Here’s your storyline for 2012.
From the media’s perspective, Mitt is now so 2000 and late. I do think there is an essential truth underneath the Rickmentum, and that’s that Perry pisses liberals off in a way that Mitt never could.
Look at vouchercare, other than pissing off liberals, what did it have going for it? Look at Bachmann and Trump, other than pissing off liberals, what did they have going for them? The trouble, of course, is that Bachmann, Trump, and vouchercare also piss off many, or even most, non-liberals.
Never lose sight of the fact that conservatives are mostly motivated by the desire to piss off liberals. It explains almost everything they do. Maybe, just maybe, in some strange way, it gives us the power to control and undo them.
Cleek’s definition of modern conservatism was the smartest political observation I’ve seen in a while:
today’s conservatism is the opposite of what liberals want today: updated daily.
Maybe I’ve gone totally insane and my methods are unsound, but I now think that Romney can’t win the Republican nomination because he just doesn’t piss liberals off enough.
Loneoak
And he can’t deep throat a corn dog, either. We don’t yet have photographic evidence, but I bet Perry can take it like a man and his hair wouldn’t even get ruffled.
Spaghetti Lee
@Loneoak:
Well, he’s from Massachusetts, so I think a more fair test would be watching him lick some nice, creamy clam chowder off his lips.
gnomedad
A Keyes/Taitz ticket would really, really piss me off!
James E. Powell
I don’t see any method at all, sir.
Trying to figure out the Republican pre-primary campaigns is like trying to catch a piece of paper being blown in the wind. Even the candidates, especially the candidates, have no idea what to say from one day to the next.
Sure, they know the standard script of hate & rage. But as for anything that any of them intend to do? Nada.
Like them, we sit here wondering which one of their reality shows is going to be hit with viewers. And love from the Village? What good did that do Mitch Daniels or Tim Pawlenty? Nada.
Loneoak
@gnomedad:
Some demons best remain unnamed, lest the speaking of their names invite them in.
trollhattan
If by “swaggering” they mean “thunderously stupid and dishonest” then yeah, they’re on point.
Jenny
Obama sure looks “beleaguered”
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07MP8fz7Rw6RN/610x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0a7Jg959hN6dk/610x.jpg
Spaghetti Lee
@Jenny:
OMIGAWD! SECRET KENYAN CHOKEHOLD ATTACK!
Little Boots
oh, perry can def take it like a man. no doubt.
Brian S
Well, that’s what Limbaugh has been preaching for twenty years now–piss off liberals. Doesn’t really matter if we get pissed or not–they think they’re pissing us off and that’s all that matters.
Rick Taylor
As far as I can see, none of the candidates running can win the nomination to be the Republican presidential candidate. And yet, one of them has to.
Little Boots
I was promised night shift. i was. check the other thread.
gods dammit.
Little Boots
oooh, night shift.
Arclite
A bit off topic, but maybe we’re getting crazy candidates because this is what we’re dealing with on the right?
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/fundamentalist-christians-spanked-daughter-to-death-in-the-name-of-god/
Because Jesus was all about spanking kids to death.
I have two kids who are intelligent, happy, and well behaved, and I have never had to lay a hand on either of them. It has always been my experience in dealing with other parents that hitting kids is all about making the parent feel good, and does nothing for the child.
eemom
lemme just get this on record now, so y’all can maybe remember me kindly some day, if you are so inclined.
Unlike ultra drama queen Cole, I REALLY can’t survive this shit for another 15 months. I’m older and sadder than him, and I don’t have the prospect of multiple page hits to cheer me.
This country is seriously, horribly fucked, and there is nothing even remotely amusing about the fact that craven/crazy/cretinous/fraudulent/hypocritical to the core vermin of all stripes are seriously able to exploit that situation to the extent that one of them could seriously end up in the White House. Nothing.
Ash Can
Cleek’s observation notwithstanding, I still can’t dismiss the possibility that Romney will default into the nomination a la John McCain once the actual primary votes are counted and the other wackjobs in the race have splintered the brain-damaged vote. I know that Perry’s shaping up to be a formidable contender fundraising-wise and campaign-organization-wise, but he’s also shaping up to be a gaffe machine. It remains to be seen whether Perry can avoid self-destructing. (E.g., he’s already on Karl Rove’s shit list.)
Jenny
It’s sad and pathetic how the nerds in the Village are still stuck in high school mode, wishing they could have “swagger” and the pretty blonde shiksa.
In a way that’s why they hated Gore – he was a nerd and that triggered their self-hate.
Valdivia
Jeff Zeleny is an ass. Beleaguered? Really? Wow.
KG
There’s truth to this, a great deal of it. I remember a few months back talking to my family about politics. I don’t feel like I’ve moved very far to the left over the years, but the Republican party has just pissed me off beyond believe. But anyway, we are talking and my sister says something like, “who are we voting for? Sarah Palin? That’s who pisses off KG, right? So that’s who we like.”
I couldn’t even begin to figure out how to explain that it’s really hard to win elections if you piss off people who are otherwise inclined to vote your way
Jenny
@eemom: Shorter eemom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA
Little Boots
ya know, I don’t wanna make too much outta two state senate elections, but there is an awareness obviously. there is. it’s a start, and we can build on it. just don’t expect perfect awareness after one night. they still have an enormous propaganda outlet at their disposal. but this is definitely not the night for despair. a couple of pretty conservative districts just tossed back a couple of republican assholes. that is a good sign.
Steeplejack
@gnomedad:
LOL.
Brian S
I think he’s only a gaffe machine to people who actually listen to his words, not to those who only see his swagger and his white skin.
Big Baby DougJ
@Ash Can:
Yes, realistically Romney has a chance, I know.
Ash Can
@Arclite: Mousing over the link and reading the title was closer than I ever want to get to that story. That’s just every kind of awful.
Cathie from Canada
So what Obama has to do is start talking about how Perry, bless his heart, has been so very supportive of the Obama administration’s goals and so on and so forth — hopefully he could come up with a few examples of Texas accepting federal funds for something or other. Because there’s nothing that pisses off right-wingers more than hearing liberals support them!
Little Boots
Perry has a gay past. Rove will use that. if he really wants to destroy him, there is ammo. not that I feel terribly good about that, but it is there, and it will be used. I think Romney will get the nomination.
Little Boots
God, it’s like everyone’s gonna live out Primary Colors.
Citizen_X
@Ash Can:
I think that’s Perry’s campaign strategy. It’s all macaca, all the time.
As to the “we’re against whatever liberals are for” ideal, I think Obama should be going around saying, “Oh, there should definitely not be another stimulus package right now. What we need are tax cuts, tax cuts across the board!” The House would pass a $2 trillion stimulus and repeal the Bush tax cuts in a week.
Paul
Oh, gawd. Not again. It just kills me that this stuff might still play in Peoria (do cliches cancel each other out? Please?)
Ash Can
@Brian S: Some fairly prominent people seem to be listening to his words, though. If the old Bush Machine doesn’t like him, that’s a real hurdle. I’m not saying I’m certain he can’t overcome it, but it’s there. He’s no shoo-in, at least at this point.
The Dangerman
@Little Boots:
If, by that, you mean that we’ve looked over the Republican field and lived out a technicolor yawn, I concur.
Little Boots
@The Dangerman:
I was thinking JR Ewing comes in, and then fizzles.
Judas Escargot
The GOP is a Cannibal Ouroboros. Determined to chew off its own ass until it’s dead.
Brian S
@Paul: Sorry, but every time I hear that phrase, I flash to the episode of Futurama where Bender becomes a tv star and I hear one of the Network Robot bosses say “but will it get them off their tractors?”
Little Boots
@Judas Escargot:
if only we all weren’t connected to it, somehow. just go already, wingnuts, but they’re part of us, dammit.
Jenny
If anyone is “beleaguered” check out the evening news, all three telecasts dumped on Parry for his Bernanke remarks.
Anya
If alleged rugged good looks and media swooning over an empty suit helped someone win, then why isn’t Fred Thompson our president?
Little Boots
@Anya:
this.
Scott P.
Laughter is the ultimate weapon.
Little Boots
@Scott P.:
trying.
JC
@Anya:
Dr. Loveless
@Loneoak:
You win the bet..
reflectionephemeral
I hope you’re right, on the theory that only Romney has the ability to appear sane enough to beat Obama.
I realize that’s a rather large gamble…
Jim C.
I dunno. Mitt pisses me off more than any of the other Republicans out there just by virtue of his sheer phoniness. I have a visceral hatred reaction whenever I see him.
I understand that part of politics is, to a certain degree, “evolving” your positions for expediency’s sake, but with every other politician that I’ve ever seen, I got the impression that, when push came to shove, there was at least SOME principles that they would not ever budge on.
I don’t get that impression when watching Mitt, and I never have. He’s beyond phony, he’s completely soulless. Yes, the views of folks like Bachmann or Perry or Ryan or (insert pretty much any Republican alive here) are horrific and sociopathic and evil to a startling extent, but Romney somehow strikes me as worse in the sense that he actually KNOWS BETTER and would happily do the wrong thing anyway if it got him power, with no limitations whatsoever.
Politics is the art of compromise, but at the end of the day, the compromises are supposed to lead somewhere. They are the means to an end and that end is gradually moving the country in your preferred direction. But with Romney, I seriously wonder if he even has a preferred direction beyond whichever one benefits him today.
The use of political power is supposed to be to further a specific aim. With Romney, it doesn’t really seem he has any specific aims beyond simply the acquisition of power itself. Some people think he’s simply a moderate masquerading as a lunatic, but I think that’s a dangerous assumption. Could it not be equally possible that this is the REAL Romney and the former Massachusetts one was the true masquerade?
I don’t think anyone really truly can say with any real certainty one way or the other.
When someone says that Romney doesn’t piss off liberals enough, that scares me because, even if someone like Bachmann gets into power…there’s no Trojan Horse there. Half the country will be fighting her tooth and nail every step of the way even if she gets into office. She’s Clarence Thomas. Romney is the equivalent of John Roberts, far more damaging in the long run because he doesn’t come across as the complete ideologue that he truly is.
Tom Q
The reason I’ve been skeptical of Romney’s inevitability all this year is just the reason Doug has pinpointed: the GOP id has broken loose, and Romney just doesn’t satisfy it. When Bachman was the only real way loony voters had of indulging this id, it was easy to wonder if Romney could hold on after all. But I think Perry isn’t as obviously-nutball on the surface, and could get some party leaders to reluctantly come around, giving him enough support to nail down the nomination.
Tonight on the news you could just about feel the media dismissal of Barack…they think they’re paving the way for another Republican milennium. I think they’re sadly mistaken. I’m on the record here as saying I think Obama is a very strong, almost prohibitive favorite for re-election, much the way Reagan was in ’83 despite the metrics not looking so good at the time. And Perry would go down hard to such an incumbent.
Anya
@Little Boots: Is Joe Klein part of the “Village for Perry”? I somehow think he will not join the fan club. He has his good moments.
tBone
Is it even worth getting pissed off at Perry? He’s just the latest in a long line of shameless Republican grifters with a skill for stirring up hate and resentment, along with a nausea-inducing phony machismo that stimulates the starburst receptors in the atrophied brains of Beltway pundits. You can’t throw a rock at a corndog eating contest at a state fair in primary season without hitting someone just like him.
Me, I’m saving up all of my contempt for the soulless fluffers in the national media who actually give clowns like him a realistic shot at being President.
Little Boots
I really think Mitt will win … and lose. for all his many fuckups, Obama is a president in the way that none of the fuckers on the right can ever hope to be. Mitt’s a ridiculously phony bitch, but he’s the most plausible, and still he’ll fail. they all suck, because they’re whole party has gone nuts.
JC
@Anya:
Try that again – Thompson isn’t our President because he was lazy. And too old. And simply not that competent. His schtick wore off quickly.
Perry has proven himself competent with:
a. The base. And don’t think that his ‘outrageous’ statements now, aren’t cannily thought out. As I said prior – this statement about the Fed attracted HUGE attention, and clearly, stuck a chord with the base, the same way that Trump’s statements did. As a result, he’s leading the pack in polls – in four days! It’s a shrewd move, not a mistake. And don’t fool yourself that it is a mistake.
b. Campaigning – governor for 10 years, elected three times, never lost a race.
c. Power – the Texas Monthly article goes into detail about how he has maneuvered around the legislature.
Perry is not Palin. Perry is not Trump. Perry is not a flavor of the week candidate.
This is the real deal, make no mistake about it. He won’t make the obvious mistakes.
Little Boots
@Anya:
I don’t think so. just a coincidence. i think perry’s doomed once the gay rumors get seriously up and running, and they will.
Wag
I have to register a complaint. Doug has been evesdropping on my shuffle list while I’ve been on my roadtrip, and using all the songs for post titles. Elvis, Roseanne and now the sex pistols. I think he’s iPod stalking me.
Cat Lady
@Jenny:
You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, some smart person said. Threatening a lynching makes a hell of a first impression.
Little Boots
@Cat Lady:
in a republican primary, I don’t think anyone cares, but ultimately, that would screw him up in a general, not that he’ll get there, I think.
Jenny
@JC:
He’s already said Social Security is unconstitutional and a ponzi scheme.
asiangrrlMN
Damn it, I’m rusty and forgot the three link rule. FYWP
@Citizen_X: I wrote a post similar to your comment back in February. President Obama could get the Republicans to do what he wants by saying he wants the opposite. A very sad statement about the state we’re in, but there you have it.
@Steepman: You still around, Steepman? How you be?
@Little Boots: Night shift checking in early!
aisce
@ jenny
geez, jenny, just climax already.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/imagecache/gallery_img_full/image/image_file/_mg_1651.jpg
omg, he’s waving back to people! he’s just so warm and personable! fap fap fap fap fap fap fap.
JGabriel
@Rick Taylor:
HAhaha! I’ve been saying this in almost exactly the same words (I use “must” instead of “has to”) for the past year.
It’s completely perplexing. Usually, there’s at least one candidate, sometimes two or three, that stand out as potential winners. But for this contest, the only distinction is that some (e.g., Gingrich & Cain) appear more likely to drop out quicker than others. But literally none of them looks likely to win.
And yet … One of them must.
Or.
Is it possible for the GOP to so thoroughly implode upon itself that they never field a nominee at all?
.
Little Boots
@asiangrrlMN:
bout time, people.
asiangrrlMN
@Little Boots: Hey! I’m early!
Little Boots
you are, but where is everyone else?
although it ain’t like eschaton. jeez, what a desert.
Little Boots
gotta say, proud of wisconsin tonight. bout time, but still, they did right this night.
Jennifer
Eschaton has been a desert for like, 5 fricken’ years.
asiangrrlMN
@Little Boots: They’re all going to be fashionably late.
Anya
@JC: his book will doom him and as the President said, running for an Agricultural commissioner, lieutenant governor of texas or even a governor is not the same as running for a President. Also, too, the crazy shit that he says might impress the 27%, the rest of the country not so much.
eric
This is the moment for one Montgomery Burns to jump in and snatch the GOP nomination. He is filthy rich, mean, and anti-regulation. I would look for Reverend Lovejoy as VP to shore up the Religious Right. Vote Burns-Lovejoy because the Gilded Age was too good to pass up.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I’m here. Eating salmon with gremolata, rice, asparagus, and drinking coconut juice. I r quite happy rite now.
JGabriel
@eric:
David Koch for President!
.
Little Boots
it lives. IT LIVES!
and hey, that was mean, Jennifer. funny, but mean.
Suffern ACE
@Jenny: His tort reform as healthcare reform has only harmed people who are injured. Insurance costs are not lower, the state has the highest rate of uninsured in the country, and costs are not lower.
Anya
@Yutsano: a bit late for such a heavy meal, no?
Jennifer
@Little Boots: and sadly, true. Is everything over there still about someone getting busy behind the Tastee Freeze? I haven’t been able to be arsed to check for myself for a very long time now.
JC
@Anya: I hope you are right, but he’ll back away from a lot of that, in the primary.
It’s up to the campaign – and us, I suppose – to expose exactly his beliefs, as laid out in his book.
Anya
@Yutsano: I’m not judging but I missed dinner and I am hungry right now, but if I eat anything heavier than an apple I won’t be able to sleep .
Little Boots
@Jennifer:
so bitter. so true.
Yutsano
@Anya: I was gonna say salmon is heavy? All it had on it was a relish of parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. I won’t be zonking out for awhile here yet so I’m good. Why for you miss dinner?
Sly
The essential truth underneath Rickmentum is that Perry has the kind of shit-kicking, douchbag personality that those who make their living kissing up to national politicians think is authentic Americana. When people in the political press think Real American, the image they conjur isn’t one of themselves or people they know. It’s Perry’s smug, solipsistic, I-Don’t-Need-No-Fancy-Book-Learnin’ grin.
This is the kind of oblivious narcissism that ensures Frank Luntz will be employed by the GOP in perpetuity. It was what brought “Who would you rather have a beer with?” into the public discourse. It was what made a guy who won a bronze star, a silver star, and three purple hearts stalking the Mekong for Charlie into an effete coward, and a drunk cheerleader from Andover who worked a champagne unit in the Air National Guard into the second incarnation of William T. Sherman.
It is sheer, unadulterated crazy. And when this country is finally laid low, you can bet that it will be the root cause.
Little Boots
he won’t last. I’m tellin ya. he won’t.
Anya
@JC: I liked what the President casted him as a stumbling amateurs, when he was asked about one of Perry’s stupid comments:
scav
Yutsano: On my second batch of gremolata today but I’m afraid in my universe it still needs some punching up. Haven’t decided between capers or anchovies. Thoughts?
Yutsano
@Anya: That was nothing short of a thing of beauty right there I must admit.
@scav: Anchovies is traditional, but if you’re looking for an interesting bite, go with the capers. Also too: what are you putting it on?
Little Boots
the hell is gremolata?
Anya
@Yutsano: I am visiting the parents for a week before the big day. BUt they’re neglecting me (I guess they have a life) and I was too lazy to cook. I am a lousy cook and rarely enjoy anything I make.
Jennifer
Anchovies, capers – might as well just dump in a bunch of salt, because that’s what you get with either of them.
Little Boots
anyway, back to the Rickster. flash. in. the. pan.
Anya
@Little Boots: I feel the same way.
scav
@Yutsano: At the moment, just basic vegies (roasted carrots, onions, potatoes, etc.) as I’m judging the basic flavor. Although I also thought about adding lemon juice along with the oil. That’s more the caperish direction. I just wanted a bigger flavor.
Yutsano
@Little Boots: LMGTFY
@Anya: You must not have my mom. First question she always asks me when I visit is, “Are you hungry?” then avails me of all the food in the house, especially if it’s something interesting my dad won’t eat. No one starves with my mom around. :)
Little Boots
@Yutsano:
thank you, sir.
OzoneR
@Citizen_X:
adopt right wing rhetoric! Burn him!
Yutsano
@scav: Let it sit for an hour. It improves with some melding time at room temperature.
Martin
@JGabriel:
You do realize that he ran for VP back in 1980 on the Libertarian ticket, right? Straight down the line policies – abolish everything in the federal govt., legalize everything. He became a Republican when the Libertarian party proposed abolishing all federal taxes. At that time that was too much for him. Now it’s damn near Republican orthodoxy. The GOP really has become Koch’s party.
Little Boots
@Martin:
great. rich and bitter. what a great combo. we’re doomed.
Anya
@Yutsano: I have a feeling I am cramping their style. I am becoming a bit attached to them as the day gets closer and I think this is somewhat disconcerting to them.
scav
@Yutsano: Take it out of the fridge? Because it was sitting a few hours in there. Will try though. Was also thinking about playing with different types of leafy greens although that’s moving toward Green Sauce territory (ok, I’m easily amused: Grüne Soße has an attraction based solely on the letters, diacrits and accents involved) No recipe is safe.
Yutsano
@scav: Remember: Europeans don’t refrigerate a lot of the things we do. Unless there’s a food safety reason, leaving dishes at room temperature keeps the flavors awake.
Little Boots
wonder why that is.
scav
@Yutsano: Oh yeah, that’s why there are shady porches in France although I must admit their butter handles room temp better than ours (I know it’s a different recipe, more yougurtish I think). My kitchen just suffers from more counterspace being in the fridge than elsewhere. Will manage it. Thanks.
asiangrrlMN
@Little Boots: I was gonna ask, too, so glad you did.
@Yutsano: Salmon on the coast…life is good for you. IF you fed the princess her fair share.
Little Boots
@asiangrrlMN:
I’m just rude enough, specially this time of night. :)
Little Boots
goodnight all.
asiangrrlMN
@Little Boots: Well, you asked a helluva lot nicer than I did. Night!
Yutsano
@scav: I can get (tragically refrigerated) French butter at the store here. I haven’t purchased any yet, but there’s a whole section of different European butters. I’m itching to try the Danish one too.
@asiangrrlMN: Naturally I did. Though she mostly snubbed it. Another type is hitting the store this week. I may be repeating this exercise soon.
AxelFoley
@Little Boots:
I believe that’s Lady GaGa’s real name.
Yutsano
@AxelFoley: Win.
asiangrrlMN
@AxelFoley: Damn it, AxelF! You bring the funny like no one’s business.
@Yutsano: Really? My cats snarf down all the human food they can get their paws on.
Helen
@eemom: Oh sweetie I am so with you. The question for me is: what do I do? I am struggling with that question. I have duel citizenship with Ireland so I can leave tomorrow. I am (or used to be) one of the few Americans who does well. At the upper middle class level. I am/was more than willing to give up a substantial portion of my income to the betterment of my fellow citizens. However, I have been out of work for 2 years now and I have no health ins as my COBRA (which I thankfully was able to afford) has run out. So…what do I do??? Leave for a country that recognizes that health care is a human right, taking my $55,000 paid annually in taxes with me or stay here and fight for progressive values?
As are you; I am old (although I think I am about Cole’s age) and eventually you get tired of this shit.
Comrade Kevin
Weekend photo:
Chapel, Mission Santa Barbara
The Spy Who Loved Me
Why, on a liberal blog, are so many comments insinuating that Perry is gay, with the gay references being used as some kind of insult? Since when did being gay become an insult you hurl at someone here at Balloon Juice? Even, on the off chance (doubtful) that Perry is an in-the-closet gay man, is it appropriate to use gay innuendo as an insult? If I was gay, I’d be insulted by that.
asiangrrlMN
@Comrade Kevin: Wow. That’s lovely.
@Helen: Your post speaks to me. I am tired. I’m Cole’s age as well, and I am just tired. I can go elsewhere; I have options. Fight or flight? I really can’t say right now.
@Yutsano: Seriously? I have other friends with cats who feel the same way about people food as Ms. Lexie (the cats, not the people). Maybe my boys are the weird ones.
And, three more days until wild hawt primate sex!
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: The occasional bite of chicken and sometimes fish. Otherwise Her Eminence does no people food. Well except beef jerky. And sometimes tomatoes.
@Comrade Kevin: Stunning.
@The Spy Who Loved Me: It’s not the fact that he may or may not be gay. It’s the stunning hypocrisy about him stalking out virulently anti-gay positions while also possibly partaking in homosexual activity. It’s also the fucking 21st Century. The culture war is over.
sb
@Comrade Kevin: Nice shot.
I haven’t been up there in years. A really beautiful photograph, Kevin.
demz taters
@The Spy Who Loved Me: It exposes what a smarmy hypocrite he is and anything that reveals that to the electorate at large I support.
BillinGlendaleCA (aka 10amla)
@Comrade Kevin: Good Pic, we’ve weekended up there and seen the mission.
Helen
@asiangrrlMN: Funny you should say “fight or flight” That’s been my meme for years and mostly I have chosen Flight. I honestly don’t want to do that now, but Flight would be so much easier.
Amir Khalid
Samkitten sure looks cute with the cupcake whiskers.
Comrade Kevin
Thanks! I visited some friends in Carpinteria over the weekend, and saw that mission for the first time. I’d like to see all of them, eventually, but have seen less than half of them so far.
Comrade Kevin
Here’s an older picture of San Juan Bautista‘s chapel
ETA: That’s probably the one I’ve seen the most, other than Santa Clara, but then I went to school there
Yutsano
@Comrade Kevin: Fantastic. You could almost do a photo essay if you were so enterprising.
asiangrrlMN
@Comrade Kevin: That’s amazing. I concur with Yutsy.
@Helen: Yeah. I hear ya. Just not sure where I’m at with the country right now.
Robert Waldmann
I don’t see any method at all sir.
BillinGlendaleCA (aka 10amla)
@Comrade Kevin: I’ve been to most of the southern missions, though oddly enough not the two closest to me, San Fernando & San Gabriel.
Joseph Nobles
Oh, snap.
Djur
Regarding the idea that the Republicans are doomed because they don’t have a credible candidate the August before the primary: remember the Democratic primary for 1992.
No high-profile candidate was on hand. Mario Cuomo was seen as the best hope of the party, but he didn’t run. Clinton wasn’t credible at all and lagged behind Tom fucking Harkin and Paul fucking Tsongas. The nomination was up in the air until April ’92, and Clinton’s chances weren’t looking good until July ’92.
Not saying anyone in the Republican camp is a politician of Clinton’s caliber. And the ’92 Democratic contenders were thinned out by Bush’s huge but temporary popularity. But still.
Helen
@asiangrrlMN: It may be a bit easier for me than for you. My mother left Northern Ireland by herself at the age of 19. Northern Ireland, where her people illegally took up arms against a repressive government. And she moved here so that her children whould not have to do the same. Her sacrifice resinates in my brain every day (especially since she died when she was 37 and I was 12)
Enough. How much should I fight? Perhaps I should follow Mommy’s lead. Just Leave.
demz taters
Michele Bachmann Crazy Eyes now a meme. Poor kitty.
Yutsano
@Djur: Clinton also won a three-way race. So far no one is showing up to draw voter enthusiasm from the other two parties. In fact dissatisfaction with both parties at the time led to the rise of Ross Perot. So you’re correct that we should temper our enthusiasm. But it’s not quite a direct historical parallel.
Rhoda
Rick Perry has a lot of knives out for him BECAUSE he can beat Mittens and that isn’t something the establishment wants; they want to run a Ken doll that bangs the drum of economic failure through 2012 and walks into the oval office in a referendum election on Obama. They can’t do that if this becomes a choice election. So, they don’t want a tea party Republican.
The problem is that the tea party controls the Republicans.
Meanwhile, they have Romney’s Mormonism to contend with which more folks are starting to recognize is a major issue. That places pressure on a Christie or Paul(an insane idea that shows how desperate Republicans are) to get in the race.
My guess; the money people will try to get Perry in line and he’ll end up being the nominee.
John Puma
Actually some liberals are pissed off by those who enslave others by professing the KKKapitalism KKKreed but who profit by KKKilling it and selling the pieces abroad.
(AND some of them liberals have been pissed about it for decades.)
JenJen
Pissing off liberals? Hell, Moe Lane of Redstate goes full feral:
Emphasis mime, but pretty much proves the OP right there.
bend
conversation between bend and bend’s sister earlier this weekend
bend: I get Obama has screwed some shit up. We’re all disappointed but I have no intention of going after him from the left. I want him to save us from the psychopaths. The fact is I am going to vote for him no matter what. Even if he were to commit rape in front of me I’d vote for him because he is our only hope of keeping the crazies out of the White House.
bend’s sister: Absolutely… Absolutely… But actually, I think maybe, if he raped someone in front of me I think I might vote for Romney.
bend: Oh yeah, me too! Romney, sure. But..
bend’s sister: yeah, but if Romney isn’t the nominee, yes: he can rape left right up down, I’m still phone banking for him.
Kane
Have any Republicans currently serving in elected office publicly condemned Perry’s threat towards Bernanke or his questioning of Obama’s patriotism?
Will any of them speak out against Perry, or will they own his comments through their silence?
cckids
@Little Boots: Well,right now, the #1 Google-complete for “is Rick Perry. . . ” is “gay”, then “running for President”. Lots of speculation out there.
moot23
I’m not sure where the meme that “anything that pisses off liberals” will be a winning conservative cause started. Personally, I blame Atrios (Duncan Black). Whether he started it or not, he advances this stupid, simplistic idea every chance he gets. And it’s bullshit. Just one of those stupid tropes that tells you nothing.
Bachmann-loving, rationality-hating conservatives aren’t motivated by a desire to piss you off. They don’t care about your emotions, and they’re certainly not judging Perry vs. Romney on a “who ticks liberals more” scale. They just want to win their fight, and the biggest part of that fight is turning objective reality into a popularity contest.
They don’t really need to be right. They just need most everyone they know to be on the same side and think they’re right. They want a world where no liberal dork could ever be smarter than them because no objective criteria for judging retardedness exists.
MikeBoyScout
Let me just offer this.
If Perry wins the nomination I expect I’ll hear more like I heard on Tuesday from my friends who pay little or no attention to politics but do show up at elections; “Gawd, why does he sound so much like Bush?”
With folks like Rush and Hannity pushing how wonderful the GWB years were, nothing will bring the reality of the GWB years like the clown Perry. However, for better or worse, I think Perry is in way over his head.
Todd Dugdale
“Never lose sight of the fact that conservatives are mostly motivated by the desire to piss off liberals.”
Yes, absolutely.
Digital Amish
None of the batch of grifters (and I believe they are all grifters) piss me off. It’s the yokels that buy their lines of bullshit that piss me off.
Samara Morgan
he cant win because hes a MORMON.
Everyone KNOWS this. but no one will say that because it makes them look like a bigot.
my definition is more accurate.
Conservatism: First culture intellectuals in defense of the status quo as risk management.
conservatives are only actually interested in pissing off liberals to score with their ressentiment motivated base.
kc
Of course, today’s liberalism is what conservatives wanted yesterday.
karen marie
@Spaghetti Lee: Hey, don’t pin Romney on us. He’s not from Massachusetts. He’s from Michigan.
Bill Arnold
@Samara Morgan:
That’s small c conservatism. Big C “Conservatives” are defenders of only a small subset the status quo, and are otherwise radicals. True big “C” believers are being directly elected in significant numbers.
Samara Morgan
@Bill Arnold:
but those are not Conservatives…those are white (NHC) conservative christian nativists.
Brachiator
@Big Baby DougJ:
Damn. I thought they wanted to win elections, dismantle the federal government and every progressive program since the New Deal, enshrine bigotry and racism as the preeminent American values and, where necessary, kiss up to an odious and intellectually backwards conservative theology while establishing an oligarchy in which the middle class withers away.
And now I learn that their prime motivation is to upset liberals. To what end? So that liberals can pout and blog about it?
Liberals used to care about making the country, and the world a better place. Apparently this has curdled into some form of navel gazing egotism in which liberals still imagine themselves to be the center of the universe, and seriously believe that conservatives are just some jealous kid out to hurt your fee fees.
Seems to me that conservatives don’t want to piss you off. They are too busy laughing at your self-delusion and impotence. And yeah, there’s a song about your feelings:
How does it feel,
To be out there on your own,
With no direction home,
Like a complete unknown…
SadOldVet
Some more Ricky Bobby Perry campaign signs…
You can trust Ricky Bobby Perry
to do what his corporate masters tell him to.
Ricky Bobby Perry for President
He may be among the stupidest most corrupt persons on the face of this planet…
But, he is white and a republican!
Judas Escargot
@Kane:
The thread’s apparently dead, but this is an important point: After a brief post-Giffords hiatus, they’re right back to the violent rhetoric. The Villagers, too busy fawning over their shiny new toy, Rick Perry, fail to notice or mention this. Therefore they enable it.
Also, too, if some damned crazy fool actually tries to hurt Bernanke, I’ll argue that Rick Perry, as a public figure, will bear some moral (if not legal) responsibility for that.
Poopyman
I, like Judas up there, realize this thread is dead. I just wanted to note that I can’t believe it’s been 13 months since Cleek’s observation. Jiminy Jeebus, where does the time go?
Now I’d better get upstairs to more recent threads ….
tworivers
Doug J.:
General Corman to Willard: