Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

It’s not even safe to go out and pick up 2 days worth of poop anymore.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Too inconsequential to be sued

Shocking, but not surprising

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

There’s some extremely good trouble headed their way.

I did not have this on my fuck 2020 bingo card.

They are all Michael Cohen now.

Deploy the moving finger of emphasisity!

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Hot air and ill-informed banter

I really should read my own blog.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if I ever tried to have some of you killed.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Militantly superior in their own minds…

We can agree to disagree, but i’m right.

Reality always wins in the end.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Making Friends All Over the Place

Making Friends All Over the Place

by | 119 Comments

This post is in: , ,

The GOP candidates have no savvy or sophistication whatsoever:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev tweaked Mitt Romney for his characterization of Russia as the “No. 1 geopolitical foe” of the United States, saying the comments did not reflect the current relationship between the two countries.

“It is very reminiscent of Hollywood and also of a certain phase in Russian-U.S. relations,” Medvedev said at the end of the nuclear security summit in South Korea Tuesday.

Romney made the comment to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday while criticizing President Barack Obama over his open mic moment a day earlier.

“In terms of a geopolitical foe, a nation that’s on the Security Council, and as of course a massive nuclear power, Russia is the geopolitical foe,” Romney said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.” “The idea that our president is planning on doing something with them that he’s not willing to tell the American people before the election is something I find very, very alarming.”

Medvedev urged Romney to take the current climate into account if he hopes to win the presidential election.

“My first advice is to listen to reason when they formulate their positions. Reason never harmed a presidential candidate,” Medvedev said. “My other advice is to check their watches from time to time: it is 2012, not the mid-1970s.”

For wingnuts, we’ve been stuck in Red Dawn since 1945.

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  3. 3.

    AA+ Bonds

    Russian politics starting to make American politics look sane.

    Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no

  4. 4.

    kindness

    See what Russia’s President did? That is what our media is supposed to do. Why does our media suck so much? (I mean, it’s a given that Romney sucks like a hooker in heat)

  5. 5.

    AA+ Bonds

    Oh yeah that Dmitry Medvedev he’s a real good pal o mine *~kills reporter for money~*

  6. 6.

    Nutella

    “Reason never harmed a presidential candidate,” Medvedev said.
    __
    Heh. He doesn’t understand about the 27%, does he?

  7. 7.

    Hill Dweller

    As the President rightfully pointed out when asked about the open mic moment, the media’s hysteria over his innocuous remarks actually proves the point he was making to Medvedev.

  8. 8.

    Bludger

    “My first advice is to listen to reason when they formulate their positions. Reason never harmed a presidential candidate”

    Clearly, he hasn’t watched a GOP primary before.

  12. 12.

    AA+ Bonds

    Is it like a rule that no American conservative or liberal has any idea what to think about Russia at any given moment unless they have just read a story by an American writer

  13. 13.

    gogol's wife

    Well, Medvedev sneering at our political process is kind of rich. At least we have one.

  14. 14.

    Satanicpanic

    My other advice is to check their watches from time to time: it is 2012, not the mid-1970s

    That’s actually pretty funny. Anyway, I don’t get the hostility, last I remember, wingnuts were all over Putin and his manboobies.

  15. 15.

    redshirt

    @pragmatism: It’s a well known fact that it was Rocky IV, and not the Gipper, that one the Cold War. Once the Russians saw what Rocky could do – even though HE CAN’T WIN – they knew they should just give up on the whole Communism thing.

    You can’t fight FREEDOM when it’s like a piece of steel.

  16. 16.

    The Dangerman

    Ah, yes, recall the bygone days of yore when American Politics ended at the water (offer applies only when the current Administration is a Republican one).

  17. 17.

    AA+ Bonds

    It is not fucking cool that our president colludes with Russia’s puppet ruler on any topic whatsoever science fiction or otherwise
    .
    It’s not surprising but it’s definitely not cool

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    From CNN:

    Team Romney characterized Medvedev’s comments as further evidence “the Kremlin would prefer to continue doing business with the current incumbent of the White House.”

    For one thing, as President Medvevev hints, the incumbent of the White House knows what year it is.

  20. 20.

    pragmatism

    @redshirt: i chalk it up to rocky’s traditional values training style. technology and science can nevar evar trump common sense and tried and true methods. if Rmoney trains hard enough and then crushes up a picture of medvedev right before the fight, we would prevail again. also, too, he should eat some raw eggs (if the golden plates don’t prohibit it).

  21. 21.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    My friends, this is the Russian head-rearing that Sarah Palin warned us about.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    Look on the bright side for Romney: At least he isn’t defending the car elevator in his planned mansion.

  25. 25.

    beltane

    Wait a minute, I thought Iran was our #1 geopolitical foe, followed by China, North Korea, the Caliphate, Mexico, and Uzbeki-beki-bekistan in the #1, #1, #1, #1, and #1 positions. Russia hasn’t made the hit list in quite a while, nice to see Mitt enjoying their comeback album.

  28. 28.

    Calouste

    @Amir Khalid:

    Yes, Team Romney is just reaffirming Medvedev’s point, that they are stuck in the Cold War, because they think doing business with the Kremlin is bad. Talking about being in the bubble or having blinkers on or whatever you want to call it.

  29. 29.

    Amir Khalid

    @dmsilev:
    I wondered about that. He’s building a hella big house. Doesn’t the underground garage have room for a ramp? Ramps don’t cost money to run and never malfunction.

  30. 30.

    schrodinger's cat

    I thought it was always 1939 in wingnuttia. Appeasement, Chamberlain, Churchill, Hitler. They keep repeating these words over and over again. With or without any context.

  31. 31.

    elmo

    We are about to find out, once and for all, if you can win a national election by appealing strictly to white males over 40.

    Shit, I’m 45, and even I’m too young to reflexively think “ZOMG Kremlin commies Soviet Politburo” when I hear “Russia.”

  34. 34.

    elmo

    @Amir Khalid:
    _

    Doesn’t the underground garage have room for a ramp?

    _
    As I understand it, it’s a double-stacked four-car garage, and the elevator is designed to allow tight storage. In La Jolla, I wouldn’t be at all surprised that there really isn’t room to expand much, especially given that they are tripling the size of the house itself.
    _
    So instead of having to defend the car elevator, now they get to defend having too many cars to store at their vacation home. Fun times!

    ETA: so much for underscores allowing FYWP to insert space between paragraphs. I can haz basic HTML skills plz?

  35. 35.

    Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity

    it is 2012, not the mid-1970s.

    In Wolverine America, land of VICTORY!, it’s always 1979.

    Carter is president, welfare bucks are eating T-bones and driving Cadillacs, and the Russkies are one vodka snort away from killing us all in the name of Commieism.

    I think Medvedev may have accidentally hit on the single greatest problem in American politics – we really are stuck in 1979.

  37. 37.

    cursorial

    Maybe Romney’s just trying to repair the diplomatic damage Bush did by leaving the Russians out of the Axis of Evil?

    (Waiting for “No. 1 Geopolitical Foe” t-shirts to appear on CafePress…)

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    @redshirt:

    Russian politics starting to make American politics look sane

    How many investigative journalists have been murdered in the US? Just checking.

  39. 39.

    Brachiator

    @Amir Khalid:

    Team Romney characterized Medvedev’s comments as further evidence “the Kremlin would prefer to continue doing business with the current incumbent of the White House.”

    Damn. Romney is horse whispering to the 27%. Obama is obviously a communist communicating with his masters and the Soviet Union, not Russia, still exists.
    __
    I always knew that Romney was a coward and a blowhard, but he also has a knack for smarmy viciousness.
    __
    Putin must be eating all this stuff up bigtime.
    __
    .

  41. 41.

    MikeJ

    @elmo:

    now they get to defend having too many cars to store at their vacation home.

    They could do like my family does and in a pinch somebody could park their car (gasp) outside. If they bought one of those shiny reflector things you put in the windshield they could even keep the car from getting too hot.

  42. 42.

    Martin

    Until this post, I never realized I could chat with come-hither Russian women on the intarwebs. There’s nothing you can’t learn at this place!

  43. 43.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    So I guess this means that Stalin wasn’t one of those WW2 era personalities who was posthumously baptised into the Mormon Church, huh?

  45. 45.

    Martin

    @gogol’s wife:

    Do the people here really think Russia is a benign force in the world?

    Do you think Russia becomes more benign by treating them diplomatically, or aggressively?

  47. 47.

    Martin

    @redshirt:

    Certainly not America’s Number One enemy.

    Duh. That’s obviously Obama.

    Number Two enemy? Hmm. I think that might be Santorum…

    Number Three enemy?

  48. 48.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Martin:

    That’s nothing. Over on the SCOTUS thread I was getting banner ads for some hot 5-on-4 or 6-on-3 action. Personally, I’m more of a 7-on-2 man myself, so I decided to pass.

  49. 49.

    gogol's wife

    @Martin:

    I have no problem with Obama’s dealing with them diplomatically. But they are a morally corrupt, murderous regime with nukes. Laughing about how harmless they are is rather stupid, I think. They have to be treated with serious caution (which I think Obama is doing).

  50. 50.

    MikeJ

    Romney’s statement was designed to do one thing: make 27%ers think of Reagan.
    __
    I’ve just signed legislation that outlaws Russia forever[1]. We start firing them in five minutes.
    __

    [1]”outlaws Russia forever” always annoyed me more than the bombing joke. The joke was in poor taste. the concept of outlawing a country just makes America sound stupid.

  52. 52.

    Satanicpanic

    @MikeJ: Parking in that part of La Jolla is a chore, as is every place within 2 blocks of the beach in San Diego. I could almost sympathize with their desire to build the elevator… wait, no I can’t.

  53. 53.

    Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity

    But they are a morally corrupt, murderous regime with nukes.

    @gogol’s wife: Serious question: how is that any different than America?

    I’ve got Russian family, this is not a hypothetical question.

  54. 54.

    elmo

    @MikeJ:

    They could do like my family does and in a pinch somebody could park their car (gasp) outside

    Not in La Jolla. I swear parts of coastal California are second only to Manhattan in parking scarcity. I’ve circled for 45 minutes looking for a place in La Jolla that wasn’t miles from the cove.

  56. 56.

    MikeJ

    @elmo: Is there no driveway between the street and the garage? They could still park on their property, unless their beachhouse is built like a brownstone (and even rowhouses often have a driveway).

  57. 57.

    Gin & Tonic

    @redshirt: Ask Anna Politkovskaya about how sane Russian politics are.

    Otherwise what gogol’s wife says in #49.

    They are not our #1 geopolitical enemy, sure. But nor are they our #1 friend.

  58. 58.

    Gin & Tonic

    I want lines between paragraphs, like we used to have, without having to do tricks.

  59. 59.

    elmo

    @gogol’s wife:

    Oh jeesh. “Not the same as the US” != “number one geopolitical foe.”

    I mean, c’mon. Is every corrupt and murderous Third World kleptocracy our Number One Enemy now? “Number One” kinda has a meaning all its own, n’est-ce pas?

  60. 60.

    Martin

    @gogol’s wife:

    But they are a morally corrupt, murderous regime with nukes.

    What first world government isn’t – ours included? You give old men power, you’re going to get a certain degree of morally corrupt and murderous.

    Laughing about how harmless they are is rather stupid, I think. They have to be treated with serious caution (which I think Obama is doing).

    They’re relatively harmless to us. They’re vastly more dependent on a secure US than we are on a secure Russia. Same holds for China. The downside to a global economy is that wages flatten globally. The upside is that governments get so economically interdependent that when one fails, everyone fails. It’s that realization which is allowing Obama to clean up all of those nukes. He’s helped get Kazakstan and Ukraine to agree to turn over all of their nuclear materials to Russia. That’s an unequivocal good. Further, Russia has agreed to reduce their own stockpiles, which is another unequivocal good.

  61. 61.

    gogol's wife

    @elmo:

    First of all, I don’t see the words “Number one” in the quotation from Romney above. Second, I’m responding not so much to Romney’s statement as to the giggling on this thread about what a “joke” Russia is. I think Obama is just as aware as Romney is of how far we can trust the Russians. He just doesn’t bluster about it, which is fine with me.

  62. 62.

    J.D. Rhoades

    The GOP candidates have no savvy or sophistication whatsoever

    It’s worse than that…they have utter contempt for the very idea of savvy or sophistication. They want a President who’ll threaten to physically kick Medvedev’s ass in the Rose Garden. Anything else is “appeasement.”

  63. 63.

    gocart mozart

    @elmo:
    (Said in Foxworthy voice): If you have to park your car on your front lawn because your garage only has room enough for four cars and your car elevator isn’t working right, you might be a ROMNEY!

    (joke stolen from Jon Stewart)

  64. 64.

    elmo

    @MikeJ:

    Is there no driveway between the street and the garage?

    Couldn’t say. I think it’s ridiculous, anyway, which is why I’m giggling at the prospect of R-Money having to defend either “car elevator” or “four cars at the vacation house.” You may be right, in which case “four cars in the garage + one or two in the driveway” at the vacation house. Giggle.

  65. 65.

    Catsy

    “My first advice is to listen to reason when they formulate their positions. Reason never harmed a presidential candidate,” Medvedev said. “My other advice is to check their watches from time to time: it is 2012, not the mid-1970s.”

    Oh SNAP.
    __
    That’s gonna leave a mark.

  67. 67.

    beltane

    @J.D. Rhoades: And Romney fails even at this. He doesn’t have the type of stuffed-codpiece swagger that appeals to insecure American white men.

  69. 69.

    Mike G

    The right-wing sociopaths who now comprise the entirety of the Repuke party conveniently like to forget how they excoriated Reagan for negotiating with Gorbachev in the later years of his presidency (his real contribution to the many factors that ended the Cold War).

    Major powers in the Repuke party found continuing the Cold War climate of fear politically useful and financially profitable, and were sad to see it end.

  71. 71.

    gogol's wife

    @Martin:

    You wrote, “What first world government isn’t – ours included? You give old men power, you’re going to get a certain degree of morally corrupt and murderous.” You don’t seem to get what I’m talking about. There is no comparison between Putin and any American leader. I’m going to sound like my own father, but try living in Russia for a few months. Then the differences between life and society there and here will become more salient. But I’m done on this thread. I give up. Yes, the Russians and the Chinese are our buddies. Fine.

  72. 72.

    Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity

    Do you actually think that our government is the same as Putin’s government?

    @gogol’s wife: No, I do not, but you could label it “distinction without a difference”. I think ours is far less honest. Their citizenry will put up with a lot more.

    As far as the question of press freedom goes, yeah, we don’t kill journalists. We don’t have to – we just buy up all the outlets and insure they’ll never have an audience for any dissent.

    Ask a Russian or two.

    Um, did you miss the part about me having Russian family? I talk to them all the time about this shit. Been there twice. Russia ain’t paradise. But America really has not much left to brag about in comparison, either. You can make more money here.

    Maybe we can chisel that on the national tombstone.

  73. 73.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    Until this post, I never realized I could chat with come-hither Russian women on the intarwebs.

    And some will come directly to your house and marry you. And if you already have a wife? An inconvenience, not a problem.
    __
    .

  77. 77.

    Frankensteinbeck

    For wingnuts, we’ve been stuck in Red Dawn since 1945

    This is important. Look at their policies getting more unhinged. The Angry Old People who dominate the hardcore base have freaked out and are trying to dial the world back to the 1950 they think they remember. This includes the Cold War. Hell, that no one outside the 27% thinks ‘Sokkilist’ is a dirty word scares them senseless. The future is a nightmare dystopia where gays can marry, a black man is president, and no one younger than them cares about defending us from Communism.

  78. 78.

    honus

    Watched Dr. Strangelove again last night (it was on TCM) The republicans all sound like Jack Ripper; the slightly more sane ones sound like Buck Turgidson.

  82. 82.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    @AA+ Bonds:

    It is not fucking cool that our president colludes with Russia’s puppet ruler on any topic whatsoever science fiction or otherwise

    __

    That qualifies as one of the stupidest goddamn things ever to be said outside of fucking Freeperville. Who the fuck is he supposed to fucking negotiate with, you fucking imbecile, the goddamn Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church?
    __
    [eta- of course, it may be that my snarkometer is due for a calibration.]

  84. 84.

    Gin & Tonic

    @LanceThruster: Right, sure. Everyone suspected the Brits of poisoning Litvinenko while he was in London, didn’t they? Wait, what?

    Or Shchekochikhin, dying of a mysterious illness in the highest-security hospital in Moscow, with his medical files “classified.”

    You want a parallel? Imagine Keith Olbermann being whacked in the elevator of his building in NYC in 2006, and all signs pointing to Cheney. That’s how benign Russian politics is.

  86. 86.

    Suffern ACE

    Our number one geopolitical contender has a grand total of one naval base outside its territory. They are clearly gearing up for a conflagration of epic scale.

  89. 89.

    opie jeanne

    @beltane: We live in an interesting area just outside Seattle. People stop and talk to us when we work in our garden and, in one conversation, one of the regulars told us he was really worried about Russia. His wife patted his shoulder and reminded him what year it was.

    These people are in their 60s. So are we. It is unfathomable how someone can be so out of touch with the Real World.

  92. 92.

    jenn

    Oh, for fuck’s sake. Romney made a boneheaded ZOMG! the Russkies! statement, for which we are rightfully making fun of him. That does not mean Russia is some paradisical land of milk and honey. It means Romney, like so many of his GOP compatriots, is unable to comprehend that the USSR no longer exists. For the record, Democratic Nihilists claim that their government is more honest than ours, and somehow equating treatment of journalists between the 2 countries, also strikes me as absurd.

  96. 96.

    Steve

    I am not sure people here believe any country is a force for good in the world, except possibly Canada. Certainly Russia ain’t it.

  97. 97.

    Heliopause

    I’m glad Romney wants to reignite the Cold War with the Russians. We’re a rich country and can easily afford it. And the Global War on Terror. And the Cold-to-Hot war with Iran. And the emerging Cold War with China. As an experienced businessman Romney is a multitasker and I hereby pledge to donate my Ryancare voucher to the cause.

  98. 98.

    Ruckus

    @Calouste:
    Talking about being in the bubble or having blinkers on or whatever you want to call it.

    I prefer the term, head up ass. I’m assuming that it is darker up there than with any other homily and therefore would be a better description.

  100. 100.

    LanceThruster

    @Gin & Tonic:

    As a person of Russian/Lithuanian heritage, I know we can be both the oppressor and the oppressed.

    That the powers that be in Russia and the former USSR have done some sinister sh!t in the shadows does not absolve the US for doing some sinister sh!t in the shadows and in plain view as well.

    9/11 is a cover-up in plain site (the “official narrative being the “conspiracy theory”) and the DC madam was “suicided” (IMHO – your mileage may vary).

  101. 101.

    David Koch

    @Gin & Tonic: How many investigative journalists have been murdered in the US? Just checking.

    Off the top of my head — there’s Garry Webb and Dorothy Kilgallen. ///

    I’m sure there have been others. This notion that the government hasn’t killed reporters reminds me of the scene in Godfather II when Kay tell Michael, “Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don’t have men killed”, to which he replies, “Oh. Who’s being naive, Kay?”. ////

  103. 103.

    HRA

    @jenn:

    “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Romney made a boneheaded ZOMG! the Russkies! statement, for which we are rightfully making fun of him. That does not mean Russia is some paradisical land of milk and honey. It means Romney, like so many of his GOP compatriots, is unable to comprehend that the USSR no longer exists. For the record, Democratic Nihilists claim that their government is more honest than ours, and somehow equating treatment of journalists between the 2 countries, also strikes me as absurd.”

    Thank you!

  106. 106.

    Linda Featheringill

    @LanceThruster:

    “As a person of Russian/Lithuanian heritage, I know we can be both the oppressor and the oppressed.
    __
    “That the powers that be in Russia and the former USSR have done some sinister sh!t in the shadows does not absolve the US for doing some sinister sh!t in the shadows and in plain view as well.”
    __

    Historically, the Russian people have had some horrible stuff done to them. No question.
    __
    You do have a point, though, about Russian govt vs US govt. Who is the dirtiest, the KGB or the CIA? I honestly don’t know.

  107. 107.

    gogol's wife

    @Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity:

    I didn’t answer your question because I was doing other things. I gave up on this thread an hour ago. I’m not Russian but I’ve been there more than a couple of times. There are people there whom I love who are suffering. Does that satisfy you?

  109. 109.

    artem1s

    It is very reminiscent of Hollywood

    if that wasn’t a dig at zombie ray-gun i’ve never heard one. loved the watch joke too.

  110. 110.

    David Koch

    @Gin & Tonic:

    How many investigative journalists have been murdered in the US? Just checking.

    I just remember this, Nixon’s “plumbers” with the assistance of CIA labs, actually conspired to kill Jack Anderson.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/15/nixon-white-house-plot-to-kill-journalist-jack-anderson.html

    Lord knows how many deaths by “natural causes” were in fact assassinations./// That said, I understand your greater point about Russia.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    @gogol’s wife:
    .

    Yes, the Russians and the Chinese are our buddies.

    Uh, nobody’s saying that. What people are saying is that it’s ridiculous for Republicans to act as though the current country of Russia is the same kind of existential threat to the United States that the old Soviet Union was.
    .
    Are you arguing that Medvedev has the same resources (both weapons and manpower) available to him that, say, Brezhnev did and therefore Russia is just as threatening to the US today as they were pre-1989?

  114. 114.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    In addition to the Canadians, I’d say the Scandinavians have been a force for good in the world. They take care of their people and mind their own damn business.

  116. 116.

    Scott P.

    They could do like my family does and in a pinch somebody could park their car (gasp) outside. If they bought one of those shiny reflector things you put in the windshield they could even keep the car from getting too hot.

    Wouldn’t the dog get wet when it rains?

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks