I paid no attention to blogs, newspapers, magazines, or cable news for three days, come back, and everything is nuttier than ever. Crazy people bringing assault rifles to Presidential events, we’ve moved seamlessly from one lie in the health care debate to a brand new set of lies. The mendacity of the GOP and the weakness of the Democrats is just physically exhausting. In short, I feel like this:
What was it crazy and crooked Jim Traficant used to say all the time?
Martin
I’m genuinely curious about how the Secret Service copes with assault rifles openly carried at Presidential events.
BethanyAnne
I think it was “Very funny Scotty. Now beam down my clothes.”
Bad Horse's Filly
Well this made me smile today:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Melody-Barnes-and-Rahm-Emanuel-Tell-Stories-at-Read-to-the-Top/
On August 10, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes joined Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for the Department of Education’s summer reading initiative, “Read to the Top!” During the event, Barnes read “10 Things I Can Do to Help My World” to encourage students to take practical steps to save our planet. Rahm Emanuel read “Duck for President,” a story about a duck who overcomes the odds to take the highest office in the country. After the event, the students snacked on popsicles and read their own books in the shade – a welcomed break from the summer heat.
There’s video folks.
MBSS
tunch is obviously very bored with health care.
“as long as i get my wet food and spot on the futon, i’m good.”
Lemmiwinks
Everytime I read about Max Baucus and his butt buddy Chuck Grassley I just want to puke in rage.
Demo Woman
Josh Marshall has a video of Phil Gingrey talking about the right to bear arms even at town hall events. Phil Gingrey recently had a town hall with Nathan Deal in Gainesville , GA where a man with an Obama shirt who spoke out of turn and was escorted out.
Zifnab
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
I want to see how many times Rahm can say the word “Duck” before he cracks and starts switching out a letter.
Keith G
E tu, Cole? Its been grueling, but still I have some hopes for the longterm.
In the meantime, me and the kitties are taking mid-day naps.
John Cole
@Demo Woman: Gingrey is one of the first wingnuts who had to publicly apologize to Limbaugh, if I remember correctly.
demkat620
This gun thing is not good. What was that Fred Thompson line from Red October?
This is not going to end well.
MikeJ
Fuck Fred Thompson. I’m more concerned about the Chekhov line.
General Winfield Stuck
Yes that photo aptly depicts democrats right now.
Tunch == the cat that roared
Tunch== the cat that yawned
Stay Tuned
Comrade Mary
I need a kitty. I need a kitty really, really badly.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Zifnab: I thought his asides were worth a chuckle. And I wonder if he picked the book.
burnspbesq
It’s on in Texas. Kay Bailey laid into Governor Lepetomane today.
I plan to enjoy this. Pass the chips and guacamole, please.
http://my.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20090817/4a88e3d0_3421_1334520090817-1889469166
freelancer
@MikeJ:
Colette
@Comrade Mary: I’ve got a spare. I’ll even throw in a free guinea pig. Where should I mail them?
MikeJ
@freelancer:
Tim (The Oher One)
Josh Marshall also mentioned the Democrats who brought weapons to the Social Security Reform Town Halls. Not so much.
General Winfield Stuck
@Tim (The Oher One):
Well then why don’t you? links?
freelancer
Sorry, that was aimed at Demkat, anywho. For want of an Edit button.
shelley matheis
If all this craziness over health care gives me a nervous breakdown, will my current plan cover it?
Corner Stone
@Lemmiwinks: Hmmm…Rage Puking – newest fad, or newest X-Game event?
Tim (The Oher One)
No, I wasn’t clear about Marshall’s comment. There weren’t any !
Linkmeister
@shelley matheis: Not if you took aspirin once in the past five years.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Comrade Mary: I don’t know…it’s 5 minutes to dinner time and mine are circling me like sharks in chummed water. I’d hate to think what would happen if I lost consciousness.
Bad Horse's Filly
@shelley matheis: If you were alive in 1993, then it’s a pre-existing condition. So, no.
Cat Lady
To paraphrase Atrios, who could have anticipated that electing a black man as president would make everyone go stark fucking crazy?
PeakVT
One day, I hope, Americans will stop being such fraidy-cats and the whole gun obsession will die away.
MBSS
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
you know that cats suck out a little bit of your soul each night when you’re sleeping, don’t you?
Violet
What a sweet looking kitty. I feel like Tunch, too. It’s exhausting keeping up with all these crazy people.
Demo Woman
@MBSS: BOB (brick oven bob) must live in a house filled with dozens of cats then.
Bob
@Martin: Will the Secret Service create a “Free Speech Zone” before the administration does?
The last administration moved protesters early and often, and made little chain link fence Gitmo’s for those with opposing opinions.
MBSS
@Demo Woman:
:o} they can smell his wood-oven pizza from miles away.
jwb
@Lemmiwinks: I actually think Grassley’s statements have helped immeasurably, because he has made it absolutely clear that he is not willing to play. I just think Baucus will have great difficult time defending continuing his six-party talks at this point.
MBSS
i hereby nominate BoB: “Republican Troll of The Year 2009.” i’ll get him a little statue with gollum on it.
although there are many months for all the crazies @ Real Clear Politics to catch up. don’t give up hope guys!
ihop
i read the other day that jim “having a bad hair life” traficant will be gracing us on the outside with his presence again.
he was a crook, and did time he earned. but in the days since then we have all been witness to crimes so far beyond what he did, never to be punished, that i sometimes wonder why anyone goes to jail.
jwb
@Cat Lady: It would have been just as crazy no matter which Democrat had been elected President. Crazy in a different way, no doubt, but I dare say we’d still be talking about guns at town hall meetings, death panels, so-c!al!sm and Hitler.
Anne Laurie
Welcome back, John!
DougJ has been working so hard, we never had a chance to miss you, hardly, except that DougJ doesn’t post enough kitty pics.
I’m thinking Rahm Emmanuel chose/was given Duck for President on a bet. Which he won, or his mis-speak would be allllll over the news networks.
@Martin:
If we knew, they would have to kill us, right? (/grin) As a commentor on another blog said about the New Hampster Nutter, “If the Secret Service snipers used laser scopes, guy would’ve looked like he was wearing a crown of rubies!”
shelley matheis
Read this over at Salon’s site
What Orly Taitz believes
The head Birther talks about Obama’s boyfriends, the long arm of Hugo Chavez and how the Web is rigged against her
Editor’s note: Listen to an hour of Salon’s interview with Orly Taitz here.
By Gabriel Winant
(That ‘editor’s note’ almost sounds like a threat. Yeeesh.)
cbear
Tunch: “Don’t TASE me, Cole.”
Comrade Mary
@Colette: Oh, please don’t tempt me. (How did you know I have a soft spot for guinea pigs, too?)
Maurs
@Comrade Mary
Take a look….
http://thedailykitten.com/kitten/505/
Maurs
@Comrade Mary
Take a look just don’t overload on the cuteness….
http://thedailykitten.com/kitten/505/
Laura W
And so you came back why, exactly?
You need the eggs?
Annie
I agree with Tunch. I feel like kitty screaming, too.
I am stunned by the actions of the right, and the inability of the Dems to control the debate on health. Yesterday and today, I listened to the right-wing pundits, who were at the same time trashing medicare and government sponsored health, while at the same time arguing for medicare and government sponsored health, to grab the support of seniors and those in the military.
This all happened in the same discussion! One woman talked about her great health insurance at the same time complaining about pre-existing conditions and her difficulty in getting health insurance. And everyone, just sighed, and said that is “socialized” medicine for you. And, the response of the moderator was that in Canada or the UK you would have died….
What????
Corner Stone
@ihop: “he was a crook, and did time he earned. but in the days since then we have all been witness to crimes so far beyond what he did, never to be punished, that i sometimes wonder why anyone {insert the word white here. As in, I wonder why anyone *white* goes to jail} goes to jail.”
General Winfield Stuck
@Comrade Mary:
I’ve been thinking awhile about getting a Guinea Pig. Long time Hamster lover, but quit them cause they only live a year or two at most. Do you know how long GP’S live?
2th&nayle
@burnspbesq: That’s verrrry interesting! Thx for the link!
Calming Influence
Tunch is thinking “…I bet I could fit John’s whole head in my mouth…”
Corner Stone
@General Winfield Stuck:
That fits. Except for the word “long” of course.
DonkeyKong
Munch’s “The Scream” meet Tunch’s “The Yawn”
Annie
@Calming Influence
The first laugh I have had all day….Thanks!
jwb
@General Winfield Stuck: Guinea Pigs generally live between 5 and 10 years, though they are much more likely to die near 5 years than live to 10.
Bad Horse's Filly
A quick update before I head out for the night. I just got a call from my friend, her nephew, Joey, and both his buddies will be heading out to Germany tonight. Joey’s injuries, while serious, look very survivable (sp). He kept his leg, lost some intestine, has burns and breaks, but it’s looking good. I don’t have as much information on his buddies, but I think they are going to do well, too. Thanks for all the kind words and good energy. You’re all good people.
eric
@jwb: were it but true of the teabaggers and birthers,
General Winfield Stuck
@Corner Stone:
For the sake of others on this blog, I am going to ignore you.
WereBear
@Maurs: I feelz kitten overload.
Howard Dean is on Countdown right now, showing some excellent soothing qualities and a great deal of confidence.
I lulz Howard Dean. Once, still, always… a Deaniac!
General Winfield Stuck
@jwb:
Thanks Jwb!
Josh
Traficant? I remember having heard him say “The Jews have been giving me trouble ever since I got to Washington” and “If you don’t play ball with the mob, they go over to the other side, and you know what? They take all their people with them.”
linda
haha… keith gives props to nate silver, and howard dead calls him out as one of the best political analysts out there.
hear that, chuck todd… lol.
howard dean is remarkably upbeat about the outcome of this bill; saying a public option will be part of it and on obama’s desk by december.
mclaren
Crazy?
How can you possibly say things are nuttier than ever?
You’ve missed important news developments over the last three days. For example, we just learned that Barack Obama is a human/reptilian hybrid:
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/baracksoetorofamilyphoto16sep08.shtml
We also learned important information about NASA:
“At several eastern San Diego County vigilante camps in mid-May, there were serious discussions about the global banking system being controlled by an ancient secret society called the Illuminati. Another theory floated involved a cult devoted to the Egyptian god of the
afterlife, Osiris, operating within the NASA space agency and perhaps arranging with extraterrestrials for a hostile takeover of Earth.”
http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?pid=414
Which of course prompts us to ask the question…
ARE LIBERALS SECEDING FROM SANITY?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/11/south/
Annie
One final note. I am all for discussing living wills and end of life decisions. When my father was suddenly diagnosed with terminal cancer, while my brother, husband, and I were trying to deal with the horrible facts, I had to ask my father for a “power of attorney” to be able to make decisions. All the time we were trying to get him to sign the power, he kept asking if he was dying. And, I kept having to ask him to sign. He needed to be moved from his apartment immediately into a care facility, and we had no recourse without his signature.
As a family, we never discussed any of this, and my father never thought about any of this. It was horrible. As difficult as these questions are, they need to be addressed before life steps in and forces the answers at the worst moment.
Elroy's Lunch
@Comrade Mary
If you can keep him in barbeque he’s all yours.
https://balloon-juice.com/?p=8858
Ming
@Bad Horse’s Filly: thanks. i *really* needed that.
The Grand Panjandrum
@linda: At least one Democrat isn’t a bedwetting sissy or running around declaring the end of life as we know it over a bill that doesn’t exist.
linda
If we knew, they would have to kill us, right? (/grin) As a commentor on another blog said about the New Hampster Nutter, “If the Secret Service snipers used laser scopes, guy would’ve looked like he was wearing a crown of rubies!”
damn, what an image — and i bet it’s true too.
MMM
I’ve always been kind of a pacifist. When I was a kid, my father told me, “Never hit anyone in anger, unless you’re absolutely sure you can get away with it.”
Origuy
You think you’ve got problems?
Things Have Gone to Pieces
cbear
@WereBear: Somebody remind me why in the hell Howard Dean is not in charge of HHS?
He is virtually the ONLY major political figure out there who speaks clearly and concisely on HC, and doesn’t take any shit from the goopers.
robertdsc
As a measure of how well Tunch rules the world, I was on my way home from BlockBuster in picking up a copy of The Dark Knight when I saw a lady pass in front of my car while I was at a stoplight.
She had what looked like an iPhone or iPod Touch in her hand, but when I recognized the device, I thought of it as an iPod Tunch instead of an iPod Touch.
Yeah. Next stop: Wingnut Event Horizon.
eric
Let me make this mildly optimistic point: the one argument I actually feared was an exaggerated claimas to the impact ont the deficit. I actually think that arugment would play in a meaningful way. But lucky for Obama he has to deal with death panels and whanot. I think august ends and you just ignore the loudmouth children and pass a public option. I really think that is the ultimate plan.
demkat620
@freelancer: My kingdom for an edit button.
Linkmeister
We had to make a “Do not Resuscitate” decision for my father 16 years ago. It was. . .difficult.
It did prompt us to formulate written plans for our own end-of-life situations, though.
It also prompted me to check the “organ donor” box when I got my next driver’s license. And then the other day to confirm that Hawai’i is a “first person consent” state, which means:
Apparently some states allow relatives to override organ donors’ decisions; “first person consent” is jargon meaning that the relatives can’t. It’s worth checking on.
Warren Terra
@ Demo Woman, #6
(1) If the guy in the Obama shirt had been strapping, they’d never had dared throw him out.
(2) The right to bear arms is under threat! This is not a time to worry about the freedom of speech!
(3) Phil Gingrey is a strong supporter of the second amendment. They go in order, and so the second amendment has clearly superceded the first amendment.
And, of course, the real one:
IOKIYAAR (special IOKIYAAPG edition).
Warren Terra
@ Bad Horse’s Filly, #54
I must have missed the earlier, related comments. Sounds horrible, but it also sounds like it could have been so much worse. Best wishes for Joey and his buddies.
amorphous
@MBSS: Jesus, man, Gollum wasn’t even a troll. How about Tom, Bert, and Bill?
Corner Stone
@General Winfield Stuck: Sounds good. But listen, while I’m right now hopeful that DougJ is out cruisin, or maybe somewhere watching a Jane Austen revivalism festival, my vagina hurts so I’m going to take a little break. Not running away mind you, just taking a needed hygiene break.
Litlebritdifrnt
Ya know I am getting to the point that if I ever actually meet a democrat congresscritter or senate member I will do my level best to kick them in the nuts, (or girly parts), and tell them to fucking grow a pair and get this done. Why they are being such pansies is beyond me. They have a fillibuster proof majority for gawds sake and they are behaving like the Republicans are large and in charge. WTF? Obama told the entire universe his agenda in the campaign, guess what he got elected on that agenda! Why all of a sudden are you turning into fucking pussies when he tries to get that agenda pushed through? HE WAS ELECTED FOR THAT ISSUE IDIOTS! I don’t know, perhaps it is me.
WereBear
@cbear: Rumor hath it that Rahm Emanuel hates Dr. Dean’s brother.
However, Dean might be more useful as a blunt object applied to wingnut talking points, going around saying what makes sense, not what is politically expedient at the moment.
It seems to suit him better. Damned if I’m not more cheerful just seeing his lurking merriment on his segment just now.
arguingwithsignposts
Matt Taibbi is on Rachel Maddow spreading the doom and gloom on the health care reform.
General Winfield Stuck
@WereBear:
He has been on the teevee quite a bit the past few days. Which has lifted my spirits considerably. No one does liberal straight talk better than Howard.
MMM
You know, John Cole, I have many a friend in the blog sphere, but somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust.
Ash Can
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Rahm Emanuel reading Duck For President. LOL! Apart from the already-mentioned potential for, ahem, mispronunciation, Duck For President is a very funny book. It’s simple enough to entertain kids, and savvy enough to crack adults up. The first time I read it to Bottle Rocket it took us a while to get through it, I was laughing so hard.
CynDee
His Yawning Tuchness is so calming and excellent, and now I have thoughts of sweet little furry handful guinea pigs; one really could be thinking about guinea pigs much more often . . . I can haz sleep now . . .
geg6
MBSS: I can get behind the BOB troll award. Hell, just the last week or so, he’s surely the best troll on this site. At least, his stream of consciousness stuff is often, I’m ashamed to say, quite amusing. And for all his horrific racism and mysogyny, he sometimes displays a heart, though one that may be three sizes too small. ;-)
CynDee
@Litlebritdifrnt: It isn’t you.
kay
I like this:
Is Ohio’s Attorney General More Powerful Than The SEC? (AIG)
Lawrence Delevingne|Aug. 14, 2009, 10:19 AM
“Yesterday, Ohio AG Richard Cordray announced an agreement to settle claims against Greenberg and other AIG executives and related corporate entities for $115 million on behalf of several public pension funds.
Last week, the SEC settled with Greenberg for just $15 million. Howard Smith coughed up a measly $1.5 million.
The Journal put the $15 million settlement into perspective:
WSJ: More than four years later, the federal government has decided that it cannot even make a civil case for fraud against Mr. Greenberg, never mind a criminal one. The SEC has essentially settled with Mr. Greenberg on the charge that he was the CEO at the time that “material misstatements” in earnings occurred.
Yesterday’s settlement is the third multimillion dollar agreement negotiated by the Ohio public pension funds in the AIG case. The AG’s office previously announced a $97.5 million settlement with PricewaterhouseCoopersLLP and a $72 million settlement with General Reinsurance Corporation.
AG Cordray noted that he will “now focus on preparing the case for trial against the primary defendant, AIG.”
bayville
FYI, Kitten Fight at The Corner over ex-Guv’s Twitter message from 2 weeks ago.
It appears CrazyMac is movin’ in on Sparkles’ woman.
JenJen
My big crush, Matt Taibbi, was seriously bumming me out on Rachel Maddow tonight. Haven’t seen the Rolling Stone piece yet, but if today’s blog post was any indication, it’s going to be gut-churning; Rachel seems to agree.
I have to say that the reason I’m still optimistic is because my own Senator, Sherrod Brown, is still optimistic. When/if he crumbles, all bets are off.
demkat620
From John Boehner’s I told you so letter to Big Phrma lobbyist nee Congress critter Billy Tauzin
General Winfield Stuck
@demkat620:
Boner brings the Wingnut Zen. I think it means if you give wingnuts an inch, they will take a light year.
Thanks DK!
jenniebee
I wonder if Japanese people look up thighmaster ads on youtube and say to themselves “these Americans are really fucked up.” Probably.
kay
@JenJen:
Sherrod Brown is personable and attractive and can talk.
The Senate HELP proposal has a public option.
Is there some reason I only see those horrible Finance Committee members on television? Because they’re grim and cynical and awful, so Democrats decided to make them the “face” of the Party?
General Winfield Stuck
@Martin:
I*’ve been wondering that myself. I really think a national security concern can trump a state firearm law.. So the only thing that makes sense to me, given the natural paranoia of the SS (with good reason) is being overuled by Obama himself, maybe out of some effort to cool the passions of NRA’ers that he is anti-2nd amend. Just a guess though.
asiangrrlMN
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I’m glad that your friend’s nephew is doing ok. I’m still sending positive vibes his way.
Howard Dean rawks.
TUUUUUUNCH! Love him.
Cole, I gave up on following politics for four days during the stimulus debate, and I felt marvelous. The minute I returned, I felt hopeless again. I feel your pain.
jenniebee
@JenJen: I saw that too. I almost don’t want to read it. It sounds like Obama gave away what may have been the most popular option (letting everybody who wants to to buy into Medicare) right from the start.
freelancer
@PeakVT:
Yes, and one day, I hope, to make ravenous love to Anna Paquin and Beth Riesgraf (Parker from Leverage), at the same time,in zero-gravity.
Something tells me the odds of that occurring are just slightly better than that of the chest-thumping bed-wetters giving up their rifles and little dick-surrogates.
jl
I thought that pic was Tunch roaring, and putting them on notice.
Note: this is a very short and bland standard issue Tunch the Cat comment. Will it get caught in moderation?
sab
Tell Tunch that we didn’t get my shepherd in for routine maintenance/healthcheck with her vet because money was tight and she seemed healthy. It turns out she had colon cancer. We could have caught it with the routine health checks we thought we couldn’t afford, and now my amazing dog who was a force of nature, and sweet besides, died at the tender age of eleven, when we probably could have saved her for many more years,
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
Whew! The chihuahua with the bbq fork in his skull is gone. That was worse than Pa-mela or the hunk of meat….
We’ve got four cats for any takers out there, including two tailless brothers that are really cute.
freelancer
@sab:
Sab, condolences. My 15 year old lab/beagle/mutt mix was put down today. Bad Cellphone Pic here.
http://forgetthisnoise.blogspot.com/2009/08/rip-maxie.html
She annoyed the piss out of me so often, I’d swear I hated that dog. If you took her off a leash for even a second, she’d decide to give you a tour of the most heavily wooded area around my parents’ house on the coldest or darkest days of the year by making you chase after her. And now she’s gone, and I teared up a little at work. My brother’s been crying all day, even after burying her.
Hug your pets tonight, folks.
CK Dexter Haven
Here is a pretty brutal takedown of Obama by Yves Smith of [http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/08/is-this-start-of-big-one.html Naked Capitalism/]:
CK Dexter Haven
Damn…you do need a comment preview John…
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/08/is-this-start-of-big-one.html
The health care fiasco is going to be a defining event for Obama, in a negative way. His inability to respond effectively to simply absurd distortions of his plan and of the record of public supported programs overseas (including that many are government funded but still privately run, for instance) may dispel the illusion that he is or can be an effective leader. His banking policy, which is vital to recovery, became hostage to Geithner and Summer’s deep loyalty to the industry, and his lack or interest in rocking any boats. All Team Obama has done on the banking front is write a lot of blank checks, hold some bogus “stress tests” in lieu of doing the real thing, and raise a stink on a few symbolic issues to try to paper over the failure to embark on real and badly needed reforms.
Ed Harrison has called him a black Herbert Hoover. If the economy takes another down leg, it will further confirm his inability to do anything other than compromise and try to spin it as success. The confidence game worked when he was a new President, but nice talk and not much action is already wearing thin. We could use someone at the helm who is willing to plot a course and stick with it, and instead what we have is someone long on charisma and short on resolve.
asiangrrlMN
@sab: I’m so sorry about your sweet shepherd. She was loved throughout her life. Remember that.
@freelancer: I’m sorry to you, too for the loss of your dog as well. She was beautiful.
To both: My deepest condolences to you and your families. May your dog companions run swiftly to the other side, free of pain.
@kay: I gotta agree that Sherrod Brown is all that. So is Anthony Weiner from NY.
Anne Laurie
@General Winfield Stuck: Your sacrifice is deeply appreciated. I mean that, sincerely.
Anne Laurie
@cbear:
My personal Happy-Thoughts Best Scenario is that the Obama administration considers Dr. Dean more effective as an undercover operative against the Incorrigibly Stupid Party.
asiangrrlMN
@Anne Laurie: I think I will share your happy thought, if that’s all right with you. It makes me smile.
cbear
@Anne Laurie: I’d like to think they were that smart, but I’m pretty sure it has more to do with that dirtbag Rahm.
@General Winfield Stuck: I REALLY appreciate it.
lilysmom
Sab and Freelancer, I am so sorry. Tears for your animal children and kind thoughts for you guys.
In memory of my beloved Nabila.
D
wasabi gasp
I can’t believe we have all these douchebags carrying firearms to townhalls, but I’d get thrown in the poky for wielding a loaded bong. Upsidefuckingdown.
nepat
Taibbi is another ambulance chaser masquerading as an iconoclastic renegade. Straight out of Central Casting. Pay no attention to him.
Listen to Howard Dean (and Sherrod Brown and Ezra Klein) instead. They know what they’re talking about and are less likely to give into the Democratic impulse to throw in the towel after five minutes.
Reminder to all struggling through the healthcare debate: Chicken Little was the principle Democratic deity throughout the primary season and general election. Look what happened to him then.
Don’t let the bastards (Republicans) get you down. We’re just getting started.
JK
Guns vs T-Shirts
http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/24068.html
Davis X. Machina
Howard Dean committed the unforgivable political sin — being right too soon. And did it a number of times, including Iraq and health care reform. And pointed out that the Democratic party contained damn few actual Democrats. And all of that loudly.
In politics, being wrong alongside everyone else is forgivable, but being right too soon is the kiss of death.
Anne Laurie
@General Winfield Stuck:
There is an argument that it’s better to have one’s armed enemies right out in the open, where you can keep an eye on them, than lurking inconspicuously where you can’t.
Especially when the normal people look at the Second Amendment Defender in question and wonder, “Dude, WTF?”
The Kostrics and other gun-wavers are eager to demonstrate their fierce commitment to anti-Obama sentiment in the public forum. The public is thereby given a screencap endorsement of the Secret Service’s worth.
President Bush, for all his manly bluster, was too feeble to risk exposure to a old man wearing an intemperate tshirt slogan or a dead soldier’s mother carrying an anti-war placard. President Obama, despite the fReichtard’s sneers about his girly-man aura, is strong enough to stand on a podium and speak to men carrying loaded weapons and slogans endorsing assassination.
Fern
@Anne Laurie:
Also makes a tidy argument for increasing SS funding.
General Winfield Stuck
@Anne Laurie:
Yes, but it still makes me nervous.
Brachiator
@CK Dexter Haven:
See, here’s your problem right here, statements that sound tough, but are entirely meaningless. And so we have an entirely content-free reference to “the real thing.”
It’s unclear from the post you link to whether the blogger wants to see government take over more ailing banks, or to simply sit back and let them fail, free market style.
When Obama began his term, the opposition rallying cry was, “We want Obama to fail and we’re not afraid to say so.” This has now become, “We are looking for the magic moment when we can officially and irrevocably declare Obama to be a failure as a leader.” Both of these fantasies have much more to do with political gamesmanship than reality.
ellie
Kitty isn’t yawning, he is showing you his teeth. It’s a threat, I tell you.
JK
Obama Joker artist unmasked: A fellow Chicagoan
h/t http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html
“When posters portraying Pres Obama as the Joker from “Batman” began popping up around LA and other cities, the question many asked was, Who’s behind the image? Firas Alkhateeb, a senior history major at the Univ of Illinois, crafted the picture of Obama with the recognizable clown makeup. “After Obama was elected, you had all of these people who basically saw him as the second coming of Christ,” Alkhateeb said. “From my perspective, there wasn’t much substance to him.” “I abstained from voting in November,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Living in Illinois, my vote means close to nothing as there was no chance Obama would not win the state.” If he had to choose a politician to support, Alkhateeb said, it would be Ohio Dem Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Alkhateeb’s assessment of Obama: “In terms of domestic policy, I don’t think he’s really doing much good for the country right now,” he said.”
Zuzu's Petals
I think the media should do their job and make sure it is news – BIG news – every singled g’damned time somebody brings a g’damned gun to one of these events.
Complete with pictures and names, and make ’em explain on camera if possible.
JK
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Major league asshole and all around douchebag Glenn Reynolds thinks the stories of people bringing guns to Obama events are way overblown
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/83620
KDP
I chuckled sadly at this cartoon:
If Democrats Worked Like Republicans
ominira
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Thanks for that. Rahm would make a good stand-up comic.
lizzy
It just occurred to me that the gun toting activists at the town hall meetings are actually in favor of healthcare!! Seriously, why else would they be carrying firearms if they weren’t concerned for their health? Someone might hurt them and their guns ARE their health insurance. We need to embrace them, they are on OUR side, let’s get this out to the media……… (snark) ;-)
FormerSwingVoter
There’s a super-small-scale conservative blog I check in on from time to time, just because I like to see what the other side is thinking, and it’s the only one I could find where they didn’t honestly believe that Obama was born in Kenya. There was a post there about health care reform, and I posted a massive rant in the comments.
I feel a lot better, after all that’s gone on the last couple weeks, to finally vent that frustration on the ignorant. On the other hand, some small part of me feels as if I just kicked a puppy.
Comrade Kevin
Something to warm the heart of anyone sane:
The A’s are shutting out the Yankees after 8 innings.
Dr. Squid
He said, “Beam me up. Give me $800.”
Francis
@sab.
From someone whose big-hearted Akita/space alien mix decided a couple of months ago to have a heart attack at age six and cross the rainbow bridge way too soon, my profound condolences.
All I can say is that you clearly loved her, and that’s all that matters. We love them; we outlive them; we hurt. Remember the joy she had in life and the joy she gave you; the pain will, eventually, diminish.
I am so sorry for your loss. May your friend rest in peace.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
On first read, I saw as long as i get my wet spot and food on the futon, i’m good. :)
While I am all for gun rights, this recent development of packing heat to political events (especially to Presidential events) is rather strange. The only reason I can think of is that it is meant to be intimidating to those around them. If this trend continues I predict that one or more innocent persons are going to die.
I think gun rights nuts (as opposed to reasonable gun owners) are sawing their own legs off with this issue. Even if the people who are doing are not doing so with the intent of using their guns, they are encouraging nuts who may have the proper permits to join in on the ‘fun’ and pack their own heat (and demented agenda) to town halls.
Stupid, very stupid, but I believe that the racists are encouraging this behavior because they hope someone gets a shot off at the President. It keeps their hands clean and solves their ‘problem’ of a black in the White House. Thus you have the wingnut & teabagger racists joining forces to turn the crazy to eleventy-eleven.
I sure hope the Secret Service is keeping tabs on these nuts who are showing up armed. If it was me I would have a sniper zeroed in on each armed nut with orders to shoot if their finger gets anywhere near the trigger. With our record of Presidential assassinations, anyone who packs heat to a Presidential event should expect to see little red dots on each others foreheads.
Brian J
One of my bosses, who is a right-leaning Independent (or so he seems to be that most of all these days), was defending the people at the town halls. It’s astonishing when smart people refuse to make a distinction between people who raise legitimate questions and people who scream hysterically and make death threats and then act as if any criticism directed at the latter is also directed at the former.
Jay in Oregon
@Bob:
You can count me in on the Secret Service creating “right to bear arms zones” for people to exercise their Second Amendment rights in at political rallies.
They’re acting like spoiled bullies and need to be smacked in the face and told to stop it. And if one of those dumb SOBs thinks to draw down on the Secret Service, I hope a sniper makes him regret it. Screw playing nicey-nice with them.
“The martyrs identified themselves as such by shooting at them after the Elite had identified themselves. The Elite obliged; martyrs were always happier in heaven anyway.”
–Daniel Keys Moran, The Last Dancer
MBSS
@amorphous:
sorry if a violated a law of tolkien’s middle earth. i read “the hobbit” many, many years ago, but not the other books.
JohnR
It’s not just that it’s escalating; it’s more that it’s escalating faster and faster. It’s like watching the disaster happening in a nightmare.
Zuzu's Petals
@JK:
It doesn’t matter what Reynolds or anyone else thinks about the reporting. The point is that these people have their pictures taken and publicized, along with their names … and those facts can’t be “overblown.”
Quaker in a Basement
“No, it’s not a hairpiece. Why do you ask?”
Anne Laurie
@sab: I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. If it helps, colon cancer is apparently not that easy to diagnose in dogs — the vet didn’t catch our papillon Flicker’s tumor despite expensive every-six-month MRIs and her persistent “tummy troubles” until the “unexplained mass” grew to lemon-size (quite significant for a ten-pound dog). And even then, the surgeon at (world-class!) Angell Memorial Animal Hospital assured us that it would turn out benign because dogs “almost never” get colon cancer. So don’t beat yourself up, because you did the best you could for the dog you loved.
@freelancer: Condolences to you, too. We have a rescue papillon, a “perfect” dog who was “dumped” at a shelter with five years of medical records and no explanation. The second day he spent at our house, he almost gave me a heart attack by jumping out an open window, dropping 6 feet onto gravel, and taking off across a high-truck-traffic street before I could get out the door. I spent a long, cold, drizzly night alternately casting through the neighborhood calling him while dragging our other dog Flicker (who was perfectly happy as an only child thenkyouverymuch), and wondering how I’d explain his loss to the Spousal Unit. Zevon (as I re-christened him the next morning) spent the night snug in a borrowed bed, after a second dinner, with the lovely couple who saw him cruising along on the other side of the third-most-dangerous intersection in the state and managed to lure him into their car, before they turned him over to the local veterinary hospital. He’s managed to pull off similar Excitable-Boy-quality escapes a couple of times in the ensuing three years, despite our best efforts — like the time he managed to wriggle out of his “undefeatable” seatbelt and jump out a car window… in a strange state… in a snowstorm. I love him dearly (he’s sleeping under the desk right now, with his head on my foot), but I *can* understand how his original owners could bear to give him up…
Anne Laurie
@Davis X. Machina:
You, sir, need to publish your collected political aphorisms. And when you do, I will pay extra for an autographed copy!
Corner Stone
@Comrade Kevin:
No thank you sir. I do not enjoy the rhubarb.
Hueso
Email to Peter Suderman:
Subject: Finally, thank you, I think I understand….
Body:
…that you are a complete fucking know-knowing piece. You really have ABSOLUTELY no idea what is going on in the broader world, i.e. the way that real people deal with real health insurance issues in real life situations – that is, outside of The American Spectator and being engaged to Megan McArdle.
I, however, own a small business in which I employ 1-50 employees, which, under my own state laws, exempts me from having to cover said employees under any kind of health insurance plan. Of course there are some restrictions. But most importantly, I am currently NOT REQUIRED AT ALL to provide any insurance to ANY OF MY EMPLOYEES. Do you understand this, you piss-on piece of shit…I have at least three 28 year old girls working for me who desperately need to get annual Pap smears/Mammograms/Etc – I have 55 year-old men in maintenance who need medicine for heart problems, and if I do not provide it for them – out of the FUCKING KINDNESS OF MY HEART – they will go without. And the only reason I do provide insurance is because I am a BLEEDING HEART LIBERAL who voted for Obama and believes in vast and substantial and real health insurance reform. God only knows that providing health insurance to my employees is completely cost-INEFFECTIVE, but I do it because I love the people I work with. Ask Sam Fucking Walton, or that POS John Mackey if they feel the same.
I am done with the Daily Dish. Sully has shown his true colors by choosing you and the useless Conors as fill-ins. He should have went with Publius, or John Cole…
lovethebomb
No one with a gun ever gets within visual range of the president. State laws don’t apply to presidential events which are considered federal zones. Only outside the event, where the president never is exposed to line of sight, can nutters bear arms. At events where the president speaks at an outdoor venue, no one is allowed to have weapons.
Original Lee
@MBSS: Who knew cats were embodied mushi?
Original Lee
@Bad Horse’s Filly: When they get back Stateside, the Girl Scout cookies at Andrews are from my daughter’s troop. I delivered them to the Red Cross today.
Original Lee
@Annie: Late to the game, but I’ve been talking to my parents about this. Thankfully, my mother was able to get most of this in place for herself, my father, and my grandparents last year. She recognizes that this conversation and paperwork is very important. But she is still opposed to the language in the reform plan because she feels that doctors will force patients to have the conversation in order to get the incentive pay. She says that you can’t force this kind of thing, because unless you’re ready to have the conversation, you will not be making good decisions and will end up having paperwork that does not reflect what you really want. I had to concede that she has a point.
JenJen
By the way, remember the man, known as “Chris”, who came to Obama’s Phoenix event yesterday with an AR-15? He was the African-American man featured prominently on CNN and on Talking Points Memo.
Since yesterday, everyone has been wondering what his motivations are, since he refused to say other than to tell the press “Because I can.”
Well…. turns out he’s a Ron Paul guy, just like the dude with the pistol in New Hampshire last week:
http://washingtonindependent.com/55411/we-will-forcefully-resist-people-forcing-their-will-on-us
I, for one, find their speech (“we will forcefully resist”) accompanied by their weapons to be the most disturbing political development since the 90’s. I don’t like this shit one bit, and I’m growing concerned.
Zuzu's Petals
@Original Lee:
Well you could tell her that MDs are already required to have this conversation with new Medicare beneficiaries, nursing homes do so on admission, and hospitals bring it up on admission, and no one has complained that it’s forced a lot of people to sign stuff they didn’t want to.
Zuzu's Petals
PS to Original Lee:
You could also point out to her that the form also allows you to specify that you want full treatment under all circumstances, or that you wish to defer all decisions to the loved one you’ve appointed to make the decision when the time comes. At the very least the document authorizes your loved ones to act on your behalf.
Steve J.
an ancient secret society called the Illuminati.
Hannity did a segment on his TV show about this. (No, I’m not making that up, I made a screen shot…
http://radamisto.blogspot.com/2009/08/going-full-circle.html