"He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.”
-- Niccolo Machiavelli
Links:
- Senate bill on John McCain
Da' money goes here:
"He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.”
-- Niccolo Machiavelli
Links:
Peggy Noonan Stares Into Her Highball Glass, Wonders What Is Becoming Of America, Guzzles HighballAs uncharitable as it may be to say it, it is nonetheless true: there really is nothing funnier than the bizarre longevity of Peggy Noonan's sharp and giddy down-spiraling slalom from being Reagan's speechwriter
...The air in her apartment had grown musty and stale, the alarmed squawking of the Fox News hosts emanating from her television had become white noise. The terrible Moor still occupied the White House and a plague of liberalism had descended upon the land, blanketing it like Hirohito’s Imperial Army rolling through Manchuria. All was darkness! All was despair! What was left for a leading intellect of the conservative movement but to be really really snarky about it?
These are not people who can be cajoled or tricked or persuaded into doing the right thing ever. These are not people who can be compromised with. These are not people with whom you can have a "debate" in any meaningful sense. At the end of the day, the GOP is just a party full of loud, bigoted, pig-ignorant assholes, who have been gathered under one roof and weaponized with money and media because, as it turns out, there are just enough loud, bigoted, pig-ignorant assholes wandering the land to wreck the country if they all really put their backs into it.Senate Republicans Kill a Bill to Expand Veterans' Benefits
WASHINGTON -- It's not until you watch it happen close up that the way things do not get done in the World's Legislative Body becomes well and truly nauseating. This afternoon, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont brought forth a carefully crafted bill to provide $21 billion in new veterans benefits over the next decade. These included medical benefits, education benefits, and job-training. It contained 26 provisions that came from the Republican members of the Veterans Affairs Committee, which Sanders chairs. It was so wide-ranging that it contained a provision that would eliminate a rule prohibiting the Veterans Administration from covering in vitro fertilization on behalf of veterans whose wounds prevent them from conceiving a child in the usual manner. There was a time, and not so long ago, when both parties would fall all over themselves to help America's veterans. How many platitudes are we going to hear on the stump between now and November about America's Heroes and Our Wounded Warriors? This bill was a put up or shut up moment.Badly.Only two Republicans were willing to vote with Sanders, and the bill died a procedural death. The final straw was an attempt by Republican legislators to hang an amendment onto the bill calling for increased sanctions on Iran. There was also some cheap bullshit thrown around about the budget, most notably by Senator Jefferson Davis Beauregard Sessions of Alabama. There also was, spectacularly, some debate time taken up by, believe it or not, Benghazi, Benghazi!, BENGHAZI!...
"He`s just dumb as a rock. If his name were Richard M. Camper, he`d be working in the post office."-- Rob Warden, editor of Chicago Lawyer,writing about Hizzoner Richard M Daley in 1989 (?)
We are an immigrant nation! The first generation works their fingers to the bone making things, the next generation goes to college and innovates new ideas, the third generation... snowboards and takes improv classes.
And so, with apologies to Harry Chapin...3...2..1...Rat's In The BoodleA child arrived just the other day,Not on the clout list, but dat's ok,But there were plans to hatch and bribes to pay,He learned to cheat while I was awayHe was scamming 'fore I knew it and as he grewHe'd say "I'm going to be like you Dad,An Al-der-man just like you."Chorus :Another rat's in the boodle,Nobody'd believe dis shit"When you gonna run son?" "I don't know when.""We'll get together then,We'll get you on da clout list then."My son turned ten just the other nightShowed him how to rig a vote up good 'n tight.Will you teach me good and bad?I said, "Not today,I got thumbs to bend." He said, "Dat's OK."And he walked away, but his smile never dimmedSaid, "I'm going to be like him, yeah.An Al-der-man just like him."Chorus :Another rat's in the boodle,Nobody'd believe dis shit"When you gonna run son?" "I don't know when.""We'll get together then,We'll get you on da clout list then."He got into office just the other day,Another Daley-man, and I just had to say,"Son, I'm proud of you, now about my bail..."He shook his head (looks like I stay in jail)"What I'd really like, dad, is your sucker list.I'm in need of some ducats dat won't be missed."Chorus :Another rat's in the boodle,Nobody'd believe dis shit"When you gonna run son?" "I don't know when.""We'll get together then,We'll get you on da clout list then."I've since made parole, but now my son's been poppedI called him up to see how he copped"I'd like to see you, if you don't mind."He said, "Don't say nuthin weird 'cause they bugged this line.Let's just say my new "job's" a hassle and da "kids" have da "flu"But it's sure nice talking you Dad, it's been real nice talking to you."And as I hung up the phone it occurred to meHe'd grown up just like me,An Al-der-man just like me.Chorus :Another rat's in the boodle,Nobody'd believe dis shit"When you gonna run son?" "I don't know when.""We'll get together then,We'll get you on da clout list then."
Get Elected, Get Your Kids Rich: Washington Is Spoiled RottenA governor’s daughter is made CEO without a MBA. A senator’s son starts a hedge fund right out of college. Democrats have joined Republicans in the new nepotism.Joe Manchin’s daughter Heather was looking for a job. The now-senator and one-time governor of West Virginia was only a state level rep when he ran into Milan Pushkar—the head of Mylan Inc., a Fortune 500 pharmaceuticals company—at a West Virginia University basketball game [1]. Heather was hired for an entry-level position at the company soon after. Records show Mylan benefitted from millions of dollars worth of corporate tax breaks in the state during Manchin’s gubernatorial tenure. [2] And these days, after stints as Mylan’s director of government relations and strategic development, Heather Bresch (nĂ©e Manchin) is the company’s CEO, one of Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business [3]. All this without even an MBA—a 2008 investigation found that Bresch did not actually earn her degree from WVU as claimed. Officials had altered her official records and covered up for it, perhaps motivated by Mylan’s lucrative relationship with the University—co-founder Pushkar (Bresch’s business world fairy godfather) donated over $20 million [4] and had the football field named after him. [5]Connected children of political families catching a break is something we Americans are plenty used to—there would be no Kennedy or Bush dynasties without the public’s acceptance that some people just raise their kids up all square-jawed and rolled shirtsleeves, ready to run for office. But the nexus of private business and politics is always one that’s skated over lightly in high school civics classes. Perhaps that’s why there was so much consternation over the recent revelations that Wall Street banks had hired the children of prominent Chinese politicians with hopes of currying favor with those who wield power over business decisions in the rising economic superpower. The hiring of so-called “Chinese Princelings” has been a widespread one in the banking community; JPMorgan Chase had a “Sons and Daughters” program [6] that separated applications of Chinese elites’ children from the wider pool and held them to less rigorous standards. Documents have been uncovered indicating that the bank directly tracked the hiring of influencers’ children to the success of business deals....
The Democratic Party is the party that opened its arms. We opened them to every nationality, every creed. We opened them to the immigrants. The Democratic Party is the party of the people.
Seems like I've been hearing this same fucking prognosis.Twilight of the RightWhen conservatism became a movement, it lost its soul.By ALAN PELL CRAWFORD • February 26, 2014...I’d like to think that a movement incapable of critical self-examination is doomed, but I have been wrong before. As late as 1992, I wrote in the Washington Post that the Reagan years were a period in which conservatism “was transformed from a philosophy of cautious stewardship into an ideology that encourages individuals to pursue self interest, whatever the consequences to others.” This, again, was probably wishful thinking. I’m no longer persuaded that American conservatism as it has existed for half a century has ever been a “philosophy of cautious stewardship.” I’m not even sure, given the magnitude of this country’s challenges, that “cautious stewardship” will be good enough.So, in light of my sorry record, I will not hazard a guess to the movement’s future. But I have been to a few Conservative Political Action Conferences through the years, and these annual hootenannies offer some perspective on how conservatism is faring. I attended my first in 1975, if memory serves, and the most recent in 2013. I get to observe how the movement is changing—there are ever bigger crowds—and to see old acquaintances, if not exactly friends, and always admire the orators’ ability to strike a balance between scaring their audiences half to death and assuring them that, with hard work, they will completely annihilate their enemies.There are always the usual chicken hawks, of course, but I have also noticed, as some of the veterans of these events get up in years, something comparable to chicken hawks on the domestic side. There are the people who don’t go to church themselves but think religion is necessary for others. There are serial monogamists like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich who express deep-felt concerns about the institution of marriage. There’s the divorced and childless old rouĂ© who worries that other white people aren't reproducing in sufficient quantities to maintain their positions of privilege and influence.But at last year’s CPAC, the venerable Stan Evans offered these worry warts cause for hope. Conservatives might not be having babies fast enough, he said, but liberals “are aborting themselves out of existence.” I am still figuring out whether conservatives should think this is a good thing. If it’s true, they should be able to relax and let the demographics work their will, though that seems a rather Darwinian way to get the job done. I also wonder how it might factor into their “pro-life agenda.”I’m not sure Evans or his cohorts have given the matter serious thought. But this grisly nightmare vision might well represent the nadir of a “movement” that in its opposition to totalitarianism once claimed a more humane approach to politics, rooted in a respect for the dignity of the individual. This disintegration was many things—but not unpredictable.
Liberals Face A Hard Day’s Knight?OK, so Conservatism died.
That’s a pretty pathetic knight up there on the cover of the March issue of Harper’s Magazine. Battered and defeated, his shield in pieces, he’s slumped and saddled backwards on a Democratic donkey that has a distinctly woeful — or bored, maybe — countenance. It’s the magazine’s sardonic way of illustrating a powerful throwing down of the gauntlet by political scientist Adolph Reed, Jr. He has challenged the nation’s progressives with an article in the magazine provocatively titled “Nothing Left: The Long, Slow Surrender of American Liberals.”...
For a long time now, the Republican party has essentially decided to ride the tiger of right-wing extremism to electoral victories and total Washington gridlock. The real action on the right side of the aisle has been on the far right, with each new anti-Obama movement and eruption out-doing the last in terms of upping the ante. Shock-jocks have defined the message, aided and abetted by key leadership figures. And so, in the latest manifestation, we have the former vice-president, Dick Cheney, telling Sean Hannity the following last night:They peddle this line that now we’re going to pivot to Asia, but they’ve never justified it. And I think the whole thing is not driven by any change in world circumstances, it is driven by budget considerations. He would much rather spend the money on food stamps than he would on a strong military or support for our troops.So a former vice-president is out there, saying the president prefers to spend money on food stamps than on “support for our troops.”...
We submitted numerous questions to GCHQ, including: (1) Does GCHQ in fact engage in “false flag operations” where material is posted to the Internet and falsely attributed to someone else?; (2) Does GCHQ engage in efforts to influence or manipulate political discourse online?; and (3) Does GCHQ’s mandate include targeting common criminals (such as boiler room operators), or only foreign threats?
As usual, they ignored those questions and opted instead to send their vague and nonresponsive boilerplate...
Apparent Theft at Mt. Gox Shakes Bitcoin World
By NATHANIEL POPPER and RACHEL ABRAMSFEB. 25, 2014
The most prominent Bitcoin exchange appeared to be on the verge of collapse late Monday, raising questions about the future of a volatile marketplace.
On Monday night, a number of leading Bitcoin companies jointly announced that Mt. Gox, the largest exchange for most of Bitcoin’s existence, was planning to file for bankruptcy after months of technological problems and what appeared to have been a major theft. A document circulating widely in the Bitcoin world said the company had lost 744,000 Bitcoins in a theft that had gone unnoticed for years. That would be about 6 percent of the 12.4 million Bitcoins in circulation.
While Mt. Gox did not respond to numerous requests for comments, and the companies issuing the statement scrambled to determine the exact situation at Mt. Gox, which is based in Japan, the news helped push the price of a single Bitcoin below $500 for the first time since November, when it began a spike that took it above $1,200.
But at the same time that the news about Mt. Gox was emerging, a New York firm announced plans to create an exchange that could draw the world’s largest banks into the virtual currency market for the first time.
The new exchange is being put together by SecondMarket, which rose to fame a few years ago after creating a platform for buying and selling shares of companies like Twitter and Facebook before they went public.
Without the trouble at Mt. Gox, the SecondMarket plans would have been seen as a major boon for virtual currencies, providing a potential entry point into the Bitcoin market for large banks, which have so far avoided virtual currencies as their price has skyrocketed.
Barry Silbert, SecondMarket’s chief executive, said that he had already talked with several banks and financial companies about joining the new exchange, along with financial regulators, and that he hoped to have it in operation this summer.
But plans for any new venture will be tested by the collapse of Mt. Gox, which could shake the faith of early Bitcoin adopters. Ryan Galt, a blogger who writes frequently about Bitcoin and was one of the first to circulate the news about Mt. Gox, wrote on Monday: “I do believe that this is one of the existential threats to Bitcoin that many have feared and have personally sold all of my Bitcoin holdings.”
On Monday, Mt. Gox took down all of its previous posts on Twitter, one day after its chief executive, Mark Karpeles, resigned from the board of the Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for virtual currencies.
...
Fake Putin Diary!Oh dear Lord. Please. Pleeeease don't try to be funny.
Dear Diary,
I am surrounded by idiots. I create the greatest Olympics in human history. The Russian team I selected wins the medal count. I do all this while propping up Assad in Syria and sexting half the athletes in the Olympic Village. Meanwhile, that tool Yanukovych can’t even manage to keep himself in power in Kiev...Oh Sweet Break-Dancing Baba Yaga, please make this stop.
That yutz has created two giant vulnerabilities for me, a regional one and a domestic one...Hello Jackie Masonovitch!
Suddenly, I find myself in a moment of extreme vulnerability. Fortunately, I’ve got one of the greatest leaders in human history on my side: myself.
The naĂŻve Westerners (forgive the redundancy) think Ukraine is about democratic ideals, or whether the country will turn West or East. Please. There is no room for ideals in my worldview.
Alec Baldwin Says He's 'Done' with Public LifeBy STEPHEN M. SILVERMAN02/24/2014 at 06:15 AM ESTNo stranger to voicing his strong opinions, Alec Baldwin is now saying he's had enough – of public life and New York City."I've lived this for 30 years, I'm done with it," the actor and former MSNBC host, 55, states in his bylined New York magazine cover story that hit Sunday night."I'm aware that it's ironic that I'm making this case in the media," he writes, "but this is the last time I'm going to talk about my personal life in an American publication ever again."He blames some of the events of 2013, which, he concedes, "was actually a great year, because my wife and I had a baby. But, yeah, everything else was pretty awful."Baldwin acknowledges 2013 had him challenging accusations of homophobia, which cost him his reputation, his gig on MSNBC (he calls the network "as superfluous, as Fox") and his faith in the media, which he dubs "Hate Incorporated.""I haven't changed," he insists, "but public life has."He also slams media personalities Anderson Cooper (the "self-appointed Jack Valenti of gay media culture," says Baldwin; Valenti ran the Motion Picture Association of America, which rated movies for their content) and Rachel Maddow. Baldwin calls her a phony and says she tried to get him fired from MSNBC."Now I loathe and despise the media in a way I did not think possible," he says. "Paparazzi today are part of a network that includes the Huffington Post and, much to my dismay, even NBC News, in their reliance on tabloid reporting."...
Predictably, Mr. Sullivan does his little end-zone dance, celebrating the public exit of virtually the only Liberal whose existence Mr. Sullivan would ever acknowledge...
Today, George Robert Stephanopoulos apparently could not stomach the idea of sharing his bathwater with both the Moustache of Understanding"Forgetfulness: A Gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their destitution of conscience."-- Ambrose Bierce
So was Bob Schieffer (h/t Heather at Crooks and Liars):DAVID BROOKS:Yes. And it's all bad for the country. (CHUCKLE) So what are the things that are going to help the economy in the near term? Immigration would be a huge boost for the economy. A fast-track trade deal across the Atlantic, across the Pacific, huge boost. Chained CPI would save a trillion dollars in the second decade off the federal budget debt.So these are all gigantic, very good policies, where there is majority support and where, in the old days in Washington, you'd cobble together a bipartisan coalition and get rid of the fringes. But right now, the fringes have veto power over everything else, and nobody's found a solution to that.
SCHIEFFER: But you know, governor, I'm sure you would concede that you have those on the left who would take the party as far that way as some of the tea party folks want to take the Republican party on the right.I mean, when the president comes out and says he's not going to touch entitlement reform, that's like waving a red flag in front of a bull to the Republicans. I mean... ugh... have we given up on trying to get anything done and compromising on anything?
...We conclude this week at ABC, where The Clinton Guy Shocked By Blowjobs left the big chair to old pal Martha Raddatz again, and she hosted a discussion of the events in the Ukraine and elsewhere. She invited both Tom Friedman and Bill Kristol to share their thoughts, and the entire universe sailed over the event horizon of Ultimate Wrongness and never was seen again. Even though he's apparently developing another cockamamie scheme to divide the nations of the world into neat little categories -- the austerity-maddened European Union is dedicated to having "prosperous people"? Tell it to Greece. -- Friedman, at least, was realist enough to admit that a country's revolution belongs, for good or ill, to the people of that country, Kristol responded with a volley of platitudes from deep in 2002.RADDATZ: So, Bill Kristol, step back for a moment here quickly and look at what Barack Obama's foreign policy legacy is up to this point, with Syria, with Ukraine, with Libya, with Iraq, with Afghanistan.KRISTOL: With Iran, people around the world, I think, will want liberty to an amazing degree. And we've done very little to help them.Gee, if only we hadn't squandered every shred of influence we had in that part of the world by embarking on an aggressive war based on a foundation of lies. We should find the people responsible for that cock-up and keep them away from positions of influence forever.
At least that’s where Erin Ching, a student at Swarthmore College, seems to be coming down. Her school invited a famous left-wing Princeton professor, Cornel West...Over at Harvard, another young lady has similar views. Harvard Crimson editorial writer Sandra Y. L. Korn recently called for getting rid of academic freedom in favor of something called “academic justice.”...
One could easily dismiss these students as part of that long and glorious American tradition of smart young people saying stupid things. As Oscar Wilde remarked, “In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience.”But we all know that this nonsense didn’t spring ex nihilo from their imaginations. As Allan Bloom showed a quarter century ago...
To say that I have found better formed arguments growing in the back of an old fridge would A) be to insult meatcake everywhere and B) is probably one of the many reasons that Jonah Goldberg has me blocked :-)...Indeed, we are now up to our knees in this Orwellian bilge. Diversity means conformity...And ideological diversity is the only kind of diversity the Left finds offensive.Which brings us back to the sages of Swarthmore and Harvard. They at least understand that ideological diversity is actually, like, you know, a thing. They just think it’s a bad thing.More pernicious, however, is that they believe the question of justice is a settled matter. We know what justice is, so why let serious people debate it anymore? The millennia-old dialogue between Aristotle, Plato, St. Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Rawls, Rorty, Hayek et al.? Shut it down, people. Or at least if the conversation heads in a direction where the Korns, Chings, and Streisands smell “oppression” — as defined solely by the Left — then it must not be “put up with.” Diversity demands that diversity of opinion not be tolerated anymore.
You have been blocked from following this account at the request of the user.So let us just say that the Ever-Flowing Teats of the Wingnut Welfare All-Mother are indeed Infinite.
We all know there are plenty of kooks out there – on both sides – who say repulsive, racist or bigoted things all the time.
And I cannot believe that a major political party in this country would not just refuse to repudiate it, but actively embrace Nugent as an ally in campaigns.
It’s not much of a cheese shop,
Is it?
Such a long day I’ve have in the NaCl mines working my heart out for our ant overlords. And I spy with my little eye one Timmy Flanigan, Tyco lawyer lashed to the mast of the rapidly-sinking GOP Swag Ship -- the U.S.S. Jack Abramoff -- and latest in the Bush string of fecal federal appointment pearls to finally be exposed to the light of day.
Good times! But there’s a Python thing going on down below that's cracking me up and is hard to ignore. So before we wander down Bush Smackdown Boulevard, this quick...
A Moderate visits the GOP Cheese Shop.
MODERATE:
Good Morning.
MANWHORE:
Good morning, sir. Welcome to the Conservative Party Emporium.
MODERATE:
Ah, thank you my good man.
MANWHORE:
What can I do for you, sir?
MODERATE:
Well, I was, uh, sitting in the public library on Strom Thurmond Street just now, skimming through “The Conscience of a Conservative” by Barry Goldwater, and I suddenly came over all peckish.
MANWHORE:
Peckish, sir?
MODERATE:
Esurient.
MANWHORE:
Eh?
MODERATE:
(In a broad Yorkshire accent) Eee I were all hungry, like.
MANWHORE:
Ah, hungry.
MODERATE:
In a nutshell. And I thought to myself, 'a little Party ‘o Lincoln nibble will do the trick'. So I curtailed my Goldwatering activates, sallied forth, and infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some Conservative comestibles.
MANWHORE:
Come again?
MODERATE:
I want some Traditional Republican values.
MANWHORE:
Oh, I thought you were complaining about the Swastika.
MODERATE:
Oh, heaven forbid. I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Foremost Constitutional Emendation.
MANWHORE:
Sorry?
MODERATE:
Ah like’s a nice torchlit rally, I do.
MANWHORE:
So Rush can go on ranting, can he?
MODERATE:
Most certainly. Now then, some conservative values please, my good man.
MANWHORE:
Certainly, sir. What would you like?
MODERATE:
Well, eh, how about a little Red Chinese bashing?
MANWHORE:
I'm afraid we're fresh out of Red Chinese bashing, sir.
MODERATE:
Oh never mind, how are you on Civil Liberties?
MANWHORE:
I'm afraid we never have that at the end of the week, sir. We get it fresh on Monday.
MODERATE:
Tish tish. No matter. Well, stout yeoman, four ounces of Budget Balancing, if you please.
MANWHORE:
Ah. It's been on order, sir, for two weeks. I was expecting it this morning.
MODERATE:
It's not my lucky day, is it? Er, Compassionate Conservatism?
MANWHORE:
Sorry, sir.
MODERATE:
Confronting racism? And segregation?
MANWHORE:
Normally, sir, yes. Today the van broke down.
MODERATE:
Ah. How about no nation-building?
MANWHORE:
Sorry.
MODERATE:
Tolerance? Privacy?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Any respect for Science, per chance?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Plurality?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Suspicion of Big Government?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Solid economic policies?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Pay as you go?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
A Teddy Rooseveltian limit on monopolies and corporatism?
MANWHORE:
…No.
MODERATE:
Hatred of Fascism?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Optimism?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Free speech? Freedom of religion? Freedom of assembly? Petitioning you government for redress of grievances? Clean water? Clean air?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
A strong military, perhaps?
MANWHORE:
Ah! We have a strong military, yes sir.
MODERATE:
You do! Excellent.
MANWHORE:
Yes, sir. It's, ah ..... it's a bit Rummy.
MODERATE:
Oh, I like it Rummy.
MANWHORE:
Well, it's very Rummy, actually, sir.
MODERATE:
No matter. Fetch hither le Armée Des Etats-Unis! M-mmm!
MANWHORE:
I think it's a bit Rummier than you'll like it, sir.
MODERATE:
I don't care how fucking Rummy it is. Hand it over with all speed.
MANWHORE:
Oh .....
MODERATE:
What now?
MANWHORE:
Iraq’s eaten it.
MODERATE:
Has he?
MANWHORE:
She, sir.
(pause)
MODERATE:
Fair elections?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Death with dignity?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Rational gun laws?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
International respect?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Eisenhower’s “Just say “No” to the Military Industrial Complex?”
MANWHORE:
No, sir.
MODERATE:
You do have some Republican values, do you?
MANWHORE:
Of course, sir. It's a Republican Party, sir. We've got .....
MODERATE:
No, no, don't tell me. I'm keen to guess.
MANWHORE:
Fair enough.
MODERATE:
Er, staying out of other people’s bedrooms?
MANWHORE:
Yes?
MODERATE:
Ah, well, I'll have some of that.
MANWHORE:
Oh, I thought you were talking about me, sir. Manwhore Gannon. I spend rather a lot of time in other people’s bedrooms.
(pause)
MODERATE:
Honest day’s work for honest day’s pay?
MANWHORE:
Ah, not as such.
MODERATE:
Er, Term Limits?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Power sharing?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Requiring “…all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress”?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Due process?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Fair Markets?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
No frivolous Presidential pardons?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
Government transparency?
MANWHORE:
For Hillary and Health Care yes, but for Cheney and Energy Policy, not today, sir, no.
(pause)
MODERATE:
Ah, how about Zero Tolerance for Presidential lying?
MANWHORE:
Well, we don't get much call for it around here, sir.
MODERATE:
Not much ca- It's the single most famous Republican value in the world!
You impeached a man over it!
MANWHORE:
Not round here, sir.
MODERATE:
And what is the most popular value round here?
MANWHORE:
Personal Responsibility, sir.
MODERATE:
Is it.
MANWHORE:
Oh yes, sir. It's staggeringly popular in this manor, squire.
MODERATE:
Is it.
MANWHORE:
It's our number-one best seller, sir.
MODERATE:
I see. Ah, Personal Responsibility, eh?
MANWHORE:
Right, sir.
MODERATE:
All right. Okay. Have you got any, he asked expecting the answer no?
MANWHORE:
I'll have a look, sir ..... nnnnnnooooooooo.
MODERATE:
It's not much of a Republican Party, is it?
MANWHORE:
Finest in the district, sir.
MODERATE:
Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.
MANWHORE:
Well, it's so clean, sir.
MODERATE:
It's certainly uncontaminated by actual conservative values.
MANWHORE:
You haven't asked me about torture, sir.
MODERATE:
Is it worth it?
MANWHORE:
Could be.
MODERATE:
Have you- TAKE THAT FUCKING SWASTIKA DOWN!
MANWHORE:
(To skinheads) Told you so.
MODERATE:
Do you repudiate the use of torture as a matter of national policy?
MANWHORE:
No.
MODERATE:
That figures. Predictable really, I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place. Tell me:
MANWHORE:
Yes, sir?
MODERATE:
Have you in fact got any values here at all?
MANWHORE:
Yes, sir.
MODERATE:
Really?
(pause)
MANWHORE:
No. Not really, sir.
MODERATE:
You haven't.
MANWHORE:
No, sir, not a scrap. I was deliberately wasting your time, sir.
MODERATE:
Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to shoot you.
Of course this is where our little parable runs off the rails because, like the broken-down crack-whores that they are, it doesn’t matter how many times or how brutally the GOP lies to Moderates or betrays them or fucks them over, and it doesn’t matter how high into the troposphere you pile the evidence of their stupidity and complicity and denial…they will always bellycrawl back the their abusers and beg to have their three remaining teeth punched down their throats.
"When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.”
-- William Least Heat-Moon
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As usual, the limits of selective empathy, the rush to blame Muslims, and the exploitation of fear all instantly emerge
The widespread compassion for yesterday's victims and the intense anger over the attacks was obviously authentic and thus good to witness. But it was really hard not to find oneself wishing that just a fraction of that compassion and anger be devoted to attacks that the US perpetrates rather than suffers. These are exactly the kinds of horrific, civilian-slaughtering attacks that the US has been bringing to countries in the Muslim world over and over and over again for the last decade, with very little attention paid
Taibbi grew up in the Boston, Massachusetts suburbs. He attended Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1992 from Bard College located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, then spent a year abroad at Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University in Russia. His father is Mike Taibbi, an NBC television reporter....Taibbi joined Mark Ames in 1997 to co-edit the controversial English-language Moscow-based, bi-weekly free newspaper, The eXile. Of Exile, Taibbi said, "We were out of the reach of American libel law, and we had a situation where we weren't really accountable to our advertisers. We had total freedom."[citation needed] In the U.S. media, Playboy magazine published pieces on Russia both by Taibbi and by Taibbi and Ames together during this time.