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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows
October 31, 2012 8:44 AM Subscribe

Hurricane Sandy's proximity to Election Day means that the response to it is highly politicized.

NYC's Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked President Obama not to visit NYC, preferring to focus on the large amount of work needed to restore New York City - restoring power, unflooding subway and car tunnels, and cleaning up from a record-breaking storm surge.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie took a break from his recent criticism of President Obama to praise Obama's response to Sandy and partnership with New Jersey during Sandy and its ongoing aftermath - though perhaps he has an ulterior motive.

Despite the apparent snub from Christie, candidate Mitt Romney is getting involved in the relief effort - but is allegedly only delivering supplies to swing states. Meanwhile, Romney's taken some flak for a year-and-a-half old comment saying the federal government should not help states with disaster relief.

posted by entropone (433 comments total) 38 users marked this as a favorite

The absolute best* bit is Michael Brown, head of FEMA During Katrina, complaining that the goverrment response was too quick.

* for a value of best that may include apoplectic rage.
posted by Artw at 8:50 AM on October 31, 2012 [76 favorites]

The Romney campaign bought $5,000 worth of food so that it would look like their supporters were bringing it.
posted by mightygodking at 8:51 AM on October 31, 2012 [46 favorites]

Perhaps a thread to discuss the political impact will avoid exchanges like

"My house burned down and my entire state is without power"
"Do you think that will affect he down ticket votes in Ohio?"

*not backseat modist
posted by fullerine at 8:51 AM on October 31, 2012

Don't forget Michael "Brownie" Brown's political posturizing. Can you believe the nerve of that guy? And the logic... On the one hand, he was too slow to Bengazhi, apparently, but now, that he's actually on time (supposedly, according to the Republican narrative), he's acting "too fast" and it's all "for political purposes" -- you know, maybe Obama doesn't want to be able to do more than "a heck of a job".

And even better - Nutjob conspiracist Alex Jones is harping on (pun intended) about how OBAMA IS CONTROLLING THE WEATHER WITH HAARP TO MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A STRONG LEADER RIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTION!!!! (seriously, where do they come up with this shit?)
posted by symbioid at 8:52 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

mightygodking: "The Romney campaign bought $5,000 worth of food so that it would look like their supporters were bringing it."

Ah I see they're taking from the playbook of the Golden Dawn! I wonder if they only give it out to white people.
posted by symbioid at 8:53 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Christie thing is fascinating though. Forgive me if this is crass, but isn't he too fat to be a presidential candidate?
I'm not saying in reality, just in the bizarro world of american politics.
posted by fullerine at 8:56 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Governor Christoe acting like an honest to goodness adult human being was a nice suprise - I wonder if that will cost him his standing with the Petulant Child Party?
posted by Artw at 8:56 AM on October 31, 2012 [45 favorites]

Seconding muddgirl - New York practically appoints an army to control traffic and protect dignitaries when they come visit, so I think Bloomberg's reaction was prompted more by something like, "uh, look, we've got our hands full so if you come to town the only guy I'd be able to spare for the security detail is that weird guy Sid who drinks paint. Let's skip it."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:56 AM on October 31, 2012 [21 favorites]

oh my god, fullerine, you can't just say people are too fat to be president.
posted by boo_radley at 8:57 AM on October 31, 2012 [21 favorites]

I'm Canadian. Every four years, the US presidential election is my World Cup. It's so much fun to watch.
posted by davebush at 8:57 AM on October 31, 2012 [23 favorites]

Forgive me if this is crass, but isn't he too fat to be a presidential candidate?

You ever get a look at President Taft?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:58 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked President Obama not to visit NYC, preferring to focus on the large amount of work needed to restore New York City

NYC's first responders, emergency, and repair people have more important work to do right now than providing security and space to the President, but just for kicks, part of me wishes I could see Obama in lower Manhattan saying "Oceans rise. Cities fall. Hope prevails."
posted by octobersurprise at 8:58 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Plenty of places to visit that are not NY.
posted by Artw at 8:59 AM on October 31, 2012

The second picture in mightygodking's link makes it look like Romney's on a skateboard.
posted by troika at 9:00 AM on October 31, 2012 [10 favorites]

Obama took Bush's FEMA, underfunded and led by Bush's inexperienced political friends, and reformed it into a solid operation. Romney wants to balkanize disaster response into 50 little state operations who receive some federal funding (reduced by up to 40%). Oh, and he wants to hand it over to the "private sector" where possible.

Obama tried to take action on climate change, and was blocked by Republican opposition. Romney doesn't even acknowledge the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change.

There's no question there is a political lesson to come out of this crisis.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:00 AM on October 31, 2012 [106 favorites]

Not being facetious here, legitimate question: how do you privatize disaster relief? That's still gotta be a government expense, right? Where do the profits come from?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 9:02 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

I don't think this is a political decision - even if this weren't campaign season, a visit from the president is a huge and distracting undertaking for critical personnel who are more needed in emergency response capacities.

I agree. I think Bloomberg is saying "Sorry, we don't have time for empty photo ops."
posted by entropone at 9:03 AM on October 31, 2012

Jonathan Chait: Why Democrats are Right to Politicize Sandy.
posted by General Malaise at 9:03 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

oh my god, fullerine, you can't just say people are too fat to be president.

I don't think he is!
Actually I should've said, isn't a presidential election too shallow and image obsessed for him to succeed.

Besides, Cory Booker is going to be president in 2016 everyone knows this.
posted by fullerine at 9:03 AM on October 31, 2012 [16 favorites]

oh my god, fullerine, you can't just say people are too fat to be president.

I think Christie's weight is more positive than negative for him. Heft contributes to perceptions of his pugnaciousness. It's easier to distrust a skinny man with the same personality.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 9:04 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Besides, Cory Brooker is going to be president in 2016 everyone knows this.

Using your logic, isn't Cory Booker too much of an "eligible bachelor" to be a presidential candidate?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 9:04 AM on October 31, 2012

The second picture in mightygodking's link makes it look like Romney's on a skateboard.

That's nothing. Romney used to be totally into gleaming the cube in Orange County back in '89.
posted by jonp72 at 9:04 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

Heft contributes to perceptions of his pugnaciousness.

That is Taft Heft.

Taft Heft.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:05 AM on October 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

I thoroughly recommend Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke for anyone wanting to see what the worst case is, organizationally, or wanting additional incentive to punch Michael Brown in the face.
posted by Artw at 9:06 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

The Christie thing is fascinating though. Forgive me if this is crass, but isn't he too fat to be a presidential candidate?
I'm not saying in reality, just in the bizarro world of american politics.

I beg to differ. Besides, a fat candidate would seem in 2012 to be a man of the people. Mitt Romney would probably never eat at Wendy's, for example.
posted by deathpanels at 9:08 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

The buzzfeed reporter describes the "donations" at the Romney event as people at the gate with nothing to donate being given canned goods by the campaign, which they then are photographed handing to a thankful Romney.

Boy is Governor Romney going to be steamed when he gets wind of the artifice and cynicism of THAT bonehead maneuver!
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:08 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Can we please talk about Chris Christie's role in developing news without commenting on his weight. How is that remotely relevant to the FPP?
posted by naju at 9:08 AM on October 31, 2012 [23 favorites]

I tried to watch that a while back and couldn't make it through. In a good way, I guess? I need to try again.
posted by brundlefly at 9:09 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

How dare Obama not pay attention to the GOP-defined exact pico-second at which it would be neither too early nor too late to respond to something.

What a bunch of maroons.
posted by Aquaman at 9:09 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Is this going to become the election thread? I guess 7 days out is too soon.

We've voted, though, which relieved my fear about last minute voting shenanigans, but does nothing about the ever-racheting tension as we get closer to the 6th.
posted by emjaybee at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Okay, I brought up Taft, and I'm being punished for it - I worked on a show once that was about early 1920's politics, and I have a CD some guy did for Smithsonian Folkways where he recorded the campaign songs of each and every president from George Washington up through Bill Clinton; we used the cuts from Harrison through Wilson for our intermission music.

And that is how I know that William Howard Taft's campaign song was called "Get On A Raft With Taft," which always struck me as not a very good idea. And that is also the song I happen to now have stuck in my head, and I would like it to please go away.

That is all.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2012 [54 favorites]

I begin to suspect there is no such pico-second
posted by saturday_morning at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

"That" being Spike Lee's film.
posted by brundlefly at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2012

There are no libertarians in a hurricane shelter.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2012 [121 favorites]

If you're using Taft to back up the idea that a fat man can get elected, then you're under obligation to tell me about mustachioed candidates as well. Just because it happened a century ago doesn't mean it would happen now.
posted by grubi at 9:10 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Actually, Grubi, the fact that neither of the candidates is a WASP is actually more notable than size or facial hair. But noted.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:12 AM on October 31, 2012

One of my favorite bits of The Path Between the Seas is when Taft made a trip to the Canal and tried to look all sprightly and lithe by, like, climbin' up on the big manly equipment. I think we sometimes imagine that we invented the Image campaign.

Can we please talk about Chris Christie's role in developing news without commenting on his weight. How is that remotely relevant to the FPP?

I'm a fat girl, and I recognize that Christie's weight is a political liability for him. I don't see why that's inappropriate to discuss in a thread about politics. There's a difference between saying, "His weight is a liability," and "His weight should be a liability because he's a fatty fatty deathfatso."
posted by muddgirl at 9:13 AM on October 31, 2012 [18 favorites]

Hollywood Upstairs Medical College: "There are no libertarians in a hurricane shelter."

perhaps only if he owns the shelter.
posted by boo_radley at 9:13 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

> Governor Christoe acting like an honest to goodness adult human being was a nice suprise - I wonder if that will cost him his standing with the Petulant Child Party?

Well, have no fear, as he's engaged in a petulant and pointless shit talking spat with the mayor of Atlantic City.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:13 AM on October 31, 2012

For those of us who don't know nearly enough about disaster relief -- what's FEMA's role in this over the next 24h, 72h, week? Are they mostly there to provide food/water, or shelter, or medical, or help with search & rescue?
posted by saturday_morning at 9:14 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

"uh, look, we've got our hands full so if you come to town the only guy I'd be able to spare for the security detail is that weird guy Sid who drinks paint. Let's skip it."

I agree with the sentiment, EmpressCallipygos, but what would actually happen is weird guy Sid would be the only one helping to restore the city while everyone else gets pulled onto the security detail. Cleanup efforts would come to a stop during the visit. Same bottom line though: a Presidential visit would not help anything right now.
posted by ceribus peribus at 9:17 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Michael Brown clarifies that he was only criticizing Obama's speedy response on a political (i.e. concern-trolling) level
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:17 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

I think that Christie is a very smart politician who is very capable at managing the affairs of state. Unlike Romney, Christie has projected a core set of values and tough public identity that contrasts to the mendacity and weakness of Mitt. He seems capable of making the necessary momentary political compromises to govern, but doesn't loose sight of his values. His principle weakness is that he tends to lose his temper at people and come across as too brusk. Personally I don't like his political positions, but he'd be a nice contrast to the current clown show of completely vacuous nonsense of the current GOP leadership.
posted by humanfont at 9:18 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

"deathfatso" -- That actually makes him sound kind of bad-ass to me. badfatass. (sorry :-))
posted by smidgen at 9:18 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Not being facetious here, legitimate question: how do you privatize disaster relief? That's still gotta be a government expense, right? Where do the profits come from?

A captive and highly motivated consumer landscape has the potential for huge markup and profit opportunities

so sorry about the dumb derail, obviously it's me that is too crass
posted by fullerine at 9:21 AM on October 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

William Howard Taft's campaign song was called "Get On A Raft With Taft,"

"Get On A Raft With Taft." I LOL'd.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:21 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

I really want that CD, EmpressCallipygos.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:21 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Michael Brown clarifies that he was only criticizing Obama's speedy response on a political (i.e. concern-trolling) level

Surely his clarification make him sound even more repulsive?
posted by dng at 9:21 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Can we please talk about Chris Christie's role in developing news without commenting on his weight. How is that remotely relevant to the FPP?

Much of American politics consists of measuring a person by how they are perceived, and by attempting to shape that perception, rather than focusing on what they've actually done, on the fact of it.

Yet here, with Sandy, we have an actual factual thing that happened, that the public can easily grasp, and as the candidates respond to it, we can take a hard look at it and judge them by their actions as much as their words. That's a unique opportunity. It is harder to irrationally spin a person's response to a flood than it is to spin, say, their response to economic downturns.

Not that people won't try, of course, and we're so used to focusing on the image instead of the reality that, when we see a politician doing their best to deal with a major crisis, and doing a good job of it, our thoughts turn to "could this excellent politician be elected as president even though they're overweight" instead of "how can we ensure this excellent politician is elected as president?"

Feels relevant to me in that way, at least.
posted by davejay at 9:22 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Surely his clarification make him sound even more repulsive?

"Look, I wasn't saying anything of substance, I was just shit-talking the President because why not."
posted by mightygodking at 9:23 AM on October 31, 2012 [24 favorites]

Climate Change And Natural Disasters Related, Most Americans Say: Poll.
posted by ericb at 9:24 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

I really want that CD, EmpressCallipygos.

This is the CD - it's actually really fun. They had a couple of bonus tracks - one of them was even a campaign song for a third-party candidate from sometime in the 1930's or 40's. Although, fair warning that it is the single worst cover of "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" that I've ever heard in my life.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:25 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Michael Brown clarifies that he was only criticizing Obama's speedy response on a political (i.e. concern-trolling) level

It's remarkable that the level of political discourse is such that "I was only making a cheap shot for my party's political gain, not discussing policy in a substantive way" is considered to be an apology.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 9:26 AM on October 31, 2012 [26 favorites]

Rep. Steve King: Hurricane Sandy Aid Must Have Strings Attached To Avoid Waste On 'Gucci Bags'.
posted by ericb at 9:26 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Climate Change And Natural Disasters Related, Most Americans Say.

Well, Duh, My Preteen Alter Ego Says
posted by ook at 9:27 AM on October 31, 2012

ericb:

Climate Change And Natural Disasters Related, Most Americans Say: Poll.

That's HuffPo, commenting on a HuffPo poll, for what it's worth.
posted by SomaSoda at 9:27 AM on October 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

Steve King is opposed to Gucci bags because he's a fucking snake
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:30 AM on October 31, 2012 [38 favorites]

So a right wing friend of mine is insisting that Romney's comments about FEMA in the debate were not about trying to cut FEMA, but about trying to make sure the states have sufficient aid. I have read the comments a couple of times and I am not seeing that, but perhaps I am blinded by Romney derangement syndrome and basic rules of grammar. Anyone care to parse how his statement was actually pro-FEMA?
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:31 AM on October 31, 2012

Romney wise to stay quiet on FEMA? -- "His refusal to answer multiple questions..about what he would do with FEMA was pure cowardice."

Watch Mitt Romney Avoid 11 Separate Questions About What He Would Do with FEMA: VIDEO.
posted by ericb at 9:31 AM on October 31, 2012 [9 favorites]

Anyone care to parse how his statement was actually pro-FEMA?

If you remember he wants to be elected president then it makes it clearer.
posted by fullerine at 9:32 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Get On A Raft With Taft

We could do worse than Taft, he had a giant four person bathtub installed in the White House. Get In The Bath With Taft!
posted by jessamyn at 9:32 AM on October 31, 2012 [30 favorites]

Bloomberg said that he wasn't trying to "dis" the president and that his trip to New Jersey on Wednesday would represent the whole region.

Did he actually use the word dis? I guess I shouldn't be surprised in this day and age but he actually said that to a reporter? Like he has the power to dis Obama?

You gotta hand it to Bloomberg he really handles his public image. When he got fired from salomon brothers in 81 the first thing he did was buy his wife a fur coat so everyone would think he had an even bigger deal in the works.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:33 AM on October 31, 2012

It comes down to that. Christie wants to run for President, and no matter what, his handling of this disaster is going to be significant. He has a lot to make up for after being out of the state for the Christmas Blizzard in 2010, and this is a chance to recover his "disaster manager" reputation. He'll be grateful for the support of anyone who can lend meaningful help to this effort.
posted by Miko at 9:34 AM on October 31, 2012

Watch Mitt Romney Avoid 11 Separate Questions About What He Would Do with FEMA: VIDEO.

Having lied repeatly to the point where the media actually began calling him on it I guess seeing how long they will put up with this is really his best option.
posted by Artw at 9:34 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Also, re: privatizing disaster relief.

I am anxious for the day that a 50 foot tsunami is approaching the shoreline of some American state and somebody projects a Chik-fil-a logo on the wave.

"Today tsunami, brought to you by..."

Also: every Hurricane named Wendy's.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:35 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

nb boo radley's comment is a mean girls quote, y'all. no need to read too much into it.
posted by elizardbits at 9:35 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

That's HuffPo, commenting on a HuffPo poll, for what it's worth.

Your point being?

So, a poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Huffington Post is illegitimate? Really?

Really?
posted by ericb at 9:35 AM on October 31, 2012

For those of us who don't know nearly enough about disaster relief -- what's FEMA's role in this over the next 24h, 72h, week? Are they mostly there to provide food/water, or shelter, or medical, or help with search & rescue?

I'm sorry, your question does not make sense. Please insert a political candidate into your question, or try again on November 7th.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:37 AM on October 31, 2012

elizardbits: "nb boo radley's comment is a mean girls quote, y'all. no need to read too much into it."

I thought -- honestly and truly -- it was from Harry Potter. The internet does weird things to people.
posted by boo_radley at 9:38 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

are not used for "Gucci bags and massage parlors," like after Hurricane Katrina.

Nice, more crypto-racism for the "heartland". This is one step above forwarding email chains about what those people are doing to the super dome.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:39 AM on October 31, 2012 [13 favorites]

That's HuffPo, commenting on a HuffPo poll, for what it's worth.

So, a poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Huffington Post is illegitimate? Really?

Really?

I read the "for what it's worth" as meaning "so the results may be slightly biased", not "illegitimate".
posted by dfan at 9:39 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

I actually wondered if Christie's reluctance to run for president or VP this election had to do with a desire to lose weight before making his bid for office. That said, he's been very candid about his desire/difficulty/struggles to lose weight which about 50% plus of the US can relate to.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 9:40 AM on October 31, 2012

This is the CD - it's actually really fun. They had a couple of bonus tracks - one of them was even a campaign song for a third-party candidate from sometime in the 1930's or 40's. Although, fair warning that it is the single worst cover of "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" that I've ever heard in my life.

Oh Good Lord you were not kidding. Also, although I knew it was impossible I was still disappointed that Reagan's "California Here We Come" was not the theme song to The OC.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:40 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

"Heck of a job Brownie!"
posted by gallois at 9:41 AM on October 31, 2012

Hmm, I guess I was just struck that people wanted to focus on "Chris Christie: too fat?" instead of the rich vein of stuff going on here: political opportunism, accusations of political opportunism, politicians begging for federal aid even though they've spoken against it politically, the role of FEMA, etc. If it's a relevant topic, fair enough.
posted by naju at 9:42 AM on October 31, 2012

Your point being?

I was simply pointing out the source which, to me, is equally as important as the data itself.

On prevew, as dfan said.
posted by SomaSoda at 9:42 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Bonus shit-stirring: a friend of mine noted, re: Katrina vs. Sandy - "interesting that I haven't heard the word 'refugee' used once."
posted by naju at 9:42 AM on October 31, 2012 [49 favorites]

Hmm, I guess I was just struck that people wanted to focus on "Chris Christie: too fat?"

Not many people are focusing on that.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:44 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

I like that Maddow video; I wish I didn't find her so annoying. I agree with her about almost everything, including her general aggression and tone, but she really grates on me for some reason.
posted by OmieWise at 9:45 AM on October 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

On FEMA's Present and Future, Elon Green, Policy Shop The Demos Weblog, 30 October, 2012
posted by ob1quixote at 9:45 AM on October 31, 2012

Oh Good Lord you were not kidding. Also, although I knew it was impossible I was still disappointed that Reagan's "California Here We Come" was not the theme song to The OC.

God, now I'm imagining Reagan looking solemnly out a car window Ryan Atwood-style, and I am laughing so out loud that I am thankful the rest of my office mates seem to be at lunch.

(And yes, that was a horrible "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" cover -- I was going to say that I knew bad Fleetwood Mac covers because I know from Western Illinois karaoke. But wow.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:47 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

I still pine for megathreads of days gone by, but happy to have a fresh thread for the final week!
posted by Theta States at 9:48 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

A captive and highly motivated consumer landscape has the potential for huge markup and profit opportunities

Wow. And I thought I couldn't loathe libertarians any more than I already did. Removing price gouging laws will teach people to prepare better? And those who can't afford to or are unable to can just die as the free market intends? Better than letting a possible dollar profit be lost. What sacks of shit.

Not being facetious here, legitimate question: how do you privatize disaster relief? That's still gotta be a government expense, right? Where do the profits come from?

By taking a page from Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of the richest men in history:

Most notorious was his acquisition of burning houses: when Crassus received word that a house was on fire, he would arrive and purchase the doomed property along with surrounding buildings for a modest sum, and then employ his army of 500 clients to put the fire out before much damage had been done. Crassus's clients employed the Roman method of firefighting—destroying the burning building to curtail the spread of the flames.

"Hey, you need food or water? Sell us your land/possessions/etc and we'll give you a good deal on rent when we rebuild!"
posted by Sangermaine at 9:48 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Although I think the idea of privatized disaster relief is a horrible one, I do like this article about how Waffle House thinks of their role in disaster affected areas.
posted by OmieWise at 9:48 AM on October 31, 2012 [12 favorites]

Bonus shit-stirring: a friend of mine noted, re: Katrina vs. Sandy - "interesting that I haven't heard the word 'refugee' used once."

The very same mightygodking who commented earlier has a wonderful article comparing the angle of conservatives when comparing disasters affecting different races and demographics in the US.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:48 AM on October 31, 2012 [14 favorites]

Isn't having your disaster relief criticized by Michael Brown actually a stunning endorsement?
posted by ckape at 9:49 AM on October 31, 2012 [12 favorites]

It's hard to believe that this is the final week and one week from today we'll either be pleased and relieved, or crying in our beer.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 9:49 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

You have to think that Obama is Charlie Brown wondering when Christie is going to yank the football away.
posted by empath at 9:49 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Who’s ‘Winning’ the Hurricane?

Not only is this unsexy rhetoric in the aftermath of a disaster, it’s pretty brutal on its own. Mitt Romney’s eyes are fixed 25 years into the future (where, evidently, he sees no long-term risks from anthropogenic climate change), and today must be sacrificed to preserve that point on the horizon, even if it means that things today could be massively more lethal. Save tomorrow by killing today. Through the lens of natural disaster, if you want Mitt Romney’s picture of our children’s future, picture a man holding a child’s face underwater forever.

edit: Gawker has at least stopped referring to Christie as Governor Sandwiches. so there's that..
posted by ninjew at 9:51 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Not being facetious here, legitimate question: how do you privatize disaster relief?

You could probably run it on something like an insurance model. People pay into a fund over time, and when a disaster strikes you check to make sure their account's current and see what level of services they're due. Basic coverage might be something like minimal shelter, food, and a blanket for a certain number of days. More expensive plans get you rescue/evacuation assistance, or put out fires, or shovel your driveway.

Of course you'd need to run it as a very widespread, long-term program to make the actuarial tables balance out. You'd need to have a very good idea of how often hurricanes are going to hit New York before you'd be able to set policy rates. You'd also need payments coming in from policy holders all across the country so that you can pay out damages in whatever area's been hit this week.

So basically you would have to create something the size and scope of the federal government to be able to do it. Since we already have one of those, why don't we use it instead?
posted by echo target at 9:52 AM on October 31, 2012 [87 favorites]

echo target, if you call that model Health Care and foist it on your government it's socialism, remember?
posted by de at 9:55 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94: Michael Brown clarifies that he was only criticizing Obama's speedy response on a political (i.e. concern-trolling) level

dng: Michael Brown clarifies that he was only criticizing Obama's speedy response on a political (i.e. concern-trolling) level

Surely his clarification make him sound even more repulsive?

I wasn't confused about what he said when I got so angry with him yesterday. I wasn't confused about why he said it. I've calmed down now, but he's gettin' my Irish up again. "Heckuvajob" Brownie needs to shut up.
posted by ob1quixote at 9:58 AM on October 31, 2012

There is already a FEMA flood insurance program, because any huge disaster will overwhelm private insurers.

And there's a better (and more complete) version of Raft ... Taft at YouTube
posted by hexatron at 9:58 AM on October 31, 2012

The new levee system and flood control pumps in New Orleans was a project started in 2009, completed in 2011, and tested by a Category 1 hurricane with unusually heavy, lingering rain. It performed flawlessly. That's some moon-shot engineering right there, rock solid proof that not only can government be the appropriate answer, but also government can be effective and efficient.

Why Obama doesn't tout his successes, especially in his first term where he needs to sell himself for a second term, I'll never know.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:58 AM on October 31, 2012 [28 favorites]

Even the insurance model wouldn't really work -- I guess a True Capitalist could leave people to drown if their insurance card shows they aren't qualified, or if they've lost their proof of insurance in the disaster, but how do you prorate relief efforts that target entire neighborhoods or regions (such as levee repair or pumping water out of the subways?)
posted by ook at 10:01 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

You could probably run it on something like an insurance model. People pay into a fund over time, and when a disaster strikes you check to make sure their account's current and see what level of services they're due.

This is exactly how and why last year a fire department watched a home burn down.
posted by OmieWise at 10:02 AM on October 31, 2012 [13 favorites]

Those of you digging the Presidential Campaign songs may also want to check out the other CD the same guy did of election songs in general; most from the 1800's. You think politics is rough today, have a listen - sometmes they got NASTY.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:03 AM on October 31, 2012

Anyone have better sourcing on the "only distributing to swing states" claim? I find it believable, but the site's getting hammered, and what little I was able to parse out of the broken HTML the server was able to give me doesn't really make the case conclusively.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:04 AM on October 31, 2012

Bloomberg's announcement makes perfect sense. I can almost hear the call now...

Obama: Now, I hate to say it, but about visiting New York...

Bloomberg: Please, not now. We can't afford to deal with the security right now.

Obama: I know -- but you know how politics work. If I'm not in Manhattan by the national evening news shows tonight, then I'm getting melted for not being "there" to "deal with it." Sucks, but there you are. You've been through elections.

Bloomberg: Yeah...wait, how about I publicly ask you not to come. It'll might make it look like a snub on my part a bit, but I don't care, and I'm too busy -- plus, officially, I'm a republican, I'm apparently supposed to snub you.

Obama: Hmm...that might work. Go for it.
posted by eriko at 10:06 AM on October 31, 2012 [41 favorites]

The Economist had a really interesting piece on storms and elections.

To be brutal, a certain amount of bad weather on election day helps conservatives in every democracy. In crude terms, car-driving conservative retirees still turn out in driving rain, when bus-taking lower-income workers just back from a night shift are more likely to give rain-soaked polls a miss. School closures are a particular problem for low-income families or single mothers scrambling to find childcare. In this case, the weather is supposed to clear up well ahead of election day, but the impact could be felt in the turnout of early voters.

Also, this was a gem:

In Virginia, the Romney campaign bus will be delivering storm-relief supplies.

What happened to no government handouts, Mr. Romney?
posted by ef99 at 10:08 AM on October 31, 2012

The crap that Romney Inc. "collected" for the relief effort might just end up in the garbage, as the Red Cross won't be accepting it.
posted by item at 10:08 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

After we're done privatizing FEMA, can we dismantle the armed forces and replace them with contractor mercenaries that only protect the bunkers of rich people who can afford them?

It's like some people just don't want government at all.
posted by ceribus peribus at 10:08 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

In a just world Michael Brown would have been thrown in jail, maybe even shot for his role in the Katrina disaster response. That he gets any bit of airtime at all points to a truly damaged media system.

Oh, I don't know; I think giving him a little bit of media coverage when he says something incredibly stupid that makes him look like an ass is okay by me.
posted by davejay at 10:11 AM on October 31, 2012

Mitt Romney Vetoed Flood Prep Funding In 2004, Blamed For Subsequent Flooding

Governor Romney After the (2006) Flood: Not Good
posted by homunculus at 10:12 AM on October 31, 2012 [9 favorites]

Besides, Cory Booker is going to be president in 2016 everyone knows this.

No we need him to defeat Red Skull.
posted by The Whelk at 10:20 AM on October 31, 2012 [7 favorites]

ninjew: Save tomorrow by killing today.

Depending on the amount of killing, this might actually be an effective climate change mitigation strategy.
posted by wormwood23 at 10:20 AM on October 31, 2012

Jonathan Chait: Why Democrats are Right to Politicize Sandy.

Charles Pierce: Sandy: Evidence That Romney Is the Wrong President
posted by homunculus at 10:21 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

disaster relief would be tot not live in areas that undergo regular disasters

I love the society of one stuff. How they going to get cheap socks and electronics from china if nobody lives and works on the coasts to unload ships.

I suppose going Galt must involve knitting your own socks and building your own iPads.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:21 AM on October 31, 2012 [13 favorites]

I'd pay good money to have someone play "Common People" when Romney was going to take the stage. Shatner version vastly preferred, not strictly required.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:23 AM on October 31, 2012 [18 favorites]

> Of the libertarians I know, about half are prepared to do so.

Well they can't be leading very complicated lives.

"What's with the roofless house next door?"
"Oh, a couple of libertarians down on their luck."
posted by de at 10:23 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Meanwhile, Paul Ryan, king of "Making it look like I'm helping, but am actually making things worse" does another photo op.
posted by raztaj at 10:24 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

disaster relief would be tot not live in areas that undergo regular disasters

Where is that, exactly? If you eliminate parts of the US vulnerable to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornados, derechos, blizzards, and tsunamis, I don't think there is much left.
posted by ambrosia at 10:26 AM on October 31, 2012 [15 favorites]

and forest fires.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:28 AM on October 31, 2012 [10 favorites]

From what some of my libertarian acquaintances have said, one of the key aspects of libertarian disaster relief would be tot not live in areas that undergo regular disasters,

This is something I have incredibly mixed feelings about. Obviously, there are lots of places where disasters are common that having people not live in would be crazy; we're not depopulating New Orleans or parts of California prone to wildfires, for example. That said, I'm from North Carolina and we spend a lot of money repairing infrastructure on barrier islands that are basically impossible to live on. Most major storms mean that there's at least one bridge or stretch of road that needs repairing, a lot of the homeowners have state insurance because it's hard to get insurance (understandably), and frequently the Coast Guard has to go rescue some old timer who refused to evacuate and is riding his house into the sound. I grew up in inland Eastern NC and I have a huge amount of affection for those communities, but I wonder if the cost is worth it to preserve them.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:29 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

You have to think that Obama is Charlie Brown wondering when Christie is going to yank the football away.

Christie is many things, but an idiot is not one. Obama is very popular in NJ, and people there are reeling, and it would be a horrible time to attack the President over his (almost universally praised) preparedness and response to the disaster. Plus, maybe, just maybe, Christie actually has some compassion for the millions of NJ citizens who got whalloped by this storm.

NJ votes very pragmatically, and tends to be liberalish on social stuff, so if Christie goes too far then it's his own funeral. I still don't get the shit-fit with the mayor of AC though, very unseemly (even for Christie).
posted by Mister_A at 10:30 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Shatner version vastly preferred, not strictly required.

Because it's inferior?
posted by Artw at 10:30 AM on October 31, 2012

I suppose going Galt must involve knitting your own socks and building your own iPads.

Don't forget tilling the soil.
posted by homunculus at 10:30 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I have finally figured out who Paul Ryan reminds me of. Are you guys familiar with Paul Hogan's old sidekick? It's been plaguing me for weeks.
posted by de at 10:34 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Taft! He's a bad mutha(Shut yo mouth!)
posted by horsewithnoname at 10:36 AM on October 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

but um Romney said we can't kill our way out of this mess
posted by ninjew at 10:36 AM on October 31, 2012

de: I cracked up. Had not made the connection myself, but you are SO right.
posted by bardophile at 10:39 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Paul Ryan would make a great Muppet with his kind of exaggerated body language, and childish talking points.
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:42 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

happyroach: "From what some of my libertarian acquaintances have said, one of the key aspects of libertarian disaster relief would be tot not live in areas that undergo regular disasters, or be prepared to go it alone for however long it takes for private agencies to restore services. Of the libertarians I know, about half are prepared to do so."

One, I'd like to know where they consider not to be "areas that undergo natural disasters"...I mean, we had flooding from Ike (2008) in fuckin' *Missouri*, plus tornadoes (Joplin) and earthquakes. Anywhere within 200 miles of the Gulf or East Coast are ripe for a huricaine; the Midwest has flooding and tornadoes; Texas and the mountain states have forest fires, and the west coast has fires, earthquakes...Basically there's no place that doesn't have emergencies. Plus, emergencies are things YOU CAN"T EXACTLY PLAN FOR. Duh.

Second, every person being stockpiled to the gills with a year's rations, ammo, and water is rather...inefficient. I mean, yeah, it helps the economy in areas that make those Costco "100 servings of fettucine alfredo" five-gallon buckets, but other than that, Christ, what a waste. I thought conservatives were big fans of efficiency; guess not.

(and i know you're not offering these arguments, happyroach; just passing them along from libertarian friends.)
posted by notsnot at 10:43 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

OK. I have no idea whether this is apropos to this thread, but it seems pretty aimless right now so I have a story:

I was at the gym yesterday afternoon, and my Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) was there , as he often is when he's home.

The poor dude was dressed only in his shower sandals, on the way to the shower, and all of a sudden 4 guys, including your humble narrator surround him, wanting to know if he thinks Obama is going to pull it out.

He said, "Well Nate Silver gives him 74%" (or whatever it was when Peter last looked) "and I don't know anything further than that" , and extricated himself from our group to hit the shower. I did remember to wish him luck in HIS election against the perennial rich nut job that he's up against.
posted by Danf at 10:50 AM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Eh, Christie can praise Obama all he wants, but at the end of the day, he still endorses Republicans who are okay with rape as an "act of God". Stopped clocks are a terrible way to tell time, etc.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:51 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Paul Ryan would make a great Muppet with his kind of exaggerated body language, and childish talking points.

That's an insult to muppets everywhere and you know it.
posted by dinty_moore at 10:51 AM on October 31, 2012 [32 favorites]

The FEMA/ climate change issue is just one more in the thousand points of stupid opportunism that is Mittens. But yeah, the Dems have to subtly point it up this last week. Because for one, this all relates to the government built it (and repairs it) stuff.

The crap that Romney Inc. "collected" for the relief effort might just end up in the garbage, as the Red Cross won't be accepting it.

And in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep I ran across a radio station where some right-winger was blasting the Red Cross about this. Instead of realizing the crass (willful?) ignorance of the Romney campaign.

Also, re: HeckuvaJob Brownie - Long ago the TeaGOP stopped being a legit org and just became one giant Onion (Colbert/TDS/SNL) bit.

You ever get a look at President Taft?

That was pre-TV/Net.
Many years ago I read a comment that in the TV age FDR and Lincoln couldn’t have been president because 1) Handicapped, 2) Too unattractive.
posted by NorthernLite at 10:53 AM on October 31, 2012

I thought conservatives were big fans of efficiency; guess not.

True in theory, but important to point out that Libertarian != Conservative. Confounding this is the Tea Party, which is neither.

Handy guide
Libertarian: "I believe that individuals should be responsible for themselves, not government"
Conservative: "I believe that business and the free market should be responsible for the population, not government"
Tea Party: "I am a dick"
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:53 AM on October 31, 2012 [40 favorites]

The poor dude was dressed only in his shower sandals, on the way to the shower, and all of a sudden 4 guys, including your humble narrator surround him, wanting to know if he thinks Obama is going to pull it out.

I was kind of wondering how this story was going to end at this point.
posted by cashman at 10:54 AM on October 31, 2012 [22 favorites]

legitimate question: how do you privatize disaster relief? That's still gotta be a government expense, right? Where do the profits come from?

Well, there's the example of Carnival Cruise Lines' sheltering of Katrina victims. 10,000 berths on cruise ships, at a price of $1275 per week (at a time when a 7-day Caribbean cruise was going for $600). The total contract was for $236 million.
posted by Killick at 10:55 AM on October 31, 2012 [7 favorites]

From what some of my libertarian acquaintances have said, one of the key aspects of libertarian disaster relief would be tot not live in areas that undergo regular disasters, or be prepared to go it alone for however long it takes for private agencies to restore services.

And yet another major element that many libertarians fail to see is that in many areas of the country, federal "meddling" has actually reduced the instances of natural disasters. Particularly in the southeast, the creation of the Tennessee Valley Administration and damming of the rivers created an impressive reduction in flooding and flood related damage. Prior to the Nashville 2010 flood, the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers had not signifcantly crested their banks in over 50 years.

Granted, there's not a lot that can be done to prevent a hurricane, but government funding of appropriate projects can absolutely mitigate the damage done and the reduce the loss of life and property.
posted by teleri025 at 10:55 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

naju:Bonus shit-stirring: a friend of mine noted, re: Katrina vs. Sandy - "interesting that I haven't heard the word 'refugee' used once."

I've used the word 'refugee' to describe these guys, who took shelter from the storm in my kid's jungle gym.

(but that's probably not what you meant)
posted by hanov3r at 10:58 AM on October 31, 2012 [11 favorites]

Speaking of resemblances, is it beyond the pale to say that John McCain reminds me of Mason Verger from Hannibal in more ways than one?
posted by invitapriore at 10:59 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Well yeah but learning from history would also require they acknowledge we tried the "let states run ALL the things" thing several times, starting with the Articles of Confederation, and it was terrible and that's why we have the federal government we have today.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:59 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Mitt Romney Disaster Relief Position Faces Scrutiny.
posted by ericb at 10:59 AM on October 31, 2012

Taft! He's a bad mutha(Shut yo mouth!)

I was just talkin' about Taft
posted by grubi at 11:02 AM on October 31, 2012 [9 favorites]

How Many More Near-Election Disasters Before Congress Wakes Up? Sept. 11 … Katrina … Disasters have interfered with elections before, and they surely will again, but Congress has still done nothing to prepare for the next big one, writes Richard Hasen.

Via Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog
posted by homunculus at 11:03 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

I love how being a blatantly hypocritical opportunist is so deeply woven into Romney's being that he keeps dropping the ball in his attempts to appear otherwise. He's not even good at being a sociopath.
posted by invitapriore at 11:04 AM on October 31, 2012 [9 favorites]

Blazecock Pileon: "Eh, Christie can praise Obama all he wants, but at the end of the day, he still endorses Republicans who are okay with rape as an "act of God". Stopped clocks are a terrible way to tell time, etc."

Considering the setting, "pull it out" is one hell of a turn of the phrase.
posted by notsnot at 11:05 AM on October 31, 2012

FWIW, I consider myself a centrist, (i.e. fiscally conservative, socially liberal) but I ignore huffpo links in the same manner that I avoid fox links. Blatant twisting of truths to suit your own views is wrong, even when it's your views that are being supported. Granted, it's not on the same scale as what fox does, but I blame that mostly on their target audience.

The opposite of Fox is Huffpo/MSNBC/etc.
The inverse of Fox is the truth.

So I'm kindly asking that we please not make metafilter the target audience for poorly framed "polls" and talking points, on either side of the aisle.

tl;dr: weirdbeardguy.gif: The number of Huffington Post links in this thread is too damn high.
posted by Blue_Villain at 11:13 AM on October 31, 2012 [9 favorites]

"4 guys, including your humble narrator surround him, wanting to know if he thinks Obama is going to pull it out." from Danf was the quote I meant to put in there. I have no idea WTF just happend.
posted by notsnot at 11:13 AM on October 31, 2012

HuffPo links can be perfectly valid but should be treated with the same level of caution as Cracked.com lists and Gawker linkbait.
posted by Artw at 11:15 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

The CBC's man in Washington's take on it
posted by islander at 11:16 AM on October 31, 2012

Blue_Villain: "FWIW, I consider myself a centrist, (i.e. fiscally conservative, socially liberal)"

Oh, so a Democrat then. Welcome aboard!

(You're correct about HuffPo, but the idea that MSNBC is the opposite of Fox News' television arm is laughable, unless Fox News has added three hours of Stephanie Miller in the morning to go against MSNBC's Joe Scarborough.)
posted by tonycpsu at 11:18 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

The last Huffpo link is an Associated Press article.
posted by cashman at 11:18 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Rep. Steve King: Hurricane Sandy Aid Must Have Strings Attached To Avoid Waste On 'Gucci Bags'.

Ugh. You know, even more than his shitty policies, I voted against him this year because he's an absolute embarrassment as a representative for my state. The shit he's said in this last year alone - especially the absolutely bizarre stuff he came out with around the time of Akin's comments, the lovely one-two punch of (paraphrasing, but) "a man can rape a minor, drive her across state lines, force her to have an abortion and that's legal" in a baffling attempt at making a point about animal cruelty laws, followed up by "I've never heard of a child getting pregnant via rape" after the Akin thing - and he's supposed to be speaking for me? Hearing him talk shit about federal aid just makes me remember his cringe-inducing video clip from the Missouri River flooding last year, where he was standing in floodwaters in hip waders asking the President where the aid was (aid that Iowa actually didn't qualify for in that flood because there wasn't enough property damage). I really hope he gets tossed out on his ass and Vilsack comes in to class up the joint.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:19 AM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

de: The first time I watched Ryan in a video, he kept saying "..heh" at the end of each sentence, or so it sounded. I realized later that some of them were him clearing his throat, but again, once in awhile came that distinct "..heh" again... usually after a shot at Obama. I realized shortly there after that it reminded me of the way Beavis and Butthead laugh.

Maybe it's just me.
posted by meowf at 11:21 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

The opposite of Fox is Huffpo/MSNBC/etc.

The opposite of Fox isn't just some station where some liberals have television shows. The opposite of Fox is a news organization that reports the news without twisting it. MSNBC is not the equivalent of Fox on the left (which is what I suspect you meant by opposite). The network's news coverage is generally pretty even keel - perhaps even slanted a bit to the right (which is common in a lot of MSM), its commentary shows make no bones, but it's obvious to any viewer not wearing blinders that those shows are commentary and analysis shows. The same cannot be said for Fox, not even close.

HuffPo, otoh, really does suck. Their coverage is generally biased and they give space to some anti-science lunatics on a regular basis - the latter is more the reason I avoid it like the plague than the former.
posted by IvoShandor at 11:25 AM on October 31, 2012 [7 favorites]

ThinkProgress has a summary of the latest Brennan Center for Justice report on the new voting laws:

11 Court Decisions In 8 States Blocked Or Weakened New Voter Suppression Laws

Rep. Steve King: Hurricane Sandy Aid Must Have Strings Attached To Avoid Waste On 'Gucci Bags'.

He's gonna be really pissed when he hears about the Gucci underwear and the Polo cologne.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:26 AM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

The only way that Fox -- when it comes to news, not stuff that is an opinion -- is the opposite of any other media outlet is in the way that false is the opposite of true.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:27 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

A question of bias is one thing, but a question of content is another. If an outlet is the only one reporting on a specific news angle, whether or not you like their bias they may be the only or the best source for information about that news angle. For many (not all) of the HuffPo links here, I think that's the deal. Take with as many grains of salt as needed, but in some cases they've been the only outlet reporting or commenting on certain events.
posted by Miko at 11:28 AM on October 31, 2012

HuffPo's polling team is pretty dependable as well, considering they bought a respected polling aggregator (Pollster.com) outright, complete with knowledgeable and even-handed commentators.
posted by zombieflanders at 11:31 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Besides, Cory Booker is going to be president in 2016 everyone knows this.

I thought Honey Boo Boo was the shoe-in candidate for 2016.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 11:38 AM on October 31, 2012

He's gonna be really pissed when he hears about the Gucci underwear and the Polo cologne.

"Why are all of these people walking around fresh, dressed like a million bucks?"
posted by grubi at 11:39 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Fox News isn't a news program. It's an entertainment program about the news.
posted by ceribus peribus at 11:40 AM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

The first time I watched Ryan in a video, he kept saying "..heh' at the end of each sentence, or so it sounded.

James Brown impression?
posted by kirkaracha at 11:44 AM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

The anti-james brown, maybe.
posted by boo_radley at 11:47 AM on October 31, 2012

> I think Christie's weight is more positive than negative for him. Heft contributes to perceptions of his pugnaciousness. It's easier to distrust a skinny man with the same personality.

Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 12:02 PM on October 31, 2012 [17 favorites]

> Meanwhile, Paul Ryan, king of "Making it look like I'm helping, but am actually making things worse" does another photo op

From that article: "He noted that victory centers across the state and the country are accepting donations of non-perishables." What? Victory centers? We have victory centers? What's a victory center?
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:06 PM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

HuffPo, otoh, really does suck.

I get auto-play videos on every page of theirs I visit. I'm addicted to these election threads, but I'm over the Huffington Post. They are now 127.0.0.1 in my hosts file to save me when I accidentally click on them.
posted by peeedro at 12:07 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was trying to reply to notsnot, but I'm buried here, so this is just in general:
There are no places on earth that do not get hit with natural disasters. I remember reading (and I tend to believe it) that the least natural disaster prone state is Connecticut. Which just got hammered by Sandy and has massive power outages. I haven't heard anything about FEMA, but I think they were just far enough north to escape most of the damage. Of course, if New York City was shut down for an extended period of time, that would screw up Connecticut massively.
posted by Hactar at 12:07 PM on October 31, 2012

We have victory centers? What's a victory center?

Non-political centers for the relief-oriented victory of the Romney/Ryan hurricane-solving campaign for national office.
posted by cortex at 12:08 PM on October 31, 2012 [14 favorites]

From what some of my libertarian acquaintances have said, one of the key aspects of libertarian disaster relief would be to not live in areas that undergo regular disasters

Which is hilariously, ironically, un-libertarian. Why should the government be able to tell you where to live, Ayn Rand? Sheesh.
posted by fungible at 12:11 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it."

--P. J. O'Rourke. In 1991.
posted by Gelatin at 12:12 PM on October 31, 2012 [15 favorites]

We have victory centers? What's a victory center?

They're just GOP call centers.
posted by IvoShandor at 12:21 PM on October 31, 2012

/musical derail

For those of you enjoying "that guy singing the election songs he collected", you should know that that guy is Oscar Brand. He's been collecting american ephemeral songs since forever, and was apparently the inpiration for Oscar the Grouch.

If you listened to Dr. Demento as a kid, you might know him from "A Clean Song" (there was a young sailor who looked through the glass ....). I got to see him perform a few years ago (at the the church nearby the restaurant where Alice (of Restaurant fame) had lived). He was great, and if you ever need songs that can be enjoyed by people of 3 generations, that anyone can sing along to, check him out.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:23 PM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

That libertarian article about how price gouging is the only way to balance supply and demand? My quick read (and ctrl-F) found no mention of "rationing". Rationing is how we got through WWII. Why do you hate the Greatest Generation™, Mr. Yglesias?
posted by benito.strauss at 12:28 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

And how can you not like Rachel Maddow when she's the only reporter I've ever hear channeling PeeWee Herman?
posted by benito.strauss at 12:33 PM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Hactar, a note about your observation on Connecticut being the least-disaster-prone state - that claim was based on the number of accident claims being filed by residents. So it may not be so much that nothing happens, but also there's a good deal of not-enough-people-for-it-to-affect.

Which kind of underscores your point that "no place is devoid of natural disasters." Connecticut just doesn't have as many people, it's not like it's weirdly magic. (Although, my own dull childhood there makes me TOTALLY buy it having been hit with some kind of wizard spell made to render it as uninteresting as possible - "Boringus Mundanicus," perhaps.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:35 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

We have victory centers? What's a victory center?

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:36 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Mitt Romney would probably never eat at Wendy's, for example.

On the other hand, Romney is so much the smug, superior, uptight asshole guy you would think most Americans would loathe, that it suggests there may really be no logic as to whether a fat guy like Christie would or wouldn't appeal the guy next door who invites you over and happily chows beer and grilled sausages on his patio every weekend.
posted by aught at 12:36 PM on October 31, 2012

Apropos privatized disaster relief, Julia Ioffe's piece about living through disasters in glorious privatized post-truth Russia is worth reading:

"It was the Moscow of early August, 2010, and, after a hot, dry summer, much of Western Russia caught on fire. By morning on August 6, the smoke from the peat bog fires around Moscow reached the capitol. It was toxic smoke, full of harmful particles, with levels of carbon monoxide reaching nearly seven times the allowable limit ...

... But unlike the efficient, rational things that are theoretically supposed to happen when government gets out of the way, things just spiraled into dog-eat-dog chaos. There was a run on the pharmacies for facemasks, a run on the train stations and airports for a way out. Imported air conditioning units that could filter out the harmful smoke were hoarded by the corrupt border authorities until their price skyrocketed, making them far out of reach for those who needed them most: the elderly barely getting by on their pensions. And instead of trying to find ways to save the rapidly dying elderly, Moscow authorities merely pretending there was nothing amiss. Or worse: there were reports of doctors being sacked for talking to the press about the overcrowded morgues and a death rate that had suddenly quadrupled."

posted by octobersurprise at 12:37 PM on October 31, 2012 [18 favorites]

Of course there are places without natural disasters (so far). Moving everyone to those places would probably cost a lot more and be way more hassle than actually having proper disaster relief plans in place. Day to day cost of living might be a lot higher too, depending on the place.
posted by ODiV at 12:42 PM on October 31, 2012

BAGnewsNotes: Injury to Injury: After Ryan Soup Kitchen Deceit, Romney Stages Hurricane Relief Photo Op

Knowing what we know know, the TwitPic above is largely illuminating. Taken by NPR White House correspondent Ari Shapiro (retweeted by photographer Phil Rucker), we see Romney volunteers taking goods from bags and carefully arranging them on the tables. Let’s be clear, however, exactly how and where the deception is taking place. The fraud is in the perceptual deceit — and, in exactly the same mode as the soup kitchen lie, the exploitation of charity (and charitable organizations) to perpetuate the deception. The photo is a smoking gun in at least two different ways: to the extent these goods were bought by the campaign and laid out for the cameras to suggest they were donated by the public, it’s a fraud. And to the extent they represent goods for the public to use in the inevitable mountain of photo ops — the photos of Romney collecting the goods leading media consumers to believe that a citizen bought and donated that item him or herself — is also a fraud.

posted by tonycpsu at 12:50 PM on October 31, 2012 [10 favorites]

fiscally conservative, socially liberal

I always assume this is a way to say "cut the damn military's budget already, and pay for infrastructure and the welfare of the citizens instead," but would be interested if it means something different. Because if you're not talking about moving money from the military to social programs, "fiscally conservative. socially liberal" seems like code for "I support progressive causes in theory, but would rather not pay for them."
posted by maxwelton at 12:51 PM on October 31, 2012 [15 favorites]

It's just code for libertarianism.
posted by empath at 12:53 PM on October 31, 2012 [13 favorites]

Sociallly liberal usually doesn't extend to opposing anything shitty.
posted by Artw at 1:02 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Because of this FPP, I have a song stuck in my head, too.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:04 PM on October 31, 2012

Of course there are places without natural disasters (so far).

Inhabited places? I'd imagine part of what we consider to label something a disaster is whether it affects (and may in some small degree be caused by) human habitat. Floods and eruptions and things as beautiful as calving glaciers happen all the time in remote areas and would be considered disasters if they threatened someone's settlement.

If there is a settled place that isn't at risk of something heinous happening, I can't think of it.
posted by psoas at 1:06 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

*asteroid hits*

Well, that's what you get for living on Earth! You were practically asking for it.
posted by brundlefly at 1:08 PM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Each state must divert the 1/50th of the asteroid that will hit it.
posted by Artw at 1:13 PM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Each state must divert the 1/50th of the asteroid that will hit it.

Speaking for Illinois, I will happily divert my 1/50th onto Indiana.
posted by eriko at 1:15 PM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

President Obama, Gov. Chris Christie touring storm damage together in New Jersey. [Washington Post]

Look at the picture and you don't even need to read the article or Christie's comments today that "It’s really important to have the president of the United States acknowledge all the suffering that’s going on here in New Jersey and I appreciate it very much. We’re going to work together to make sure we get ourselves through this crisis and get everything back to normal."
posted by cashman at 1:16 PM on October 31, 2012 [16 favorites]

That is a good picture.
posted by peeedro at 1:21 PM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

tonycpsu, that's a really great breakdown of those photos. Thanks for linking.
posted by rocketman at 1:33 PM on October 31, 2012

President Obama, Gov. Chris Christie touring storm damage together in New Jersey.

I like to think that up in that helicopter they were blasting No Surrender.
posted by Miko at 1:33 PM on October 31, 2012

Which is hilariously, ironically, un-libertarian. Why should the government be able to tell you where to live, Ayn Rand? Sheesh.

No, no. You can live wherever you want. But if you choose to live in a disaster prone area, you're clearly too stupid to deserve aid. Natural selection will deal with you.
posted by dry white toast at 1:36 PM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'm feeling the buddy movie already: "One loudmouthed Jersey boy who likes to live large. One by-the-book Kenyan Anti-Christ. One dirty job: clean up Atlantic City!"
posted by octobersurprise at 1:37 PM on October 31, 2012 [49 favorites]

Barack could totally sell the Murtaugh role. He's got the no-bullshit wife and nice family and after four years of one disaster after another, he probably would say he's gettin' too old for this shit.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 1:41 PM on October 31, 2012 [15 favorites]

dry white toast: "You can live wherever you want. But if you choose to live in a disaster prone area, you're clearly too stupid to deserve aid."

This is a thing that has happened in the fox valley area in Illinois. There was a series of floods that destroyed a bunch of houses repeatedly and the state rescinded state flood insurance from the residents.
posted by boo_radley at 1:48 PM on October 31, 2012

This is a thing that has happened in the fox valley area in Illinois. There was a series of floods that destroyed a bunch of houses repeatedly and the state rescinded state flood insurance from the residents.

I'm not sure that's the same thing. Most states place a limit on what levels on the flood plain they will insure, and my home state had a moratorium on coastal construction in certain zones since the 1970s.
posted by Miko at 2:04 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Got to say, both Christie and Obama are looking like leaders this week. I'm cynical enough to know that they both recognize that there are excellent long term political reasons for them to be acting like (you know) adults here, but there's also plenty of plain, common sense "let's repair New Jersey" reasons for them to be doing what they're doing right now, too.

Also, note to John McCain: THIS is how you suspend a campaign.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:09 PM on October 31, 2012 [7 favorites]

After we're done privatizing FEMA, can we dismantle the armed forces and replace them with contractor mercenaries that only protect the bunkers of rich people who can afford them?

If the price of dismantling the cripplingly hypertrophic US military were that we'd also lose FEMA, we'd still be coming out far, far ahead. Ah, fantasy...

there are lots of places where disasters are common that having people not live in would be crazy; we're not depopulating New Orleans or parts of California prone to wildfires, for example.

New Orleans will someday sit under water. What's so crazy about acknowledging that fact and getting on with the inevitable business of moving everyone somewhere else while there's time to do it in an orderly fashion?
posted by Mars Saxman at 2:15 PM on October 31, 2012

What's so crazy about acknowledging that fact and getting on with the inevitable business of moving everyone somewhere else while there's time to do it in an orderly fashion?

It's not crazy, but I think you do it with policies and programs that encourage the behavior you want, not punitive measures that punish people in the short term for behavior you don't want. If we're a society that thinks human beings are worth rescuing even when they fuck up, we rescue people in disasters without asking them questions then and there. The due diligence is in reducing the number of people in harm's way, but that's a forward-looking planning project, not a shrugging of shoulders while people suffer and struggle in the present moment project.
posted by Miko at 2:17 PM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

Not sure if this has been linked or not yet ...

A $5,000 Shopping Run to Walmart Turned Romney's Campaign Stop into a 'Relief Event'

This seems too callous and surreal to actually be true.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 2:24 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Relief Events." At "victory centers."

At this point, I don't think that even Cory Booker rescuing baskets of kittens could cheer me up.
posted by bakerina at 2:33 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Romney Has a Christie Problem and a FEMA Problem.
posted by ericb at 2:37 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

You ever get a look at President Taft?

That was pre-TV/Net.

I should point out that Taft came at the tail-end of an era when obesity correlated with the diet of a rich person. Skinny people obviously worked for a living. By the time of Kennedy there was a shift to where looking active was a populist positive.

There was Bill Clinton, of course, famously parodied by SNL as working a restaurant by stealing food from people's plates.

As to privatizing disaster relief, you do have the Halliburton-KBR-style rebuilding contract stuff, but you also have on the public side the way the Bush White House nakedly touted hurricane relief from Christian organizations, as if they were the central public agency doing this, versus groups like the American Red Cross (which somewhat unfairly suffers among conservatives from an association with the International Committee of the Red Cross, seen as anti-American). So the whole angle is somewhat two-pronged.

And isn't it just the case that notwithstanding Bloomberg's support for a conceptual independent/centrist Presidential candidate (whose positions apparently would have the support of almost exactly nobody), he just has never liked Obama personally anyway?
posted by dhartung at 2:46 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

In other news:

Romney Ratchets Up Auto Industry Myth: Radio Ad Claims Obama ‘Saved’ Auto Industry For China

Speaking of China:

Bainport Day 50: Workers at Bain-Owned Plant Ask Romney to Save Their Jobs from Going to China
posted by homunculus at 2:59 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I should point out that Taft came at the tail-end of an era when obesity correlated with the diet of a rich person.

Eh, there was a whole Genre of Taft Sure Is Fat jokes at the time. my favorite was " President Taft is the nicest man in Washington, why just yesterday he gave up his seat on the trolly for four young ladies"
posted by The Whelk at 3:02 PM on October 31, 2012 [12 favorites]

New Orleans doesn't have to be underwater someday anymore than the Netherlands do. I suppose there may be some geologic expiration date, but then by that measure one day the sun will swallow the Earth so nothing is habitable.
posted by humanfont at 3:03 PM on October 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

Oh! And Taft made fun of himself too, when asked about the offer of Chair of Harvard Law he said he'd rather have a couch.
posted by The Whelk at 3:05 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Truly he was a steampunk hedonismbot.
posted by boo_radley at 3:06 PM on October 31, 2012 [14 favorites]

Christie shines, Obama leads, Brownie attacks, Romney waffles
posted by homunculus at 3:14 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's worth continually pointing out that this charitable rally (bolstered by campaign cash, of course, to make it more visually impressive) resulted in a quantity of physical goods to be donated to the Red Cross, which is exactly what they don't want, as sorting through it is a logistical nightmare and they already have a rather more pressing logistical nightmare to deal with.

Or to put it another way: the thing Romney has done in response to this disaster is not only a fraud, but it's one specifically designed to make a complicated situation more complicated.
posted by Grangousier at 3:16 PM on October 31, 2012 [7 favorites]

But of course, Miko! It's exactly that kind of long-term planning that I am talking about. What I'm objecting to in Bulgaroktonos' idea that "there are lots of places where disasters are common that having people not live in would be crazy; we're not depopulating New Orleans" is precisely that convincing people to move somewhere less disaster-prone might well be the most humane solution. Of course we should help our neighbours when disaster strikes: but no amount of disaster relief makes up for not having your life wrecked in the first place.
posted by Mars Saxman at 3:19 PM on October 31, 2012

One more wrinkle: the Red Cross isn't exactly in a position to turn down the goods (at least not publicly) because they risk turning off the nearly half of the country that will be voting for Romney and losing the real (financial) donations they need. I thought I read somewhere that someone from the Red Cross said they'd make sure they found a way to take the donations anyway, which I doubt they'd be willing to go through the hassle of if it was a bunch of MeFiites donating the goods and not the Romney campaign.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:21 PM on October 31, 2012

tonycpsu: " the goods "

I was struck at the amount of rice that seemed to be present at that thing. It seems like the least friendly disaster relief food possible.
posted by boo_radley at 3:23 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

> It seems like the least friendly disaster relief food possible.

That was probably Romney's input: "... and rice, get lots of rice."
posted by de at 3:27 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Brownie attacks, Romney waffles

Sounds like the start of a politically-themed food truck.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:28 PM on October 31, 2012 [24 favorites]

Darn, I forgot to add the point: So the RC is talking about how $5,000 of whatever misc sund foodstuffs isn't an awesome thing for people to bring in -- suppose for a moment that they did need some rice. Rather than buying 32oz bags of the stuff from CostCo, you could purchase 8+ tons of the stuff on the commodity market.

Naturally you just said "that seems like too much rice!" just then. So maybe they only buy a ton of rice for ~$600 and use the other money for other things they needed.
posted by boo_radley at 3:29 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

What about the photo op, huh?
posted by ersatz at 3:34 PM on October 31, 2012

Unless it directly affects Democratic voters ability to vote, Sandy is a huge boon for Obama. He gets the chance to look like the president (and differentiate himself from the Romney the Candidate who can't do jack) right before the election.

From the other debate thread:

Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic runs through a few theories as to why exactly Christ Christie is subverting Mitt Romney.

Dude gave the keynote speech at RNC 2012. I think his effusiveness is a clear sign about what he thinks will go down next week.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:39 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Governor Christie acting like an honest to goodness adult human being was a nice suprise - I wonder if that will cost him his standing with the Petulant Child Party?

Stupid Limbaugh was blasting him on today's show. Of course.
posted by gjc at 3:43 PM on October 31, 2012

Chris Christy is making himself look really good, and probably endearing himself to a lot of democratic leaning voters in time for 2016. Of course, it's going to make it much more difficult for him to win the republican primary. But, he would be an appealing candidate for all the beltway "centrists" to rally behind, and given that financial backing he could be the first candidate in a sane conservative party.

Of course, it has obvious ramifications for state government as well. If it looked to people in NJ that he was playing politics with disaster relief, it would be really, really damaging to him in the state. Supposedly, he really likes being the governer of NJ and wouldn't damage that to give him a leg up in the '16 republican primary.

As far as the Dems go Hillary is the obvious choice for candidate in 2016, if she wants to run.

Hopefully this will put global warming back on the front burner. Most americans do think this was caused by global warming, and they're probably right. Not so much the fact that the hurricane developed, but the fact that it's path was different. Changing global weather patterns means we see new things happen, rather then what we're used to, and what our infrastructure is designed to handle.

I was thinking about this, we saw 1 hurricane in NY in the 19th century, and one in the 20th. So that puts odds of a hurricane per year at about one in 100. But we've just had two in the past two years! Based on the 1/100 figure (which probably isn't too precise) the odds of having two hurricanes hit the NY region in two years without global warming is like 1 in 10,000. Those aren't precise figures, just based on the fact we had two hurricanes in two centuries, then two in two years.

The fact that mitt Romney joked about how Obama wanted to "stop the rise of the oceans" might not seem so funny when the actual ocean just passed through your fucking living room

Where is that, exactly? If you eliminate parts of the US vulnerable to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornados, derechos, blizzards, and tsunamis, I don't think there is much left.

Right, but the key point is that up until two years ago that's what these people were doing. Then, surprise surprise, the climate, like changed for some reason...

Michael Brown clarifies that he was only criticizing Obama's speedy response on a political (i.e. concern-trolling) level

All I can really say is… Heck of a Job, Brownie.

Romney wise to stay quiet on FEMA? -- "His refusal to answer multiple questions..about what he would do with FEMA was pure cowardice."

Not only that, refusing to answer questions just before an election makes him look like a total coward. He was already doing that over the whole "rape is a gift from god" comments before the storm hit.

He's pretty pathetic .

Why Obama doesn't tout his successes, especially in his first term where he needs to sell himself for a second term, I'll never know.

Maybe because voters in Ohio might not care too much about levies in Louisiana most of the time?
posted by delmoi at 3:43 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Rather than buying 32oz bags of the stuff from CostCo, you could purchase 8+ tons of the stuff on the commodity market.

But if you start down that line of thinking, you might decide that FEMA is more cost effective than 50 separate state agencies in charge of disaster relief.
posted by Gary at 3:44 PM on October 31, 2012 [20 favorites]

> What about the photo op, huh?

You've all missed your moment. There's only one way to deal an opposition leader's post-hurricane photo-op. That's immediately.
posted by de at 3:46 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Why Obama doesn't tout his successes, especially in his first term where he needs to sell himself for a second term, I'll never know.

Maybe because voters in Ohio might not care too much about levies in Louisiana most of the time?

This is true, I'm sure, but I'm also sure that Ohioans still remember the tragedy that Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans.
posted by NoMich at 3:48 PM on October 31, 2012

"I'd like to know where they consider not to be "areas that undergo natural disasters"...I mean, we had flooding from Ike (2008) in fuckin' *Missouri*, plus tornadoes (Joplin) and earthquakes. Anywhere within 200 miles of the Gulf or East Coast are ripe for a huricaine; the Midwest has flooding and tornadoes; Texas and the mountain states have forest fires, and the west coast has fires, earthquakes...Basically there's no place that doesn't have emergencies.
posted by notsnot

England. Ok, so we have the odd storm, earthquake, and some snow but its not too bad. OTOH David Cameron and his Cronies.
posted by marienbad at 3:55 PM on October 31, 2012

fiscally conservative, socially liberal

I like to think I'm a good person, unless there's money involved.
posted by Mick at 4:13 PM on October 31, 2012 [9 favorites]

marienbad: "England. Ok, so we have the odd storm, earthquake, and some snow but its not too bad."

Never forget.
posted by brundlefly at 4:13 PM on October 31, 2012

London is gonna flood hard someday.
posted by Artw at 4:14 PM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Libertarian paradise will be really cool, when everyone is making all these rational informed important life decisions, based on the totally accurate and freely available information being provided to them by the caring consortiums of rich people who control all the banks, media, etc., no longer shackled by regulation and oversight.

It'll be pretty awesome, and a huge populist movement will totally not form, screaming to reinvent government, I assume because when they gather in one place the dams will be opened to wash them all away, and it serves them right for ignoring the implicit responsibilities they take unto themselves by choosing to gather in that kind of liability zone.
posted by fleacircus at 4:15 PM on October 31, 2012 [13 favorites]

I'm hoping they all make it up to a space colony. Then once nature and randian economics have taken their course it will orbit lifelessly forever as a grim warning...
posted by Artw at 4:16 PM on October 31, 2012 [9 favorites]

Drudge says "SEX SCANDAL TO HIT CAMPAIGN... DEVELOPING..." Anyone seen what this one is yet? I can't wait to find out.
posted by gerryblog at 4:22 PM on October 31, 2012

[bitter tears]
posted by gerryblog at 4:22 PM on October 31, 2012

This picture is worth more than a thousand words.
posted by vac2003 at 4:24 PM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

There's an update on the days without a GOP rape mention site. John Koster, congressional candidate.
posted by annsunny at 4:27 PM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Gerryblog: I wouldn't assume that's the presidential campaign.
posted by empath at 4:34 PM on October 31, 2012

That was probably Romney's input: "... and rice, get lots of rice."

The Mormons have a rule about emergency food storage. Here is a list that suggests 100 lbs of rice per adult be stored as part of the mandatory 1 year's supply of food.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:35 PM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

Drudge says "SEX SCANDAL TO HIT CAMPAIGN... DEVELOPING..." Anyone seen what this one is yet? I can't wait to find out.

Paul Ryan was caught masturbating to his reflection.
posted by clearly at 4:35 PM on October 31, 2012 [15 favorites]

>> legitimate question: how do you privatize disaster relief? That's still gotta be a government expense, right? Where do the profits come from?

> Well, there's the example of Carnival Cruise Lines' sheltering of Katrina victims.

Exactly. Maybe Romney means privatize in the free market Ryan/Randian way that the European government controlled post & telephone companies got out of the cell phone business (which is profitable), but when I heard it, I assume he meant the typical G.O.P. (not conservative, not libertarian and not free market) way of reducing government services:

Cut taxes on the rich & business, keep tax on the middle class & poor, cut services to the poor and middle class and shower tax revenues (and further tax cuts) on donors/friends.

Replacing FEMA with Blackwater/Xe/Academi + Halliburton and FedEx isn't cheaper, but it puts money in the hands of Republican donors instead of civil servants.
posted by morganw at 4:37 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

> Paul Ryan was caught masturbating to his reflection.

Good thing life doesn't begin with ejaculation. Mind you ...
posted by de at 4:39 PM on October 31, 2012

Not being facetious here, legitimate question: how do you privatize disaster relief? That's still gotta be a government expense, right? Where do the profits come from?

dhartung's got it: It's still a government expense, but instead of the federal government doing the work directly, FEMA would contract out the work to cronies like Halliburton or whomever, who would then make a profit off of the taxpayers, costing us more. The rich have gotten into defense, and are trying to get a bite of currently-public education, and disaster relief services are also on the target list.

Also, everything octobersurprise posts these days: eponysterical.
posted by univac at 4:40 PM on October 31, 2012

Gerryblog: I wouldn't assume that's the presidential campaign.

I guess. I guess he wants to hype the mystery and then reveal that it's nothing.
posted by gerryblog at 4:41 PM on October 31, 2012

the mandatory 1 year's supply of food

lol "mandatory"
posted by The World Famous at 4:46 PM on October 31, 2012

re: Rice

FWIW, here in Hawaii, a sort of disaster prep understanding is that you try to cook as much rice as you can while the disaster is on the way. Its sort of most people's staple starch and we're lost without our rice cookers.

I mean, you can cook rice without the rice cooker, but then it doesn't stick together properly. How do you mainland people handle runny rice?
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:47 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

SEX SCANDAL TO HIT CAMPAIGN... DEVELOPING...

PLEASE BE ABOUT TAGG
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 4:56 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

SEX SCANDAL TO HIT CAMPAIGN... DEVELOPING...

PLEASE BE ABOUT TAGG

Posted on Drudge Report. Should be intelligent and insightful.

/s
posted by Mister Fabulous at 5:00 PM on October 31, 2012

Oh. It won't be Tagg, it'll be Ben.

> FWIW, here in Hawaii, a sort of disaster prep understanding is that you try to cook as much rice as you can while the disaster is on the way.

Sure. The thing is not to get tricked into assessing the usefulness of the Romney supplies. They were intended as props for a farce.
posted by de at 5:03 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

In other news: Romney’s lax regulation may have fueled meningitis outbreak: A meningitis epidemic that has killed 25 is linked to a Mass. company Romney's administration failed to regulate
posted by homunculus at 5:04 PM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Oh. It won't be Tagg, it'll be Ben.

What about Josh?
posted by homunculus at 5:06 PM on October 31, 2012

The thing is not to get tricked into assessing the usefulness of the Romney supplies. They were intended as props for a farce.

Well, that too, but the main thing to take away from this is you mainland people cook rice incorrectly.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:06 PM on October 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

Here's my pitch:

Jake and the Fat Man meets The West Wing.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:10 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

From Homunculus' link, above. Holy fuck this is the future for my country.

"On Tuesday, Oct. 23, state authorities said they would open a criminal investigation and move to revoke NECC’s license after finding that the pharmaceutical firm did not test lab equipment properly, failed to sterilize medications and repeatedly shipped orders for the drug without confirming that the lots had been sterilized.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Department of Health released documents dating back more than a decade that revealed a series of regulatory citations involving NECC.

In 2002, the Food and Drug Administration filed a confidential report alleging that two patients had suffered “adverse effects” after injections of an NECC compounded betamethasone repository, a steroid that is different from the one under scrutiny in the current epidemic. A few months earlier, New York resident William Koch became ill with bacterial meningitis after receiving injections of the steroid. According to an AP report, NECC settled a lawsuit in the case after he died in 2004.

In all, Massachusetts state records revealed that between 2003 and 2006, there were six complaints regarding NECC and its co-owner, Barry Cadden. At least one of these complaints alleged that NECC’s methylprednisolone acetate failed to comply with pharmaceutical standards. This is the same drug involved in the current epidemic."
posted by marienbad at 5:14 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Joe Scarborough is harmless. Stephanie Miller would be a great replacement for Fox and Friends.
posted by humanfont at 5:14 PM on October 31, 2012

Nation Suddenly Realizes This Just Going To Be A Thing That Happens From Now On

Gradually comprehending that this sort of thing is now just a fact of life, citizens all across America stared blankly at images of destroyed homes, major cities paralyzed by flooding, and ravaged communities covered in debris, and finally acknowledged that this, apparently, is now a regular part of the human experience.

posted by BungaDunga at 5:27 PM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Jumping back a bit in this thread, I imagine that the movie Event Horizon sort of depicted the Libertarian paradise in space...
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:27 PM on October 31, 2012

BungaDunga, I half-expect The Onion to close in a fit of depression if Romney wins. Or if anyone wins, really. Its humor has darkened since the move back to Chicago.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 5:40 PM on October 31, 2012

A House Divided Against Itself Can Place Hilarious Dueling Campaign Signs on Its Lawn
posted by homunculus at 6:14 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

What could this sex scandal be that Matt Drudge has gotten the internet all perked up about? And how come no one in this thread has yet mentioned how if Cuomo successfully builds his massive sea wall, he will be a shoo-in for 2016?
posted by brina at 6:20 PM on October 31, 2012

Drudge has updated it to say "STORY SAID TO INVOLVE POWERFUL SENATOR, SOURCES TELL DRUDGE. DAILY CALLER PLANS LATE NIGHT RELEASE..."
posted by zombieflanders at 6:34 PM on October 31, 2012

Chicago politicians know all about responding to weather emergencies and the consequences on upcoming elections
posted by jairousse at 6:39 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ugh, if it's Daily Caller, it won't be about a GOtP senator. Drat.
posted by troika at 6:42 PM on October 31, 2012

Not sure whether this has been posted, but Chris Christie has added numerous pictures of him and President Obama to the official governor's website. I'm sorta liking this man crush they have going on.
posted by syzygy at 7:18 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm sorta liking this man crush they have going on.

It's adorable. And a little sexy.
posted by Miko at 7:28 PM on October 31, 2012

Ugh, if it's Daily Caller, it won't be about a GOtP senator. Drat.

Based on the Daily Caller's last "explosive" news, I wouldn't be surprised it it's a random State Senator.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:40 PM on October 31, 2012

It's a pleasant break from the usual Christie. When's the last time New Jersey elected a qualified, competent governor, anyway?
posted by mollweide at 7:41 PM on October 31, 2012

I don't think anyone ever thought Christie was incompetent, just a butthole. The last couple days have this liberal rethinking the guy.
posted by notsnot at 7:44 PM on October 31, 2012

Christie's an undisciplined loudmouth whose heart is mostly in the right place but whose pugnacious spirit leads him in some ill-thought-out directions. That means he's all over the map on a good day. I bet he's rethinking a few things too.
posted by Miko at 7:46 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm on my phone and can't recharge so I'll ask a brief but nonsnarky question: do you think he's been competent at day to say governance?
posted by mollweide at 7:54 PM on October 31, 2012

"Based on the 1/100 figure (which probably isn't too precise) the odds of having two hurricanes hit the NY region in two years without global warming is like 1 in 10,000"

umm, no

The probability of a once in 100 years event happening in two years consecutively in a 112 year period (and happening at least one other non-consecutive time) is a little over 1 in a 100. Just over 111 in 10000.

I'm not a global warming denialist, in fact I think they are idiots. So lets leave the really bad arithmetic to them please.
posted by lastobelus at 7:57 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Competent? ....I'm going to say no, though his times make him look viable. He's really uneven. His approach to budget cutting was hamhanded and undiscerning, and his "tough-guy" rhetoric about it needlessly inflammatory. He hasn't really done much for the economy and some of his tax reform policies had the opposite of the intended effect.

But because many people laud this sort of thing now a lot of people would say he has been great.
posted by Miko at 8:04 PM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Seeing Obama and Christie together again... It really drives home just how large Christie's head actually is. Seeing Obama speak with Christie in the background, His head looks like it's actually twice the size!

That libertarian article about how price gouging is the only way to balance supply and demand? My quick read (and ctrl-F) found no mention of "rationing". Rationing is how we got through WWII. Why do you hate the Greatest Generation™, Mr. Yglesias?

Uh, Yglesias a Libertarian? I'm pretty sure Matt Yglesias is an actual socialist. He's worked for the Center for American progress and supports wealth redistribution, among other things.

In any event, anti-gouging laws are actually are pretty dumb, because all that happens is a few people hoard stuff, and everyone else gets nothing. How is that helpful? Rationing would work, but politically, how is that going to work? Even from a practical standpoint, how do you even setup a rationing system in the middle of a hurricane? If you set it up before hand, how would you ensure everything was actually working and everyone had their 'ration cards' and they could be processed everywhere?

Not allowing prices to rise is just feel-good nonsense that only makes things worse in an emergency.
posted by delmoi at 8:19 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

U.S. President Barack Obama hugs North Point Marina owner Donna Vanzant as he tours damage done by Hurricane Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey, October 31, 2012.

You can watch the video at CSPAN. Around 3:20 in the president begins to meet the group of people Vanzant is with. I saw Vanzant on CNN afterward and said she felt calmed by the president and she was very thankful that he went there.
posted by cashman at 8:26 PM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Miko, that's been more or less my feeling too. Interesting to see how it plays on a national stage. I wish we could get a governor that actually seems to care about NJ, but given the limited power of the governor here, I'm not sure how much difference it would make.
posted by mollweide at 8:28 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

The New York area was hit by several Hurricains during the 20th century. 20+. Not only that but there were years with back to back storms. Think the total count per wiki is 86 since the 18th century.
posted by JPD at 8:28 PM on October 31, 2012

Romney waffles.

Don't eat those, they're spoiled.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:36 PM on October 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

The probability of a once in 100 years event happening in two years consecutively in a 112 year period (and happening at least one other non-consecutive time) is a little over 1 in a 100. Just over 111 in 10000.

If it was a 1 in 100 year thing, then the odds of it happening in a specific two year period, though, would be one in 10,000. (In other words, asking the question: how likely is it we'll have a hurricane this year, and then also next year)

It's a little strange because we're talking about what the probability of an event that's actually happened and what the probability of that event happening had been at some point in the past given just the information about the number of hurricanes in the past (which apparently wasn't correct anyway). The point was just that was a pretty unusual set of events.
posted by delmoi at 8:41 PM on October 31, 2012

I wish we could get a governor that actually seems to care about NJ, but given the limited power of the governor here

I've always heard that the NJ governor actually has a lot of power compared to most states.
posted by delmoi at 8:43 PM on October 31, 2012

I'm in the Denver metro area and was a fan of David Sirota's morning show on AM760. He can be a bit much sometimes but I could appreciate his ability to hold his own during contentious interviews or phone calls pretty fiercely but gave people a chance to explain their position before tearing into it.

Out of the blue he moved out of his morning time slot over to AM630 and paired up with Michael Brown for a new show called "The Rundown." I was initially quite incredulous that this was the same Michael Brown that fucked up Katrina big time and pretty much exposed his all-pervading shit-assery in the various emails he sent leading into the do-jack-athon...and then remembered that Oliver North and G. Gordon Liddy have had talk shows in the past (and perhaps still do, don't care to find out), and despite all of their horribleness they are still sufficiently credible as authorities in politics for a sufficient number of listeners; they just made some [criminally incompetent or flat-out criminal] mistakes here and there. Didn't make me feel any better but it made sense, I s'pose.

What did make me feel better was when Michael Brown stumbled into the studio where nationally-syndicated Los Angeles-based Norman Goldman was recording a special "I'm in Denver" edition of his PM show. Goldman is a bit childish with name-calling and other patterns on his show and is kind of like the "shit reddit says" of AM talk radio in that he is happy to get muddy with the pigs with no pretense of refusing to stoop to any level of discourse. But I enjoy his schtick much of the time, and so Michael Brown walks into the studio for some reason (Norman was doing a McCain impression at the time) and Norman just lays in with the "Hey, it's Brownie everybody! You're doing a heckuva job Brownie! Come sit down, let's talk, hey, where are going?" (not an exact quote) and that shit felt good because I don't think he gets called out much on his own show. I can't stand it most of the time because AM630:Fox News :: AM760:MSNBC so the callers are extra-terrible and Sirota gets them all riled up.

Turns out Norman debated Brown prior to this encounter at this event. Sirota is in a separate panel in the same video. The level of discourse is obviously AM-talk-radio-level, and Norman says some cringe-worthy stuff in the parts I've seen but it's entertaining nonetheless. I definitely have respect for the way he calls out Brownie in this debate (before it really gets started even) and during the encounter on his talk show.

In any event, I have no patience for anyone who wants to start a serious conversation about getting rid of FEMA and letting the states + private sector work it all out. Let's have 50 different bureaucracies bro!

And of course Romney's "let's have 50 separate snowflake solutions to healthcare cost explosionz lOL" position is similarly laughable to me.
posted by lordaych at 8:50 PM on October 31, 2012

Crossposting from everywhere, here's Jon Stewart's take on Christie & things from tonight's show.
posted by Miko at 8:51 PM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Delmoi, I don't think the NJ governor is particularly powerful. At least it hasn't been my experience living in NJ. The office doesn't seem powerful against the assembly and state senate, particularly if they are unified.
posted by mollweide at 8:55 PM on October 31, 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama hugs North Point Marina owner Donna Vanzant as he tours damage done by Hurricane Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey, October 31, 2012.

Jesus America, how can so many of you not vote for this man.
posted by fullerine at 9:03 PM on October 31, 2012 [10 favorites]

Wow, that C-span bit with Obama walking through the marina, talking to folks... that's good stuff. Talk about handling it well...
posted by Pantengliopoli at 9:10 PM on October 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

That's what a 'heckuva job' looks like. That sensical guy who took Obama's handoff is Craig Fugate, head of FEMA.
posted by Miko at 9:18 PM on October 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Romney waffles.

Don't eat those, they're spoiled.

Plus, the waiter just pours the maple syrup all over your head, and you just have to hope that it trickles down to the plate...
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 9:46 PM on October 31, 2012 [15 favorites]

The waffles are also 20% smaller, but he closed all the holes to make up for that. So, basically just pancakes.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:59 PM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Romney Versus the Automakers: Mitt Romney can’t admit that the auto bailout helped Detroit and America, so instead he invents problems with it.
posted by homunculus at 10:06 PM on October 31, 2012

Even when it is clear now that virtually the entire Eastern Seaboard is threatened by rising sea levels, someone on here is still going on about how we need to spend gazillions to move everyone out of all of New Orleans specifically, because that would be super-humane and sensible? And you'd move people out of nearby low-lying suburbs, I would guess? Amazing.
posted by raysmj at 10:15 PM on October 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

> Jesus America, how can so many of you not vote for this man.

Seriously close elections are trending.

Two elections out from the Bush/Howard/Blair horrors -- which is where the US is now -- both British and Australian electorates delivered hung parliaments (under Westminster systems), the elections were that close.

Essentially, no party in Britain or Australia was given a majority to govern in its own right. So we're functioning with 'minority governments' or 'balanced governments'. The electorate can deliver powerful messages.

Your presidential system doesn't seem to offer you a similar option, so I'm assuming Obama is hearing the electorate loud and clear, but Romney is far too paternal to do anything other than wrest power from the electorate, then implement his business model in total disregard. "Hard decisions" he'll claim, but "for your own good".

Here's hoping the US is smart enough to get Obama through even if it is by the skin of his teeth, in the wake of a storm.

Actually, Blair handed over to Brown without an election, so maybe the British electorate hung its parliament at the first opportunity, not the second.
posted by de at 10:53 PM on October 31, 2012

So when Bush toured New Orleans in Katrina's aftermath, his administration was criticized by the press (NYT?) for turning the event into an out-and-out cynical photo-opp, what with his podium being placed higher than the photographers' spot, so that he'd tend to look like a messiah or something. (Wish I have the link on me, but it was widely commented upon back in 2005)

And now you have pictures like this. None of that Reifenstahl-ian spectacle-making shit; just a plain mic that was put up in the middle of nowhere.
posted by the cydonian at 11:30 PM on October 31, 2012

"STORY SAID TO INVOLVE POWERFUL SENATOR, SOURCES TELL DRUDGE. DAILY CALLER PLANS LATE NIGHT RELEASE..."

Story's up - they're alleging that Bob Menendez (D-NJ) paid women for sex in the Dominican Republic. I'm not linking to Daily Caller because ew.
posted by naoko at 11:31 PM on October 31, 2012

Your presidential system doesn't seem to offer you a similar option

To the contrary -- the Republican minority in the Senate, along with a full majority in the House, have been able to effectively halt any legislative progress for the last two years of Obama's first term. It may not be electorally the same thing, but it's effectively quite similar.
posted by dhartung at 12:44 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's a little strange because we're talking about what the probability of an event that's actually happened and what the probability of that event happening had been at some point in the past given just the information about the number of hurricanes in the past (which apparently wasn't correct anyway). The point was just that was a pretty unusual set of events.

It matters that his instincts about probability are so wrong -- two orders of magnitude wrong in this case. I also don't care about the specific parameters he set forth. But I care about how wrong he got his mental risk calculation given his starting parameters, because that particular misconception about risk is behind a lot of suboptimal behaviour by a lot of people in a lot of areas, from their attitude to climate change to their attitudes towards driving habits and everything in between.
posted by lastobelus at 12:58 AM on November 1, 2012

Start your election day off right with Romney Waffles!

Romney Waffles: rich, flaky, and severely tasty!
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:12 AM on November 1, 2012

Story's up - they're alleging that Bob Menendez (D-NJ) paid women for sex in the Dominican Republic. I'm not linking to Daily Caller because ew.

Menendez is divorced, up 20 points, and nearly all of his electorate is suffering from the worst disaster in their lives. I doubt this is going to make a difference.
posted by zombieflanders at 5:04 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

England. Ok, so we have the odd storm, earthquake, and some snow but its not too bad.

Not quite sure if you're being tongue-in-cheek, marienbad, but:

Boscastle 2004
UK floods of 2007
Morpeth floods in 2008
UK flooding in 2009
Floods in Cornwall and Merseyside in 2010
Dorset and north-east England in 2011
Floods in 2012 during Britain's wettest summer in a hundred years.
posted by rory at 5:11 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

@owillis: Romney talks bs about bipartisanship while Obama works with Christie to rebuild New Jersey.
posted by zombieflanders at 5:17 AM on November 1, 2012

Well, he did, really, for any value of "good for Romney." Luckily for us, but unluckily for Romney, that's not a particularly important value. (Although Romney is never likely to realize that.)
posted by OmieWise at 5:39 AM on November 1, 2012

Story's up - they're alleging that Bob Menendez (D-NJ) paid women for sex in the Dominican Republic.

I don't really care for the phrase 'weak sauce', but seriously? Weak sauce.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:42 AM on November 1, 2012

On NPR this morning they had a soundbite from a woman at a rally for Romney in Florida; she apparently felt that Christie "went on and on too much" in expressing his gratitude to Obama.
I don't even know.

I couldn't really understand that lady either - I think it was because I was screaming "OH COME THE FUCK ON, FUCK YOU FUCK YOU." at the radio.
posted by odinsdream at 6:01 AM on November 1, 2012 [7 favorites]

Romney flip flops on killing FEMA: ‘I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs’

But after repeatedly ignoring reporters’ questions about that topic in the wake of this week’s super storm, Romney reversed course in a statement on Wednesday.

“I believe that FEMA plays a key role in working with states and localities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters,” the candidate said. “As president, I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission, while directing maximum resources to the first responders who work tirelessly to help those in need, because states and localities are in the best position to get aid to the individuals and communities affected by natural disasters.”

posted by Room 641-A at 6:04 AM on November 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

> Romney flip flops on killing FEMA: ‘I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs’

ha!
posted by de at 6:07 AM on November 1, 2012

Hurricane force winds will tend to clear the Etch-a-Sketch screen.
posted by OmieWise at 6:10 AM on November 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

*phew* now that all that hurricane stuff is over, Fox can get back to asking unsubstantiated questions about Libya via their headlines!
"SMOKING GUN????"
posted by Theta States at 6:15 AM on November 1, 2012

Where is that quote from? I love it, but didn't see it in the linked article.
posted by OmieWise at 6:49 AM on November 1, 2012

He tweeted it (bottom of page).
posted by troika at 6:58 AM on November 1, 2012

Josh Tyrangiel of Business Week magazine: "Our cover story this week may generate controversy, but only among the stupid."

Image of the simple yet brutal cover here.
posted by zombieflanders at 8:22 AM on November 1

Finally someone on the business side is saying this. Big-ass kudos.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 6:58 AM on November 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Theta States: *phew* now that all that hurricane stuff is over, Fox can get back to asking unsubstantiated questions about Libya via their headlines!

Here you go!

Hidden Tapes & Secret Emails: Right Wing Now Throwing Kitchen Sink At Obama On Libya

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Fox News this morning claimed, without offering any evidence, that veterans no longer trust Obama post-Benghazi

John Bolton, seeming to take cues from conspiracy theorists Frank Gaffney and Aaron Klein, speculated on Tuesday that the U.S. may have been buying arms from terrorists in Libya to give to Syrians at the time of the attack

Also on Tuesday, Newt Gingrich referred to “rumors” about emails implicating the White House in incompetence

And Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) think Obama’s anti-torture pledge is keeping one of the arrested suspects away from U.S. interrogators

Meanwhile, Sean Hannity is now claiming to have sources who heard “damning” audio tapes of those under attack in Benghazi

Full quotes and links in the linked article.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:07 AM on November 1, 2012

Yes, it's only a controversial theory that deserves to have both sides treated equally so long as storms of unprecedented strength don't rip through your financial capital twice in one year.

That cover is the investment and finance industry telling the energy extraction industry to STFU.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:08 AM on November 1, 2012 [6 favorites]

Tomorrow's right-wing freak-out today.

(I do hope we get that shot of Christie rocking out with The Boss, though.)
posted by tonycpsu at 7:42 AM on November 1, 2012

Romney flip flops on killing FEMA: ‘I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs’

Every Mitt Romney quote should include the phrase "for now". E.g. "For now, Romney says he will ensure FEMA funding". It just feels like more honest reporting.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:09 AM on November 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

Green Party Candidate Jill Stein Arrested Protesting Keystone XL Pipeline: ‘I’m Here To Connect The Dots’
posted by homunculus at 9:19 AM on November 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Every Mitt Romney quote should include the phrase "for now". E.g. "For now, Romney says he will ensure FEMA funding". It just feels like more honest reporting.

And maybe "YMMV" for the younger voters.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:23 AM on November 1, 2012

I insert the missing phrase into all Romney quotes, doesn't take long to figure them, so:

“I believe that FEMA plays a key role in working with states and localities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters,” the candidate said. “As president, [I will meet with FEMA, day one, to rewrite its mission and] I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission, while directing maximum resources to the first responders who work tirelessly to help those in need, because states and localities are in the best position to get aid to the individuals and communities affected by natural disasters.”

posted by de at 9:23 AM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's Global Warming, Stupid
posted by homunculus at 10:04 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Green Party Candidate Jill Stein Arrested Protesting Keystone XL Pipeline: ‘I’m Here To Connect The Dots’

“I’m here to connect the dots between super storm Sandy and the record heat, drought, and fire we’ve seen this year – and this Tar Sands pipeline, which will make all of these problems much worse. And I’m here to connect the dots between climate devastation and pipeline politicians – both Obama and Romney – who are competing, as we saw in the debates, for the role of Puppet In Chief for the fossil fuel industry. Both deserve that title. Obama’s record of ‘drill baby drill’ has gone beyond the harm done by George Bush. Mitt Romney promises more of the same.”

It doesn't sound like a very good message.

Perhaps the Green's should try a long game, i.e. starting the run for the 2020 Presidential race now. They'll never get to 5% of the vote at this rate, let alone an actual Presidency.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:20 AM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Brandon Blatcher:
"Green Party Candidate Jill Stein Arrested Protesting Keystone XL Pipeline: ‘I’m Here To Connect The Dots’"

While I fully understand her actions and applaud her conviction, the irony of the situation awakens my inner snark monster:
Hey, Jill, ProTip: Try not to get arrested while running for the office that is tasked with upholding the laws of the land.
posted by charred husk at 10:36 AM on November 1, 2012

I don't think Stein (or Gary Johnson, for that matter) are delusional enough to think that they're actually running for President. They know that running on a third-party ticket is essentially a publicity stunt. Stein has done a pretty good job generating publicity, all things considered. Much better than Cynthia McKinney who was the candidate 4 years ago.
posted by muddgirl at 10:38 AM on November 1, 2012 [10 favorites]

muddgirl:
"I don't think Stein (or Gary Johnson, for that matter) are delusional enough to think that they're actually running for President."

Oh, I'm sure. There's still just a technical irony about it. Not like here isn't any precedent; Debs and LaRouche, etc.
posted by charred husk at 10:43 AM on November 1, 2012

For President Convict No. 9653

You could put up ten thousand Obamas and Romneys and they still wouldn't have the conviction or principles of one Gene Debs.
posted by graymouser at 11:06 AM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

both Obama and Romney – who are competing, as we saw in the debates, for the role of Puppet In Chief for the fossil fuel industry. Both deserve that title. Obama’s record of ‘drill baby drill’ has gone beyond the harm done by George Bush. Mitt Romney promises more of the same.”

...

It doesn't sound like a very good message.

Climate Scientist Sees No Choice but to Risk Arrest at Keystone XL Protests

James Hansen: ‘Neither Party Wants To Offend The Fossil Fuel Industry’

A Pipeline That Threatens Us All

I dunno. I think she just won my vote.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:20 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Four days to the election. How many more times can Stein get herself arrested before Tuesday?
posted by brina at 11:35 AM on November 1, 2012

I dunno. I think she just won my vote.

She needs a lot more vote in order to fix those problems.

How many more times can Stein get herself arrested before Tuesday?

I sense a new drinking game!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:45 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

The problem with the pipeline isn't that it contributes to AGW, but that it runs directly over a vital and vulnerable aquifer, without which Midwest agriculture essentially ends, our food costs skyrocket and a large chunk of the world starves to death as we can no longer export enough cereal crop to feed them.

So, no, it wasn't a very good message. Like most US Greens, she's all over the map and muddles whatever message she may be trying to make. Get back to me when the Green Party takes an interest and makes a difference in my home town... until they do, they're a party of attention seekers, living off of the donations of the starry-eyed who mistakenly believe the Greens will ever be able to effect anything ever intentionally.
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:48 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Michael Bloomberg's endorsement (note the fourth paragraph):

When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want to leave my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us there. The two parties’ nominees for president offer different visions of where they want to lead America.

One believes a woman’s right to choose should be protected for future generations; one does not. That difference, given the likelihood of Supreme Court vacancies, weighs heavily on my decision.

One recognizes marriage equality as consistent with America’s march of freedom; one does not. I want our president to be on the right side of history.

One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet; one does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics.

Of course, neither candidate has specified what hard decisions he will make to get our economy back on track while also balancing the budget. But in the end, what matters most isn't the shape of any particular proposal; it’s the work that must be done to bring members of Congress together to achieve bipartisan solutions.

Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both found success while their parties were out of power in Congress – and President Obama can, too. If he listens to people on both sides of the aisle, and builds the trust of moderates, he can fulfill the hope he inspired four years ago and lead our country toward a better future for my children and yours. And that's why I will be voting for him.

posted by zombieflanders at 12:11 PM on November 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

Confronted By Protester, Romney Maintains Climate Silence
posted by homunculus at 12:25 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Billion-Dollar Disasters Mount: Superstorm Sandy Adds To Record Heat, Drought, And Wildfires For The U.S.
posted by homunculus at 12:26 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

From the Bloomberg endorsement:

I believe Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, and he would bring valuable business experience to the Oval Office. He understands that America was built on the promise of equal opportunity, not equal results. In the past he has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and health care. But he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the health-care model he signed into law in Massachusetts.

And from the Politco column on it:

That last point, about Romney having "reversed course on all of" his past "sensible" positions, is at the heart of Obama's argument against Romney right now.

posted by Theta States at 12:33 PM on November 1, 2012

Drudge has updated it to say "STORY SAID TO INVOLVE POWERFUL SENATOR

Did someone finally ID the guy that kept squeezing David Brooks' thigh under the table?
posted by Gelatin at 12:49 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

how weird is that, homunculus, that the response of the GOtPers in that video to the climate change guy is to shout "USA! USA!" Like, someone who acknowledges
climate
change hates America? So stupid.
posted by fingers_of_fire at 12:49 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Bloomberg and Christie have basically doomed any chance Romney had of changing the narrative in his favor. The polling was already showing an uphill climb for Romney with his path to 270 looking exceedingly perilous (thus the the hail mary passes to states that are safely Obama) but this outpouring of compliments and endorsements from Republican officials in the wake of the storm when TV viewership is likely to be extremely high is almost certainly going to result in a late shift towards Obama among undecided voters.

I'm actually thinking 332 is an achievable goal for Obama at the current time. It probably won't happen but I think that would be a significant repudiation of Romney and the current Republican platform.
posted by vuron at 12:59 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

fingers_of_fire: "GOtPers "

Hey, what is this?
posted by boo_radley at 1:14 PM on November 1, 2012

grand old tea partiers.
posted by empath at 1:18 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Get Out the Poopers.
posted by Theta States at 1:21 PM on November 1, 2012

Got Ours! Thanks, Peasants!
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:24 PM on November 1, 2012 [22 favorites]

This is awesome.

(punch line)
posted by tonycpsu at 1:26 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Goons Objecting to Progress
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 1:33 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

A Convenient Excuse

Pre-Election Reading: Wen Stephenson on Climate Self-Censorship
posted by homunculus at 1:41 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Hurricane Sandy may be playing a similar role to the one played by the financial crisis in 2008: you get to see how each candidate responds to an actual crisis. Obama's calm, cool response to the financial crisis in 2008 made him look good in contrast to McCain's panicky suspending of his campaign. Obama's handing of Sandy is so perfect he's getting rave reviews from the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention, and Romney's collecting rice and diapers in Ohio. People ponder whether they'd prefer having Romney in charge and think, "Aw, hell no."
posted by kirkaracha at 1:42 PM on November 1, 2012 [6 favorites]

Confronted By Protester, Romney Maintains Climate Silence

Romney supporters are terrifying. I cannot understand this mindlessness at all.
posted by odinsdream at 1:54 PM on November 1, 2012

Political cartoons:

If Romney Cuts Fema
An Unlikely Bromance
GOP Disaster Relief
posted by cashman at 2:04 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Like, someone who acknowledges climate change hates America?

That's been a Republican position for quite some time now. It was at the very first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, better known as the Earth Summit, where George HW Bush famously declared "The American way of life is not negotiable". Using a disproportionate amount of the world's oil and expelling a similar proportion of the world's CO₂ is apparently an American entitlement. If you find fault with that then obviously you hate America.
posted by ceribus peribus at 2:07 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

> [Greens] living off of the donations of the starry-eyed who mistakenly believe the Greens will ever be able to effect anything ever intentionally.

The Greens may never implement policy, but with sufficient numbers in the house and senate the Greens will influence policy. Problem with an immature Green party is it confuses campaigning with protest. The Greens should not be protesting, but proposing. (Slowly but surely, the Greens are gaining numbers and influence around Western parliaments.)

> ... a large chunk of the world starves to death as we can no longer export enough cereal crop to feed them.

Doubt it. The Chinese are overly concerned about future food security and are buying areas of Australian agricultural land (right now) because they foresee that hole in that future market.

All these plans: By 2030, China will ... ; by 2025 Australia will ... ; by 2035 India will ... ; by 2020 Japan will ... . Everyone's 'moving forward', cooperatively, all with climate change in mind, with these masterful bilateral trade agreements (where's Obama?!) and all I can think is: Oh yeah, and how's the water supply holding?
posted by de at 2:10 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm not gonna help."
posted by The World Famous at 2:12 PM on November 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Isn't china in the midst of it's rural population relocating into cities en-masse? I wouldn't assume that just because they are big and have some measure of centralized planning that they are in anyway more protected from doing dumb things than anybody else.
posted by Artw at 2:18 PM on November 1, 2012

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are

"This is your insurance company and we aren't paying."
posted by octobersurprise at 2:34 PM on November 1, 2012 [12 favorites]

China's moving very quickly, and there's no way they're not vulnerable to error. Their growing middle class has demands, there's need for supply. China has manpower and money, they're industrious, and they're shopping. Seems planned, and very measured.

Many flowing into its cities are migrant workers. Its rural young head for the cities, too.

They're experimenting with privatisation (or was that Russia?); and they're about to get a new (more liberal) leader, days after the US election. China's changing.

Anything could go wrong. They provide arms to the African nations for starters ... we know where that heads in the long run.
posted by de at 2:40 PM on November 1, 2012

Since it's so easy to exploit the environment for profit, you'll find business interests around the world who are opposed to environmental regulations and restrictions. I'm not aware of branding efforts in other countries that make it part of the national patriotic image, though. Remember how 'Ozone Man' wasn't elected because otherwise "We'll be up to our necks in owls and outta work for every American"?

I'm sure that plenty of other pro-business positions are also given high torque spin to convince the masses to vote in their interests. "Saving the Environment = Hurting America" is one that's been going on for a long time.

(But what if there weren't timely environmental disasters to demonstrate the marked difference in crisis management between the two parties? Better environmental policy would deny us these learning opportunities and the chance to apply that knowledge at the polls...)
posted by ceribus peribus at 2:51 PM on November 1, 2012

Big Brother Is Watching You Grow Pot
posted by homunculus at 2:51 PM on November 1, 2012

Well well well somebody's happy today
posted by Miko at 2:52 PM on November 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

China is also certainly not adverse to creating gigantic environmental catastrophes and has no capability for self examination on this whatsoever.
posted by Artw at 3:03 PM on November 1, 2012

I wonder what Romney 's supporters were saying about Bloomberg asking Obama to not go to New York. And what they're saying now.

More timely good news for Romney: George W. Bush giving a speech in the Cayman Islands.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 3:11 PM on November 1, 2012

> and has no capability for self examination on this whatsoever.

Maybe China will change as it 'socialises' more. All indications are China is wanting to be a good global citizen; these days that includes environmental management, more especially if China is to set up businesses on foreign soils.
posted by de at 3:12 PM on November 1, 2012

Uh-oh.

New Nor’easter May Hit East Coast Next Week -- "...NOR’EASTER POSSIBLE FOR MID-ATLANTIC/NEW ENGLAND STATES BY ELECTION DAY INTO NEXT THURSDAY..."
posted by ericb at 3:15 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

> "Saving the Environment = Hurting America" is one that's been going on for a long time.

There's world pressure on Obama to dispel some of this stuff and when I hear him head for the rhetoric of new ways of doing business, he seems to shy from the hard sell (the rest of us get). He probably knows he has an uphill battle, he certainly knows the score, but I also sense this is not his field ... his heart's not in it.

> (But what if there weren't timely environmental disasters to demonstrate the marked difference in crisis management between the two parties? Better environmental policy would deny us these learning opportunities and the chance to apply that knowledge at the polls...)

Ha! Who needs a disaster to discern the better man in a crisis?
posted by de at 3:33 PM on November 1, 2012

Global warming has been all but completely ignored in this election. Realistically, it is a race to "produce" more fossil fuel, not less. Fracking may be a savior for our economy, but the lower energy costs will accelerate global warming and make green energy less competitive. Soon there will be drilling in the Arctic, and more fracking around the world, I'm sure.

Natural gas is mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Pound for pound, methane is at least 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, over a 100-year period, and as much as 100 times more powerful over a 20-year period. Releasing increasing amounts of it into the atmosphere could accelerate the pace of climate change.

Maybe an international carbon tax/credit system would be the most sensible, but politically very difficult. More important for the East Coast and Gulf Coast are realistic predictions of and planning for future severe weather events. It seems like flood damage is usually the most destructive and costly.
posted by Golden Eternity at 3:56 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Global warming has been all but completely ignored in this election.

Well, there was the whole GOP fuck you to wind farms thing...
posted by Artw at 4:06 PM on November 1, 2012

Unfortunately the main uses of the carbon cap and trade system appear to be tax avoidance and money laundering.
posted by ceribus peribus at 4:08 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

> Maybe an international carbon tax/credit system would be the most sensible, but politically very difficult.

That's where we're headed. However
posted by de at 4:09 PM on November 1, 2012

(Oscar Brand's campaign songs CD is THE GREATEST and I will sing songs from it basically forever.

"Wait for the wagon / The Millard Fillmore wagon! / Wait for the wagon / and we'll all take a ride!"

"Hatin's comin' / Satan's comin' / if John Quincy not be comin'!"

"Rockabye baby / Daddy's a Whig / When he comes home / hard cider he'll swig / and when he has swug / he'll fall in a slew / and down will come Tyler / and Tippecanoe."

I love this CD. I bought it for my boss for Christmas. It goes with Drunk History like cheese with wine.

posted by brainwane at 5:28 PM on November 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Did Mitt Romney Break the Law by Failing to Disclose Delphi Investments?
posted by homunculus at 6:49 PM on November 1, 2012

NJ to use military trucks as polling locations
posted by Miko at 8:10 PM on November 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Mitt's reaction here totally reminded me of this.
posted by granted at 10:20 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Manhattan Evacuation Plan Reveals Island’s Old Contours

It is interesting to compare the evacuation map to a 1776 map of the island before much of the coastline was augmented by landfill. The eastern line of Zone A along the Hudson River runs along Greenwich Street, which was at the waterfront in 1776. The old slips on the East River extend inland to Queen Street, now Pearl Street, which is near where Zone A runs along the East River.
posted by ninjew at 10:42 PM on November 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Rep. Steve King: Hurricane Sandy Aid Must Have Strings Attached To Avoid Waste On 'Gucci Bags'

Before everyone gets all teary-eyed about Chris Christie, consider that just six weeks ago Christie flew to Iowa to headline a fundraiser for Steve King, one of the most execrable people in Congress, whose racist, misogynist, ignorant rants make Michelle Bachman seem like the epitome of sanity.

If you really want to know the kind of person Chris Christie is, listen to This American Life episode about the Hemant Lakhani case in which Christie, under orders from G.W. Bush and Karl Rove to come up with a splashy terrorist arrest for political advantage, embarked on a year long campaign of entrapment in order to curry favor from his masters. Every single person involved in the "terrorist" plot, including the instigators, was a government agent except for the target of the sting. Everything Christie does is to further his own political ambitions.
posted by JackFlash at 10:42 PM on November 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

I don't think Stein (or Gary Johnson, for that matter) are delusional enough to think that they're actually running for President.

Who Is Gary Johnson? And Why Is the GOP So Mad at Him?
posted by homunculus at 11:17 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Mitt's reaction here totally reminded me of this.

"I am not programmed for a response to that question."

Actually, at about 0:44, you can almost see a human response of disdain. You can almost imagine the android thinking (for real) "who is this asshole and how did he get in here?"

Also note: that's why he's not doing any more interviews. "What do you think about FEMA, governor?"
posted by mrgrimm at 12:15 AM on November 2, 2012

"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" has to be one of the most memorable campaign songs ever.

Henry Clay, renowned orator and famous negotiator, somehow managed to come up with the worst songs and slogans of all time.

Song: "Hurrah, hurrah, the country's risin' / For Harry Clay and Frelinghuysen."

Do not try to rhyme 'Frelinghuysen'. Really. Just don't.

Slogan: "Who the hell is Polk?"

(Answer: Polk is the guy who ended up winning the election, is who the hell ... possibly in part because you came up with a catchy slogan that had the OTHER GUY'S NAME IN IT, Clay.)
posted by kyrademon at 5:29 AM on November 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

OMG I accidentally loaded Drudge today and got this hilarious headline:
OBAMA LEFT THEM BEHIND: HUNGRY DUMPSTER DIVING IN NYC
With a photo of people at a dumpster, juxtaposed with a picture of big-grin Obama smiling and waving, seemingly at them.

*jawdrop*
The nutbar is strong this time of year.
posted by Theta States at 5:41 AM on November 2, 2012

OBAMA LEFT THEM BEHIND: HUNGRY DUMPSTER DIVING IN NYC

Duh nice try , but you they got it all wrong of course.
Obviously dumpster diving is a way of life and hobby for some here in NYC, it has been since long before the hurricane and will continue to be as long as people throw away useful items and good food which happens every day. And you don't even have to be homeless to participate.
posted by Liquidwolf at 6:34 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

The nutbar is strong this time of year.

Ok, wrap it up, people! Election's over! Go home! Hebrew expert claims Mitt's destiny embedded in Scripture. (Warning: WND click-bait, but still hilarious, or is it ... ?)
posted by octobersurprise at 8:50 AM on November 2, 2012

Do not try to rhyme 'Frelinghuysen'. Really. Just don't.

I went to Frelinghuysen Junior High and I'm pretty sure that there was a school song but I don't remember if it had any rhymes on Frelinghuysen. Took me long enough just to learn how to spell it.
posted by octothorpe at 9:14 AM on November 2, 2012

I went to Frelinghuysen Junior High .... took me long enough just to learn how to spell it.

You should have gotten some sort of award for learning that. They could call it the Spelling Heisman.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:07 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Frelinghuysen

Spelling Heisman

I see what you did there.
posted by The World Famous at 10:27 AM on November 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

USA USA USA Chanters: "Admitting it's climate change would personally inconvenience me by 3-5% and I'm willing to bet the future of our species against my selfishness!"
posted by grubi at 10:28 AM on November 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

The USA USA thing had absolutely nothing to do with climate change specifically. They were just drowning out a heckler. Democratic crowds have done similar things.
posted by empath at 10:36 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Admitting it's climate change would personally inconvenience me by 3-5% and I'm willing to bet the future of our species against my selfishness!"

I think it's even more than that. The God-given American right to enslave animals and destroy the planet is sacrosanct. Anything that challenges that view (driving less, producing less, recycling, rationing, alternative energy) is heresy and LALALALALALALA.

Democratic crowds have done similar things.

I'd be curious of examples.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:38 AM on November 2, 2012

Obama "Forward" music video

I'll just leave this here for all your uplifting video needs.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 10:39 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

TAKE THE 'R' TRAIN

I'll just leave this here for all your uplifting video needs.
posted by homunculus at 11:11 AM on November 2, 2012

I'd be curious of examples.

Fox News, but its not hard to find other examples.
posted by empath at 11:16 AM on November 2, 2012

I'd be curious of examples.

Fox News, but its not hard to find other examples.

At least Obama acknowledged the person.
posted by Liquidwolf at 11:25 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

TAKE THE 'R' TRAIN

Congratulations on mr. Third Eagle for rhyming 'board with forward.
posted by Anything at 11:35 AM on November 2, 2012

Fox News, but its not hard to find other examples.

But what was the heckler asking/doing. If he's shouting "BANANAS!" or other nonsense just to disrupt, that's different than say interrupting (loudly) with a question about the killing of innocent civilians via predator drone.

There's a specific issue being addressed, I think both candidates are best to respond with "we'll try to answer your questions afterward" etc. and if the person refuses to stop disrupting the speech, then escort them out.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2012

ClimateSilence.org's anti-Romney ad: Romney vs Sandy
posted by ceribus peribus at 12:41 PM on November 2, 2012

The Neroes of global warming
posted by homunculus at 1:28 PM on November 2, 2012

humunculus, I read that as Negroes of global warming and was about to sputter and expostulate.
posted by Neneh at 1:34 PM on November 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

Heh, I read it that way too the first time.

MetaFilter: sputter and expostulate.
posted by homunculus at 1:36 PM on November 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

Besides, Cory Booker is going to be president in 2016 everyone knows this.

What America Needs Now: Clinton/Booker 2016
posted by homunculus at 1:36 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Everyone knows Cory Booker's still a bachelor, right? If he really has Presidential ambitions, he best be getting on Match.com toute de suite.
posted by tonycpsu at 1:40 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sometimes when I'm feeling low I just read Cory Booker's wikipedia page.
posted by The Whelk at 1:44 PM on November 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

"At age 14, Booker was allegedly bitten by a spider rumored to have been used in experiments on arachnid invulnerability to radiation.^[1] During the rescue of a woman in a house fire on April 12, 2012,^[2] witnesses claimed that he climbed up into a 3rd-story apartment unaided, and though no evidence was found, some said that it appeared he descended on some sort of rope-like material with no discernable source.^{[citation needed]}"
posted by zombieflanders at 2:10 PM on November 2, 2012 [7 favorites]

humunculus, I read that as Negroes of global warming and was about to sputter and expostulate.

...

Heh, I read it that way too the first time.

Yikes, me too.
posted by grubi at 2:30 PM on November 2, 2012

Gov. Christie's motives
posted by Golden Eternity at 2:31 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Everyone knows Cory Booker's still a bachelor, right? If he really has Presidential ambitions, he best be getting on Match.com toute de suite.

That didn't work out too well for Charlie Crist.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:41 PM on November 2, 2012

Mitt’s Media Blackout: 22 Days and Counting Since Romney Answered a Question from the Press
posted by homunculus at 3:13 PM on November 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

"TAKE THE 'R' TRAIN" left me gapemouthed. I usually like trains and this video misused my disproportionate affection for trains to make an ill-considered political smear that did not rhyme well. Betrayal.

Fun campaign song videos from 4 years ago.
posted by brainwane at 3:19 PM on November 2, 2012

Poll - More than Two-Thirds of Republican Voters Believe in Demonic Possession, And less than half think humans are responsible for climate change
posted by homunculus at 3:24 PM on November 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

That article describes the poll as "shocking" for some reason.
posted by brundlefly at 3:31 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

More than Two-Thirds of Republican Voters Believe in Demonic Possession...
..posted by homunculus

Finalist, 2012 Most Eponysterical Comment
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:58 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sandy and the Job Numbers: The Week When the Actual Turning Points Stepped Out of the Campaign Shadows
posted by homunculus at 6:19 PM on November 2, 2012

More timely good news for Romney: George W. Bush giving a speech in the Cayman Islands.

Rachel Maddow: Former President Bush to speak at Cayman investment forum days before election

Clinton barnstorms for Barack, George W. Bush barnstorms for bucks at Cayman Island tax-dodge soiree
posted by homunculus at 6:33 PM on November 2, 2012

Unfortunately, according to that same poll, a significant plurality of Democrats, and almost a majority of them, also believe in demonic possession.
posted by Flunkie at 7:30 PM on November 2, 2012

"TAKE THE 'R' TRAIN" left me gapemouthed.

I clicked on it and got an ad from "American Future Fund". The display ad below the video was OK, but the overlay ad on top of the video read "something something OUR CUNTRY something something". I would have gotten a screenshot if it hadn't timed out before I could activate my software, and about two dozen refreshes only served me different ads.
posted by dhartung at 9:55 PM on November 2, 2012

Mitt’s Media Blackout: 22 Days and Counting Since Romney Answered a Question from the Press

I guess Mitt finally realized it looked bad when he always ended up getting fact-checked afterwards... by his own campaign.

Mitt: "My favorite food? Well, I'll tell ya, I love all-American food, like hot dogs, and double cheeseburgers... and a nice grilled steak! Yessir!"

Campaign spokesman, the next day: "Governor Romney misspoke, and meant to say that he's actually a vegetarian."
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 10:25 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Stupid Hurricane ‘Victims,’ Let Fox News’ John Stossel Explain Why It Is Awesome To Price Gouge You
posted by homunculus at 10:45 PM on November 2, 2012

Murdoch Warns Gov. Christie ‘Must Re-Declare For Romney Or Take Blame For Next Four Dire Years’
posted by homunculus at 12:40 AM on November 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Chris Christie: Mitt hasn't called me since Sandy hit
posted by homunculus at 12:40 AM on November 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Murdoch Warns Gov. Christie ‘Must Re-Declare For Romney Or Take Blame For Next Four Dire Years’

I was bought up with the belief that you if have nothing nice to say about somebody, then don't say anything about them. But that doesn't stop me not-so-silently hoping there is a special place hell reserved for that man.
posted by vac2003 at 1:16 AM on November 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

But that doesn't stop me not-so-silently hoping there is a special place hell reserved for that man.

I think Satan will treat him as just another run of the mill douchebag and make him suffer with a billion other people from all over the social strata who are just like him. To remind him that he was really nothing special.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:00 AM on November 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Christie was Mitt's first choice for VP

Romney campaign denies Christie report
posted by homunculus at 9:58 AM on November 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Oh my goodness. Imagine the counterfactual of an "October Surprise" with VP pick Chris Christie engaging in a Bush-on-9/11-style bullhorn moment. Could New Jersey have actually been in play for the GOP? It's hard to believe, but...
posted by tonycpsu at 10:04 AM on November 3, 2012

Murdoch Warns Gov. Christie ‘Must Re-Declare For Romney Or Take Blame For Next Four Dire Years’

Ha. He's as likely to tell Rupert to go fuck himself. Prediction, though: if Romney loses, the right will blame Christie. He'll be the traitor who stabbed Mitt in the back on the eve of his victory. They'll crucify him.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:21 AM on November 3, 2012

And that, ironically, might wind up putting Christie in the White House.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:25 AM on November 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ha. He's as likely to tell Rupert to go fuck himself. Prediction, though: if Romney loses, the right will blame Christie. He'll be the traitor who stabbed Mitt in the back on the eve of his victory. They'll crucify him.

Not entirely likely though, fingers crossed.

Being a cock about things would have got him hated either way.
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on November 3, 2012

Romney’s New Attack Dog, Rudy Giuliani, Calls For Obama’s Resignation
posted by homunculus at 12:22 PM on November 3, 2012

I guess Rudy! 911 doesn't think Obama's going to get voted out on Tuesday, then.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:27 PM on November 3, 2012

Does he have a real job these days?
posted by Artw at 12:59 PM on November 3, 2012

Saying "9/11" nonstop is a full time job.
posted by Flunkie at 1:39 PM on November 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Golden Eternity: "Releasing increasing amounts of it into the atmosphere could accelerate the pace of climate change."

They don't intentionally release methane. They want to capture the methane so they can sell it. Which is good, because burning methane releases less carbon dioxide per unit of heat than burning coal does. Yes, switching from dirty to cleaner, but still dirty, isn't great, but it's better than nothing.
posted by wierdo at 3:26 PM on November 3, 2012

Dear Rudy:

Don't forget, a lot of the people in New York remember that in early 2001 that you were on your way to being a nobody, and a hell of a lot of the people who live here never voted for you in the first place. If you really want to do New Yorkers a favor, stop ripping open the 9/11 scab, come down and shovel trash in the Rockaways and then work a soup kitchen in Red Hook and then go gently fuck yourself.

Signed,

Empress Callipygos of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

P.S. - And I donated $35 to the Brooklyn Museum when I went to see the Sensation Exhibit back in 1999 so ha ha.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:30 PM on November 3, 2012 [6 favorites]

Matt Taibbi: Hurricane Sandy and the Myth of the Big Government-vs.-Small-Government Debate
posted by homunculus at 5:57 PM on November 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

They don't intentionally release methane. They want to capture the methane so they can sell it. Which is good, because burning methane releases less carbon dioxide per unit of heat than burning coal does. Yes, switching from dirty to cleaner, but still dirty, isn't great, but it's better than nothing.

I didn't mean to imply that methane is released intentionally. Sorry, sloppy comment by me.

Scientific American: Fracking Would Emit Large Quantities of Greenhouse Gases

A recent PNAS study found that if the leakage rate from natural-gas production rises to 6 percent, then a natural gas plant would contribute more to global warming than a coal plant would over the first 25 years of their lifespans.

Judging from existing research, natural gas appears to be an improvement over coal, though it’s still not clear how much. Officially, the EPA estimates that those methane leakage rates are about 3 percent. That would make natural gas a clear winner. But the EPA number is only an estimate, and it’s based on industry data that is hard to verify. One recent independent study sampled the air over a natural gas field in Colorado and found that the leakage rate might well be twice as high.

So natural gas *might* be an improvement over coal. If cheap natural gas prices are causing coal to be replaced by natural gas instead of wind or solar, and causing more energy use in general, then it is not really helping climate change mitigation significantly if at all. Maybe it is hurting it. Natural gas transportation infrastructure leakage is also a potentially significant problem.
posted by Golden Eternity at 6:38 PM on November 3, 2012

Actually, it looks like more recent studies are more optimistic about fracking - and the EPA has added regulations for Methane leakage, which is good to hear.

Mother Jones: Is Fracking Good for the Environment?

Science Daily: Replacing Coal With Natural Gas Would Reduce Global Warming
posted by Golden Eternity at 7:13 PM on November 3, 2012

N.J.'s Christie opens offices for early voting; paper ballots ready
posted by homunculus at 11:11 PM on November 3, 2012

Meet The Climate Change Denier Who Became The Voice Of Hurricane Sandy On Wikipedia
posted by homunculus at 8:45 AM on November 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Louis C.K. on SNL: Fox and Friends: Hurricane Sandy
posted by homunculus at 9:40 AM on November 4, 2012 [3 favorites]

Louis C.K. on SNL: Fox and Friends: Hurricane Sandy

Someone nice on reddit typed out all the corrections.
posted by Gary at 6:07 PM on November 4, 2012 [3 favorites]

Red Cross issues annoyed statement about Romney “relief” donations
posted by homunculus at 7:38 PM on November 4, 2012 [3 favorites]

Matt Taibbi: Hurricane Sandy and the Myth of the Big Government-vs.-Small-Government Debate

"In the abstract, most Americans want a smaller and less intrusive government. In reality, what Americans really want is a government that spends less money on other people."

Spot on. Fucking hypocrites.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:20 AM on November 5, 2012 [3 favorites]

Chris Christie Cried After Getting a Hug From Bruce Springsteen, Is Still Totally & Weirdly Obsessed
posted by homunculus at 2:00 PM on November 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Uh-oh. New Nor’easter May Hit East Coast Next Week -- "...NOR’EASTER POSSIBLE FOR MID-ATLANTIC/NEW ENGLAND STATES BY ELECTION DAY INTO NEXT THURSDAY....

Mandatory Evacuations Ordered Ahead Of New Storm.
posted by ericb at 2:07 PM on November 6, 2012

There's nothing weird about being obsessed with Bruce!

I loved this review of the new Bruce biography on the NYT today. Very well written. The author says " The Springsteen obsessive — I rate myself at about an 8.1 out of a possible 10 - "

Admittedly, I'm probably an 8 on that scale.
posted by Miko at 5:23 PM on November 6, 2012

Rebecca Solnit: The Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse: Hurricane Sandy Rides In
posted by homunculus at 11:33 PM on November 6, 2012

Boehner Still Threatens Future of Humanity
posted by homunculus at 10:39 PM on November 8, 2012

Admittedly, I'm probably an 8 on that scale.

Being born anywhere near New Jersey puts you at an automatic 6 however.
posted by The Whelk at 3:59 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Post-Storm Cost May Force Many From Coast Life
posted by homunculus at 10:02 PM on November 28, 2012

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