I will end with its conservative columnist of years past — the estimable William Safire. In 1996, he called Hillary Clinton “a congenital liar.” It was a head-snapping characterization that, alas for Clinton, has defined her for the ages and that she stubbornly vindicates from time to time.
But what about Palin? Can you imagine the reaction of the press corps if Clinton had given the audience a “hiya, sailor” wink? Can you imagine the feverish blogging across the political spectrum if Clinton had claimed credit for stopping a bridge that, in fact, had set her heart aflutter? What if she had shown that she didn’t know squat about the Constitution, if she could not tell Katie Couric what newspapers or magazines she read or if she had claimed an intimacy with foreign affairs based on sighting Russia through binoculars?
Ah, but the scorn, approbation and ridicule that would have descended on Clinton — I can just imagine the Journal editorial — have been withheld from Palin. Much of the mainstream media, grading on a curve suitable for a parrot — “greed and corruption, greed and corruption, greed and corruption” — gave her a passing grade or better. I agree with Palin. It’s the mainstream media that flunked.
Word.
BTW- You might want to check your children to see if they are suffering from an outbreak of Intermittent Gunderson Syndrome (IGS). Symptoms include a fake accent that appears to come and go, use of folksy mannerisms when in front of a national audience, inadvertent winking, and the loss of the ability to pronounce the letter “g” at the end of words. A video here:
Mr Furious
I loved this ‘graph…
Penn
It’s not that she has seen Russia through binoculars, it’s that there is a place in Alaska, where she is Governor, where it is possible to do so.
She’s never been to that place or seen Russia, though. She just could have.
Г-жа demimondian
What do you mean? Russia is a part of Alaska; the mainstream media just keeps forgetting that Moscow is in Idaho. Also.
ed
When you’ve lost Richard Cohen…
Palin couldn’t find her ass with a funnel. Also.
bootlegger
OMG, you said the B-word!
(bitter)
dmsilev
Hell hath no fury like a columnist scorned.
-dms
Graeme
I think it would have been funnier to watch the Right go apeshit if Bill Clinton had winked at the American public during a debate! Hahahahah!
Eric U.
I haven’t seen any republican use the clenis defense recently, I kinda miss it. The mighty power of the Clenis is not to be trifled with.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
And Rome is in New York… oh, and Georgia too!
Dracula
This is terrible news for Democrats.
BombIranForChrist
Don’t make fun of Palin! She’s electoratin’!
Emma Anne
But I see Cohen still feels that calling Hillary a congenital liar is more or less fair. I’d bet all her lies in the last 20 years wouldn’t match up to, say, McCain’s this year.
DFD
Cairo is in Illinois
DecidedFenceSitter
@Eric U.: It’s still out there, such as Brett over at Obsidian Wings.
John
And Damascus is in Maryland, Vienna’s in Virginia, Paris is in Texas, Berlin is in New Hampshire, Lima’s in Ohio, Madrid’s in Alabama, Lisbon’s in Connecticut, Canton’s in New York, and Bethlehem’s in Pennsylvania.
Are we done now?
YellowJournalism
Paris is in Texas, don’t forget!
Svensker
OT, but has anyone figured out a work-around for the black cone of invisibility when the comments reach a certain number?
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
and Maryland too! Spiro Agnew died there.
The Other Steve
Madrid, Nevada and Moscow are in Iowa you fools!
SamFromUtah
Things have changed. Might used to make right. Now a wink does.
I’m also comforted to know that it was OK for might to make right.
Napoleon
Ohio has a Demascus, Paris, Manchester, Medina, Mecca, Vienna, Rome, Geneva, Versailles and Berlin also. And that is just what I can think of off the top of my head.
Serious comment, I have wondered on occasion if the farmers and settlers who gave places like that their names were perhaps more open minded and "learned" then a large chunk of todays population that couldn’t even put up with naming a fried piece of potato after the French (I mean Ohio has a MECCA and MEDINA for God sakes).
djork
YOU FORGOT POLAND….Maine.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Ohio also has a Delaware, a Wilmington and a Newark (Newark, DE is my original hometown), which makes me believe it will trend towards a Biden win this time around. ;)
cleek
and California is in North Carolina
and it takes 35 minutes to get from Erect to Climax, in NC.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Oh, and there’s a small town named Wyoming in Delaware, so maybe there’s a small chance Wyoming will trend Democratic too!
Napoleon
Good God, Ohio has a Poland also. I don’t know how I didn’t remember that since they were my high schools chief rival.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Really, I had no idea.
LMAO!
w vincentz
Here in NY, we have Mexico, Rome, Athens, and the new ones..New Berlin, New Amsterdam. Too many others to mention.
Hey, can anyone answer a question that hit me when the pitbull talked in FL. She stated that our military is fighting for OUR freedoms in the Middle East. What freedoms are at stake over there that aren’t at stake over here?
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
The freedom to own Babylon (Oh, I forgot, that’s in New York too!)
Nevermind…
redwards95
Uh… Hillary Clinton did campaign like that. Remember the sniperfire on the tarmac in Bosnia? The claim that being first lady made her a foreign policy expert? Taking credit for passing the medical leave act which was passed before her husband took office? I could go on and on….
Comrade Nixon Hailfire Palin
Ooh, ooh, I’ve got one for the debate:
"Senator McCain, you’ve been asking if we know what Senator Obama really believes. When will Governor Palin hold a press conference so we can find out what she really believes?"
OK, I can dream.
Brachiator
@cleek:
And it’s only 4 miles from Climax to Pleasant Garden, NC. But 42 miles from Jugtown to Climax (unless you make a side trip to Cheeks).
Thank you, google maps
DFD
Illinois also has a Mahomet (variant of Muhammad). Call Auntie Em! Call Sgt. York! Call the Malkin Militia! The terrorists really are here!
w vincentz
Thanks Cirvus,
We also have Cairo, though here abouts, we pronounce it Kay-roh. We also say nuke-lee-ar, not nu-cue-lar.
ok…carry on (or carion for the epicures out there).
Funkhauser
Dear Richard Cohen,
You do know that a congenital liar finds it impossible to ever tell the truth? That it means that she lied from birth? So how could Hillary "vindicate this from time to time?"
Or do words have no meaning for those who write for a living?
F— you. Retire and die, you pig-ignorant waste of space.
Oh, and your judgment sucks. Witness, you, February of this year:
P.S. California is in Pennsylvania. There’s a college there. I think it’s called UCLA of PA.
Robert Sneddon
New York is about ten miles from Washington in SE England. Boston’s about a hundred miles of them to the north-east in the fens. Moscow is in SW Scotland about three hundred miles further NW.
w vincentz
Pennsylvania has Intercourse, and also Bird in Hand.
NY has Climax.
ThymeZone
Big deal. In Arizona, we have Bagdad.
jake
One corner of Northern Indiana has Warsaw, Angola and Peru. There’s a Versailles out there somewhere but I think that might be Ohio.
DonnaInMichigan
Here in Michigan we have a city named HELL.
Friends of our family owned a bar/restaurant there called "The Damn Site Inn".
But according to Saracudda Palinocchio…that isn’t the "hell" that she says that I am going to.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Hi TZ.
Will you take me to Climax sometime? ;)
Scrutinizer
The more I watch Palin, the less funny I find her. A demagogue of the first order, that one.
Dave Neiwert over at Orcinus has been talking about that lately, too.
Tom65
Pfft. Maryland has Cambridge AND Oxford
Napoleon
So does Ohio, so there (and actually Oxford has what is ussually considered the best state University in it).
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Blue Ball too, not far from Intercourse, oddly enough.
Krista
Pah, Newfoundland has all of your states beat wrt pervy (or weird) names.
Ass Hill, Ass Rock, Bareneed, Billy Butts Pond, Blow Me Down, Come By Chance, Dildo, Furby’s Cove, Goobies, Halfway Point, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Hatchet Cove, Hearts Content, Hearts Desire, Jerry’s Nose, Joe Batt’s Arm, Lawn, Leading Tickles, Nameless Cove, Nippers Harbour, Noggin Cove, Old Man’s Head, Petty Harbour, Poor Boy Island, Pouch Cove, River of Ponds (River of Ponds Stream runs through it), St. Jones Within, St. Jones Without, Toogood Arm, Virgin Arm, Wild Bight, Witless Bay, and Wreck Cove.
DFD
You don’t rule the world by going about it all scattershot
Г-жа demimondian
Amen.
ThymeZone
thud
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Okay, but what do any of those names have to do with hegemony? Granted the foray into the sexual names was a bit off course, but, my question stands.
4tehlulz
lol Richard Cohen. Am I supposed to take him seriously now?
At least David Broder has a twisted sense of loyalty to the Village. Richard Cohen cannot even claim that shred of dignity.
SGEW
Bah. Nothing beats Dry Beaver, Arizona.
Cain
On U.S. 24 in Indiana, there’s a place with a sign that has Brazil written on it pointing in one direction, and Argentina pointing in another direction!
In Oregon, we have Damascus, Madras, that’s all I remember. I’m sure we have some funny stuff too.
cain
Punchy
There’s a Las Vegas in Nevada, and a Kenosha in Wisconsin……
Maybe I suck at this game
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
I got married in Smartville, California, between Rough and Ready and Timbuctoo.
Actually it turned out to be not so smart, but that’s a different story.
Г-жа demimondian
I dunno — 56, Arkansas is pretty good.
ThymeZone
I’ll see your Dry Beaver and raise you a Haivana Nakya, AZ.
Brachiator
@Zuzu Hussein’s Petals:
Strangely appropriate:
oh really
Funny thing, I heard a bit on NPR yesterday in which Alaska residents professed no knowledge whatever of the origins of Palin’s bizarre accent. It was, according to the native Alaskans (Caucasian natives to be precise), definitely not an Alaskan accent.
I think she just sounds stupid.
jake
Good thing Governor Blood Countess is keeping an eye on Canada also when she isn’t watching Russia though.
But!
ThymeZone
John McCain, April 2008, referring to attacks on Barack Obama during the Democratic Primaries, in which Obama was being criticized for being in Rev. Wright’s church.
If I were Obama, I would play that on an ad 24 hours a day on every station they can afford to be on.
ethans mom
JGabriel
After watching the video, I have to admit that I find Palin’s schtick marginally more tolerable when she’s NOT wearing the beehive/updo/whatever it’s called hairdo. At least when her hair is down, she doesn’t look like an overgrown valley girl.
.
darkness
If you are ever in Mecca California be sure to stop at the date farm. Unfreakin believably good dates. But what else would you have in the desert?
Btw, the new site is dope on my phone. Thanks for the work upgrading it.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
TZ, this one also (from the link I just sent you in email):
McCain in 2000
gbear
It takes about 4-1/2 hours to get from Climax to Embarrass in MN, but that’s MN for you.
And Stockholm is in Wisconsin.
"Fair and Balanced" Dave
It’s California University of Pennsylvania
BTW, Moscow and Dallas are also in Pennsylvania.
jake
There’s an Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, PA.
mellowjohn
jake said, "There’s a Versailles out there somewhere but I think that might be Ohio."
there’s a versailles in illinois, but we pronounce it "ver-sayles." i think the final "s" came off the end of "illinoy."
ComradeJ. Michael Neal
Pennsylvania also has Nazareth, home of my fantasy baseball team’s AA affiliate, the Nazareth Carpenters. Folks around here probably have a preference for my AAA team, the Windsor Canadians.
chopper
that would be a good debate zinger for obama – "i agree with the john mccain of 6 months ago on both counts. i just wish the john mccain of today agreed with the john mccain of 6 months ago."
ThymeZone
Okay, I for one am TURNING THE PAGE on this Gloomy Gus talk. I want more Ayers in my tires, and if that’s wrong then I don’t want to be Rev. Wright.
Bring on the attacks! Sure, we are headed for breadlines, but at least we won’t be PALLIN AROUND WITH TERRORISTS.
PLEASE SOMEBODY FUCK ME IN THE ASS WITH A SHARP STICK.
JGabriel
More proof that McCain is trying to lose Florida:
St. Petersburg Times (h/t Karen Tumulty at Swampland):
Yeah, blowing off the state GOP chairman is a good idea in a state that the R’s only won through ground game/theft in the last two elections.
.
Throwin Stones
Also Lebanon, OH
Maybe Big Bone Lick, KY
realbtl
Jeez, 74 comments and no Humptulips Washington?
Punchy
To Jewish folk (which I’m not, but have lots of friends that are), I bet that shit is funny.
gbear
Hey, I found a news story that pretty well sums up the state of the McCain campaign.
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
Which gives rise to a classic visual pun.
[Insert election joke here.]
Original Lee
Maryland not only has Damascus, Oxford, and Cambridge, but also California, Pasadena, Hollywood, Waldorf, Paris, Severn, Friendship, Essex, Aberdeen, and Dunkirk.
I happen to like Friendly, Shady Side and Morningside, but Arbutus is also a favorite. One of my favorite road signs says "To T.B," which is short for Timonium-Beantown Road.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Awwww, the Ayers terrorist connection story just took a crap, so cute!
OriGuy
There seems to have been a 19th century fashion for naming towns after foreign places. Besides Brazil (locally pronounced BRAY-zil) and Peru (PAY-roo), there’s a wide spot in the road near Bloomington called Hindustan (hin-DOO-stun). While some of the places may have been named by homesick immigrants, like Warsaw, I think it is true, though, that people in those days thought education was a good thing.
It’s a myth that Canton, Ohio and Pekin, Illinois (from Peking) were so named because the founders thought you could dig straight through the Earth to those cities. It’s true, though, that the Pekin high school teams were called the Chinks until 1980 when they were renamed the Dragons.
chopper
exactly. i mean, look at the major rally we saw on wall street today! things are great.
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
More evidence there is some justice in the world:
Edit: Is there some reason links can’t appear in blockquotes?
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Hey Zuzu, I left a message for you on this thread. Could you please answer, and also, tell me how to get line breaks in quotes? Thank you.
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
Hi CIRCVS, sorry I didn’t see it before. I answered over there, but must disclaim that I am a real tech dummy.
Also, I have had zero luck figuring out the line break thing, so if you find out … I’d love to know.
Good luck !
scott
Here in Misery we have Versailles (prounounced Vur Sales), Useful and right near me, Frankenstein.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Well you did it in the your Corsi quote above. ;)
I left another message for you on that thread.
Thank you.
jake
Salisbury, Westminster, Cumberland.
We also have a Scaggsville but I just like to throw that out there because there are people who want to change the name to something less snicker-inducing.
Maybe he’ll be found guilty of witchcraft.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
My brother used to laugh about Scaggsville all the time. LMAO – wow that brings back some memories.
I always thought Chevy Chase was the coolest Maryland city name, considering I was a teenager and everyone thought SNL was the coolest show at that time.
jnfr
@Svensker:
I wish.
boonagain
Goshdarnit!! Looks like the Sarahcuda only has two degrees of separation from Iran!!
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Thank you Zuzu, you were a great help.
:)
I got what I needed. Much appreciated.
Sarcastro
She’s like the female counterpart of Sven and Ollie.
Sven and Sarah are standing on a pier:
Sven: Sarah?
Sarah: Ya Sven?
Sven: Yoo cownt da shlits between da boards and I’ll cownt da boards.
Sarah: Oo-kay Sven.
Sven: Wan.
Sarah: Wan.
Sven: Too.
Sarah: Too.
Sven: Tree.
Sarah: Tree.
Sven: Four.
Sarah: Fo… AHHHHHHHHH! SPLASH!
Sven: Ven yur owt of shlits yur owt of pier.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
boonagain, I couldn’t open that page, but I found a GOS diary on it – OMFG!
…
OUCH! That’s gonna sting!
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
I know !
Maybe it was because I used the buttons instead of entering the html code by hand.
‘Tis all a mystery to me.
Edit: I see you posted that you got what you needed. Yay.
w vincentz
I just got back from Narrow Notch. It’s a road near Rose’s Brook. I had to pick up a piggie for the bar-b-que business.
I named it "Lipstick" before I put a bullet in its forehead.
btw…Sarah is still an insult to America.
Polish the Guillotines
The writers at The Onion must be living in fear for their jobs.
w vincentz
@Polish the G,
Think of how the folks in the DNC headquarters in Denver feel now that their windows were smashed with bricks by the GOP fascists.
Yikes! Sarah’s "hate speech" is havin’ an effect, dontchaknow?
You betcha!
Julie
Well, Mosc-oh is in Idaho and Mosc-ow is in Russia. It’s a subtle but important difference if you ask the locals.
Win! "Todd Gunderson, eh…"