I’m sure this makes me a hippie-puncher, as well as a nut-picker, but this comment from FDL cracked me up:
Hey Obama, bought-off puppet, like we give a fuck anymore, let alone about parsing your bullshit-spouting spokesdouchebags.
Post-Obama, people. I mean, come on. To even pay attention to this flapdoodle is Veal Pen.
No discussion of this general topic is complete without reference to this epic anti-Obama post from MyDD (you should read the whole thing):
I have always maintained that Sarah Palin is essentially Barack Obama without the benefit of an Ivy League pedigree, a reasonably high IQ, and more talented ghostwriters. They possess the same sort of charisma—markedly different from recent smooth operators like Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. These were self-effacing politicians who were sharp on their feet and could genuinely make you crack up. Dick Morris says he faced a recurring challenge in that Bubba was far more impressive extemporaneously than on the script. In those tumultuous 80s, Reagan’s foremost task was to spout killer witticisms in East Room press conferences while his minions ran wild. While W. had the ridiculous bit of business on the deck of that aircraft carrier, he also had the Bullhorn Speech under his Texas belt. Whatever one’s opinion of his miserable policies, incompetence, and larger stupidity, the Bullhorn Speech was an iconic moment in presidential rhetoric.
Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are charismatic only because of the attractive exuberance they possess. Their cults of personalities are products of modern identity politics. These are tabula rasas whose appeal transcend the normal workings of Politics for the cultural niches they represent. She is the hot, fecund Christian warrior woman; he the postracial black man on a fascinating journey of self-discovery.
slag
Bored now.
JPL
Something is wrong with this statement. Oh yeah, he negates the first point with the second point.
Can we just talk about football now or maybe beers and wine.
4tehlulz
Did John and Jane get blogs at _The Atlantic_ and no one ever told me?
Allison W.
I need a translation for the first excerpt.
Stooleo
Okay, I give up. What is Veal Pen in firebagger terminology?
tomjones
What? No!
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
This has been said of every president since George Washington. It either Godwin’s the argument or renders it meaningless.
In my own personal dealings, I can tend to have trouble arguing because I want to apply the same rules to both sides. I thought that was a trait of most liberals, but I guess not.
SP
I think that’s true but not quite in the way he’s thinking.
Ash Can
Fuck all this; I’m going to go mix myself a martini.
Guster
I used to really love MyDD.
Wow.
Jager
“The hot, fecund, Christian warrior woman vs a post-racial black man on a fascinating journey of self discovery”…sounds like cover hype from a romance novel.
JGabriel
Is that even English? This object, no sense.
.
beltane
If it makes you feel better, punch away. But keep in mind that these people really don’t count for much in the scheme of thing; we are probably giving them more attention than they really warrant. Back in January of 2008 I attended an Obama rally in Lebanon, NH where a deranged Edwards supporter had a bit of a meltdown and was led away by the police. For all we know, this guy is a regular FDL commenter now. Some people are just like that.
arguingwithsignposts
Veal Pen? Apparently I was not aware of all Internet Traditions ™.
JPL
George Blanda passed away today.
New Yorker
Wow, this pseudo-profound psychobabble is enough to make Dinesh D’Souza blush.
And dammit, they got me: it’s identity politics that had me voting for Obama. I wanted someone to validate my mixed-racial upbringing in both the US and overseas. Oh wait, no, I just wanted someone intelligent, prudent, and who generally shares my political outlook.
gnomedad
I have always maintained that Jeffrey Dahmer is essentially Albert Einstein without the benefit of intelligence, compassion, and a taste for matzoh.
TooManyJens
Two blogs, divided by a common language.
SiubhanDuinne
So . . . what do you all make of Rick Lazio withdrawing from the NY Gov race? (Or, to keep things on topic, what do you suppose FDL and MyDD make of Rick Lazio withdrawing from the NY Gov race?)
Is this good news for Paladino?
JPL
@gnomedad: lol
ant
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=09&year=2010&base_name=a_better_conversation_about_th#121687
..the White House has got to stop disguising its own policy views when it celebrates the ACA. While pragmatism is a necessary part of legislating, it confuses the public when your normative views appear identical to the final compromise.
http://www.eschatonblog.com/2010/09/not-gonna-do-ir.html
“We started with a pretty good bill, now let’s make it better” would be a decent strategy. But it won’t happen.
beltane
@gnomedad: And Christine O’Donnell is just like Rachel Maddow except for the fact that she is a crazy wingnut.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL: Yup. So did Gloria Stuart, who was perhaps the only good thing about Titanic. She was 100.
Beauzeaux
So Sarah Palin is just like Barack Obama except that he is black, male, taller, educated, intelligent, articulate, and has shorter hair, fewer children, and a better-looking spouse.
My gawd, they’re practically identical.
Culture of Truth
These were self-effacing politicians who were sharp on their feet and could genuinely make you crack up.
They were humble white guys. Palin and Obama are uppity pretenders who don’t know their place. Got it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I humbly propose that Veal Pen Flapdoodle be a new tag for Hamsherite bloviating.
This is the same guy who called Obama “Chocolate Carter”. During the primaries, Armstrong was kind of like the embarrassing father who’d had a mild stroke and said kooky things but he owned the place so what were you gonna do. Now Josh and the other sane people are gone, and Armstrong’s still goofy, but he’s invited some tin-foil hat wearing people he met at McDonald’s to come and live in the house.
TooManyJens
@JGabriel: I don’t think we can throw stones — after all, this is a blog that has (and needs) its own lexicon.
It is remarkable how mutually unintelligible we’re becoming, though.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Or a Thursday night recipe.
Mnemosyne
@SP:
To be fair, the guy who wrote that was 12 years old when Bush made that speech. It probably did seem pretty impressive to a 12-year-old.
freelancer
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Seconded.
Culture of Truth
Indeed, when I think of W., “sharp on his feet” is the first thing that comes to mind.
Also he went to San Jacinto High School where he was paddled every day and worked his way up by his bootstraps but Obama was born with a silver spoon and had everything handed to him in life.
gnomedad
And if my grandmother had balls, also, too.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The Veal Pen is where sheeplish O-bots are driven by Rahm to be fattened up on shit-sandwiches until Baraknald W Obeagan decides to throw us under the bus. Also too, Catfood Commission!
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: I saw that. I refuse to continue the blog wars.
Here are some headlines from MSNBC
Despite economy, farm jobs still go begging
Shortage of drug holds up some U.S. executions
Segway company owner rides scooter off cliff
Segway scooters can lead to serious injuries
It’s interesting that someone felt it necessary to add an article about Segways causing injury after the owner of the company died. It’s like adding insult to injury.
I think the Lazio vote will split.
Culture of Truth
You know what I want in a President? Someone who makes me laugh when driving the country into needless wars and recession. So awesome.
Omnes Omnibus
@Beauzeaux: They both are bipeds. Ha! I’ve run circles ’round you logically.
Jules
Jebus, will those folks ever get over Hillary not winning the nomination?
The butthurt just goes on and on and on and I’m an Obamabot because I don’t think Obama is the “worst President evah”.
arguingwithsignposts
@TooManyJens:
Win.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@SiubhanDuinne:
I hadn’t heard that. Cuomo will win by 20+ points in all likelihood anyway.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@TooManyJens:
I kinda thought it sounded like a dance from the twenties.
JGabriel
arguingwithsignposts:
TooManyJens
@JPL:
I kind of hate myself for reading and replying to all these inter-blog pissing-match posts. They’re like fatty, salty chips. So bad for you, but you just keep buying the fuckers and ensuring that they’ll make more.
Bullsmith
Holy shit that’s some stupid right there. DD isn’t dumb doubled, it’s clearly an exponential equation.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@JGabriel:
In FDL mythology, Plato’s cave was the original veal pen. I thought you’d know that.
Warren Terra
That quote is not only so delightfully patronizing, it also somehow manages to miss that the whole point of his first book is that he completed his journey of self-discovery, by constructing an identity for himself as a socially aware black man, an outcome that was hardly inevitable for a kid raised by white grandparents attending an elite prep school in Hawai’i, whatever his skin tone. And, of course, it misses that Obama is not post-racial at all; he’s post-racist, while embracing the African-American heritage of his wife, his kids, and the community that welcomed him.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Beauzeaux: I bet his spouse could beat up her spouse.
fasteddie9318
I’ve always contended that, absent multicellularilty, aerobic respiration, bipedal locomotion, and a self-aware intelligence, there’s very little to distinguish Barack Obama from an amoeba. Comparing him to Sarah Palin is a bit more of a stretch, but I guess I can still see it.
Warren Terra
@JPL:
Blog War is over if you want it?
MobiusKlein
Be different: be a nut-punching hippie-picker.
Stooleo
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh I get it, I will stay in the Veal Pen until I finally wise up and realize that Obama is never going to give me that sparkly pony that he promised me. At that point I metamorphose into an infinitely smarter, yet bitter, bitter,bitter firepony that has nothing better to do than point out what a traitor to cause Obama is. Cool, and I get to act smug too. Awesome.
Omnes Omnibus
@Warren Terra: Begun the blog war have.
wmd
Veal Pen is used for ostensibly liberal groups giving political cover to a process that has non liberal outcomes.
EG Planned Parenthood was in the veal pen during the HCR debate and didn’t speak up for reproductive rights until the last minute.
(Note: this is established canon at FDL – even though I pointed out multiple urgent action emails from PP about Stupak in the month before the final vote).
The Sierra club is a veal pen organization for enabling BP (seriously, some people say that with a straight face).
Uncle Clarence Thomas
I don’t understand why they won’t let us accept that President Obama Knows Best.
taylormattd
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: yeah, keep telling yourself your little stories.
Poopyman
@Ash Can:
Lucky you. I’m getting ready to embark on my daily 1+ hour drive home.
Then maybe -a martini-a beer.
Mnemosyne
@Warren Terra:
I’m still convinced that’s one of the things that drives the teabaggers most nuts about Obama: he deliberately chose to be African-American. He didn’t have to embrace the identity the way he did, and he probably could have played some kind of Tiger Woods-style post-racial “I’m not going to choose sides” card. Instead, he moved to Chicago specifically because African-Americans had a lot of political power there with Harold Washington and married a black woman. He picked that identity and stuck with it.
fasteddie9318
Holy shit, I hadn’t realized that MyDD went PUMA and stayed there.
Culture of Truth
To be fair, you can’t judge a cite by some loony commenter.
Martin
@Jules:
No, they will never get over the candidate that campaigned for a healthcare mandate losing to the candidate that implemented the healthcare mandate.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Sorry, didn’t realize I was doing that. I had just seen the news item and searched BJ but found no previous mention, so I was just asking.
The MSNBC headlines (and they are far from the only offenders) always make me incanfuckindescent with rage. That’s a fine collection you aggregated there.
scav
@TooManyJens: Veal Pen Flapdoodle
ok, sort of a veal tenderloinish thing, maybe not breaded but coated in a pancakey kind of dough? Drizzle the whole with some sort of blackish berry coulis in elegant arabesques and we’d have an inky allusion as well as doodles.
Poopyman
@Stooleo: Holy shit, you really do get it! Congratulations!
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: Not you. John actually has a new post up with an interesting rebuttal to his earlier blog about the President.
I am just posting headlines to change the subject.
Poopyman
@Culture of Truth:
So the snarling mass of vicious vitriolic jackals are the posters here?
wengler
Jerome Armstrong was embarrassing during the primaries and I hadn’t even bothering going to MyDD since then. He would author the sort of cringe-inducing posts that even the most vocal supporters of Hillary Clinton(MyDD was one of the few Clinton-supporting blogs at the time) would distance themselves from.
I would venture to guess that his hatred of Barack Obama is deeply personal and stems from still festering grievances over things real and imagined during the campaign. Why doesn’t someone go over there and say ‘Texas caucuses’. That is the ultimate stirring of the pot on MyDD.
JGabriel
@DougJ:
I am being mocked. (Sobs uncontrollaby.)
(Sniffs back a final tear.) That’s okay. I can take it.
.
Martin
@TooManyJens: Oh god, we must make that a thursday night recipe.
eric
Let me say that the current level of vitriol is a function, in my humble opinion, of how dire current circumstances seem to be. The country is poised to give control back to a group of illiterate and evil men and women who will, without conscience, ruin the lives of many an ordinary American. It is that soon-to-be ruined American that is at the center of these blog wars. there is a core frustration, for those arguing in good faith — and I believe there are many such folks — that social justice is retarding and that real people are going to be really hurt and hurting for a very long time. Our own impotence at getting a meaningful voice in the MSM has rendered us largely ineffective and thus, some (many) lash out at those that do seem to have a voice, i.e., senators and Obama, but who fail to use that voice loudly and with conviction.
As many here know from my posts, I tend to think that the voice of the Left is dampened even when coming from Obama or Pelosi, or Franken because the MSM is dominated by moneyed interests.
it is as is we are all watching a car crash in slow motion and feel helpless to stop it.
But we are not helpless to stop it. We have our time and our money to make a difference.
So, in honor of this blogging pi$$ing match, I will pony up $1000 in campaign contributions this evening. Make a list who should get $250 and 4 folks get it. It aint much, but it sure as heck beats this BS.
eric
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Martin: I quit reading FDL about when Christy left (I hope she’s doing well), before the Nutty Time, but I don’t think it’s about Hillary. I’ll say this for them: They would’ve been just as vituperative and wrong-headed about a HRC presidency. Some PUMAs who may have landed there to wallow in self-righteous delusions of disappointment since the summer of ’08 would probably be here defending President Clinton from Hamsher in that alternate universe. As would I.
AxelFoley
LMAO @ those two shitty sites. Fuckin’ losers. Makes me wanna go kick some hippie ass now.
FlipYrWhig
This is like a clue to one of the cryptic crosswords in Harper’s or The Nation. Like, you need to read it as, “To even, pay attention to this flap; doodle is veal, P-E-N,” and the answer turns out to be “open the envelope.”
Uncle Clarence Thomas
@taylormattd:
I don’t understand your comment, but thank you for your support.
JGabriel
wmd:
Wow. I guess it’s been a longer time than I thought since I was a regular reader at FDL.
Apologies, DougJ. Apparently you weren’t mocking me at all.
TooManyJens, you are right.
.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@eric: I’ve been thinking of giving $500 to OFA, because of Kay’s post this morning. I just feel like it’s the best way to move the GOTV numbers.
This feeling of impotence, of screaming into the wind of stupid, does get to me.
FlipYrWhig
@AxelFoley: What I don’t get is how it makes you a “hippie” to constantly bitch about how everything sucks and you’re being undermined at every turn by perfidious forces beyond your control and the only people who understand the stakes are a small, courageous band of enlightened dissidents. If that’s hippie, it’s the fucking Manson Family.
TooManyJens
@scav: brb, googling “coulis”
(I know nothing about cooking.)
AxelFoley
@Culture of Truth:
The fuck if we can’t.
*looks at Uncle Clarence’s post*
Well, you may have a point…
eric
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I gotta say that I an truly frightened about what can happen in november and notwithstanding Obama’s state secret insanity and the steny hoyers of the world, i got no choice but to make sure the evil/crazies dont get control. These people make Bush et al look sane.
Is there a handy link to give?
thanks
e
jacy
I thought a flapdoodle was a small dessert pancake. Back to the veal pen for me. Or mayhaps its the lobster aquarium. Chicken coop? So hard to keep track.
AxelFoley
@wengler:
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
scav
@TooManyJens: GSD, I hope I spelled it right then!
AxelFoley
@FlipYrWhig:
LOL, I know, right?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@eric: a link to Kay’s post? Curtis is back? She’s not specifically talkiing about OFA, that’s just where I think the money is best spent to get the younger and other first time voters who make up the ‘enthusiasm gap’
wasabi gasp
Flapdoodle and the Veal Pen was an elementary school animated filmstrip covering the topic of where babies come from.
Bob L
TSK TSK Landsmen, you let your cynicism get the better part of you.
chaseyourtail
This is so typical of the FDL crowd. They have been trying to discredit Obama from day one. It’s like they have some irrational hatred for the guy. I’m betting MyDD is a Baby-Boomer (seriously, would any other generation use the term “tabula rasas” in a blog post). It seems to me that a lot of Boomers are bitter because someone significantly younger than them has swooped in and taken the Presidency. A lot of Boomers think of themselves as the real “greatest generation” and are holding on to the proverbial torch with a death grip. Their pathological sense of entitlement inhibits them from graciously passing said torch to the next generation. Obama, while still technically considered a Boomer by some metrics, represents post Boomer generations. Many Boomers are in denial about the fact that they’re getting old. Obama forces them to face that reality and they hate him for it.
brendancalling
i also got a kick out of “flapdoodle”.
despite my ironic use of “resident firebagger” (which IS ironic even though some stupid douches don’t have a sense of humor), one of the things that turns me off about FDL is the sheer vitriol toward Obama. I’m happy to criticize the dud too, and usually find myself angry with his adminsitration, but I also give credit when it’s due, and that’s in very short supply at FDL.
meh, I’m done with this shit, I have homebrew to drink and adjust. first contest entry coming up in october.
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
No, it makes you an obsessive. I’m sure John’s old enough to handle the pointless pissing match with Hamsher, how about the rest of you front pagers do some actual content.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
@AxelFoley:
GawDAMMIT, Axel, when I make you give me your “O” face, you DO NOT disappoint!
The Bobs
Reagan’s foremost task was to spout killer witticisms
Yeah, I believe that. The alzeimers president. They laughed because he was the President and you’re supposed to laugh at his jokes.
But hey, I’ve actually been in the same room with Obama, so I’ve been hypnotized.
Jager
@chaseyourtail:
As a “boomer” I think both you and Armstrong are full of shit.
applecoreinaz
@eric: Nice comment Eric. Summed nicely…..
frosty
@chaseyourtail:
Nah, we had our shot. One guy who’s chance at being great got blown (nudge nudge wink wink), and one total loser. Seriously, the choices we had to make when we faced the Vietnam draft fucked the Boomer generation for the Presidency. (Bush got lucky that everyone forgot the Natl Guard was a ticket out for the rich.) We’re better off skipping the Boomers and putting all that crap behind us.
Nah. Idealistic maybe, great … not so much.
Ick. The next generation is a bunch of Reaganauts. The generation behind them that doesn’t have any issues with gays and a lot fewer with race — let them have the torch.
This comment would make me tear out my hair in frustration. If I had any left to tear out.
That’s a real stretch. Here’s they way I see it: Obama’s either black and they hate him for it or he’s black and they say “Cool, I can’t believe I just helped elect a black guy!”
Val
Jerome is a VERY late boomer (Feb. 1964), or a Joneser, for those who accept that designation, or a pre-GenXer, or whatever (“full of shit” will do). And he’s a good 2 1/2 years younger than that whippersnapper Obama. Why is it that a good 75% of the time when whiny nonboomers cite some crap and opine that it must have come from boomers, inevitably it’s either from a “Silent” (the VAST majority of Bush administration high-level officials and GOP congressional leaders) or a GenXer, or at least a Joneser? Can we just cut the generational warfare crap, just ONE day? And just deal with a**holish foolishness on an individual basis? I’ll give you late boomer/early Joneser Jane Hamsher (1959), but she’s barely two years older than the usurper (“full of shit” will do for her, too). My mirror, my gay hairs and bodily creaking tell me how old I am every day. I don’t need that youngun Obama, who’s all of 5 years my junior, to tell me that (and have you noticed the gray hair on him lately? He’ll be 50 next year, ya know). Somehow I managed to get over my boomerish/early Jonesish prejudices and vote for him two years ago, and I’ll probably manage to vote for him again in a couple of years, assuming my great age doesn’t kill me by then. And get the heck off my lawn!
DFH no.6
@chaseyourtail:
I’m with Jager at #89. Go fuck yourself, chaseyourtail, ya fuckin’ bigoted asshole.
AxelFoley
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Back atcha, chief.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
in re Boomer fight: The MyDD post in question was, I understand, written by a twenty-five year-old
Wile E. Quixote
I have always maintained that a Whirlpool dryer is essentially an M-1 tank without the benefit of a 1500 horsepower gas turbine engine, a 120 MM main gun, two machine guns, smoke grenade launchers an all weather targeting system and Chobham armor. They both possess the ability to dry items of wet clothing, markedly different from other ways of drying wet clothing such as hanging it on a clothesline. Thus given the essential sameness of the Whirlpool gas dryer and the M-1 Abrams I feel that we should save money by replacing our current fleet of M-1s with Whirlpool dryers.
JGabriel
Also without a penis.
.
socraticsilence
@wengler:
Are you kidding I loved the “alternative delegate count” and the “Sure Obama’s won 10 consecutive states but hey that’s nothing Hillary’s going to win big in Kentucky” followed by the “Why can’t Obama connect with White Kentucky Voters” now he’s actually arguing that someone’s going to primary Obama because even if they lose “it’ll be a boost for 2016” – which you know makes a ton of sense after all Ted Kennedy’s triumphant campaign in 1984 is the stuff of legend.
Jager
As a boomer approaching my golden years, according to some on this list:
I don’t worry about my Gen X daughters, who are underpaid school teachers, both divorced.
Don’t care about the future of my 4 grandchildren.
Could give a rat’s ass that one of my two ex son in laws hasn’t paid child support in 6 months and the court system is so clogged its going to take another 6 months to see a dime of the money.
I’m outraged that my taxes may increase by 3%.
I could give a damn if health care is single payer or not because I’m so damn close to Medicare.
I don’t care what happens to Social Security because mine will always be there.
I think our national debt is our biggest problem.
I don’t care about the environment because, what the hell, I’ll be dead anyway.
If some of you think thats the way “the selfish Boomers” feel, if you believe it, here’s what I really believe:
All women in the US born after 1980 have three tits and all males born after 1980 only have one nut, is that any crazier than what you asshats spout about “Boomers”?
Excuse me now, I have an appointment to get the Mercedes waxed and while I’m waiting for the illegals to finish my car I’ll be smoking a Cuban and chatting up the other “Boomers” at the detail shop.
ItAintEazy
@Culture of Truth:
No, but you can when “Veal Pen” is one of their fooking tag lines.
I admit that I think that Obama is too much of a Reagan Democrat, but even that’s just too much for me.
Kerry Reid
@AxelFoley:
Bless you for this!
Karen
I was born in 1965 which I suppose makes me part of the Baby Bust or Gen X.
Jane Hamsher, FDL, My DD and all of that mindset are essentially Tea Partiers except with less power.
Oh, and with less brains, which is saying a lot.
Wile E. Quixote
@JGabriel:
How do you know that Sarah Palin doesn’t have a penis? Have you ever seen her naked? And while we’re on the subject how do we know that Sarah Palin doesn’t have a penis and was not a member of Journolist posting naked, while man-handling her huge johnson, under a different screen name?
chaseyourtail
@frosty: Your rebuttals are well taken but just for the record, I wasn’t talking about Boomers like you. That’s why I used qualifiers such as “many” and “a lot of” because I am definitely not saying that ALL Boomers fall into the old and bitter category. A lot of Boomers, like you, are cool and wonderful people.
However, DFH, no.6 just proved my point about the bitter Boomer with this comment,
Mnemosyne
@chaseyourtail:
IIRC, the guy who wrote the post says he’s 21. Read it again and you’ll believe it.
So, unfortunately, you just pissed off a whole bunch of people on a completely false premise.
chaseyourtail
@Mnemosyne: OK, my bad (that’s if the poster is telling the truth about his age), however, my underlying premise still stands…and I think I only pissed off a few people, not a “whole bunch”. Regardless, I think they’ll be able to recover from the fury I’ve caused them.
TKOEd
@Allison W.:
cosign