I’m serious- I think I may swallow the barrel of a gun if I have to listen about Hilary speculation for three years.
BTW- While many of you are excited about the start of MLB, this is the distilled essence of what it is like to be a Pirates fan. I was on the phone with my mom, asked her if they had scored yet this season, and she said “Oh, Andrew hit a two run homer in the first and it has been all downhill since. We’re losing 6-2 in the sixth and have our closer in, but I don’t know why. I guess they figured if they waited until the Pirates had a lead at the end of the game he would never get to play.”
That is the Pirates experience in a nutshell.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
On the bright side, this means lots of people will be pointing cameras as James Carville.
Scott S.
Oh, come on, you know it’ll be fun getting to know the PUMA crowd again! IT WILL BE FUN FOR US ALL, JOHN COLE, FUN FOR US ALL.
askew
Just don’t watch any of the cable news shows and limit your twitter use and you’ll be fine.
It makes me crazy to listen to as well.
David Koch
What do you mean, they never left. They’ve been fighting a rear guard action ever since the black guy mugged the white lady and stole her god given right to the nomination
gbear
Singing ‘LA LA LA LA LA!’ at the top of your lungs helps.
hells littlest angel
You need to learn the art of not listening. It ain’t easy, but the rewards are limitless.
James E. Powell
Well, you won’t have to suffer for three years. By this time next year, it won’t be speculation anymore.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Start swallowing because it’s not going to stop.
Jay C
Fine, John: you can do your best to ignore Hillary for the next three years: just remember to vote for her in Nov. ’16: unless you’re really jazzed about the prospects of a President Huckabee and Vice-President Jindal…..
Suffern ACE
If they didn’t talk about Hillary, they wouldn’t be talking about any Democratic Party candidate. Except for maybe joe, but only to dismiss him as old and goofey. A republican can take a democratic position, like say hurricane states should get aid, especially if its his own state, and there will be a time magazine cover and a story about the future of that party. So it’s either Hillary or a bunch of not Santorums. Pick your inanity.
Beezus
No speculation or press coverage from ANY party until 10 months before the election.
Violet
Imagine if there were some young, charismatic Latina already in some high-enough elected office who decided to throw her hat in the ring for President. PUMA meltdown cubed.
Violet
@Jay C:
Sounds like a disease that requires antibiotic treatment.
folsom ca
Not a fan of blue dogs. If the R establishment likes her, be very scared.
Karmus
May I suggest a spider hole? It worked for Saddam….
Oh, wait.
ETA: I’ve got it! A cabin in Montana, just like Ted Kaczynski…. hmm. Never mind.
boss bitch
@Jay C:
We have other Democrats who can beat those clowns.
Baud
She’ll be the person who’ll save the Democratic Party from the mess that Obama created…
Until she gets the nomination, then she’ll be everything that’s wrong with the Democratic Party.
Suffern ACE
@Beezus: we can get the Iowans to defund their state fair. Maybe merge the state into Minnesota an Missouri. That way, candidates can visit without the politirazzi following their every move.
ChrisNYC
At the rate they are pumping the suspense on this I cannot even imagine what the announcement is going to be like. Smaller than Beijing but bigger than London, is my guess.
Ronnie Pudding
The Bucs have scored two tuns in a single game? Stop the presses!
shortstop
I yield to no one in my distaste for PUMAs, but they’re not going to be an issue this time. Clinton is going to be the candidate, she’s going to be a fucking awesome contender and I’m going to work my ass off for her, as will nearly all 2008 Obama people.
(But please no Penn, Wolfson or Ickes. Please. I’m begging you, Hillary.)
Original Lee
I agree with you on the Hillary-fest. Gah. Every time I point out she’ll be older than Reagan at her inauguration, I get accused of ageism. There are lots of people in their seventies who are energetic and mentally sharp, but very few I can think of with enough get-up-and-go to handle being President, which job chews up incumbents for breakfast. Hillary was starting not to be able to handle Secretary of State – why would she be able to handle President a little over three years from now?
As for the Pirates – I’m a Cubs fan.
kwAwk
Go team Democrat!
YellowJournalism
You’re going to do a Mad Men thread tonight, right? I finally got into it and caught up with the rest of the world, so there better be one. I want more Roger-on-LSD and Partner Joan, but I can do with less fat-suit Betty (although the emotional take on weight loss is pretty accurate).
Schlemizel
@Suffern ACE:
Don’t try to stick us with Iowa! We have enough problems as it is. B-{D
dance around in your bones
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m watching A Room With a View and ignoring politics entirely. Tonight it will be a toss-up between Game of Thrones or Mad Men (they both come on at the same time, but can be seen tomorrow night as well). GOT or MM? Such momentous decisions.
I have not much interest in a Presidential race that’s 3 years away and no one has actually declared yet.
Had we but world enough, and time….
GlenInBrooklyn
I agree about the gun-swallowing! Rachel Maddow has a rule: no mention of 2016 until at least 2014. She only broke once.
JWL
H. Clinton remains proud/unrepentant of her wicked support for the Iraq War debacle. What else do people need to know about her?
And Cole, it could be worse. You might have been raised as a Houston Astro’s fan. I sure wish the Giants had McCutchen in their lineup. He is one awesome ballplayer.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@YellowJournalism: there’s a Slate headline about how Betty Draper needs a bigger storyline, my question: Why? Would anyone who watches the show miss her? January Jones is lovely to look at, but not so delightful to see, because you know at some point she’s going to speak, in an attempt to act, and that will not go well. And with Peggy at a different agency, and apparently Ginsberg getting to be a bigger character, they could used some room.
David Koch
@Violet:
BWHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH
you hit the nail on the head. it just really galled the “True Progressives” that Hillary lost to someone who wasn’t white. They would have been sad if Hillary had lost to Edwards, but atleast he was white. But to lose to a skinny black guy with a funny name was just to much for the Archie Bunker Democrats to take.
Schlemizel
John – don’t worry. Has there been a front-runner 2 years out that got the nomination other than Poppy Bush (an obvious choice) and Bob Dole? Hilary would have been smarter to stay as SoS and pretend she was not interested. The focus on her will expose many manufactured ‘flaws’ that the wingnuts can excrete into the media and people will get weary of hearing about her. Some fresher face will pop up in ’15.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
But what if the 24 hour news cycle creates a 4 year presidential election cycle and nobody cares?
Schlemizel
@JWL:
The Twins are going to make a hard run at keeping the Astros from getting the #1 draft choice. The basket-cases that make up the Twins pitching staff would make Abner Doubleday grab a peach basket and look for an indoor game to invent.
Bruce S
I can’t really see much difference between the Hillary speculation and endless yammering about baseball teams. Pretty much the same thing – spectator sport. Whatever stiffens your bat is fine with me. If rampant shit that bored me to death drove me to “put a gun in my mouth” I wouldn’t have made out of first grade. Everybody has their own version of entertainment.
BillinGlendaleCA
Weren’t the 2008 nominees Hilary and Rudy, that’s what the talking heads told me in 2005.
Scott S.
Finally watched “The Cabin in the Woods” last night ’cause someone clued me in on the big twist, and I just couldn’t resist it. Thought it was pretty good. But today, I can’t stop imagining the big elevator scene (If you’ve seen it, you know the one I mean, and if you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil it) if it was set at CPAC or the Fox News headquarters or an NRA convention. It’s given me such happiness, envisioning various pundits waiting for the next “DING” of the elevators…
Thlayli
I’m not sure why the Pirates even bother calling anyone “closer”, but yeah. Game’s over, might as well let him get his arm loose.
Suffern ACE
@Schlemizel: someday, maybe the brewers will win a 2nd game. That’s the day I throw my drugs away. When they win that 2nd game. (Cue cool sax solo)
Cassidy
Here we are.
Full Metal Wingnut
@Suffern ACE: I’m sick of the Biden as a goofy gaffe prone dolt meme. As if Lady Clinton is so much more competent and qualified. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll vote for her if it comes down to it, but the nomination is not hers by right, and I will argue to the death against the Hilbots when they come out in full force in the next year or two.
Linkmeister
Oh dear. I’m a fan of the other team in that Pirates game. I don’t know where we’d put him, but McCutcheon is a great great player that I’d like to see in Dodger Blue.
amk
Nice sunday trolling, cole.
Cassidy
@Full Metal Wingnut: Yup. I’d love to see Joe run.
raven
My fish skull project update.
Hill Dweller
@David Koch:
They’ve been feeding Andrea Mitchell all the “Obama’s WH is a boy’s club” bullshit. She has been hitting that theme non-stop since the election.
Baud
@dance around in your bones:
Would that be heaven or hell?
raven
@dance around in your bones: Call the Midwife at 8, Mr Selfridge at 9. Quality viewing.
JWL
@Linkmeister: What do you mean that you’d “like to see him” in m’fuckin’ Dodger blue?
$urely you meant to $ay, “I can’t wait to $ee him in m’fuckin’ Dodger blue”.
Tonal Crow
Word. Has Limbaugh repeated that she’s “formidable” and “inevitable” yet?
Full Metal Wingnut
@Cassidy: What I love about him is how real he seems. At the end of the day, he’s still a politician, and this ain’t my first rodeo, but still. There’s something about him that appears less calculated. I feel like Biden stands for things other than himself. But that’s my impression. I can’t help it I’m Irish, and I went to his alma mater
David Koch
the real question is if Bill can keep his cigar out of some big mouth’s snatch until election day.
Linkmeister
@JWL: Hey, they actually did a deal yesterday which had the effect of (net) cutting their payroll expense.
It was a shock to us all.
Highway Rob
Leaving aside the HRC chatter, I see you mentioned something about baseball season. It was my impression there was not a baseball season scheduled this year. /Astrosfan
raven
Go Braves!
Anne Laurie
Yes, John, we know, you have a problem with older women in positions of authority, even the ones who are not your mother.
My suggestion: Write some posts about the other Democratic possibilities, for that valuable Early Publicity Boost. Martin O’Malley, maybe?
dance around in your bones
@Baud:
Might be heaven, might be hell, ain’t no way we’ll ever tell.
@raven: Your suggestions, as always, are welcome.
But it’s gotta be Game of Thrones or Mad Men for me! I’m invested in those shows, time-wise.
I’ll have to start the others from scratch.
raven
@dance around in your bones: Mad Men is set up on the DVR. 10pm beddybye round here.
Hill Dweller
If Clinton is the nominee, she’ll get a lot of the white vote Obama couldn’t, but she’ll never build an election machine as effective as the skinny Muslim’s juggernaut.
David Koch
Hillary’s Cabinet:
Treasury: Jamie Dimon
Defense: Joe Lieberman
State: Blanche Lincoln
AG: Lindsey Graham
First SCOTUS appointment: Harold Ford
YellowJournalism
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think the problem is that Betty has been written terribly the last few seasons. There’s nothing there in Her that truly interests me beyond Sally occasionally torturing her. Her weight loss had interesting moments, like when she thought the gain was cancer or the way she acts at her meetings, but overall didn’t feel important enough to be part of the show. Plus, she’s such a baby.
I’m not asking for her to be likeable all the time, but even Pete has his moments where you feel empathy for him, and I find him to be the slimiest character on the show.
karen marie
Speaking of rescue …
Who would like to be rescued by an 8-month-old French bulldog? He’s in a kill shelter and needs rescue immediately.
D #: A4561014
French Bulldog
Male
8 months old
Cage: L321
* LA County Lancaster Animal Care:
5210 W. Ave. I
Lancaster, CA 93536
(661) 940-4191
Baud
@dance around in your bones:
Thanks. I’m not very cultured.
raven
@YellowJournalism: She a really bad actress.
minutemaid
Wholy shit. I actually agree with Cole on something. Reading endless masturbatory talk of whether Hillary is going to run will be almost as maddening as it was reading mistermix and the rest of the clowns masturbate endlessly on whether Palin was going to run.
folsom ca
@Anne Laurie: How about a real democrat, one that is not owned and operated by wall street. I am having some problems exiting the comments. I am not a frequent comment person. I seem to be in limbo. Thanks. I do like your writing and opinion.
dance around in your bones
@raven: Ok, like an idiot I just checked the TV schedule again, and both channels are showing Mad Men and Game of Thrones 3 TIMES IN A ROW each!
So, no huge decision required. D’oh!
I have heard great things about Call The Midwife, so will check into that. Mr. Selfridge, too.
Anne Laurie
@folsom ca:
Tell me about the one(s) you like. “Anybody who’s not Hillary” is not an acceptable alternative on most primary ballots — we need an actual opponent to whichever clown wins the Republican cavalcade in 2016.
Redshirt
Red Sox are the best team in baseball, y’all! For now. We’ll see how it shakes out.
I like this Sox team, and that’s all that matters considering the past two years. I don’t really care if they win or not, as long as they’re likeable, gritty, and give a 110%.
Redshirt
@raven: Cool bones! Look at all them teeth.
I used to collect bones from hikes deep into the woods, but everyone told me that was weird, so I stopped. Is it weird?
folsom ca
@Anne Laurie: I think it is too early, we need a younger group of folks. The old left is dying out. The country is changing. The old demo is stale. I would love to see someone break free from the old Clintons, etc. I thought B.Obama was the one. He had a really low profile, and is a great speaker. Maybe I am a dreamer. I do not believe Hillary is the one. I cannot stand her support team. They are vile. Trust me, I will vote for her, but can we not do better. I am a real supporter of women, democrats, and liberal causes. I give generously. I do not believe in dynasties. I do value your opinion. Thanks.
dance around in your bones
@Redshirt: I don’t think it’s weird.
I love bones and skulls and collect them whenever I can. I picked up a huge bone on the beach that many people thought looked like a huge hard-on ….. it was a piece of a whale’s vertebrae. Quite the conversation piece!
amk
@Anne Laurie:
So also “nobody but Hillary” alternative.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie: Actually, I would like to get through the damned 2014 elections before we start speculating on the 2016 nominee.
YellowJournalism
@raven: That thought has crossed my mind, and from what I’ve read, she’s pretty nasty on set, too. The former Bobby who is now on Once Upon a Time did not enjoy working with her. Maybe then it’s not so much te writing as her true personality coming through!
Redshirt
@dance around in your bones: Yeah, well you wouldn’t!
Whale vertebra must be awesome. I had vertebra from deer and I think a fox. Cool in and of themselves, but nothing compared to a whale, for sure.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Omnes Omnibus: Without falling in to the Tweetyesque trap of talking about the Clinton magic (one of the unintentionally funny PUMA lines was “they know how to fight Republicans and win!” woo hoo! impeached and not convicted!) one of the reasons I do hope she runs is that having her and Bubba out on the hustings in 2014 might be pretty significant. Might, could, may be, etc, but we have to change the patterns of mid-terms somehow, and this could be one way.
burnspbesq
Relax, Cole.
The next Democratic nominee for President will be a white, female Senator from New York.
Her name is Kristen Gillibrand.
And a Pirate fan asking for sympathy from a Met fan is a bit rich, wouldn’t you say?
I’m not paying attention to baseball until after lacrosse season ends. This spring belongs to the Thompsons: two Onondaga brothers and their Mohawk cousin, raised in the native lands outside Syracuse and in far northern New York, who are renewing the gift of the Creator’s Game to us pasty-faces. If you have access to espn3, watch a replay of Friday night’s Albany win over Hopkins. Ridiculous.
burnspbesq
@YellowJournalism:
Really? Name two.
Trudy should divorce his ass and take him for everything he’s got.
dance around in your bones
@Redshirt: I got quite a kick out of that boner ;)
I’ve had rat skulls and cat skulls that I’ve found, but the winner had to be the human skullcap we got in Nepal that we used to mix up hash and tobacco in. I think they used to drink tea out of them, but we put it to other uses.
burnspbesq
@Highway Rob:
Y’all are lucky we don’t have promotion and relegation in baseball. You’d be in the Florida State League.
Greg L.
They were once great. Sept 1972 line up
That lineup, on September 1, was Rennie Stennett, Gene Clines, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Manny Sanguillén, Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Jackie Hernández, and Dock Ellis.
From Wikipedia of course.
sherparick
It could be worse John. You could be a Cub fan.
Unfortunately, you were to young to experience the Pirates glory years in the 1970s. Two World Series (1971 & 1979) and 5 Division championships, and I believe in second place when not winning. The Cubs were kind of good until 1973, and then started their fall to oblivion, but of course did not win anything. It will soon be beyond living memory when the Cubs last won a NL pennant (1945, which in some ways does not count – 1938 was the last real good Cubs team that won).
YellowJournalism
@burnspbesq: When his dad died, the few moments when he and Trudy were happy (and he wasn’t cheating), the scene when he realized the guy’s wife had her memory fried out of her, the way he defended her against the cheating husband (I know, hypocritical but needed saying.), and when he cried in the elevator with Don.
As I said, he’s a slimy shit (asking Joan to prostitute herself like it was no biggie), and he deserves all his misery and a nasty divorce. I even cheered when lane beat the crap out of him! But you can realize someone is an asshole and still feel pity, or at least enjoy watching his character in action. I love the comparison to Don in terms of Pete feeling out of place and looking for comfort in women and success, albeit not as smoothly as Don does it. It’s part of the theme that while not things change, some may remain the same.
Betty, however, is just boring.
dance around in your bones
Ok, on further googling, I find that the human skull cap was Tibetan in origin and often used to drink liquor or blood or some combination thereof.
I think our use of it was more….spiritual. In our own way.
JWL
@Anne Laurie: Count me in the “anyone but Hi. Clinton” club.
And your obnoxiously coy, “well then, who else if not H.C.”? prompts me to retort, WTF? Do you consider the democratic party so devoid of talent that H. Clinton is the yardstick by which all others are or must be measured?
The only vote I’ve ever cast in my life was for which I’m ashamed was John Kerry in 2004. Although I understood he threw in with the Iraq debacle for reasons of political expediency, such was my hatred of Bush/Cheney that I overlooked it. And I was was wrong to do so.
H. Clinton remains both proud and unrepentant of her role in that great tragedy. For that reason alone, why any democrat thinks her fit to assume the office of the presidency is something I find unfathomable.
eemom
Baseball, Hillary, teevee shows I don’t watch….meh.
I always was a one-blog kinda woman, but….
danielx
Aw c’mon, Cubs fans – they’re only in their second rebuilding century. Besides, if they won games you’d have to come up with some other avenue for release of your masochistic streak.
Redshirt
@dance around in your bones: You smoked hash out of a human skullcap in Nepal? That literally puts you in, like, the top 1000 coolest people on the planet. Incredible!
How many books have you written?
David Koch
@eemom: life is short, have a blog affair
dance around in your bones
@Redshirt: No books yet. I keep getting urged to write.
We just mixed up the hash and tobacco in the skullcap like in a mortar and pestle? and then rolled it into joints (small at one end, big at the other, with little cardboard filters made from matchbooks or whatever).
‘Twas quite common back in the day on the hippie trail. I always tried to keep up with the boys, often to my detriment. Those hubble-bubbles in Afghanistan (I can’t find a good image, but they were like 2-3 feet tall, ceramic, filled with water, with a bowl on top and a tube you inhaled the water cooled hash and tobacco mixture from) sent me to the moon.
mai naem
So I was wasting my times on the intertubes today and I am passing along these linkies: One is of a super close up of a
cat’s tongue
http://www.goodwp.com/images/201104/goodwp.com_17034.jpg
and this is some microart by some Turkish guy – art on butterflies, pasta and coffee beans. Really cool stuff.
http://www.ufunk.net/en/artistes/hasan-kale/
hilzoy
“I think I may swallow the barrel of a gun if I have to listen about Hilary speculation for three years.”
I think I may swallow the barrel of that same gun if I have to read people misspelling Hillary Clinton’s name so that sentences about her become sentences about me.
Full Metal Wingnut
@Anne Laurie: Holy shit, not only is that uncalled for, it’s entirely lacking in substance.
Redshirt
@dance around in your bones: You also smoked in Afghanistan? Incredible.
Seriously, you need to write this all down. Do a “Then this, then that” type autobiography. Just let it flow – cover a certain time period and use the big/cool events within it as your structure, fill it with details, and relate to all the people passing in and out of your narrative. Perhaps also with some backstory/flashbacks. Don’t worry about tense or spelling or anything really during the first draft – just get it all out. Clean it up later.
Do it! For no other reason than to record, for yourself and those you wish to share it with, your life.
Redshirt
@hilzoy: hilzoy 1, Kohl 0
mai naem
Rather than Hillary, I am really interested in what Obama is going to do post-presidency. I can’t decide if he’s politics obsessed like Bill Clinton or is he just going to make some $$$, create a foundation and do tangentially political stuff kind of like Carter. Jody Kantor said Michelle really wanted Barack to quit politics in Illinois and just make $$$, which I can understand being that they hadn’t paid off their school loans and she grew up relatively poor and probably wanted the financial security. I’d like to see what the Dems are going to be like post-Obama. Are there going to be 2 competitive Obama and Clinton divisions or is it going to be one big somewhat happy family?
dance around in your bones
@Redshirt: That’s good advice, and what my kid keeps begging me to (she’s 40). She says it’s her heritage.
I don’t know, it all just seemed normal to me back in the day.
Redshirt
@mai naem: I think Obama will become a world player, through diplomacy, philanthropy, or heck, just plain culture (books, speeches, videos). He’s an amazing person and the world will be better for his continued engagement.
Redshirt
@dance around in your bones: She’s right. Get it down on paper (hard drive)! Don’t think of it as trying to sell a book or get published, either. Just write it for yourself, and those you care about.
Honus
@sherparick: 6 division championships in the 1970s (if you include 1970) and that includes 1974 when they were dead last at the all-star break. And another three in a row from 1990-1992. Funny thing is, I grew up as a Pittsburgh fan in the 60s and 70s and I remember the Pirates as dominant and the Steelers as pathetic. I think the first playoff game the Steelers were ever in was the immaculate reception game, and of course they lost the next week. Meanwhile, the Pirates were defined by players like Clemente (who’s nickname, totally without irony, was The Great One) Stargell, Clendennon, Mazeroski, Alley, Sanguillen, Ellis, Oliver, Law, Virdon, Groat, Hoak, Skinner, Robertson, Hebner, Cash, Parker, Madlock, Blass, Blyleven, Zisk, Alou, etc. We beat one fo the greatest Yankees teams ever, and then beat Baltimore’s four 20-game winners (Palmer, Cuellar, Dobson and McNally), then eight years later came from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Orioles again (this time Palmer, McGregor, Steve Stone and Mike Flanagan)
Can’t say anything but that those were the days.
David Koch
@eemom: perhaps you would be more interested in Mad men if you knew that Jon Hamm goes commando and is hung like a horse
drkrick
I’m still trying to figure out why Dems who are disappointed with Obama from the left expect to be any happier with HRC. I would certainly expect to vote for her over any imaginable opponent in the general, but that’s a pretty low bar.
David Koch
@eemom: perhaps you would be more interested in Mad men if you knew that Jon Hamm goes commando and is hung like a horse
Heliopause
Dude. Bill Mazeroski. Roberto Clemente. We are Fam-uh-leeee. At least you’ve got some old-timey memories. Think what it’s like to be a Mariners fan.
Suffern ACE
@David Koch: oh. So that’s what the phrase Hammaconda is referring to.
askew
@Anne Laurie:
There’s a shocker. The PUMA is pulling out the sexism card already. Let me guess Geraldine Ferraro is your idol.
eemom
@Full Metal Wingnut:
Keep in mind, AL is not personally invested in a Hill candidacy at all. Nuh-uh.
@David Koch:
Just found out eegrandmom watches the thing.
Anne Laurie
@JWL:
Of course not. But I’d rather it be Democrats suggesting who should be on the Democratic ticket, rather than standing around bitching about how we don’t like the only Democrat who’s getting media attention. Tha Meeja must be fed; if we Democrats don’t offer anything but “eh, we hate that one name you already know” and the Repubs offer a long parade of Shiny Objectivists & other nutbags, all the news stories are going to be about Republicans — they’re so activated! So full of thots & opinions! Everybody’s talking about them!
We should be talking about 2014 local candidates, and how they’ll affect President Obama’s various initiatives. But we also need to get traction on the 2016 race, because the Republicans are already arse-deep in planning for 2016, and this time we don’t have the “luxury” of knowing who our 2016 candidate will be.
David Koch
@drkrick: its not that hard doc. it’s about identity politics.
Women and some men who have dominate feminine side wanted Hillary to win, even though she was a DLC warmonger because they wanted to see a woman as president. I personally know a socialist who marched in every anti-iraq-war demonstration who wildly supported Hillary because she wanted to see a women president, so much so that she was willing to act as an apologist for all of Hillary’s wall-stree-corporatist positions, which were personally an anathema to her.
Hillary’s supporters took 2008 hard. Their hopes were set so high because she was inevitable frontrunner with a 30 point lead, and the most famous woman in the world was passed over for an unknown guy with little experience.
it was a steep come-down and they instantly projected bitter career experiences when women were passed over for a younger man and when older women were dumped for youth.
so immediately a PUMA opposition arose. PUMA standing for “party unity my ass”. They swore to oppose NØbama in the general election. some just didn’t vote, some voted for mccain, all actively trying to undermine the usurper.
Mccain tried to tap into this bloc of resentment voters but he fucked up by picking an polarizing idiot and a barbi-sex-kitten. If there’s one thing women hate more than being passed over its being objectified.
but once he became president, their opposition continued. they pounced on every chance they got to attack him from the left, even if they had to manufacture one. and when he had a significant liberal accomplishment like repealing DADT they pushed every ridiculous argument to deny him credit (ie “it was a bone to the base, he didn’t really mean it, he only did it because we forced him, he’s still a secret homophobe, etc.)
amk
@Anne Laurie:
Really ? So who is their ‘front-runner’ ?
rda909
@folsom ca: Within a month of President Obama getting sworn in A SECOND TIME, Ariana Huffington turned her site into a campaign site for Hillary, and has doubled-down on it since then. Arianna’s regular vacation buddy, Newt Gingrich has been playing his role and going all over the place saying, “Oh no please don’t run, Hillary. We could never, ever beat you! (wink)” Rupert Murdoch has organized several big dollar fundraisers for Hillary over the years. Hillary running would be a disaster for Democrats, unless Senator Elizabeth Warren decides to step in and save our Republic.
Redshirt
Of course it’s Hillary or bust. There’s no debate there. The only debate is if Hillary will run at all. We’ll find out in the upcoming months, yes?
rda909
@askew: I’m guessing John would be enthusiastically supporting Senator Elizabeth Warren if she was the person who all the talk was about, instead of the 2008 Primary Loser, Hillary. Pretty sure Senator Warren is older than John Cole, and in a position of authority over him too.
askew
@rda909:
I think John just doesn’t want to talk about 2016 yet period. Anne Laurie on the other hand is a bitter Hillary supporter who so badly wants Hillary to win so she can be a better president than Obama.
And after 2014, AL and other white women PUMAs can finally unleash their full bitterness instead of having to hint at it like AL, Joan Walsh, Andrea Mitchell, etc. have been doing.
rda909
@David Koch: I also think Hillary added fuel to the PUMA fires by staying in the race so long. Anyone with any political experience knew it was over after South Carolina, yet Hillary stayed in for many more months! It was those last few months when Hillary and Bill started getting all nasty and whiny about President Obama, that the PUMA fires started to rage.
The way Hillary chose to conduct herself those last few months, when she had no chance of winning, greatly contributed to the dividing and conquering of liberals that led to 2010 midterms, and still plaguing us today. President Obama did everything he could to develop more party unity, even offering her such a prestigious and high-profile job, promoting her constantly, and even paying off her debts (my god!), and yet these racist Clintonites still pounce on any shiny object the media fabricates to knock him down as much as they can (Goodlooking-gate, single mom-gate in Chicago, etc.). What a joke!
rda909
@askew: With ya there. I think all focus should be on 2014. It would be great if the PUMA sites and the media would stop their incessant Hillary-fluffing and do that.
askew
@rda909:
The press sucks at covering policy and prefers election stories. And I understand some interest in 2016, but they are going way overboard already. People are going to be so sick of this before we even get to 2014.
We definitely need to focus on 2014, but it is a bit early since we don’t know who all the candidates will nor what the economy will be like in 2014. Things will heat up about a year from now. Until then, we are stuck with 2016 horse race talk unless Congress decides to actually debate some legislation or Obama starts issuing executive orders. Nothing else is happening right now to distract from 2016.
Ted & Hellen
Sorry but first of all Hillz will be too damn old to be president by 2016. Didn’t we learn our lesson with Reagan about electing geriatric cases to the most powerful (except for Obama when it’s not) the most powerful office in the world?
Secondly, we don’t need another damn family dynasty thing in the WH. Good crap, one was enough and look where that got us.
300 million people and all we can come up with is Bushes or Clintons? Fuck that elite oligarchical bullshit.
Redshirt
Miley Cyrus for Prez! She’s friends with the burnouts, the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the drama squad.
The nerds and international kids can be brought along.
Ron
bah, the PUMAs are a pretty small group of wack-jobs. I’m not interested in watching a campaign for president starting now, but I think Hillary would be fine. I think people making predictions NOW about what will happen should remember that everyone thought Hillary was a shoe-in for the nomination in 2008.
Redshirt
Hillary is a slam dunk case.
There’s no doubt if she ran some vanilla campaign with no major gaffes, she’ll be President of these United States. Who wouldn’t go for that? As for age, women live longer then men, and maybe Hillary is prepared to not run for re-election, and instead let her VP, Joe Biden, a Hubert Humphrey chance at winning the second term.
Original Lee
@dance around in your bones: If you are finding it hard to get it started by writing, you could do a series of podcasts or other audio recordings. My uncle is currently doing this, not on a schedule or anything, just very casually, as he has an idle block of time. He has a digital recorder in his pocket, and if something kicks off a memory, he just talks about it into the recorder and stops when he’s done. He periodically uploads the files to his blog so that all of us can share. My aunt and one of my cousins are transcribing them, and maybe someday they’ll put together an e-book that we can download.
dance around in your bones
@Original Lee:
You know, my late husband would have been great at the recording thing. He used to hold people enthralled around the campfire with his/our stories. I can still tell a good story, but (as I have said before here) I feel like I lost half my memories when he died. He remembered EVERYTHING.
Maybe trying to write them down or record them would be a good way of honoring his memory. Sometimes it just makes me sad remembering the good old days. Not a very positive attitude, I guess – but I’m still getting over his absence. Gah.
{{{slaps self around}}} get a grip!
Suffern ACE
@rda909: I would find it odd that huffington, who became a democrat so she could protest Al Gore from the left, would find Hillary a more palatable choice. When the first Clinton was in office, she certainly didn’t have time for them.
Bob In Portland
I have long suspected that the Clintons have been assets for the intelligence community from the time they were in college. It would explain a lot. Hillary’s switch from being a Goldwater girl to working in the law office in Oakland that was defending the Panthers. Bill’s connections with Fulbright, and his time in Britain and his going behind the Iron Curtain and meeting with the anti-war protesters there, Hillary on the Democratic legal team for Watergate, Bill as governor of Arkansas while people like Barry Seal were flying in loads of cocaine to Mena.
So while I’d vote for her over any deadbeat Republican, I can’t say I am particularly excited about the prospect.
eemom
The level of delusion on display here is breathtaking.
amk
@Suffern ACE: arianna is a grifter who made millions out of the loony lefty rubes just like glenn beck did off the rwnj’s.
David Koch
@amk:
/fixed
pattonbt
I could probably sum up my 2016 D primary and general election vote right now, so why not….
Primary: most likely anyone but Hillary. Reasons: Iraq (said I would never vote for any D in a primary who voted for that war), Clinton fatigue (nothing against them, but the dynastic feel grates me), age (sue me, I’d like someone younger). Now, if the other candidates suck huge, who knows, but I’d like to see the younger D bench get some playing time.
General election: D candidate whoever it is. Full throated support (money and time). Reason: at a minimum, lesser of two evils and all that.
pattonbt
@Heliopause: God I love the “we are family” days of the Pirates. Probably one of the most entertaining baseball cultural themes of all times. Trying to think of any other musical cultural link so tied between song and team and cant. Granted, my knowledge of music and sport sucks, so theres that.
But everytime I hear that song, I see the Pirates and smile.
pattonbt
@rda909: I had no problem with Hillary staying in so long (though maybe one week less would have been good, it was sad to see her grasping at straws and some of the more screechy supporters really embarassing themselves). I loved the long primary, stole all the air from Gramps and showed the complete difference in class of D and R candidates. Sure there were bitters on both sides, but the party as a whole came out a net plus from the long primary.
What really bothered me, though, was the Michigan and Florida(?) stuff she and her supporters tried to pull off. But its politics and all and there was no way they could steal it from Obama, so while annoying, it did no harm as we can see by two term Obama.
Bob h
You may be having to listen to Lindsay Graham opine about Hillary and Benghazi for three years.