Completely different topic: The Bay Area is my region of the world, and I find this article hilarious. I love that when the author wants us to look even crazier she claims that Californians eat seaweed instead of cupcakes. And the hippie-teatard coalition is sure to go full FAIL on science claims. Keep your mind control off mah dishwarsher! Digital radio waves will kill us all, but analog radio waves sure were great!
2.
Legalize
Anyone see Julian Assange’s interview on 60 Minutes last night? The two take-aways for me:
1. Steve Croft is a dick.
2. While Steve Croft is a dick, his dickishness perfectly captures why we are doomed as a society – *real* “journalists” don’t consider it their job to be skeptical of authority; *real* “journalists” see themselves as mouthpieces for authority.
3.
lamh32
So I see the other big story other than Egypt is about John Huntsman considering a run for president and the WH “gearing up for it”
I like James Fallow’s take on the whole idea of Huntsman runa in ’12.
The Onion’s latest video missed something. The video is about ‘Al-Qaeda populating US with peaceful decoy Muslims’, and at one point showed a montage of these stealth infiltrators. They completely neglected, however, to show a picture of Barack Obama! For shame, The Onion, for shame.
dms
5.
lamh32
I know new CoS Daley is not everyone’s fav, but this bit about Huntsman I thought was funny.
With John Huntsman (R) now expected to run for president, White House chief of staff Bill Daley’s off-the-record remarks, as reported by Politico, are even more timely.
Said Daley: “It’s also good to see Jon Huntsman, our ambassador to China. ‘Or as we call him around the White House: the Manchurian Candidate. I want Jon to know that the president has no hard feelings. In fact, he just did an interview with the Tea Party Express saying how integral he has been to the success of the Obama administration.'”
6.
eric
@Legalize: Didnt see it; but my impulse is to say that he was no protecting the government as the authority per se, but the MSM as the authority on what should be news and, more importantly, who gets to decide. They dont like the fact that Assange was the “boss” in the source-reporting dynamic in relaying the documents in the press. Had he been a more submissive source, this would be about the NYT’s right to re-live its pentagon papers glory a second time.
Just a thought.
7.
Persia
@lamh32: That’s pretty good. How would this guy be a serious contender, though? I’m as baffled as Fallows.
8.
jwb
@Persia: He’s not insane. That should answer the question.
9.
Legalize
@eric:
That was part of what Croft was doing. But the overriding angle Croft took was to accuse Assange of being paranoid, of being disrespectful to authority, of being mean to bankers, of committing treason, etc. It was an embarrassing, boot-licking performance on Croft’s part. He demonstrated pretty clearly WHY Assange seems to have such contempt for the MSM. Assange is no hero to me. To me he’s just a guy doing what Steve Croft, et al. had done in the past and still should be doing.
10.
ET
@lamh32: Huntsman is an idiot if he throws his hat in the ring – especially if he wants to get elected to anything in the future. The GOP of 2012 is NOT a friendly environment for him. He worked for Obama (GASP!). And he will not be seen as Tea Party friendly – something that will be necessary in the primaries – no matter how much contortions he performs.
Of course he may think he can save the GOP – and he would have a better chance in the general election that pretty much anybody they have – but to get to the GE you have to get through the primaries and I am not sure (at least as of 1/2011) that the GOP as a party is going to be able to keep the Tea Party types quite and marginalized enough to get a more mainstream candidate though to the general election. A the chickens may come home to roost. The next two years are going to be loooooong.
Not sure Huntsman could get elected in UT again; look what happened to Bob Bennett.
12.
me
Why do the defensive players even show up at the pro bowl? It isn’t like they do anything (except the cornerbacks I guess).
13.
BGinCHI
@Legalize: I assume that Steve Croft is the love child of Sid and Marty Krofft, who changed his name after he washed out in producing H. R. Puffenstuff, Private Eye.
Worst part of all this is that 60 Minutes used to be an actual hardass muckraking outfit.
Too bad “independent TV journalism” is an oxymoron.
14.
Persia
@jwb: You really think someone not insane can make it through the GOP primary process? Color me skeptical.
Do you want to know what a long-time Balloon Juice reader has to say about sustainability, exceptional food and drink, living well and being active in the Central Coast of California? I’m trying to make eating well and sustainable an easier path to travel for those who want to improve their relationship with healthy food and live a rich, more active life.
ugh, snow. or in my case, ice. nearly an inch of ice. this is gonna be a bad week.
17.
Punchy
@lamh32: ZERO chance that a guy currently employed by the narco-terrorist negroid traitor prezznit will get the nod. When probably half of the teatards are openly calling for the return of the gold standard, the repealing of the 17th Amendy, and guns in day cares, there’s just no room for some dude with the Obama Stink clinging to him like the clap on Snooki.
Why haven’t the Village Pimples had Omar Sharif on one of their shows by now? He’s Egyptian.
I just wanted to note that Al Jazeera just aired a short interview with: Omar Sharif.
It’s not quite the Village, but chalk another one up for the prescience of Juicers’ snark.
.
19.
catclub
I can envision Huntsman claiming he has quit as ambassador, to run for president, because he was so disgusted with what he saw on the inside. This could insulate him from attacks that he worked for Obama. This might work with some of the non-rational right – those who don’t bother to ask why he went to work for him in the first place.
Duty to the nation?! piffle!
20.
4tehlulz
@Persia: If he somehow got the GOP nomination in that environment, he would, without doubt, be the best politician in the history of the human race.
Seriously, I doubt Jesus Christ would get the nod from them.
21.
BGinCHI
@4tehlulz: No way a Jew would get nominated by the GOP.
22.
me
@catclub: I doubt it. He’s in China. People would really have to be suckers to believe that he was a real insider being thousands of kilometers away from the White House.
23.
joes527
This is the bit of the Fallows article that jumped out at me:
If Huntsman can’t say that [that he isn’t running in 2012], how can he stay? How is the Administration supposed to view the cables they get from him these “next few months”? Or the talks they have with him about Chinese policy on North Korea, the RMB, trade?
Fuck.
Fuckity-fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck.
Are we so far ’round the bend that we can’t even imagine him responsibly serving out his agreed term, and then going on to pursue the presidency in 2012?
I have no opinion of Huntsman himself, but this expectation that all work of government is really just folks positioning themselves for their next power grab is KILLING us. Maybe Huntsman is a scheming shit. If he is, then he should be pulled from his post whether he is running in 2012 or not. Otherwise, we should at least entertain the possibility that he will do his current job with integrity, regardless of his plans down the line.
Are we so far ‘round the bend that we can’t even imagine him responsibly serving out his agreed term, and then going on to pursue the presidency in 2012?
We can imagine it. We just don’t think it’s the smart way to bet.
.
27.
lamh32
Who other than maybe Huntsman and his “allies” think he has a reasonable chance at 2012? Most reactions I see literally one of disbelief not that he would leave his post, but that he would leave it to run for Prez in this GOP environment.
Anyway, I like TNC reactions to Fallows an the Huntsman news:
Pardon me, but I’m still laughing. I may well be wrong, but as Obama himself joke, the difficulty inherent in moving from being a supporter of civil unions and an ambassador in a Democratic administration to winning a GOP primary race would seem to be formidable, if not outright prohibitive. Perhaps there’s a game beyond the game.
28.
Poopyman
@Legalize:
I want to say that Kroft assumed the role of total dick for the purpose of lobbing questions which Assange pretty much hit out of the park. I want to say that Kroft actually positioned himself to look more dickish and for Assange to nearly appear sympathetic.
I want to say these things, but I really doubt Steve Kroft could overcome ego and limited intelligence.
29.
SenyorDave
Right now, I don’t see how anyone who is not tea party-approved makes it through the GOP primaries, with the exception of Romney. He has the money and infrastructure, plus there is room for one non-crazy in the GOP field (I realize that Romney takes crazy positions these days, but most of that seems like positioning, I don’t think he’s batshit crazy like Palin or Huckabee). For Huntsman to succeed, he would have to push aside Romney, and I can’t see that happening since he works for Obama. In addition, Huntsman actually seems to have some character,
Who other than maybe Huntsman and his “allies” think he has a reasonable chance at 2012?
Who would have thought a first term AA Senator could have a chance against Hillary in the primaries? They’ve got every reason to be hopeful. At least until they find out nobody’ll vote for him.
31.
catclub
ON the guy who has been arrested for attempting to?, trying?
boasting in a bar? that he would attack a mosque in Michigan. He can get labeled as a leftist!
Stockham
“served time in federal prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush and bomb a Vermont veterans’ clinic in 2002.”
Why call him an anti-government whacko when leftist works so much better.
It is also getting zilch coverage in the big media I have looked at.
She is fat, mostlywhite with a brown head, sometimes responds to the name Rosie, bites me in my sleep, and craps on the floor.
And then there’s Tunch, who is fat, mostly white with red head patches and tail, never responds to the name God [because it means nothing without the genuflection], sheds on people in his sleep, and craps in John’s shoes.
I’d take him in a heartbeat.
35.
el pijo
SenyorDave’s handle reminded me that I wanted to ask this: can anyone give the “non-blaming socialists and green jobs” answer for Spain’s current economic woahs? Drudge recently linked to an article on their 20% unemployment rate and the comments were littered with told-you-so’s. As one of the many who spent an amazing college semester in Spain, I’d love to be able to sound smart in explaining why the country is currently struggling.
36.
trollhattan
Please tell me this cannot be true. Please? Please?!?
Loneoak
Snowpocalypse!
Completely different topic: The Bay Area is my region of the world, and I find this article hilarious. I love that when the author wants us to look even crazier she claims that Californians eat seaweed instead of cupcakes. And the hippie-teatard coalition is sure to go full FAIL on science claims. Keep your mind control off mah dishwarsher! Digital radio waves will kill us all, but analog radio waves sure were great!
Legalize
Anyone see Julian Assange’s interview on 60 Minutes last night? The two take-aways for me:
1. Steve Croft is a dick.
2. While Steve Croft is a dick, his dickishness perfectly captures why we are doomed as a society – *real* “journalists” don’t consider it their job to be skeptical of authority; *real* “journalists” see themselves as mouthpieces for authority.
lamh32
So I see the other big story other than Egypt is about John Huntsman considering a run for president and the WH “gearing up for it”
I like James Fallow’s take on the whole idea of Huntsman runa in ’12.
The Latest Huntsman 2012 News
James Fallows
dmsilev
The Onion’s latest video missed something. The video is about ‘Al-Qaeda populating US with peaceful decoy Muslims’, and at one point showed a montage of these stealth infiltrators. They completely neglected, however, to show a picture of Barack Obama! For shame, The Onion, for shame.
dms
lamh32
I know new CoS Daley is not everyone’s fav, but this bit about Huntsman I thought was funny.
Daley Tweeks Huntsman
eric
@Legalize: Didnt see it; but my impulse is to say that he was no protecting the government as the authority per se, but the MSM as the authority on what should be news and, more importantly, who gets to decide. They dont like the fact that Assange was the “boss” in the source-reporting dynamic in relaying the documents in the press. Had he been a more submissive source, this would be about the NYT’s right to re-live its pentagon papers glory a second time.
Just a thought.
Persia
@lamh32: That’s pretty good. How would this guy be a serious contender, though? I’m as baffled as Fallows.
jwb
@Persia: He’s not insane. That should answer the question.
Legalize
@eric:
That was part of what Croft was doing. But the overriding angle Croft took was to accuse Assange of being paranoid, of being disrespectful to authority, of being mean to bankers, of committing treason, etc. It was an embarrassing, boot-licking performance on Croft’s part. He demonstrated pretty clearly WHY Assange seems to have such contempt for the MSM. Assange is no hero to me. To me he’s just a guy doing what Steve Croft, et al. had done in the past and still should be doing.
ET
@lamh32: Huntsman is an idiot if he throws his hat in the ring – especially if he wants to get elected to anything in the future. The GOP of 2012 is NOT a friendly environment for him. He worked for Obama (GASP!). And he will not be seen as Tea Party friendly – something that will be necessary in the primaries – no matter how much contortions he performs.
Of course he may think he can save the GOP – and he would have a better chance in the general election that pretty much anybody they have – but to get to the GE you have to get through the primaries and I am not sure (at least as of 1/2011) that the GOP as a party is going to be able to keep the Tea Party types quite and marginalized enough to get a more mainstream candidate though to the general election. A the chickens may come home to roost. The next two years are going to be loooooong.
Elisabeth
@ET:
Not sure Huntsman could get elected in UT again; look what happened to Bob Bennett.
me
Why do the defensive players even show up at the pro bowl? It isn’t like they do anything (except the cornerbacks I guess).
BGinCHI
@Legalize: I assume that Steve Croft is the love child of Sid and Marty Krofft, who changed his name after he washed out in producing H. R. Puffenstuff, Private Eye.
Worst part of all this is that 60 Minutes used to be an actual hardass muckraking outfit.
Too bad “independent TV journalism” is an oxymoron.
Persia
@jwb: You really think someone not insane can make it through the GOP primary process? Color me skeptical.
mzrad
Do you want to know what a long-time Balloon Juice reader has to say about sustainability, exceptional food and drink, living well and being active in the Central Coast of California? I’m trying to make eating well and sustainable an easier path to travel for those who want to improve their relationship with healthy food and live a rich, more active life.
I’d like to invite those inclined to check out my blog and slow food archive, http://CentralCoastFoodie.com.
Thanks!
chopper
@Loneoak:
ugh, snow. or in my case, ice. nearly an inch of ice. this is gonna be a bad week.
Punchy
@lamh32: ZERO chance that a guy currently employed by the narco-terrorist negroid traitor prezznit will get the nod. When probably half of the teatards are openly calling for the return of the gold standard, the repealing of the 17th Amendy, and guns in day cares, there’s just no room for some dude with the Obama Stink clinging to him like the clap on Snooki.
JGabriel
Yesterday, maya joked:
I just wanted to note that Al Jazeera just aired a short interview with: Omar Sharif.
It’s not quite the Village, but chalk another one up for the prescience of Juicers’ snark.
.
catclub
I can envision Huntsman claiming he has quit as ambassador, to run for president, because he was so disgusted with what he saw on the inside. This could insulate him from attacks that he worked for Obama. This might work with some of the non-rational right – those who don’t bother to ask why he went to work for him in the first place.
Duty to the nation?! piffle!
4tehlulz
@Persia: If he somehow got the GOP nomination in that environment, he would, without doubt, be the best politician in the history of the human race.
Seriously, I doubt Jesus Christ would get the nod from them.
BGinCHI
@4tehlulz: No way a Jew would get nominated by the GOP.
me
@catclub: I doubt it. He’s in China. People would really have to be suckers to believe that he was a real insider being thousands of kilometers away from the White House.
joes527
This is the bit of the Fallows article that jumped out at me:
Fuck.
Fuckity-fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck.
Are we so far ’round the bend that we can’t even imagine him responsibly serving out his agreed term, and then going on to pursue the presidency in 2012?
I have no opinion of Huntsman himself, but this expectation that all work of government is really just folks positioning themselves for their next power grab is KILLING us. Maybe Huntsman is a scheming shit. If he is, then he should be pulled from his post whether he is running in 2012 or not. Otherwise, we should at least entertain the possibility that he will do his current job with integrity, regardless of his plans down the line.
I know, I know … I’m not serious.
JGabriel
Persia: :
jwb: :
Bahahaha!
Oops, sorry, I meant to say: Uh, sadly it does not.
.
JGabriel
@Persia:
To be fair, it would differentiate him from the rest of the candidates.
.
JGabriel
@joes527:
We can imagine it. We just don’t think it’s the smart way to bet.
.
lamh32
Who other than maybe Huntsman and his “allies” think he has a reasonable chance at 2012? Most reactions I see literally one of disbelief not that he would leave his post, but that he would leave it to run for Prez in this GOP environment.
Anyway, I like TNC reactions to Fallows an the Huntsman news:
Huntsman
Poopyman
@Legalize:
I want to say that Kroft assumed the role of total dick for the purpose of lobbing questions which Assange pretty much hit out of the park. I want to say that Kroft actually positioned himself to look more dickish and for Assange to nearly appear sympathetic.
I want to say these things, but I really doubt Steve Kroft could overcome ego and limited intelligence.
SenyorDave
Right now, I don’t see how anyone who is not tea party-approved makes it through the GOP primaries, with the exception of Romney. He has the money and infrastructure, plus there is room for one non-crazy in the GOP field (I realize that Romney takes crazy positions these days, but most of that seems like positioning, I don’t think he’s batshit crazy like Palin or Huckabee). For Huntsman to succeed, he would have to push aside Romney, and I can’t see that happening since he works for Obama. In addition, Huntsman actually seems to have some character,
Poopyman
@lamh32:
Who would have thought a first term AA Senator could have a chance against Hillary in the primaries? They’ve got every reason to be hopeful. At least until they find out nobody’ll vote for him.
catclub
ON the guy who has been arrested for attempting to?, trying?
boasting in a bar? that he would attack a mosque in Michigan. He can get labeled as a leftist!
Stockham
“served time in federal prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush and bomb a Vermont veterans’ clinic in 2002.”
Why call him an anti-government whacko when leftist works so much better.
It is also getting zilch coverage in the big media I have looked at.
Linda Featheringill
Having Huntsman’s name “out there” might improve his visibility in 2016.
Liberal Sandlapper
Why does John Cole hate Rosie?
Comrade Mary
@Liberal Sandlapper: This.
And then there’s Tunch, who is fat, mostly white with red head patches and tail, never responds to the name God [because it means nothing without the genuflection], sheds on people in his sleep, and craps in John’s shoes.
I’d take him in a heartbeat.
el pijo
SenyorDave’s handle reminded me that I wanted to ask this: can anyone give the “non-blaming socialists and green jobs” answer for Spain’s current economic woahs? Drudge recently linked to an article on their 20% unemployment rate and the comments were littered with told-you-so’s. As one of the many who spent an amazing college semester in Spain, I’d love to be able to sound smart in explaining why the country is currently struggling.
trollhattan
Please tell me this cannot be true. Please? Please?!?
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110131/bc_dog_slaughter_110131/20110131?hub=BritishColumbiaHome