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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: You Want Lies With That?

Open Thread: You Want Lies With That?

by Anne Laurie|  August 20, 201010:29 am| 54 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Assholes, Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.

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Jeff Danziger is still the single greatest political cartoonist now drawing.

Danziger’s website. But if you subscribe to GoComics, you’ll get them a couple days sooner.

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Previous Post: « Serious Journalism
Next Post: As American as the Interstate Highway System »

Reader Interactions

54Comments

  1. 1.

    Zifnab

    August 20, 2010 at 10:34 am

    Jon Stewart’s Glenn Beck impression was way better.

  2. 2.

    Jim in Chicago

    August 20, 2010 at 10:45 am

    Why aren’t the Democrats smart enough to play this up: A major political party being openly bankrolled by a foreigner? Might even give some of the flag-wavers second thoughts about blindly following the Republicans. Instead it’s Harry Reid and even Howard Dean (!) agonizing over the “Mosque” that isn’t a mosque. :(

  3. 3.

    PeakVT

    August 20, 2010 at 10:45 am

    I’ll go with Toles over Danzinger as the best currently working.

  4. 4.

    flukebucket

    August 20, 2010 at 10:46 am

    A dog’s life.

  5. 5.

    geg6

    August 20, 2010 at 10:58 am

    Heh. I’m wondering how much Rupert even knew about Ailes doing this.

  6. 6.

    pablo

    August 20, 2010 at 10:58 am

    It’s all about branding.

  7. 7.

    Pangloss

    August 20, 2010 at 10:58 am

    Every time I see Sean Hannity, I want to shove that prop pen he holds into the side of his neck.

  8. 8.

    Crashman

    August 20, 2010 at 11:01 am

    According to WebUrbanist, Madeira Island, one of our honeymoon destinations, has one of the ten scariest airports in the world.

    Neither one of us really like flying, so yeah, this should be fun.

  9. 9.

    maya

    August 20, 2010 at 11:05 am

    Why isn’t someone checking Rupert’s N-400 form? What score did he get in the citizenship test?

  10. 10.

    YellowJournalism

    August 20, 2010 at 11:05 am

    @Zifnab: His yellow-highlighted card routine last night was The Daily Show at its best, honestly, down to the point where Stewart admitted that even he falls prey to anger and fear instead of advocating for what’s right.

    When I first looked at this cartoon, I thought that the box said, “Harpy Meals.” But, if you think about some of the people they employ (Hannity, Palin, all of Fox and Friends), then it fits, too.

  11. 11.

    Viva BrisVegas

    August 20, 2010 at 11:16 am

    Meanwhile back in the birthplace of the Great Satan himself we have an election underway today. Polls open in about 7 hours and we should have a result about 12 hours later.

    Unless of course it is as close as all the pundits are predicting. The actual count should be reasonably exciting, which is more than can be said for the election campaign.

    If one word could sum up the performance of both parties it would be “stultifying”. Just a never ending droning of negativism from both sides.

    The surprising thing is that there doesn’t seem to be any objective reason for the Labor government to be in such trouble. The economy is going, if not gangbusters, then pretty damn well, unemployment is hovering around 5%, and the Global Financial Crisis has barely touched us thanks largely to a somewhat haphazardly administered stimulus package.

    But then again the dominant Murdoch press has been running an anti-Labor campaign for the past year, which ultimately cost the previous PM, Kevin Rudd, his job. This has induced a ridiculous anti-debt panic as well as producing a surprising degree of resistance against increased taxes on multinational mining corporations, currently raking in money hand over fist selling to China.

    Add an illegal immigrant scare campaign and you have the recipe for a tough election for Julia Gillard and the distinct possibility of a one term government. Something pretty much unheard of in the post war period.

    So it’s off to bed so that I can rise early and vote (it’s compulsory) for Labor and then spend the rest of the day hoping like hell that the Liberals (a misnomer if ever there was one) don’t get in.

  12. 12.

    Mark S.

    August 20, 2010 at 11:26 am

    Is there a bigger tool in the universe of movie critics than Kyle Smith of the NY Post? Every review I’ve read of his is how I would expect Bill O’Reilly to feel about the movie. Here he is on The Tillman Story, where he hardly talks about the movie at all:

    The film dances around this point, but Tillman’s mother, who is still unsatisfied after being given 3,000 pages of documents from the Army investigation, is a George W. Bush hater. Like many before her (such as Cindy Sheehan, who said her soldier son “was murdered . . . to benefit Israel”), she found sorrow curdling into something more dynamic and satisfying: political rage.

  13. 13.

    whiskey

    August 20, 2010 at 11:32 am

    This guy’s a really good cartoonist. Too bad his shit doesn’t get syndicated:
    http://thisishistorictimes.com/

  14. 14.

    Pangloss

    August 20, 2010 at 11:34 am

    @Crashman: Maybe you should have chosen a less ironic nom de plume.

  15. 15.

    Pangloss

    August 20, 2010 at 11:37 am

    @Viva BrisVegas: In America, we still have the freedom to not vote…. for now. I expect the Obama brownshirts are polishing their billyclubs to take away that freedom soon.

  16. 16.

    Crashman

    August 20, 2010 at 11:37 am

    @Pangloss: Hadn’t even thought of that. Now I’m really worried!

  17. 17.

    Anoniminous

    August 20, 2010 at 11:51 am

    After doing my regular morning Coffee + Internet I have come to a conclusion:

    If Informal Logical Fallacies were outlawed 99.999% of all the people working in mass media would be in prison. The blogs score better with only 95% doing time.

  18. 18.

    Bnut

    August 20, 2010 at 11:54 am

    @Pangloss: My last car was a beat up old 4runner that only got 1 radio station, and it happened to be the Birmingham conservaradio one. I heard some much Savage and Hannity that I wanted to put a pen in my own neck.

  19. 19.

    PeakVT

    August 20, 2010 at 11:57 am

    @Crashman: Whatever you do, don’t search YouTube for videos of landings at Madeira.

  20. 20.

    Viva BrisVegas

    August 20, 2010 at 11:59 am

    In America, we still have the freedom to not vote…. for now.

    You might mistake me, I wasn’t complaining about compulsory voting. In fact I consider it to be the best bulwark against voter disenfranchisement yet devised.

    If it is against the law to not vote it becomes much harder to devise laws designed to prevent particular people from voting.

    Not that I’m pointing fingers or anything, but US voter turnout is something like 40-60% of the eligible population. In Australia it’s around 95%. To me that makes for more democracy, even if at the expense of a little liberty.

  21. 21.

    jeffreyw

    August 20, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    Thread needs more sammich.

  22. 22.

    tim

    August 20, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    Have to disagree, Anne. I find Danziger almost always abstruse.

    Toles is best.

  23. 23.

    debit

    August 20, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    @PeakVT: For some reason I am compelled to respond: “Over Macho Grande? I’ll never get over Macho Grande.”

  24. 24.

    cleek

    August 20, 2010 at 12:36 pm

    hey JC, DougJ, et al: any chance you could put together a mobile version of this site ?

    since you’re using WP, you could probably just drop in the WP Mobile Pack. no, it wouldn’t have all the bells & whistles that the full site has, but that’s kindof the point. it’s supposed to be lightweight and easy to handle on a small screen.

    just a thought…

  25. 25.

    Khârn the Betrayer

    August 20, 2010 at 12:39 pm

    Oh sweet Chaos Gods. Why didn’t anyone warn me that Sully was letting guest bloggers run the show? IQ points were wrenched, screeching, from my brain as soon as his front page loaded in.

    BFTBG/SFTST

  26. 26.

    debit

    August 20, 2010 at 12:43 pm

    @cleek: Seconding. It takes forever and a day to load on my iphone.

  27. 27.

    Tax Analyst

    August 20, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    Boy, Conor Friedersdorf (guesting at Sully’s) sure has his nose up Ross Douthat’s butt this morning. He’s got a post defending Douthat’s writings over the GZ mosque thing.

    Here’s just one peachy plumb excerpt to put in your pie this morning:

    I also think that Mr. Douthat’s writing on assimilation is an invaluable addition to the debate — basically everything he writes is – even if we aren’t in agreement.

    Yeah, sure – every freaking thing Douthat writes is just wondrous and well-thought out – even if it’s actually just twisted drivel dripping off his lower lip. I know we’ve all spent many happy and memorable moments absorbing his written wisdom. Did I mention Conor is talking about Ross-my-ingrown-dick-is-sometimes-a-problem-Douthat?

  28. 28.

    The Moar You Know

    August 20, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    A major political party being openly bankrolled by a foreigner?

    @Jim in Chicago: He’s not. He became a citizen a while ago, showing that the GOP is right and we desperately need to do something to stem the flood of undesirables pouring in over the border.

  29. 29.

    cyntax

    August 20, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    @Crashman:

    My wife and I went there as part of our honeymoon; it is a dramatic view since there’s barely room for the landing strip, making it seem like you’re on approach to an aircraft carrier. But in terms of the actual landing, it was a peice of cake. I’ve had much worse landings in the US, in particular one at Cleveland during which the woman sitting next to me and her son were both throwing up.

    But congrats on getting married.

  30. 30.

    The Dangerman

    August 20, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    No Airport can live up to the old airport in Hong Kong (Kai Tek?). Now, THAT was a landing…

    …right after the 747 pilot came on saying “now, just prior to wheels touching, we are going to do a hard right turn” (rough translation: “try not to shit your pants”)…

    …this while flying in a canyon with skyscrapers on both sides where one could look in the windows and see the TV’s far too clearly…

    …now THAT was a place to land. I think it is completely out of service. Too bad.

  31. 31.

    Crashman

    August 20, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    @cyntax: Glad to hear that it wasn’t as bad as it looks. We’ll be sure not to look out the window!

    And thanks!

  32. 32.

    The Moar You Know

    August 20, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    no, it wouldn’t have all the bells & whistles that the full site has

    @cleek: What, no comments running off the margins of the screen, thrice-repeated posts, non-spellchecked postings by the frontpagers, and megapixel cat and puppy pics?

    WHAT WOULD WE DO????

  33. 33.

    jeffreyw

    August 20, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    Hmm…tough thread. How about an egg muffin then?

  34. 34.

    Martin

    August 20, 2010 at 12:57 pm

    @cleek:

    you could probably just drop in the WP Mobile Pack.

    I don’t think WP and ‘just drop in’ are compatible terms. If anything, B-J is a case study of how fucktastic a platform WP is. I’ve got a WP blog at work and it’s a pain in the ass even with exceedingly competent people administering it.

  35. 35.

    Joe

    August 20, 2010 at 12:59 pm

    watch

  36. 36.

    Svensker

    August 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    Anybody got any cures for bad fish smells in the house? I put some frozen fish in the oven last night and it turned out to be quite off (which I didn’t notice when it was frozen). Thrown the fish out and taken garbage out, cleaned counters, sink, pans, etc., boiled vinegar on the stove, fans on and windows open but the house still stinks. Me very unhappy. Any tips?

  37. 37.

    scav

    August 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    @jeffreyw: ahhhh, jeffreyw, the johnny appleseed of random foodstuffs. Or is it more a Hansel and Gretel sort of means of finding your way back through the maze?

  38. 38.

    Chad N Freude

    August 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    @The Moar You Know: He became a US citizen in 1985, for the noblest of reasons:

    In 1985 Murdoch became a United States citizen to satisfy legislation that only United States citizens could own American television stations.

  39. 39.

    cleek

    August 20, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    @Martin:
    i added the WP Mobile Pack to my site and it was as easy as: unzip into a folder, then check a checkbox. worked perfectly right out of the box. could not be easier unless it was built into WP to begin with.

    I’ve got a WP blog at work and it’s a pain in the ass even with exceedingly competent people administering it.

    i’ve never had a single problem with WP which wasn’t caused by either a bad template or a bad plugin. both of which are external to WP itself.

  40. 40.

    Hob

    August 20, 2010 at 1:04 pm

    Oh man, it’s extra hard to do this now that people are posting food pictures, but: I have to take an indefinite break from blogs, and I have to quit this one first because I like it the most. Just have been spending way way way way way too much time on the Internet, and as much as I value the information & the yuks & the people, at some point it becomes sort of like… trying to eat pictures of food, I guess. I mention this not to solicit hugs or medals, but just to request that if I break down & post a comment here again any time soon, someone please slap me.

  41. 41.

    cleek

    August 20, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    @Svensker:
    candles work well for getting rid of smells. we keep a big one in the kitchen for fish days and “oops, shouldn’t have left that chicken carcass in the garbage all night” mornings.

  42. 42.

    Rosalita

    August 20, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    @Svensker:

    go shopping

  43. 43.

    Indie Tarheel

    August 20, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    @whiskey: Bookmarked. Thanks for posting that!

  44. 44.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    August 20, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    @The Dangerman: Yes. My favorite landing in Hong Kong (circa 1970) was during a thunderstorm. When we broke out of the clouds we were a couple hundred feet above the water … then seconds later we touched down. Being the first one I was more than happy to see all the buildings on later flights. At least you could see what was coming.

  45. 45.

    stuckinred

    August 20, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    @Svensker: Fire up some kine.

  46. 46.

    eric

    August 20, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    @cleek: I would think that, just like McCain, you could go to one of your other houses. Duh.
    ETA: for the record, Tom Tomorrow is the dude.

  47. 47.

    MikeJ

    August 20, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    @cleek: The only problems I’ve had with WP is admins who don’t understand what a high site is dropping in too many plugins that are poorly written and use eight db calls where they could get by with one.

    On low traffic sites it’s generally way more of a pig than it should be (almost always, as you say, caused by a sub optimal plugin) but most people won’t notice while hit counts are in the (evenly distributed) 10s of thousands per day.

  48. 48.

    Hawes

    August 20, 2010 at 1:49 pm

    Danziger?

    He’s not fit to hold Tom Toles’s inkwell…

  49. 49.

    Betsy

    August 20, 2010 at 1:49 pm

    @jeffreyw:
    Sans ham, that would make me a happy camper.

  50. 50.

    Betsy

    August 20, 2010 at 1:50 pm

    @Svensker:
    Did you clean the oven yet? That might be the source.

    No idea whether this would work for fish odor specifically, but if you put some vanilla into a pan of simmering water, it can make the house smell heavenly. Baking a loaf of bread likewise.

  51. 51.

    Mark S.

    August 20, 2010 at 1:59 pm

    I was listening to a little Rush Limbaugh in the car and Rush spent the entire time insinuating that Obama is not a Christian. I guess that explains why 20% of the country thinks Obama is a Muslim.

  52. 52.

    licensed to kill time

    August 20, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    Only thing missing on that cartoon is “Over a Zillion Lies Served”

  53. 53.

    Anne Laurie

    August 20, 2010 at 5:17 pm

    @PeakVT: Toles and Rall would be the two next on my best-of list (and I’m very grateful I don’t have to pick just one!). But Danziger is a better artist — I can identify the benchwarmers even without labels — which I think makes Danziger the best single current inheritor of Nast’s laurels.

  54. 54.

    Jim in Chicago

    August 20, 2010 at 9:18 pm

    @Chad N Freude:

    Thanks for the correction. I had forgotten that, thinking back to the days Mike Royko referred to his would-be boss (Royko fleed the Chicago Sun-Times when Murdoch took it over) as “the Alien.”

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