John may apologize for this blatant Chicago-style shakedown, but I recommend that each of you put $100 in escrow for the future purchase of items from the Balloon Juice Store.
Reader Interactions
154Comments
Comments are closed.
by DougJ| 154 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
John may apologize for this blatant Chicago-style shakedown, but I recommend that each of you put $100 in escrow for the future purchase of items from the Balloon Juice Store.
Comments are closed.
C Nelson Reilly
It doesn’t really count if it’s not a Chicago-style shakedown
McWaffle
And I thought the Chicago-Style Shakedown was a dance. Or a sex act at the VERY least.
Comrade Mary
I am this close to making a lewd, harassing comment about how you’d have to display a certain part of your anatomy to me first, Doug. But I’m not doing that, I’m just talking about how I’ve been close to doing that. See? Please congratulate me on my restraint.
EDIT: Given the delay in accessing the site due to server tantrums, I’m changing my request to FYWP. Thank you.
dmsilev
Is a deep-dish shakedown really that much superior to thin-crust shakedown?
dms
Mike Kay
what a week.
On one side, bloggers scream obama isn’t doing enough.
On the other side, the NYT screams obama is an ogre. who’s worse than LBJ.
To cap things off, Sally Quinn calls on Biden to resign so Hillary can have a pajama party.
Clowns to the left of me, jokes to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
If ya’ll need any help with handling the cash and all the red tape shit, please consider
General Stuck’s Rent-a-Middleman Service
We work cheap and also sell bridges for those in need of one.
jeffreyw
Ack! Just shouted at Mrs J over being rude on the phone to a friend of hers. Still mad.. grr
Oscar Leroy
I’m posting this here, because Windows seems to have better things to do than open the other Jon Chait thread.
What, this?
Wow, that’s really a stirring call to action. Which part of this “way towards alternative energy” should we act upon first?
That’s some high-quality analysis, Mr Chait.
Oscar Leroy
“Because some of the federal stimulus dollars were saved rather than spent, the effective stimulus we’ve had has been less than the $789 billion that’s often touted. It might even be less than $610 billion shortfall in the states. Which would mean the anti-stimulus overwhelmed the stimulus.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/18/AR2010061803289.html?hpid=artslot
The stimulus wasn’t enough. Period.
licensed to kill time
Can anybody figure out what the hell Nooners was saying?
No? me neither. I sense a “Morning in America(tm)” tie-in, but who knows.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Oscar Leroy: What part of “begins” do you not understand?
Actually, Obama already began with a huge chunk of cash for alt. energy R & D, but it doesn’t exist because the money was called “Stimulus”.
jeffreyw
@jeffreyw: That was me doin the rude shit to a friend of hers on the phone. Pet fucking peeve.
Mike Kay
And for all you how naively say “…if only Obama pounded the mythical bully pulpit…”, here ya go, Obama calls BP to the carpet and the even the liberal New York Times takes BP’s side and calls Obama a monster.
Pangloss
Now I’ve got the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street” stuck in my head.
jeffreyw
@jeffreyw: No pets were fucked, peeved or otherwise. So get your head out of the damn gutter.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
I just can’t imagine you getting mad and shouting at Mrs J or anyone else, jeffreyw. The heat must be getting to you. Why not cook something cool and soothing, and take a picture of it for your friends? Or maybe there’s a hummingbird or eight hovering around the feeder.
Mnemosyne
@Oscar Leroy:
And the best possible way to solve that problem is to constantly talk about how the first stimulus was too small rather than demanding that another stimulus be passed.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
@jeffreyw:
I stand by my @SiubhanDuinne: earlier advice, now more than ever.
Carrie
It’s so hot here. I’m not complaining really, winter was just a few months ago but shit, i wish i was at the cottage, sitting in the lake with a margarita in my hand.
Sentient Puddle
@Oscar Leroy: Fuck, that’s a structural problem whether or not there’s stimulus. Here’s the quote that jumped out at me:
The economy turns south, and a constitutionally-mandated balanced budget fucks them hard and good. Which they then proceed to make worse by raising taxes because they have to.
Yeah, states need a stimulus to offset this. But really, I think this speaks more to the dumbfuckery that is calling for balanced budgets no matter what.
beltane
England sucks, not the country but the team. Why was it that people were saying they were in contention to win the tournament?
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Mnemosyne: They don’t really care about the size of the stimulus, just that Obama shaved a 100 billion off of the still single largest discretionary spending bill in the country’s history by a large amount. For the evil and traitorous reason to get the votes to pass the thing, to get the votes of conservadems and one of the Maine girls. A major tribal violation on Obama’s part.
MikeJ
In searching for “shake” songs in my library, I discovered one I didn’t know I had. Cracker covering The Flamin’ Groovies Shake Some Action from a CMJ new music monthly from 1995. Cool! The same disk even has a track from Southern Culture on the Skids.
Oscar Leroy
Oh please. If you can’t do anything but insult people, go find a sandbox to play in. As for the speech, I think it’s hilarious that Chait and people like you think 1) speeches matter, and 2) that particular speech was chock full of ideas and proposals. How is “both sides have good ideas. let’s hear them” a beginning to anything?
beltane
@licensed to kill time: Noonan needs to adjust her meds. I understand her need to live in Teletubbie Land, but there is no escaping the reality in which we live, the one where bad things happen on a regular basis. I hate seeing old people who still believe in fairy tales.
jeffreyw
@SiubhanDuinne:
Well, I feel bad about yelling, not bad enough to tell her I feel bad about, just bad enough to tell everyone else. If you call and ask if she’s home I’ll tell you, yes, yes she is. And ask you to ID yourself. But you have to ask to speak to her or I will be rude to you, too.
Oscar Leroy
There sure are a lot of excuses around here lately. The stimulus was supposed to do X, but it didn’t, but it’s not Obama’s fault because [insert 400 excuses].
“General”, you are lying. But don’t listen to me. After all, 99% of economists said the stimulus wouldn’t do enough. And Obama’s own people said the stimulus he enacted would reduce unemployment below 8% but now it is well over 9%. Time for more excuses, I suppose.
stevie314159
BUT BUT BUT…FDL is also requesting donations today, and they do a MUCH better job propogating the “Democrats suck” meme.
I’m soooooo conflicted.
Polish the Guillotines
AC/DC sez: It’s another Nervous Shakedown.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Oscar Leroy: Not an insult if it’s true. You are a moran wanker who needs to get a brain. Noe that is an insult, though a mild one. And I don’t see you even addressing the other points in my comment. Prolly cause you can’t and still maintain and puma wanker buzz.
robertdsc
Are we getting Rosie gear?
Mike Kay
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: and yet, today, the liberal New York Times tells me that Obama is worst than Mussolini.
Oscar Leroy
I couldn’t agree more.
“Obama to Seek Spending Freeze to Trim Deficits
WASHINGTON — President Obama will call for a three-year freeze in spending on many domestic programs, and for increases no greater than inflation after that, an initiative intended to signal his seriousness about cutting the budget deficit, administration officials said Monday. ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/us/politics/26budget.html
Mike Kay
@stevie314159:
For what?
beltane
@Mike Kay: Between this, the lithium in Afghanistan story, and the Richard Blumenthal BREAKING!!!!! Oh, Noez!!! story last month, I have concluded that the NYT’s new business model is to run certain stories in exchange for a fee. There is no other explanation that makes sense.
Mike Kay
@Oscar Leroy: dude, you need to reboot, today’s liberal New York Times says Obama is worst than Mao.
As a Maoist that should make you happy.
Polish the Guillotines
@MikeJ:
Man, is that ever one of the best pop tunes, or what?
Bless the Youtube gods: The Flaming Groovies circa 1986.
Sentient Puddle
@Oscar Leroy: and @Oscar Leroy: WTF? Replying to my post in two different posts? You’re way too excitable here. And reading way too much into what I said. I neither assigned nor absolved Obama of blame. I merely implied that Ezra’s article was good.
But really, you should take a breather and take out the caffeine IV.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Oscar Leroy:
And you are a pea brain wanker. If you think 100 billion dollars would have even the slightest effect on the structural clusterfucks that existed in our economy, or if clueless economists had a clue, then I have a bridge to sell you.
I am not against more stimulus, but a few more billion a year and a half ago would not have done anything. Only some basic regulatory changes and time for the economy to repair itself will get the job done. We can add a little short term fuel to keep it moving, but not fix it with stimulus. Not this time, after 30 years of wingnut econ ideas have ruled the roost, there was too much damage as those chickens came home.
Oscar Leroy
I’m just laughing at you right now. What a sad excresence that was. Don’t insult someone else’s brainpower while committing multiple basic spelling- and sentence-construction errors . At any rate, you don’t have anywhere near the guts to say that to my face, so why even bother in the first place?
What other points in your comment? There was barely one–barely–and I addressed that. Now, if you want to move the goalposts and suggest the goal wasn’t to turn the economy around, but just to pass a large discretionary bill so you can strain your arm patting Obama on the back, go right ahead. But I thought we were talking about whether or not the stimulus bill was large enough to turn the country around. If you can’t argue that, for whatever reason, that is fine. Just admit as much and move on.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw: LOL. Isn’t it lovely to haz a big ole MAD about something, and make sure everyone knows you haz a MAD because there’s no point in hazzin’ a MAD unless you can share it with the world.
Now please go pour yourself a nice cold beverage and take a picture of Bea doing something adorable.
Oscar Leroy
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
Blah blah blah, petty insults and juvenile vitriol. I guess with school being out and all. . .
You aren’t against more stimulus, you just don’t think more stimulus would do any good at all. But you aren’t against more. That makes sense. But at least you know more about economics than Brad DeLong or Robert Reich. You’ve got that going for you, which is nice.
cleek
@Pangloss:
i’ve been surprised i haven’t seen that used as a post title.
i’ve got Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” in my head, but changed to “Shakedown”. cause Breakdown is a better song.
Mike Kay
@beltane: the Blumenthal BREAKING!! is great point. remember how they burried the McCain sleeps with DC honey-pot-lobbyist scandal, and then, only under pressure from the reporters who did the leg work, they published a heavly censored piece that was approved by mccain’s lawyer bob bennett. New York times = New York Trash.
cleek
@Mike Kay:
for more Kleenex. all that whimpering creates gallons upon gallons of tears and snot.
Oscar Leroy
Gee, I. . . didn’t know there were rules. I’m–sorry?
If I had interest in mindless straw-man arguments, I would be happy about that.
Oh, I don’t agree with you, so I must be a communist? Enjoy the next Tea Party meeting. Maybe you can get Bill O’Reilly to speak or something.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Oscar Leroy: When you call someone a liar then you should expect similar in return.
And as Obama said when he passed the stimulus, that a large part of it was long term, all the R and D stuff and medical science research money. There are money’s in other bills that have been passed that are also stimulative. What, did you think only those labelled stimulus could have that affect.
Now calm down and stop acting like an over sensitive internet tough guy.
Mike Kay
@Sentient Puddle:
Oscar, i know it’s friday, but it’s way too early in the day to begin sniffing glue.
Oscar Leroy
John, Doug, Tim, nice site you got here. If someone agrees with almost every economist with a pulse that the stimulus was too small, they just have to be a Little Red Book-carrying revolutionary. What do you guys think about crap like that on your site?
Mike Kay
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: If we had only elected John Edwards the stimulus would have been bigger. I mean, according to those who have seen the sex tape Edwards made with the ditzy-groupie-campaign-staffer, johnny boy may have come from a small town, but sure got a BIG ole stimulus package.
Martin
@Oscar Leroy: I think that was always advanced as a possibility. From the outset, the strategy was ‘if we need more, we’ll come to Congress for more’. Of course, Congress doesn’t want to shell out now, so we’re going to have to skid along for 6 months and see if they’ll change their tune post-election.
But I don’t think the case can be made that Obama disagrees with more stimulus given that he just asked Congress for more stimulus and they told him to go fuck himself.
Oscar Leroy
You’re the one who thinks you know better why I criticize the stimulus than I do. That’s just foolish.
Mike Kay
@Oscar Leroy: Mommie!! The bloggers on BJ are being mean to me and calling me a Red! I’m going Galt! I’m going KO!
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Oscar Leroy
I believe you’re right. Unfortunately, in 6 months we will likely be holding hearings into whether or not the government should be putting flouride in drinking water (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/flashback-goper-angle-spoke-out-against-fluoride-in-water-supply.php) instead of how to turn the economy around. Maybe if the stimulus had been larger, and put more people back to work, that possibility could have been avoided. Out-of-work people tend not to like incumbents, after all, and why not?
Yes, they certainly did. Yet another reason why the original stimulus should have been larger: Congress might not have the guts for another go-round. And this was all predicted at the time.
Sentient Puddle
@Oscar Leroy:
Not really, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to calm down and stop laying eggs for a bit.
Mike Kay
@Oscar Leroy:
Don’t tell me you support capitalism. After all capitalism is synonymous with corportism. Don’t tell me you support the running dog corportists, comrade?
Calouste
@beltane:
Because English fans always think that. The truth is, England are perennial also-rans and really never serious contenders except from 1966. It’s not like they are Brazil or Germany.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Fair enough, you could have said I was wrong and you weren’t like the other puma wankers and it didn’t bother you that Obama shaved a 100 bill off the stimulus to pass the bill. Were you?
It just strikes me as absurd to think an 800 billion discretionary spending bill should be considered too small, especially politically in this country. How much more, a trillion, 2 trillion. Money don’t grow on trees unless they are Chinese ones. And like it or not spending large amounts has become a potent issue that is not helping dems in the short run electorally.
And I never said stimulus money didn’t help, just that it couldn’t turn the economy around by itself, time and better stewardship are the most important right now imo.
Mike Kay
@Marxist Leroy: dude, you’re snorting too much stimulus.
Oscar Leroy
@Mike Kay:
Waaaaah! Some mean ol’ meanie is criticizing my favorite president and won’t stop! I tried everything I know how to get him to stop–calling him names, and calling him more names–but he is still doin’ stuff I don’t like! Waaaah!
Mike Kay
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: give it up. this guy wouldn’t be whinning if his dream boat won the nomination. He’s just another sore loser who can’t belive his candidate lost to a black guy with a funny name, with only 4 years of national experience. They’re gonna take the biter defeat of 2008 primary to their graves.
CaseyL
After being unemployed for 14 months, I can has JOB! A job in my actual field, making actual decent money!
I will therefore soon (I don’t actually start until July 1) finally be able to purchase some B-J swag, after looking longingly at the stuff for lo these many months!
cleek
@CaseyL:
congrats!
Mike Kay
@CaseyL:
Congrats dude!
Martin
@CaseyL: Woo! Congrats!
jeffreyw
@SiubhanDuinne: Nothin better for a mad on than choppin meat and veggies. Steak n peppers fajita workin.
John Cole
Sometimes the tedium of these arguments is maddening. Yes, we all would have liked a larger stimulus package. No, a larger stimulus package could never have been passed. Yes, the economy is still in the shitter. No, there is not much Democrats can do about it because the Senate is one fantastic hole of suck and status quo.
Fuck all.
Oscar Leroy
The Saturn 1B rocket produced up to 1,600,000 pounds of thrust. It was almost as long as a football field and weighed well over a million pounds. Big? Sure. But it wasn’t big enough. Putting a man on the moon required an even bigger rocket, so NASA developed the Saturn V.
The stimulus was, according to the Obama administration itself, supposed to prevent unemployment from reaching 7%. Unemployment is now almost 10%. Clearly, obviously, by Obama’s own metric, it wasn’t big enough.
It was big, alright. That’s a lot of money. The government could have made it even bigger, and should have. If the goal was just a big number, then they met that goal. But the goal was to turn around a large, modern economy.
Paul L.
Crooks and Liars whines about Tea Party boycotting MSNBC after cheering Obama Regime’s Boycott of Fox News.
Tea Time: Dick Armey Tells Candidates Not To Go On MSNBC
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Hope it is big enough to carry one more passenger. How much are tickets? and where can I buy one?
jeffreyw
@CaseyL:
Yay! This grumpy old retired fart salutes you.
Comrade Mary
@CaseyL: Yay! You get to rest and enjoy a couple of weeks of summer, knowing there’s WORK at the end of it, versus not-working and not-enjoying-it.
Mnemosyne
@Oscar Leroy:
Yes, the stimulus was too small. Now what’s your plan, Sherlock? If all you’re going to do is bitch and moan about things that were a done deal over a year ago, then sit down, shut up, and let those of us who actually want to move forward get another stimulus passed.
Unless you’re here to offer us a time machine so we can go back to 2009 and show Congress where they went wrong, whining about the past does approximately jack shit to fix what’s going on now.
Brachiator
heh. Point taken.
OT Open style:
Some of the reviews suggest that Toy Story 3 is even better than the earlier films. A commenter in the NY Times thread noted that the 3D glasses at one theater were too big for 3 year olds, so something to keep in mind if you are taking your little kiddies, or have a small head.
Bow down to Pixar!
@CaseyL:
Congrats!
By the way, a NYT story on Starbucks expanding Wi-Fi included this little nugget:
Oscar Leroy
@John Cole:
Then don’t put up a post saying, in bold letters, you agree with Jon Chait that people are being unfair to the poor president. Someone, somewhere (perhaps someone who is unemployed and hence has a boatload of time on their hands) might take issue with that.
You know, that is absolutely, totally true. It’s something that doesn’t get said nearly enough. People need to realize that there are some supremely bad Senators in there. Like Blanche Lincoln, for instance. It’s just too bad Obama has to deal with people like her.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/04/30/4424072-obama-cuts-radio-ad-for-lincoln
Mike Kay
@Oscar LeRed: I think you’re retarded. Only a retard would be harping about the stim for a year and half.
Dude, it’s medication time. Take the Red pills.
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
Meh. I mean, I liked it, and so-so Pixar is still better than almost anyone else’s top-flight stuff, but it was no Toy Story 2.
The short is amazing, though — a combination of 2D and 3D animation that’s also a hell of a lot of fun. Very reminiscent of classic Warner Bros. without being derivative.
Oscar Leroy
LO freakin’ L.
It’s funny how we move from
1) You are a whiny baby if you accuse Obama of passing a too-small stimulus!
https://balloon-juice.com/2010/06/17/this-3/
to 2) Of course the stimulus was too small! Unfortunately for you, saying so makes you a big old jerk, because you are just standing around complaining rather than actually doing anything like the rest of us are.
Do “those of us who actually want to move forward for another stimulus” think ripping on people who were right about the first one is a good tactic to get people on board for a second?
Rosalita
@jeffreyw:
you’re CONFUSING me….
Mnemosyne
@Oscar Leroy:
You’re not going to be on board for a second one anyway, so why should we bother?
Oscar Leroy
Oscar Leroy
An obvious deduction. Given that I thought the first one was too small, naturally I wouldn’t want a second one. It’s just common sense.
El Cid
Darrell Issa prepares his orc forces for a Republican takeover of the House using his desired authority of issuing subpoenas on the Kenyonesian usurper in the White House, who also killed Vince Foster and will impose the Amero, in order to defend — in his own words — “corporate America”.
By the way, I seem to recall that the power of subpoena pretty much meant nothing under the Bush / Cheney Rubicon crossing regime.
H/T Digby.
Mike Kay
@Oscar Leroy:
Dude, I hope you drop dead. I hope Edwards and his mistress attend you funeral, tonight. I don’t want you “aboard” anything in my country. If it was up to me, I’d line all you commies and Naderites up against the wall. And, I’d ban the color red (sorry red sox).
TuiMel
@CaseyL:
Some good news on a Friday. Congrats!
TuiMel
Can I get an “Amen!”?
El Cid
If it were up to me, the way to end the recession and hire enough workers would be to build a wall of the size needed to handle all the people who I would line up against it.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
I was going to see the movie without 3D until I heard a Filmweek review praising the opening short film and its use of 3D.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
I nominate this for precious WATB comment of the day.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
LOL
Let’s add this assertion to the fact finding commission on deep water drilling. Just to be sure and all.
Mnemosyne
@Oscar Leroy:
Given that your sole concern is that everyone bow down and acknowledge your greatness in thinking the first one was too small, you’re going to do absolutely nothing to work towards a second one until Barack Obama personally calls you to tell you that you were right and he was wrong.
And if one does get passed despite your lack of help, you’re going to bitch and moan that that one was too small, too, and you knew it all along. If only Tim Geithner had called you to ask your opinion, you totally would have set him straight.
jeffreyw
@Rosalita: Not as confused as Mrs J’s pal.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
That’ll do the trick! But the usual photos, or it never happened.
@CaseyL:
Ah, that’s great news! Congratulations! (What kind of work, generally speaking? What’s your field, if you don’t mind my asking.)
Mike Kay
@El Cid: I was thinking manufacturing bullets would be a good stim, but on second thought, K-Thug says there’s a greater keynesian multiplier if we go with the people who manufacture piano wire and meat hooks.
AhabTRuler
@Oscar Leroy: Dude, you are running into arguments that have been hashed out, beaten to death, re-vivified, beaten to death again, boiled in a pot, and then been fought over for scraps.
Stuck is a hardcore Obot with a hair-trigger temper. Just divide his arguments (and insults) by three and you’ll be fine.
John tends to flap in the breeze somewhat, but if you piss him off enough, you’ll get a Hulkian torrent of spot-on rant that you can take to the bank.
Mike Kay is just a troll; there is no reason to engage with him. I recommend pie.
My true recommendation is to not worry too much about anything on the internet. Or if you must, go visit ellaesther’s site, or any of many other issue-oriented site that actually does something (besides worshiping a giant white cat).
Oh, and rescue a pet! Cheers!
ETA: Oh and watch your grammar around Steeplejack, or he’ll go after you with one of AsiangrrrlMN’s rusty farm implements.
El Cid
@Mike Kay: If it was a public works plan to pay states to hire workers, that’d be a good multiplier. Plus, the workers could be involved in the executions, which would make work fun.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
Gimme an L!
Gimme an O!
Gimme an L!
Whadda they spell?
LOL! LOL! LOL!
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@AhabTRuler:
Somehow, I don’t think this was a complement. I guess you are our flower of reason and insight. Your analysis of this thread and what happened does suck though, really it does.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
And what, dare I ask, are the final results?
lenn23
@AhabTRuler: That giant white cat has more intelligence and common sense that you or anyone else could ever hope to have.
AhabTRuler
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: Take it for what it is Stuck. And you don’t know a damned thing about what my analysis of this thread is, but, by all means, continue as you will.
I don’t really try to pick fights with you, really.
jeffreyw
@SiubhanDuinne:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyww/4713089746/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyww/4713092264/
AhabTRuler
@lenn23: Indeed.
Can I recommend something in a “The Revolution Will Be Supervised” mug for you, or will you be content with gawking?
Mike Kay
@AhabTRuler: you’re funny, if not sad. Out of the blue someone pops in because TNR’r blogs is down and starts ranting and raving and self immolating here about a year and half old policy that he can’t get out of his system, completely unreleated to anything that happened during a very big news week, that Joan Walsh (a Hillary supporter) from Salon says made Obama “great and strong leader”, but that’s not trollish.
don’t bogart those ‘shrooms.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@AhabTRuler:
so you just post a negative a critique of my behavour on this blog and expect no feedback from me. And if there is some, then that just confirms your head shrinking as all the more true. And you just turn your nose up and walk away?
Don’t be such a Heather Ahab.
Mike Kay
I imagine 6 years from now, in the middle of June 2016, we’re gonna have some dead-end-PUMAs suffering from 2007-primary-tourettes STILL poping up outta the blue screaming the stim wasn’t big enough and how edward or hillary would have got a bigger stim from congress. This is gonna be the new Alger Hess case/who lost china event. Decades from now (in the 2030s/2040s) old 2007-bloggers will still be ranting about the stim.
fucen tarmal
hey we do another 50-500 chicago style shakedowns, we can be debt free, and put a stim together that will get dead people jobs, for the jobs they couldn’t get at times when they were alive.
i really don’t see the down side. i mean what can the gop say about it that they haven’t already said?
of course, i prefer the non-chicago style shakedown, i don’t eat pizza for the crust.
Mike Kay
On 2nd thought, I’m glad someone straight outta the blue stopped by to tell us the stim wasn’t big enough. I mean, this is new to me, I had never heard that complaint before. Stop the presses. Thankfully some finally broke the story wide open.
I hear tomorrow someone will stop by to tell us Obama has big ears. Sounds like Page 1 to me.
AhabTRuler
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: I won’t apologize for describing your temper as hair-trigger.
Beyond that, I, personally, have neither endorsed nor decried Obotism, so you can’t really be objecting to that label. Your Obotitude, regardless of what others may think of it, clearly can be described as hardcore.
Regardless of what you think of Oscar Leroy, I think we can all agree that the present political horse has been soundly and thoroughly beaten, and in my opinion, if I may, the subject does not warrant such vitriol.
Neutron Flux
@Oscar Leroy: There are about a hundred dragonfly’s swarming in my field. They have been doing that all day. Are they eating mosquito’s?
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@AhabTRuler:
Okay, maybe. So let’s have some examples and your definition as “hardcore”. Are you saying I never criticize him, or, that what I don’t like that he does has not led me to abandon him? Clearly the first is untrue, and the second true. The rest is just disagreements on this or that topic about what Obama is doing.
You see Ahab, you rarely engage in debates here, and only periodically parachute in to deploy broad sweeping labels, like today. That doesn’t really impress much. And I have a temper, but hairtrigger, maybe, sometimes to some people. But not on this thread. Pro forma snarky insults returned in kind does not constitute “temper”. And even when I get mad, it doesn’t last long, except for one person who comments on this blog. That is real and lasting.
And my personal use of Obot is almost entirely to annoy certain people. So sarcastic asshole is prolly a better critique, or one I would agree with.
But please, let’s hear you expound on your charges.
lenn23
@AhabTRuler: Are you being nice or sarcastic? I can’t tell since I worship a giant white cat.
Mike Kay
BREAKING NEWS
blogs are currently reporting the stim wasn’t big enough.
And this just in, Lindbergh has just landed in paris!
asiangrrlMN
@jeffreyw: Dude, I read all your comments, and I haz a confused. You yelled at MrsJ’s friend over the phone, or you yelled at her for her friend being rude, or she was rude to her friend, but so were you? Argh! The mind, it boggles. The food though, it satisfies.
@AhabTRuler: Hey, wait a minute! I don’t use my rusty implements for that purpose. Otherwise, I would run out in a flash, and it takes FOREVER to season them correctly (involving chanting nude at midnight).
@CaseyL: CONGRATULATIONS! Woot-woot! You go with your bad self.
Mike Kay
@lenn23: what a coincidence, I worship pussy, as well.
heh!
Chad N Freude
I got to this thread late in the day (because I was doing something like, you know, productive?), and I just got through reading the Pee-Wee Herman Memorial Food Fight. I would prefer not to get involved in the that’s-what-you-are-what-am-I festival, but I can’t resist noting that Oscar
MeyerLeroy @24 thought it was hilarious that people think speeches matter. I suppose as evidence he can cite Lincoln, who is little noted nor long remembered, and FDR, who said that we had nothing to fear but fear itself (and clearly didn’t understand that not fearing meant that the terrorists win), and JFK, who announced to the Germans in Berlin that he was a jelly donut, and etc., etc, and so forth.General Egali Tarian Stuck
I hereby present a ginormous Stuck Obot group hug, even to pumas and firebaggers. See, I ain’t so bad.:)
Mike Kay
@lenn23: what a coincidence, I love pussy, as well.
Mike Kay
@lenn23: what a coincidence, I love puzzy, as well.
maus
@Paul L.: Fox and MSNBC are obviously equally partisan.
fucen tarmal
@Mike Kay:
and barton apologized to bruno hauptmann
Mike Kay
@Chad N Freude: well, for me, the hilarious part is how he starts off screaming at TNR that the speech didn’t contain specifics, then he says speeches don’t matter.
but I have to say, I see a lot of pretzel logic these days. The NYT spent a year screaming Obama needs to be cut throat just like LBJ, now they’re screaming, OMG he’s cut throat just like LBJ!
Chad N Freude
@Mike Kay: I see no signs of blood on the throat.
El Cid
I’m not sure that commenting in particular ways on blogs counts either as “supporting” or “not supporting” Obama. I don’t think such blog discussions matter more than a gnat fart in a hurricane.
AhabTRuler
@lenn23:
See, now ain’t that the damnedest thing about text-based communication? You never know what the other people are really saying.
Mike Kay
@fucen tarmal: Can you imagine the Amanda Knox trial covered by the 1930s tabs: Foxy Knoxy Goes Nutzy
AhabTRuler
@El Cid:
Essentially so, yes.
Chad N Freude
@El Cid: But, but, . . . Kos, FDL, . . . They sway opinion, influence policy, inspire massive voter turnouts, . . . , and anyway, I don’t think gnats fart. So your argument is totally bogus. Also. Too.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
The American people do not want items from the Balloon Juice Store rammed down their throats.
Chad N Freude
@AhabTRuler: Technology is coming that will enable body language to appear in comments. That should help a lot.
jeffreyw
@asiangrrlMN: Well, let me see:
Phone rings
me: hello
mj’sf: mrs j there?
me: who is this?
mj’sf:[crickets]
mj’sf:hello? hello?
me: hello
mj’sf: is mrs j there?
me: who is calling?
mj’sf: [crickets]
I hold the phone out to Mrs J and mutter “I guess she wants to talk to you-SHE DIDN’T REALLY SAY”
Mrs J takes phone, talks, finishes conversation, puts the phone down. Says “that was Nancy, she’s nice, she’s with puppies and they are barking”
me: why are you telling me this is THAT tone of voice?
Mrs J: Nancy is nice, a hard worker, and you were RUDE to her.
[NO MORE MR NICE GUY]
me, yelling: She was rude to me! Even if she was in a noisy room she knew the phone was answered! common courtesy to ID yourself! RABBLE RABBLE rubarbrubarbrubarb….CAN’T READ HER MIND!…grumlegrumblebitch…and that’s all i have to say about it…YOU WANT NICE?…BE NICE!…grumble
Chad N Freude
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: I think the boxer shorts would sell in huge volume if the logo was relocated.
fucen tarmal
@Mike Kay:
yeah those news reels and tabs, and especially the pre-code movies show a different media attitude than what we deem “appropriate”
however.
because i for one am keeping score
amanda knox 3,480,000 hits on teh google
anthony sowell 2,440,000
dropping 11 bodies and burying them in your back yard in america doesn’t seem to matter as much as being cute and accused in europe. i imagine they will be laughing at us some day.
Mike Kay
@Chad N Freude: look how they delivered the nomination to Edwards and brought Loserman to his knees, he only beat lamont by 10 points.
Mike Kay
@fucen tarmal: of course, if Palin didn’t have a nice boobs and hooker boots, she wouldn’t even got on the ticket, much less have the msn on bended knee.
CaseyL
@SiubhanDuinne:
Not at all. I’m a patent paralegal. It’s not like any other area of law – it’s all process and procedure; not adversarial at all, unless you consider the Patent Examiner an opponent – and I’m a strange critter who just really loves it. I don’t do the actual writing of the patent application, or the responses to Office Actions – that’s the attorney’s job – but I can do everything else.
Everyone else: Thanks so much for the congrats and good wishes. I’ve been on a depression roller coaster for over 6 months, wondering if I’d ever work again, so you can imagine how happy I am now!
asiangrrlMN
@Chad N Freude: Isn’t that what emoticons are for?
@jeffreyw: OK, see, that makes much more sense. Thanks for the play-by-play.
Uloborus
@Oscar Leroy:
Alright. I believe you do not understand the argument being made against you. I will try to explain it.
The stimulus was ‘too small’ in the sense that a bigger stimulus would have been preferable and would have been more helpful. More would have been better, period. Almost without limit.
What we disagree with is your suggestion that more ‘could have been passed’. No, more could not have been passed. Not even as much as Obama asked for was passed. There’s no reason to think whatsoever that a stimulus twice the size of the current one could have been passed. ‘If you ask for bigger you’ll get bigger’ is a lovely sounding mantra, but it does not actually work with congress. Particularly in the Senate, asking for bigger gets you nothing whatsoever.
So, we assert that the 800 billion was either the biggest we could get, or the biggest Obama could reasonably have expected to get. And it was enough to stop a slide into Depression. As horrible as this is – and I’ve been out of work for a long time – it’s nothing on what could have happened. All of the economists agree on that, too.
Also, many people think that because you’re attacking Obama for not publicly asking for the stimulus to be much bigger, you’re basically picking a nit. You have been delivered massive legislative success, and instead of focusing on how to address the remaining problems, you’re focusing on attacking the man who’s done so much good for you. And you’re doing it by using utterly unfounded guesses about what ‘might have been done’ to discount the good that has been done.
And to be frank, a lot of us are very, very tired of that kind of attitude. I know I am.
AhabTRuler
@Chad N Freude: Well, there’s already this, but I don’t think we know each other well enough.
Yutsano
@jeffreyw: Note to self: when calling jeffreyw’s residence, be sure to identify self early and often. Or else risk punishment from grumpy old man who knows how to utilize kitchen cutlery.
@Uloborus: This. This this this this this.
asiangrrlMN
@Uloborus: That was very well written. Thank you for this comment. I like how succinct and to the point it is.
Chad N Freude
@asiangrrlMN: Emoticons! That’s like Avatar using metallic robots. So 20th century.
Chad N Freude
@AhabTRuler: Well that was educational! I have a number of friends who will collapse in hysterical laughter when I send them that link. Thank you.
CaseyL
@Uloborus:
This!
I don’t think people realize what a “Big Tent” actually means. It means not all the members of your Party are going to agree with you. It means they’re not all going to vote your way. It means quite a few of them will make common cause with the 20+1 Republicans to block legislation even being voted on.
Obama’s legislative achievements in the face of adamantine GOP obstruction and Blue Dog intransigence is beyond impressive. Even when I’m upset at the President, I try to remember that.
Jeffro
Against Me! ‘s “White Crosses” is just RAWKIN!
“I Was a Teenage Anarchist” – lol and yet still deserves to be cranked up to 11
demimondian
@Paul L.: Hey, Paul! Long time, no mock.
But you’re right, of course — the loud and ineffective protestations of an over-hyped astroturf group are completely equivalent to a massive boycott which reduced the ad revenue of the second most-watched political program on television by a factor of two. You’re right about that.
You’re *so* right. So *very* right.
But you’re wrong about C&L.
El Cid
@Chad N Freude:
The edges of scientific discovery ever move forward.
Steeplejack
@MikeJ:
From the old school: the Animals, “Shake,” 1966 (featuring excellent work on the Hammond B-3 by Alan Price). Also, seems to be one of the few clips from back then that isn’t lip-synched.
Steeplejack
@CaseyL:
Congratulations! Stimulus/reëmployment on the march. Yee-haw.
Steeplejack
@AhabTRuler:
Man, you know you’ve made it when you get dinged when you’re not even around.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Mmm . . . chanting nude at midnight . . .
Could there be rain? Please?
Steeplejack
@jeffreyw:
I can sort of see where you’re coming from. One of my biggest embarrassments is that, although I have a phenomenal ear and can identify almost any pop song from 1960-1990 in about three notes (1990-current in 10 notes, with 30 percent less reliability–hey, I’m old), I cannot identify people’s voices on the phone for shit. The two words I hate to hear: “It’s me.” Ugh.
And I was trained as a child, when making a call, to say, “Hi, this is Steeplejack. I’d like to speak to [whomever].” Never hurts to ID yourself, and it saves the other person possible embarrassment.
That being said, possibly you were a bit of a dick with Mrs. J’s good friend. Like if she’s someone who calls every day. I mean, it appears that you knew who she was and you were just holding out for the ID.
Cook something awful for a change and make yourself eat it.
Steeplejack
Man, this is really embarrassing. You work your way through a thread, commenting and responding where appropriate, and when you get to the bottom you suddenly discover you have the last
fivesix (unanswered) posts. Whoa. Serious bummer.Where are my late-night peeps?
Lisa K.
Need some Rosie paraphanelia.