Bobo summarized: protesting is hard, let’s go make third parties. A sad effort, since Bobo doesn’t usually crib from D-listers like Matt Miller. Also too, Bobo says some crazy shit that may irritate even the most Vichy liberal tote-baggers.
A question to which I think I know the answer: A number of my colleagues in the commentariat write longingly about the need for a “centrist” who will propose doing what needs to be done — combine short-run stimulus with long-term measures that will reduce the deficit.
So, will any of them notice that, according to the CBO score (pdf), Harry Reid’s version of the American Jobs Act does exactly that?
If the establishment can’t find a clear path to making the Mittster king-for-life, they’ll double down on Bloomberg-Bayh. To do anything else would be too partisan!
Emma
No. Simple answers to simple questions about simple-minded people.
El Cid
The “centrists” referenced by the Krug-Man are not, in fact, interested in policies which combine short-term stimulus and long term deficit reduction. So if they read the CBO and found that Reid’s version of the AJA did that, it wouldn’t change their mind.
If a plan came out that carried out the more important goal of conservatizing the Democratic Party further and isolating any degree of “liberal” (i.e., favoring the majority if not, OMG, working people) policy interest remaining, well, then, they’d think about it.
jl
Bobo says that the effects of a financial transfer tax would be marginal. What a crock. I guess that line was in the talking point fax of the day. Calling it commie or job killer has not worked, so try to sweep it under the rug.
Bobo is right that the most radical people are the most boring. You have to be a little boring when dealing the a restless and defiant mass of lesser people, so they don’t notice as you try another stealthy reach around for their wallet parts.
Mark S.
Wow, that was horrible even for a Bobo column! I love how he dismisses the OWS proposals as “marginal”, but orgasms over Matt Miller’s bold proposals to slash corporate taxes and aggressively use market forces to bring down health care costs.
boss bitch
Harry Reid’s version? other than how to pay for it, how else did Harry Reid change the bill?
BGinCHI
How’s it feel to be a minority Bobo? You guys have money and nothing else.
Enjoy the dustbin of history motherfucker.
+3, maybe more.
Paul
I assume the states have to issue these ID cards free of charge. I wonder what the cost is to do so? I would surely contribute to a get out the vote campaign to help people afford and navigate the process.
Lysana
@Mark S.:
Because that’s working so well right now! Don’t change horses in mid-ratfuck!
Keith
@jrg: And tack on a “Burkean” for the prostate tickle.
Short Bus Bully
Harry Reid is not Himbo enough. If there’s no male pr0n involved in the Savior of the Land than the GOP just ain’t interested.
Policies are for wimps. It’s the sheer manliness of the man that makes budgets come into line with spending! They just wave their engorged member at the libruls and other pansies and AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!!
David Koch
I love it when the invisible hand gives me a reach around.
Also too, I love it when the “market forces” the taxpayer to give me a bailout.
Free markets, bitches! I got my market for free!
wag
@Paul:
Yeah, but if you work for the sate of Wisconsin and tell anyone they can get one for free, the state will fire you.
David Koch
I just can’t support Mitt.
I won’t fund someone who belongs to a cult.
gocart mozart
@Lysana:
I don’t mean to nit pick but . . . how do you fuck a rat while riding on a horse?
mclaren
From the 12 September issue of The New Yorker:
Thoughtcrime
Somebody needs to turn this into an eye-catching bumper sticker:
http://boomdude.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/greedy-one-percenters.jpg
Mark B.
@gocart mozart: Very carefully.
Sly
Why can’t we stop all this partisan bickering and just put conservatives in office?
Humanity will not be free until the last
kingrich huckster is strangled with the entrails of the lastpriestVery Serious Person.Spaghetti Lee
@jrg:
Weeeellll, that was an image I didn’t really need. Might as well make it worse for everyone else.
Scene: filming of Meet The Press. David Brooks is fellating himself.
Brooks: “Well, (slurp), the problem with our economy (lick-lick-lick) is too many people dependent on (lick-slurp) outdated liberal paradigms (SLUUUUUUURP), uh, excuse me for a moment.”
Sly
@Mark S.:
The not entirely subtle dig at adbusters being anti-semitic was also a nice touch.
I think that when Sartre opined that “Hell is other people,” he was envisioning an eternity spent in the audience of the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Thoughtcrime
@Sly:
Please! Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion! Let’s not bicker and argue about who fucked over who.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Spaghetti Lee: Ewww, that’s disgusting.
JCT
@Paul: Yes, I’ve been waiting for some grassroots organization to do this. It’s a two-fer, save folks from being disenfranchised and get them riled up to vote in one shot.
slag
@BGinCHI:
Lost count at 3? That’s disconcerting.
Bill E Pilgrim
Shorter David Brooks:
It’s absurd to blame our problems on the 1 percent at the top– it’s too small a group! Since there are so many more people in the 99 percent than in the 1 percent, all of our problems must be their fault. It’s just simple logic!
Also here’s a fun one, jobs head for the Obama administration being interviewed on 60 minutes:
Immelt: I want you to root for me. You know, everybody in Germany roots for Siemens. Everybody in Japan roots for Toshiba. Everybody in China roots for China South Rail. I want you to say, “Win, G.E.”
Stahl: Do you not see any reason that maybe the public doesn’t hold American corporations up here in the highest…
Immelt: I think this notion that it’s the population of the U.S. against the big companies is just wrong. It’s just wrong-minded and when I walk through a factory with you or anybody, you know, our employees basically like us.
Head meet desk. I’m sorry but that’s just denial.
That’s really depressing. I’d love to think that at least they get what’s going on, and have a clue about why. Apparently not.
Yes, everyone here in France gets behind French corporations for the most part, but they haven’t robbed the citizens completely blind, at least not completely, or not yet. The CEO doesn’t make hundreds and hundreds of times what the workers make. And unions are a long tradition, and strikes are seen as a right, no matter what company you work for, not a criminal act.
Sorry, you can scream Firebagger all you like, this is just ridiculous. At least answer the question and show that you know the problem exists, rather than spewing happy talk cooked up by messaging central. Out of touch and living in la la land.
Thoughtcrime
The “We Are The 1%” #OPS counter protest has started:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/10/08/opinion/sunday/20111008_McFadden_Cartoon.html?source=patrick.net
amk
@Thoughtcrime: That would make a perfect bumper sticker.
Spaghetti Lee
@Thoughtcrime:
That reminds me-did those Billionaires for Bush/Billionaires for Wealthcare people break up or something? You’d think they were made for an opportunity like this.
Paul
@JCT: Yes, exactly. My original post was unclear, though, I meant to say why isn’t anyone pointing out the actual cost to the state of combating a nonexistent problem and what can we do to help the disenfranchised exercise their rights?
MikeJ
@Paul: The cost isn’t important. If it cost more to stop black people from voting, they’ll just cut the school budget.
Joseph Nobles
The police have begun beating and arresting Occupy Boston.
hhex65
I find even an extra twang of sad delight in this post due to the fact that Maureen Tucker is a certified Teabilly now.
ruemara
@gocart mozart: Carefully and with some modicum of style.
hhex65
@hhex65:
boom–tish–boom–tish-tish
Dustin
Not to completely thread jack, but shit just got real in Boston a few minutes ago: http://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23OccupyBoston
Mass arrests, destruction of protester property, beatings…. this won’t end well.
Linda Featheringill
occupy boston
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2011/10/10/police-threaten-mass-arrest-at-occupyboston/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
Linda Featheringill
It looks like Occupy Seattle is about to be raided.
http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23Occupyseattle
Linda Featheringill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu63e7QD_5k&feature=youtu.be
you tube video beginnings of arrests in Boston.
Xenos
@Bill E Pilgrim: As to French corporations, one can go to even discount stores here in Luxembourg and find pots and pans, small electronics, household appliances and such that are made in France. Given the good quality of these products they are not more expensive than the junk Americans buy from China.
But by and large, I can’t find much in the way of Chinese junk in the stores here. You can get good quality goods, like the better quality LG refrigerators or phones, but not the junk. Obviously, the merchandisers are not dictating the trade policies in Europe. Many of the profits that now go to Wal-Mart in the states are going to French workers in the French stores.
Linda Featheringill
“Impending” police action in Dallas.
Spaghetti Lee
@Linda Featheringill:
Jesus Christ, what the fuck is happening? Why everything at once?
Linda Featheringill
Perhaps Occupy Atlanta has been raided. Twitter is not really clear.
Linda Featheringill
So, with police raids on occupy locations nationwide, it looks like a nationally coordinated attack.
Federally mandated? Or cooperation among states? Or just individual cities?
MikeJ
@Spaghetti Lee: In Boston they tried to expand into a second park, one that just had expensive landscaping done. So that would explain the timing there.
In Seattle, the mayor gave permission for protestors to stay in the park one more night, city parks commission said it didn’t matter, parks close at 10pm and called the cops. The cops are ignoring the mayor. Who, to be fair, is an idiot, but in this case he’s on the good side.
Joseph Nobles
@Linda Featheringill: Dallas police are supposed to be starting a search. They’ve got a permit to be in the park until Friday at 5 pm, but that’s contingent on proof of $1M insurance filed by 5 pm Tuesday afternoon. That’s the last I’ve been able to glean from the Twitter machine.
Linda Featheringill
Mike and Joseph:
If indeed all the cities have different reasons for raiding the sites, that makes me feel better.
Does the idea of a federal invasion scare me? Yes.
Linda Featheringill
I’m going to try to get to sleep again. Supposed to work tomorrow. Hope the news in the morning is not as bad as it looks right now.
Short Bus Bully
@Linda Featheringill:
Agreed. This is nasty shit.
Time to sleep and pray we make progress tomorrow.
boss bitch
@Linda Featheringill:
maybe there’s a time that these parks close. let’s wait til we hear more.
boss bitch
@Linda Featheringill:
maybe there’s a time that these parks close. let’s wait til we hear more.
piratedan
just thought I’d share this from over at current…..
http://current.com/community/93487700_marine-vet-at-occupywallstreet-tells-sean-hannity-to-f-k-off.htm
TenguPhule
FTFY.
We can have peace and prosperity when the 27% are worm food. And not one damn second earlier.
Omnes Omnibus
A blackened shroud, a hand-me-down gown
Of rags and silks, a costume
Fit for one who sits and cries
For all tomorrow’s parties
tomvox1
@Sly:
Yes, this is a ham-handed bit of bait and switch by Brooks trying to invoke antisemitism to undermine the legitimacy of the protests:
If that’s what Adbusters is previously best known for, I’ll eat my hat. What a predictable douche.
Bruce S
Didja notice that Brooks column was so bad, they closed the comments after only 31 – typefied overwhelmingly by judgements like “hogwash”, “straw man”, etc in the context of thoughtful critiques opposing Brooks and siding with OWS. I’ve never seen a NYT’s column’s comments shut after just 31. But it looked to be a bad day for David. I guess his editors decided to spare him the embarrassment.
He also played the “anti-semitism” card against the Wall Street protestors, which seems pretty creepy even for Brooks.
Bruce S
#54 – tomvox1: aside from that being an absurd line about Adbusters, Brooks wildly mischaracterized the article in question. It wasn’t about the spectrum of “influential Jews in America” but descriptive specifically of the neo-conservative movement elite, who had been the major players in driving the Bush administration’s “strategy” of invading Iraq using false links to 9/11. It was by the editors’ admission a bit provocative, but it was also frankly quite fair in making plain the degree to which they were a lobbying – and governing – faction heavily invested in Israel’s Likud Party.
JGabriel
DougJ:
No, he usually inspires them.
.
Ben Cisco
@Thoughtcrime: Found a site that will do it.
ChrisB
@Bruce S:
And yet Brooks’ column was warmly praised this morning by Richard Haas on, you guessed it, Morning Joe. Predictable.
Bruce S
I hate Richard Haas. And his sidekick at CFR, disgusting Dan Senor.
You have to pretty much be an insider douchebag to even get invited onto Morning Joe. Jeffrey Sachs is probably the sanest, most thoughtful guy who is a regular and he fucking helped emiserate the Russian people even worse than Brezhnev and company had managed. Morning Joe actually pisses me off worse than those morons at FOX News because it has some currency beyond the geriatrics, illiterates, the terminally bitter and the insane.
Dougerhead
@Bruce S:
I agree.
Thoughtcrime
@Ben Cisco:
Thanks. I have a couple suggested tweaks for the design:
1. Elephant sucking up $$$$$$ like a vacuum hose through its trunk. Alternatively, the elephant could be holding upside down a 99%’er with his trunk, squeezing his money out of his pockets.
2. Layout the words this way:
Greedy
One
Percent
with cap letters larger and in red with other letters a different color.
Paul in KY
@Thoughtcrime: Also, have the elephant with an evil grin on its face & if ‘Greedy One Percent’ doesn’t work, how about ‘Getting Ours Party’?