__
Hey, it’s not Christmas every day, so here’s some more sane, sober analysis for those of us in the Reality-Based Community to savor. First off, if you haven’t already read Joe Patrice’s summary at Recess Apointment, he’ll teach you about the sturdy foundation supporting last night’s beatdown:
Everyone is talking about Obama “showing up” and “fighting back,” but the more important difference between this debate and the prior debate is that Obama had a strategy. That strategy was: everything you do should be about the middle class, more than being “wrong” Romney should be cast as a liar. When you consider that as a strategy and rewatch the debate (or just soundbites) you see the strategy in action for almost every question. And it worked….
Here’s Paul Constant at Seattle’s Stranger:
Mitt Romney Brought Every Mitt Romney He Could to the Debate Tonight, and President Obama Destroyed Them All
… Tonight was the return of the Mitt Romney that we’ve seen since the very beginning of his presidential campaign. When he has months to prepare, as he did for the first presidential debate, Romney can momentarily tuck this awkward, stammering, stiff cardboard cutout of a man away for ninety minutes or so. But when he only has two weeks to prepare, he simply can’t get it done. Worse, Romney can’t remember what he’s supposed to be anymore. What we saw tonight was a Mitt Romney who was backfiring and shape-shifting between all the different Mitt Romneys we’ve seen during his long and ignominious public career. He appeared to take two very different stances on immigration simultaneously. On the liberal side, he reversed his stance on making contraception available to women. On the conservative side, he tried to blame gun violence on single mothers.President Obama, on the other hand, was having an amazing night. He allowed himself to become angry—presidentially angry, not sputtering faux-teabagger angry, as Romney did—when he was accused of playing politics with dead American ambassadors. Twice, he talked about being there when the coffins came home. He demanded that Romney finish his attack, even when Romney appeared to get cold feet about it (“Proceed, sir,” Obama said, and it was then when I think every viewer understood that these two men hate each other on a fundamental level). He attacked Romney for trying to drag America down to Romney’s level, and he berated the Republican with all the disdain you’d expect a Commander-in-Chief to muster when he’s truly disgusted.
Romney didn’t win a single question tonight… He lurked in the background of many of the shots as President Obama spoke, pink-faced and grimacing, choking the neck of his microphone as he scrambled around in the depths of his brain, trying to figure out what he should say next. That expression on his face was the look of a man who knew he was failing. He brought all of his best ideas to Hofstra University, and President Obama left every single one of those ideas broken on the debate hall floor, looking chintzy and cheap in the floodlights.
My emphasis. I will admit that I was reassured to see that President Obama really does understand that Willard Romney is not just a fine, upstanding, perhaps-slightly-misinformed patriot who truly wants (what he understand to be) the best for all his fellow Americans. Romney is a lying, craven, lifelong bully and probable sociopath who doesn’t consider Obama and at least 47% of the rest of us fully human. The truism is that that as tribalists we’re always going to assume the worst about our enemies, but we’ve had plenty of proof over the last many months that Romney really is a monster with a beautifully-cut suit and an even more finely-tailored resume, and I want my President to understand the difference between community organizing and full-scale political war.
Finally, Professor Krugman fact-checks “Small Time Mitt“:
So, I was amazed to hear Mitt Romney describing himself as having “come through small business”, as if his private equity firm were just like a mom-and-pop store or something. But Digby informs us that he made similar claims in his convention speech, making Bain sound like a scrappy little start-up. And it’s true it had only 10 people at first — that, and $37 million, yes, $37 million, in seed money.
Where did that $37 million come from? A large part from foreigners, in many cases investing via Panama-based shell companies. Also, funds from families of Central American oligarchs, who were sitting things out in Miami while death squads sponsored by their class, and in some cases by their relatives, were roaming their home countries…
***********
Apart from sweet, sweet schaudenfreude, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
lamh35
TPM reporting slightly less people watched the 2nd debate than the first, but still a lot of people watched the debate which is nothing but good news for Obama.
“65.6 Million Watched Second Debate, Slightly Less Than First”
http://t.co/AowXmyZI
The Other Chuck
What is best in life?
To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their binders full of women.
Keith
@The Other Chuck: This.
Chris
Bain Capital, from the same people who brought you Iran-contra.
I don’t know if there’s a technical term for it, but there is most definitely a right-wing version of the Internationale (the WACL used to be the main umbrella organization), and this is it right here. Small wonder that Romney would be plugged into that circuit.
Spaghetti Lee
Kicking back and relaxing over here. Maybe chicken for dinner.
Anibundel
Romney’s spokes person is on the Newshour saying that no minds were changed by last night.
Sounds like the Obama flaks two weeks ago. Oh the irony.
On the agenda tonight: blogging XFactor and chilling on my couch with my Purrbot.
Since Sully’s been talked off the ledge, does he move out of blogs we’re keeping an eye on and back into regular blogroll land?
Brachiator
Yeah, I like that.
@The Other Chuck:
Excellent. Ann Laurie’s title set it up and you hit it out of the ballbark.
Hill Dweller
Hopefully enough people see through Romney. He is a sociopath.
I can’t imagine that bumbling plutocrat running this country.
AkaDad
I’m going out on a date tonight, I just need to pick her out from my binder full of women.
Jon Rockoford
I HATE the way Romney walks. He takes these weak, baby steps, like he has a hemorrhoid flare up.
I also hated W’s fake cowboy walk.
Am I being shallow?
PDog
Romney isn’t a sociopath. He’s a psychopath.
PeakVT
I’m still geeking out over the discovery of a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B (the second-closest star).
dmsilev
So, now that Mitt Romney so thoroughly stepped on his own dick re: Libya, will he spend the next week desperately trying to come up with the perfect comeback to use during the foreign policy debate?
Should be amusing to watch.
SiubhanDuinne
First chance I’ve had all day to check Balloon Juice, so forgive me if this has been mentioned or discussed at any length on other threads:
It seems Maricopa County, Arizona distributed voter ID cards which had additional information about the election, such as important election dates. For instance, in English it said November 6th, but en español it said 8 de Noviembre.
Just an innocent mistake.
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/Maricopa-County-Elections-Department-admits-error-on-date-of-general-election-on-voter-ID-cards
Spaghetti Lee
The wind corridors created by these apartment buildings are just nuts. It sounds like the top of Mt. Washington out there. More annoyed than I should be, probably.
Spaghetti Lee
@SiubhanDuinne:
6 and 8 look so much alike!
GregB
@The Other Chuck:
FNLOL!
LanceThruster
@SiubhanDuinne:
Merely an embarrassing and unfortunate co-inky-dink.
Move along, nothing to see here.
Chris
@dmsilev:
Oh, it’s definitely coming back in the foreign policy debate. Maybe he’ll have learned some new tricks.
BFR
@The Other Chuck:
Totally should stand in the batters box and admire that one – definitely an upper-deck shot.
Another Halocene Human
Love the video. Like that the people who created it seized on Obama saying “jerked around” and “gangbangers”. Hearing our normally uptight President utter those words made me chortle with glee last night.
kd bart
The Real Mitt came out several times during the debate. The Mitt of the 47 Percent video. Plutocrat Mitt who looks down at most of us with disdain. Who thinks of us as just The Help. To serve him and his cohorts at their whim and be replaced without a care if we do not know our place.
Chris
Isn’t that what a small business is? A couple of guys, some big dreams, and $37 million (borrow from your parents if you need to).
Spaghetti Lee
@dmsilev:
“I know, we’ll call him a secret Muslim! I bet he’s never even heard someone call him that before!
“Uh, sure thing, boss…”
Another Halocene Human
@Chris: BCCI?
Seriously, though, the love affair through the ages between these right wing evil fucks is something to behold.
FlipYrWhig
@Jon Rockoford: He definitely walks funny. His voice is grating too. I felt the same way about Bush on both points, but Bush in retrospect seems more like a well-planned character (privileged brat pretending to be a Wild West gunslinger), while Romney is just all over the place: there’s no self that’s deep down at the bottom somewhere, and there’s no performance that’s way up on the surface. It’s very weird. “Uncanny Valley” is one thing, but he’s not so much a robot that looks too human as much as he is a human pretending to be a robot pretending to be a human or something.
Calouste
That description of the multiple Mitts by Paul Constant made me think of the end of Terminator 2, when the T1000 falls in a bath of molten metal and goes through all the shapes it has taken during the movie.
sharl
A work colleague brought this bit of global warming denialism to my attention yesterday. As expected – and as is, sadly, so often necessary to repeat (le sigh) – it was promptly demolished by those who are honest and actually know what they’re talking about.
But the bonus discovery for me is that the author of that tabloid trash was also one of the leading figure in British media ten years ago, clamoring for The Poodle to jump into the Great & Glorious Unnecessary Adventure in Iraq. Surprise, surprise! Oh, and, sorry ’bout all them corpses and whatnot, but y’know, eggs/omelets and all that. [And by the way, that omelet really sucked.]
These media slimebags are goddam zombies, including the lack of shame.
What kind of doctors perform shamectomies? I wanna make the big bucks, and not feel bad about the consequences!
lamh35
Is this for real? It allegedly happened in June 2012, but I still think it’s a big deal. WTF! please tell me this shit is against the law or EEO statutes or something?
Jay C
I’m glad someone other than me has picked up on Mitt’s stupid “I understand small business” shtick – really, does he think anyone is going to imagine Bain Capital was some sort of strip-mall storefront “startup”? Sandwiched between a Korean nail salon and a chain pizzeria?
but then, Paul Krugman is shrill and biased, so what does he know….??
Jerzy Russian
@PeakVT:
Yes, lots of planet news this week, with the new circumbinary system that is part of a quadruple system, and now Alpha Cen B. Good stuff all around.
Gex
I’m gay. Soon I will just start unfriending any straight people who say there’s no difference between the parties or candidates on Facebook. Seriously, why are they my friend and indifferent to the very major difference in the parties’/candidates’ attitudes towards gays? There’s no other way to take that than, “not my fucking problem, sucks for you.”
No thanks.
GregB
@Jon Rockoford:
Col. Lang said he walks like Tim Gunn.
It is indeed a strange affect.
Probably got it by trying not to slip on a yacht while wearing dock-siders.
The Other Chuck
Mitt Romney understands small business in the way that a hyena understands a gazelle.
cosima
Can we get an open thread that dicusses where to best allocate the last of our election dollars? I’m sure that you all — like me — are getting dozens of emails a day asking for that last $5.
But where to send that $5? DSCC? Direcctly to the candidates in tight races (Warren? Duckworth? Who else?)?
I gave $ after Joe’s big night. Gave more last night. Am happy to give a bit more, but want the most bang for my buck. Does Nate Silver have polls for down-ticket races?
Paula
Can we all (both Democrat and Republican) now agree that a SINGLE debate doesn’t matter and that getting wrecked over polls won’t do anyone any good? It won’t do us any favors to blow this “victory” out of proportion, because if there’s another dip in the polling we’re going to end up being freaked out by another whiplash inducing change in fortune. And there won’t be another debate to save us from the emotional breakdown.
Follow Obambi’s advice: don’t get too high, don’t get too low.
I’m going volunteer at my local Democratic Party office to be a poll watcher like I did 4 years ago, which I was going to do regardless of what happened yesterday.
kay
Elizabeth Warren is up by NINE today.
He should call her “professor” some more. People hate teachers.
The Other Chuck
@cosima:
The same people that funnelled money to Lieberman, Nelson, and Lincoln. Hell no. Go with ActBlue
Silver not only has polls for downticket, he literally has a shaded “bang for the buck” map for senate races.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Jay C:
What part of low info in low info voters wasn’t sufficiently clear? They don’t know Bain Capital from a Chick-fil-a.
Chris
@Another Halocene Human:
I think that was just a general bank for anyone with shady dealings – Abu Nidal used it too, not exactly a right-wing figure. But yeah, that basic principle.
fleeting expletive
OT, last night my friend with whom I watched the debate, completely accidentally made a little slip of the tongue, calling the moderator Candy Calorie. It was unintentional, and she was in no way trying to mock or fat-shame or whatever. It just cracked both of us up.
PreservedKillick
@kay:
Also, too, Scott Brown’s favorables are collapsing while hers are going up.
She deserves this. She has worked her butt off to make this happen. She has criscrossed the state again and again and again, she has built an impressive ground game, and it’s paying off.
Good for her.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh35:
Link appears to be okay but it just brings up a blank page. Tried it on both PC and iPad, and get nothing either way.
Linda Featheringill
@GregB:
I think Romney wears a back brace. I haven’t read anything about it but I’ve seen something under the shirt a few times.
There might be a reason for the funny walk. Although if this is true, why can’t he just be up front about it? He thinks no one will notice?
Yurpean
Still not exactly sure who Buzz Bissinger is, but he’s dumber than a stump:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/bissinger-vs-bouie-on-supporting-mitt-romney.html?mid=twitter_dailyintel
Downpuppy
I kept tuning in, running into some stupidity, then fleeing. One thing that pretty much got forgotten was the foolishness about oil leases on federal land. Total pointlessness – federal oil lands are mostly underwater, with good & obvious reasons why oil leasing has slowed. (BP, untouched leases, mature region). BS is the norm in the oil bidness, despite the realism of the people who do the actual work.
SatanicPanic
@The Other Chuck: No fair winning the thread so early
gbear
@Paula: Didn’t you mean to write ‘Democrat Party’?
kay
@PreservedKillick:
I took a bankruptcy course once and she was the only non-conservative in the material. She really stuck out.
Both sides! Marketplace of ideas! As long as it’s 10 to 1 pro-lender.
Baud
Anyone else left wondering how well Obama could have done if he really wanted to be reelected?
Enhanced Mooching Techniques
@Linda Featheringill:
It’s admitting human weakness, big no no in frat boy world.
Anne Laurie
@Linda Featheringill:
You sure that’s not the outline of his Mormon ‘temple garment’?
R-money does walk, as my shanty Irish granny would phrase it, ‘like he was trying to carry a silver dollar between his hind cheeks’, but I think that’s just his uneasiness in his own skin. Or skin-like polymer substrate outercoating.
Liberty60
Romney reminded me of that final scene in T2 where the shape shifting terminator fell in the molten metal, and shifted to every shape he had taken, until finally melting down.
Paula
@gbear:
Egads. Really? REALLY?
Joel
@lamh35: Falls in line with Nate SIlver’s observation that debate #2 has the same poll-shifting effect as debate #1. Apparently debate #3 has almost no effect.
? Martin
Regarding Bain, I recently informed my mom that we were going to HELOC the house. I told her it was stupid having equity tied up in the house when we could take it out at 4% and invest it in the market – while the value of the house was unlikely to go up much. My paycheck would be a bit tight covering the month-to-month, but it’s okay – if we lose the house, we aren’t really losing anything – all the equity would be out and the investments would be out of the trust we set up for the kids, so the foreclosure/bankruptcy couldn’t touch it, and since we’re still the trust managers, we can draw off that equity to buy a new house. There’s no risk – we win either way.
She was shocked that we’d consider such a thing. She thought what I was doing was wrong treating the house like an ATM like everyone that created the housing crisis and that it wasn’t right that we pass the risk on to other people.
When I thought she might just lose it on me over the phone, I assured her we were planning no such thing, but that was precisely what Bain did with companies. Bought them – borrowed against all of their assets – kept the cash for themselves, and crossed their fingers that they could lay off enough workers to keep paying the bills. And if the business went under, the lenders took the hit and Bain kept the money. Same exact thing. That’s the entirety of the business acumen Mitt brings to the nation.
She tried to argue that the rules were different, but she didn’t get very far. She conceded, and then argued that Obama was still going to ruin the country, because Jimmy Carter.
I thought I made a lot of progress, personally.
schrodinger's cat
@gbear: Obambi is the give away, is Paula MoDo?
gbear
Watched the replay of the debate twice today. Once just to listen to it and a second time to actually watch and pay attention to Mitt melting down and Obama getting pissed. It was more fun the second time.
New cat Edward got a clean bill of health at the Vet yesterday. While we were talking, he was lying on the exam room rug as if nothing special was going on. Vet said it was very rare for a cat to be so relaxed. Old cat Halley is still kind of bent out of shape. I want to shut her in a room so Edward can explore for an hour or two, but not looking forward to Halley’s reaction.
gbear
Double post. fywp
Spaghetti Lee
@gbear: @schrodinger’s cat:
If you two read the rest of the comment, it should become readily apparent that you didn’t get a joke.
? Martin
@dmsilev:
He’d be wise to drop it. Obama has the upper hand on the issue now and can just dismiss any questions on the topic and pivot to Mitt’s statements immediately after the event and how dangerous that kind of response is.
When Mitt brought up the 100% statement, I grimaced and my son asked why. I mentioned that it just serves to remind people of the 47% and gives Obama an opportunity to bring it up without looking like its an out-of-context dig. Sure enough, Obama took the opportunity.
Bringing up Benghazi in the next debate would be a similar mistake. Mitt got his ass handed to him – he should pretend Libya doesn’t even exist. Unfortunately, I don’t know what else Mitt has on foreign policy to offer. My guess a lot of free trade and China bashing. And possibly reminders to voters of the existential threat that the Soviet Union presents.
Robert Sneddon
@Chris: BCCI was kinda weird. A lot of small Indian, Asian and Arab businessmen in Britain used it, shopowners, restauranteurs etc. Partly it was because BCCI was based out of the Middle East and had staff who spoke their language, literally (this has changed in the current era) and partly because the regular high-street banks weren’t too friendly to them, unwilling to handle transfers of funds to and from Asia expeditiously or to offer them loans at decent rates to run their businesses. In the background was the money-laundering and other dubious practices and eventually when it became too obvious what BCCI were up to and the facade crumbled there were a lot of small businessmen left high and dry when the BCCI branches shut their doors. It took a lot of arm-twisting to get the Bank of England to bail the depositors out under the same terms they would have received if a regular high-street bank had gone under.
Evolving Deep Southerner
I posted this in a moribund open thread before, but it bears re-posting, cause this is The. Best. State Supreme Court. Campaign. Commercial. Ever.
You might watch certain campaign ads and say “You know, that would be good if it had more banjo.” No one – No One – can say this about this ad. This campaign cycle has been sorely bereft of “Smoky and the Bandit” music. Paul Newby is doing his part to stand in the breach.
Baud
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
That ad will certainly get Newby on the short list for the U.S. Supreme Court if Ginsberg retires.
? Martin
@Evolving Deep Southerner: Wait, better than the West Wing reunion one? I mean, this is a bad year to bring a State Supreme Court ad smackdown.
Darkrose
@Spaghetti Lee: Maybe you can get a wind job!
Joel
@cosima: Sam Wang has an Actblue up on his site (Princeton Election Commission) that has high return on investment donation suggestions. One of those is DCCC FWIW.
jwb
@? Martin: And after your mom slapped you upside the head, I imagine that she had a twinkle in her eye and she was secretly proud (even if you didn’t change her vote).
Paula
@Spaghetti Lee:
OTOH, it proves that their detectors are fried from all of the politicking.
Admittedly, I use the “Democrat” and “Obambi” nyms like Wonkette does, but I didn’t mean to do it in that particular post! I spell it “right” in the next sentence FFS!
Mnemosyne
@kay:
I guess the whole “Fauxcahontas” attack didn’t go as well as Brown wanted.
Patternmaker
Just sayin’, but his suit actually wasn’t very well cut. You could see his trouser seat baggy from behind. His tailor should take a “smile-shaped” tuck out from below the back waistband.
Chris
@Robert Sneddon:
Oh good, so they legit clients of BCCI DID get bailed out? I confess the only aspects of that bank I ever heard about were the shady dealings with intelligence agencies, criminal cartels, terrorists and the like. Good to hear about the legitimate side of it as well.
presquevu
One of Romney’s tells is preceding something with “of course”. I want to say that’s the case for Ryan as well. With Priebus it’s moving lips.
Obama saw Team Romney’s the fact of the matter and raised the Truth of the matter.
paradox
I hope John has a cat rescue for Bay Area California sometime. My cat Smoky died last night and this is indescribably awful.
14 years, Maine Coon. He was fine yesterday but last night his heart just left him. Sorry to be a downer’n all, but I did love that cat. Some new life in his memory someday would likely be good for me.
gbear
deleted
kay
@Mnemosyne:
She’s done great.
It works out well, too, because Richard Cordray is very ambitious and talented and he got swept out in 2010. He was the highest vote-getter in Ohio history prior to the 2010 wave, when he (incredibly) got beat as AG, so he’ll be back and he’ll be the governor at some point.
trollhattan
Programming note: Sam Wang and Nate Silver will be on Science Friday this Saturday.
Kidding about that last bit.
Spaghetti Lee
Practical Question: I got a letter from the County Clerk’s office that said I forgot to put my SSN on my application and they need it, or else I can’t vote. Is that safe to just do over the phone?
trollhattan
@paradox:
Very sorry! I can lend you a fill-in dog, but you’d have to give her back at some point or my daughter would never forgive me.
Am certain there will be a regional rescue blog, now that you’ve sent up the BJ
BCat Signal.Again, very sorry about your kitteh.
jwb
@trollhattan: Practicing your mad AZ voter suppression skills, I see.
? Martin
@jwb: Yeah… I’m not so sure. We’re doing better than she realizes, as she’s still a bit mystified how earning half of what they did we’re in a house worth twice theirs. They’ve made really good decisions, but we’ve made better ones (some good fortune helped, of course). There’s some bitterness there too. She always thought relying on a CA state pension was foolish. But mine is in fine shape. Her and her husbands are through HP (HP bought the company they both worked at) which she thought was much more secure – now not so sure because HP is worth what now?
She’s feeling very let down by the free market. But as we know, the free market can never fail, it can only be failed. So, it’s Obama and Democratic voters in CA’s fault that HP is in the shitter – nothing to do with the fact that they were run into the ground by a completely inept board and a series of useless CEOs that couldn’t bother to recognize that their business model was a dead-end. Nope. It’s all because we force chickens to be in large cages and eliminated smog. That’s it.
Spaghetti Lee
@Spaghetti Lee:
OK…I just noticed that the letter is dated October 8, but I just got it in the mail today. And the last date to register was the tenth. I’ve got a sinking feeling that I won’t be allowed to vote.
Baud
@Spaghetti Lee:
Don’t be so sure. Filing an incomplete application is not necessarily the same as failing to file at all. Give it a try.
MikeJ
@PeakVT: It’s time for a space race victory to this game of Civ.
thalarctos
@paradox: I’m so sorry to hear about your cat. I bet he was an awesome beast; Maine Coons are wonderful.
I hope that your good memories can provide solace for you, and that–when you’re ready–another feline companion appears.
James E. Powell
@PreservedKillick:
She has criscrossed the state again and again and again, she has built an impressive ground game, and it’s paying off.
But did she do it in a truck? ‘Cause I heard that’s pretty important in western Massachusetts.
Or something like that.Suffern Ace
What’s best in life? Why the shear diversity of the life on the planet. While we’re still following the press and their 24 hours of analyzing ever word count and blink, we’re missing some really important events. Like the fact that it is Hagfish Day today. Coverage of the festivities has been almost non-existent. I bet those who are observant are disappointed. So to them, I say Happy Hagfish Day. Many happy returns to you and yours.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/10/14-facts-about-hagfish
jwb
@? Martin: Before it’s done, she’ll be lucky if HP still has a pension fund, so there’s that as well. Older folks are odd this way. Have an uncle who went from an arch-conservative to a liberal just this side of a true red communist in the span of about 3 years after he retired. Given what’s available on the media and so forth, I’m not sure how he made that transition, although most of my older relatives have made similar movement from right to left as they entered retirement.
dance around in your bones
I usually dislike autotune but it was used to good effect here.
I had to watch the debate again today since I was distracted by three little grandkids + overwhelmed daddy last night.
Obama kicked Romney in the nuts several times.
Heh. Good on ya, mate!
Spaghetti Lee
@Baud:
Also, I show up on the county website as a registered voter, with a polling place listed and everything. I got a letter with my location after I registered. And I can be pretty scatterbrained, but leaving parts of official forms blank accidentally does not happen that often.
I hate sounding like a paranoid nut, but given that earlier ITT people were talking about the Maricopa County government giving the wrong date for Election Day on only the Spanish-language forms, is it possible that someone’s impersonating the county clerk? The 30-year-incumbent, Democratic in a Dem-controlled county County Clerk? Am I crazy?
trollhattan
@jwb:
Hah! Can’t you picture Sheriff Joe out holding a handlettered arrow sign, pointing south, that says, “El voto bootho, that wayo”?
[Stage whisper to lackey] “I think it’s working.”
Spaghetti Lee
@James E. Powell:
From what I understand, Western Massachusetts is hunky-dory: Amherst and Northampton and all that. It’s Central Massachusetts where you have to watch out for goopers. 2010 governor’s election: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2010_MA_Governor.jpg
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Baud:
Uh, no.
We finally had canvassers knock on our door for Romney tonight, but they weren’t from his campaign. The county Republican party is supplying the canvassers.
Robert Sneddon
@Chris: The Bank of England is the regulator for all the banks and financial institutions like building societies etc. operating in the UK and operates a deposit insurance scheme paid for by the deposit holders. The US Federal Reserve does the same thing with the FDIC; if a bank goes under then anyone with deposits gets their money back, up to a limit.
There was some question whether the BoE’s deposit insurance scheme should actually cover BCCI depositors since it was foreign-owned and registered offshore, but it was decided to do so. The very rapid shutdown of BCCI did put a lot of small businesses under some pressure as they had no access to funds held in the bank for several weeks while the mess was sorted out. Even then the payout was only something like £15000, not much for a shopkeeper or small businessman needing to pay suppliers and meet payroll.
PsiFighter37
Well friends, the good news is I made it home last night. The problem is that I have no recollection of coming home, and only a vague feeling that I may have yakked my insides out (my fiancee said that is exactly what happened). Apparently, she took a picture of me praying to the porcelain goddess and wanted to post it online captioned “Obama Victory”. Tonight is going to be a very sober, quiet night. I have the Obama supporter call at 8:15, and I think I’m just going to do some yoga after that and then go to sleep.
I didn’t even drink that much (relatively) – was about 6 beers, scattered over Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Stone IPA, and Dogfish Head Midas Touch – I just don’t think I ate enough.
Hung over all day. Need to lie down.
MikeJ
/b/ has taken it unto themselves to fix a Fox poll for who won the debate.
Fox Poll
/b/ thread
I don’t know which site is worse for your mental health.
Spaghetti Lee
@MikeJ:
Well, on one site you see horrible, mind-scarring things that can drive any sane person to madness and depravity. On the other, you see goatse and meatspin. No comparison, really.
gogol's wife
@paradox:
I’m sorry! We love them so much.
paradox
Thank you all. I’m in terrible shape, it helps.
Splitting Image
@Linda Featheringill:
It takes a government grant to properly develop a funny walk, and Romney risks losing his base if he admits to receiving stimulus money.
raven
@Spaghetti Lee: My outfit prefers to give out passwords and logins over the phone because it’s more secure than online.
dance around in your bones
@PsiFighter37: Dude, you need to slow down.
I cannot tell you how many times I had no recollection of driving home from clubs at night, and I am so thankful I didn’t kill anybody on my way home to my driveway.
I like your comments – just slow down.
Like I am one to talk.
Irving
…I got a call from a staffing agency I’ve had dealings with in the past. They were looking for Romney canvassers. Temps. Working as canvassers. In Ohio, no less.
Oh, doesn’t that say volumes?
dmsilev
@PsiFighter37: Christ. Please Stop. Or at the very least, ease up. Far too many comments from you about excessive booze intact.
dance around in your bones
@paradox:
I had a cat named Smokey, too. I am so sorry for your loss. It hurts like hell, no?
Baud
@Irving:
Hey, it’s least it’s not in China…
Moderate Mitt!
PsiFighter37
@dance around in your bones: Driving home? Sheesh…risky business! I’ve driven after doing a day of wine tasting, but it’s spaced out over an entire day, and they serve you such small servings (at least out in the North Fork) that it’s pretty impossible to get tanked unless you are actively trying to.
I would never try driving home if I was smoked and I knew it, though. I lost a cousin (it’s been more than a decade…damn, time flies) when he was a couple months from graduating high school and decided to get in a car with a drunk driver.
ETA: WTF! I just tried dialing in and was told system was at capacity. No mention of there being limited space on this conference call beforehand…
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@The Other Chuck:
Hah!
bemused
@lamh35:
I googled the sentence and Daily Kos had it. Mitt basically not saying specifically who to vote for, just encourage employees to vote in their own interest….
Violet
@paradox: So sorry to hear about your kitty. It’s never easy. It sounds like he passed without pain, and he had you for so long, so he was a lucky and loved kitty. When you are ready, there will be another lucky kitty to fill your heart. Hugs.
Irving
@Baud: What boggles me is that temp agencies are expensive – and employer basically pays 1.5 times your salary for a temp. There are forests of Romney signs out here. And yet they’re wasting money like this to try and get out the vote in Ohio. Boy, Republicans are great at wasting money.
Violet
@The Other Chuck: Win! Do you already have the internets, or do you need them delivered?
Mnemosyne
@PsiFighter37:
I’m pretty sure that having your loved ones take pictures of you so you can see exactly what kind of asshole you looked like while you were drunk is one of those warning signs they talk about at AA.
BGinCHI
@cosima: PLEASE donate to Tammy Duckworth!! Anyone post this super pac money dump supporting that fucking Joe Walsh asshole?
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/super-pac-bury-duckworth-now-or-never.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
Here is Duckworth’s site:
http://www.tammyduckworth.com/
I just gave and so should you. It felt so good.
Just Some Fuckhead
It continues to bother me that neither side will call the killings in Libya what they really are: the birth pangs of democracy.
PsiFighter37
@Mnemosyne: Asshole might be a bit harsh, but the general point is well-taken.
On a brighter note – I got through to the conference call. Sounds like Messina speaking? I can’t tell.
PsiFighter37
@BGinCHI: Having heard of Tammy first in 2006 – not to knock her political skills, but she’s never come off as a great public speaker. I sure hope she wins, but she isn’t the greatest retail politician.
TaMara (BHF)
@paradox: So very sorry! I’m sure we can find you a kitty when you’re ready.
Violet
@PsiFighter37: If you are drinking and driving, you are a danger to yourself and others. Please do not get yourself in a situation where you can do that. Give someone your keys.
You’ve posted a lot here about your drinking and you’re usually drunk to the point of being incoherent. Now you say you have no recollection of driving home. That’s a sign, dude. You have a problem. Get some help before you hurt yourself, your family, your friends or some innocent bystander who has no connection to you and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s not funny; it’s an illness. Please get help before you hurt someone or yourself.
Roger Moore
@Splitting Image:
Sorry, but it’s silly walks that require government grants to develop, not funny walks. And frankly, I don’t think Mitt holds a candle to John Cleese in that category.
BGinCHI
@PsiFighter37: Shit, dude, she killed it at the Dem Convention.
She’s a great lady.
And even if she was carved out of dried turd she’d still be a better person than Walsh.
dance around in your bones
@PsiFighter37: Well, I was young and stupid. Like a lot of kids, I guess. I remember once insisting on driving home from a club and instead of taking the freeway I found myself in the middle of downtown San Diego. Muy estupido.
Glad to hear you don’t try driving drunk. You sure talk about drinking a lot, though. I hope it’s just a phase.
cathyx
Has anyone but me heard the story of a woman in Maine who turned her Zumba class into a brothel? She had at least 21 male clients, who got named in the outing. Ouch.
PsiFighter37
@dance around in your bones: It’s more that I discovered the diversity of drinks. College was a time for drinking for drinking’s sake; this is more drinking to experience a whole bunch of different tastes.
@BGinCHI: I thought her speech was a bit dull, but then again – there were some great barnburners in there, so it’s hard to compare.
Sounds like they just got PBO on the phone…rehashing last night’s debate and giving a little pep talk.
Or something like that.Suffern Ace
@cathyx: Their wives were suspicious I assume… How someone could go to Zumba three nights a week and not lose weight. But they probably assumed that they were just sneaking fries at lunch, like a lot of failed dieters do.
CW in LA
Maybe Willard walks funny because he’s an old man, despite his being carefully made up to look in the prime of life? Even his appearance is a lie.
My plans for the evening include watching the Sounders and Fake Salt Lake on MLSLive to see if the Galaxy have chance of catching either of them.
PsiFighter37
It’s pretty cool to hear PBO in this context. While it’s not really much different from points he hits on the stump, it certainly does have a much more casual feel to it.
If only I had won one of those “Dinners with the President”…I feel like it’d be a fascinating conversation.
Just signed off, ending with “I’m proud of you. Let’s get this done.” Fired up, ready to go. 20 days to go..
Roger Moore
@cathyx:
It’s been in the news a bit. The list is supposed to be quite a bit longer than 21 names. There’s some other salacious details, too. She apparently secretly videotaped herself having sex with a lot of her clients, which makes me wonder if she was thinking about blackmail, either for profit or as a threat to defend herself against prosecution. And given that she’s in Kennebunk, it would be irresponsible not to speculate about some of the Bushes being on her list.
shortstop
I don’t think Duckworth’s much of a speaker…but she’ll be a solid representative. And Joe Walsh is an asshole in every way it’s possible to be an asshole.
Remember when another Republican jerk, Mike Flanigan (Flanagan?), got Dan Rostenkowski’s seat for the two years after Rosty got caught with his hand in the till? Blago beat him in the next election — well, anyone with a D after his or her name would have won in the 5th district — and Mikey roamed all around the town crying about how no one would hire him even though he had “congressman” on his resume. (Like public whining about how no one wants you is a good way to advertise your desirability. Has there ever been another ex-congresscritter who couldn’t get an offer? LOSER.) I expect Walsh to do the same thing, amped up considerably.
dance around in your bones
@PsiFighter37: Dude, switch to the herb. You’ll be glad you did.
At the very least , you’ll be stopped for going too slow on the freeway.
Anya
After viewing Josh Romney and Anne Romney’s picture at the debate, I had two thoughts: 1) Josh looks more like his mother than his dad; 2) Josh looks like someone who might have women in binders.
PsiFighter37
@shortstop: Of course he’ll be complaining, isn’t he a deadbeat who owes a shitload in child support?
Litlebritdifrnt
Quick post, as you know Mum is visiting right now, she had a heart attack on Monday. She is currently in The Heart Institute in Greenville, NC AND DOING WELL. Nothing to worry about, but wanted to let you guys know where I have been for the past couple of days.
Roger Moore
@shortstop:
I don’t know about that. The whole wingnut welfare circuit has been cooked up between then and now, so it’s entirely possible that Walsh will have a nice sinecure waiting for him if he gets voted out of office.
Mnemosyne
@cathyx:
That sounds like a WAY more interesting Zumba class than the one I used to take.
Baud
@Anya:
I focused on Josh and Ann earlier, but everyone in that picture (except Obama) looks a little weird.
PsiFighter37
@dance around in your bones: Aside from the legality issue, I absolutely detest the odor of pot. My freshman roommate in college smoked it nonstop. I was quite happy when he moved out after the first semester.
BGinCHI
@shortstop: I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.
And I hope he’s on fire soon and often.
BGinCHI
@Litlebritdifrnt: Glad to hear she’s on the mend and welcome back!
You see the debate?
Spaghetti Lee
@Roger Moore:
“Qualifications, Mr. Walsh?”
“My previous job was being an asshole congressman who yelled at his constituents, ducked out on alimony payments, towed the line for everyone batshit crazy Tea Party kamikaze scheme brought to the floor, and didn’t even have the decency to bring home any pork.”
“Welcome to Fox News!”
dance around in your bones
@PsiFighter37: Wow, sorry to hear that.
I think the herb causes far less damage than the ETOH. However, I know a few people who get totally paranoid on the stuff, so whatever floats yer boat.
dance around in your bones
@Litlebritdifrnt: Gads, a heart attack is scary.
I’m glad to hear your mum is doing alright now, Best wishes for you both.
MikeJ
@dance around in your bones:
Washington has a new marijuana law on the ballot, but the DUI law will mean you could be sent to jail even when you haven;t smoked in days or weeks. It’s a blood test for MJ, and it stays in your system even when you’re sober.
gex
@paradox: I’m so sorry for your loss. I’ve had a Maine Coon too, and they are the sweetest, most awesome cats.
Litlebritdifrnt
@BGinCHI:
As it happened when you are stuck in a motel right across the road from the Cardiac ICU there is not much you can do but watch TV so I saw the debate from start to finish. I thought POTUS was absolutely masterful and drank Romney’s milk shake, but what do I know, I am an Obot. First thing Mum said to me when I went to visit this morning was “and how did Mr. Obama do last night? Was he good I hope”. I love my Mum. Also, too, she has spent the entire time she wasn’t incoherent telling the staff at the hospital “you do know this would all be free if I was in hospital in England, I mean we have a sensible health insurance program, by the way are you voting for Obama?”
Ben Franklin
Obama showed his war face and the sky didn’t fall. Imagine that.
dance around in your bones
@MikeJ: I guess I’m talking about in a perfect world, not this fucked up shit we currently have.
Pardon me, I grew up in the 60’s when life was wild and free (hahaha).
Ben Franklin
Obama showed his war face and the sky didn’t fall. Imagine that.
dance around in your bones
@MikeJ: I guess I’m talking about in a perfect world, not this fucked up shit we currently have.
Pardon me, I grew up in the 60’s when life was wild and free (hahaha).
gex
@jwb: Makes sense to me. Roughly speaking, high taxes were great when they went to college really cheap, were terrible when they were in the work force, and (wouldn’t you know it?) government spending and the corresponding taxes are once again okay when you are in retirement.
SiubhanDuinne
@paradox: oh, I am so very sorry. That hurts.
Joel
@MikeJ: Unless the test is an ELISA, the results are quantitative. The threshold is apparently 5 ng of active THC per ml of blood, which is actually pretty high. This is unlike urine tests that detect metabolites.
You can read more here:
http://www.canorml.org/healthfacts/drugtestguide/drugtestdetection.html
redshirt
When’s the last time BO smoked some herb? 20 years? More or less?
lamh35
The Romney family are all just so classy ain’t they.
Imagine the outrage if Michelle O had said the same in an interview even in jest? Wingnuts would be screaming wouldn’t they.
WHOA: Tagg Romney says he wanted to take a swing at President Obama (audio + brief transcript)
byMike NellisFollow
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt: Oh, my gosh! I’m so sorry to hear that. Glad everything is going as well as it is.
I hope her health insurance situation is sorted. I know my English relatives and friends have to worry about coming to the US because of the health insurance situation. They have to buy supplemental or something. Some that have got sick haven’t been able to afford the insurance so can’t visit.
PaulW
Anyone got an email to Digby? The Hullabaloo blog doesn’t have any Comments options on the website right now… or did that all move to somewhere else on-site?
cathyx
I took a Zumba class for a summer and there was one man who came one time. If this class had gone on for a long time and no one got suspicious as to why so many men were taking it, I would wonder what’s wrong with that town.
jwb
@gex: Sure, and that was traditionally one of the main ways the parties divided voters not in the South when we actually had functional governance, but the general electorate doesn’t seem to have followed this path.
Anne Laurie
@Litlebritdifrnt: Your mom is awesome, and I’m glad to hear that she’s recovering well (& you, too also).
MikeJ
@Joel: The US DOT says “It is not possible to conclude anything about a driver’s impairment on the basis of his/her plasma concentrations.” NORML is against it. The Marijuana Policy Project is against it.
trollhattan
@lamh35:
Tuffguy iz tuff. Little fucker and his four fucking brothers are too good for the military but I’ll bet dollars to donuts they were cheerleaders for Iraq. Now tuffguy wants to punch the president. That’s just wonderful, a grateful nation thanks you. Fucker.
Svensker
@paradox:
Aw, so sorry to hear that. Big big hugs for you.
PaulW
@cathyx:
…Huh. This is what I miss out on by not exercising, sigh…
cathyx
@PaulW: She took her comments down on Oct. 1st. Not sure if she will bring them back. I know that she’s commented in the past about really hateful comments, but I haven’t seen them. Not that it means she doesn’t get them. I hope she brings them back though.
JoyfulA
@shortstop: Yeah, George Gekas R from PA, who was on the committee to impeach Clinton and thus rewarded with a more R district in the 2000 redistricting, which he promptly lost to a DINO. He was older, and his greatest pleasure seemed to be playing the piano at senior centers, which may explain why the local newspaper reported some months later that he hadn’t been able to pick up a DC job in lobbying or consulting as yet.
Svensker
@Spaghetti Lee:
Give it a try. Nothing to lose and a Presidency to gain.
SiubhanDuinne
@PsiFighter37:
I know, I’ve had the same, trying every few minutes. Bummer, as we used to say in the ’60s.
Svensker
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Good grief. Hope you’re hanging in there and all goes well. Hugs for you, too!
Anne Laurie
@cathyx:
Zumba’s being pushed as a form of exercise for “seniors”, especially those who aren’t used to exercising, because (as it’s described by the fitness center I use, at least) it’s freeform & you can go at your own pace without disrupting the rest of the class. Well, you could say the same thing for hiring a professional sex worker, I guess…
Per the Maine fooferaw — Boston news outlets say there will be more names released every second Friday, as the tiny overworked district court gets through the process of verifying client names & addresses. This partial release took place because there are so many folks with similar names that, for instance, the ex-councilman”Paul Main” who was not videotaped wanted the news media, and the neighbors, to back off.
Anne Laurie
@paradox: I’m so sorry — Maine Coons are just incredible cats, and they leave a hole as big as their personalities when they go. May all your good memories soon outweigh the pain!
I know there’s another cat out there waiting for your paths to run together, and I hope it’s not too long before you’re ready to meet him or her.
SiubhanDuinne
@Litlebritdifrnt: I wish her well. And I know you must be worried to distraction, but so glad you took time to let us know that everything’s fine. I had a small heart attack at age 50, and a near attack nine years later, which resulted in quad bypass. I hope in your mum’s case the measures were far less drastic.
Curious to know, does her National Health pick up any, all, some of her medical expenses while she is traveling out of the UK? How does that work?
cathyx
@Anne Laurie: She had a lot of sex, just sayin’.
TheMightyTrowel
@Litlebritdifrnt: Best wishes to you and (more importantly) to your mom.
My mom used to be at the ECU med school and worked at the Greenville hospital – they’ll do a good job, just keep the ultra christian nurses away (they used to pray at me aggressively when I visited Mom at work because my mom is catholic and my dad is jewish)
redshirt
Is this the Maine thread now? If so, sorry for the Bushes. They pretend to be from Texas, but Zumba knows.
The Other Chuck
@Linda Featheringill:
Rick Perry wore a back brace. Mitt is just stiff. Except when you unzip him, according to Ann. The one time he should be.
Now here’s your brain bleach.
WereBear
@paradox: I’m sorry. May you find another who loves you as much.
Yutsano
@TheMightyTrowel:
DUDE!! Are you like my long-lost sister or something? :)
Cain
@? Martin:
Wow, that’s kind of sad. Carly fucked that company with a rusty polearm. Jeezus. Does she not hear what other HP employees are saying? They all fucking hate her with a passion of a thousand suns.
Cain
@jwb:
Probably had time to reflect and read what was really going on and learned a lot of things.
Platonicspoof
@Roger Moore:
Ahh, but would you bet $10,000 Mitttwit couldn’t best Master Cleese in a goose-stepping contest?
/ And since this thread must already be dead,
at most I should only be guilty of mutilating a corpse.
Paul in KY
@PreservedKillick: Just sent her $50.00 Glad to hear those numbers.
Paul in KY
@? Martin: I think the sickest thing Bain did would be to borrow money to buy Company A & then direct Company A to pay off the loan that Bain used to buy Company A.
That is some sick shit there. Should be illegal.
Another Halocene Human
@Cain:
You know, HP had problems before Fiorina came along. Sometimes I wonder if the Carly hate is sexism. People seem to hate Carly (and Whitman) more than Jack Welch and Angelo Mozillo, and those two were straight up cons.
HP’s fate was sealed with the Compaq merger.