The hardest working pres in show business
March 29, 2007 8:13 AM Subscribe
"A year ago my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my vice-president had shot someone. Ah, those were the good ol' days." Attendees at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner had some special entertainment, courtesy the President and MC Rove (YouTube, 4 minutes).
Shit, is it that time of the year again? Colbert's performance last year notwithstanding, I hate this fucking thing. It just serves as a terrible reminder of how shamelessly the press and the govvies are in bed with each other (and the only ones getting screwed are us).
posted by psmealey at 8:23 AM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by psmealey at 8:23 AM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
He asked the audience which title they liked best - "How Dubbya Got His Groove Back", "Who Moved My Presidency?" or "Tuesday with Cheney".
How about The Pet Judas Goat?
Or maybe just a nice suicide note?
(It's not illegal to suggest the president kill himself, is it?)
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 8:27 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
How about The Pet Judas Goat?
Or maybe just a nice suicide note?
(It's not illegal to suggest the president kill himself, is it?)
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 8:27 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
It is nice that Rome burns and Nero fiddles with the empire
posted by Postroad at 8:29 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by Postroad at 8:29 AM on March 29, 2007
(It's not illegal to suggest the president kill himself, is it?)
I wouldn't say it too loudly, either way. There are those of us in here, and I won't say who (*looks over at delmoi*), who may work for the Secret Service.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:29 AM on March 29, 2007
I wouldn't say it too loudly, either way. There are those of us in here, and I won't say who (*looks over at delmoi*), who may work for the Secret Service.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:29 AM on March 29, 2007
What a disgusting display of contempt for reality.
Future generations will mock us just as we mock those who danced to Nero's fiddle, built Mad King Ludwig's castles and spit-shined Ismelda Marcos' shoes.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 8:34 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Future generations will mock us just as we mock those who danced to Nero's fiddle, built Mad King Ludwig's castles and spit-shined Ismelda Marcos' shoes.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 8:34 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
bread and circlejerk
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:36 AM on March 29, 2007 [10 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:36 AM on March 29, 2007 [10 favorites]
A year ago my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my vice-president had shot someone. Ah, those were the good ol' days.
It's no different really than making a humorous quip a The Holocaust---in 1946.
posted by sourwookie at 8:38 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
It's no different really than making a humorous quip a The Holocaust---in 1946.
posted by sourwookie at 8:38 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
There are those of us in here, and I won't say who (*looks over at delmoi*), who may work for the Secret Service.
Cover's blown now. We have a mole.
Delmoi, you've just been Plamed. How does it feel?
posted by secret about box at 8:39 AM on March 29, 2007
Cover's blown now. We have a mole.
Delmoi, you've just been Plamed. How does it feel?
posted by secret about box at 8:39 AM on March 29, 2007
You'd think a war criminal could at least be funny. Alas.
posted by trondant at 8:41 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by trondant at 8:41 AM on March 29, 2007
Man, how the white people loved seeing those white men shuckin' and jivin' up there for their pleasure. The only thing that would have been more hilariouser is if Karl Rove had been in blackface, with big goddamn jigaboo lips painted on him. And a fuckin' bowler on his head. Yellin', "Boogedy-boogedy-boo."
posted by matteo at 8:51 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by matteo at 8:51 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Jesus, I can't stand this idiot myself, but really, it's comments like these that feed the LGF crowd.
posted by Skot at 8:52 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by Skot at 8:52 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
So, we all agree that Karl Rove is gay, right?
posted by Pastabagel at 8:55 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by Pastabagel at 8:55 AM on March 29, 2007
Metafilter should have a spot the fed contest.
Anyways, this thing does rub me the wrong way, as for something like this to exist with an adversarial press, it would need to be sort of a one night truce where "we're going to try to beat you senseless the rest of the year, but tonight we'll pretend we get along." Instead it seems to lead to the insider-status the press seems to cherish over actual reporting (full disclosure: I have a degree in journalism and have come to loathe much of the practitioners).
posted by drezdn at 8:55 AM on March 29, 2007
Anyways, this thing does rub me the wrong way, as for something like this to exist with an adversarial press, it would need to be sort of a one night truce where "we're going to try to beat you senseless the rest of the year, but tonight we'll pretend we get along." Instead it seems to lead to the insider-status the press seems to cherish over actual reporting (full disclosure: I have a degree in journalism and have come to loathe much of the practitioners).
posted by drezdn at 8:55 AM on March 29, 2007
There really should be a "least favorite" option on MeFi. Not that this is a bad post mind you, just that well, this is my least favorite thing I've seen on MeFi in a year.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 9:00 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 9:00 AM on March 29, 2007
Something's wrong when the President has better jokes than The Simpsons, and The Simpsons has better policies than the President.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 9:00 AM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 9:00 AM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
And how much 'kissing-up' goes on there in the hopes of being invited to the White House Christmas Holiday Party?
posted by ericb at 9:02 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by ericb at 9:02 AM on March 29, 2007
This is unfunny enough to be a MadTV sketch.
posted by GavinR at 9:14 AM on March 29, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by GavinR at 9:14 AM on March 29, 2007 [3 favorites]
Ah. The good old days. Say that reminds of a good old one. How many Iraqi's does it take to change a light bulb? Five. Four to hold the ladder and one to set the detonator.
Boy speaking about that war in Iraq. What's with all the criticism. At last we have a consensus in the middle east. Something to unify the masses. The people finally have a goal. But enough about suicide bombing US troops.
So this Iraqi walks into a bar in Baghdad... and is immediately executed for violating strict Shia prohibitions on alcohol consumption. HEY-O!
So. What do you call a cop in Fallujah? I Don't know... I don't speak Farsi! Get it! Over your heads. Ok.
I see Rove is over there eating some Lobster. Karl? Hey? How ya doing? Enjoy that lobster. I know you usually don't get that up on the Death Star. Say hi to your intern - Darth whats-his-face. Hope his asthma is getting better.
Speaking of Asthma. What's all this I hear about pollution and Global Warming? Warming? Obviously these scientists haven't been to Europe with me. You never felt a place get so cold when Air Force One shows up.
Who needs 'em, huh? Am I right? Am I?
posted by tkchrist at 9:21 AM on March 29, 2007 [36 favorites]
Boy speaking about that war in Iraq. What's with all the criticism. At last we have a consensus in the middle east. Something to unify the masses. The people finally have a goal. But enough about suicide bombing US troops.
So this Iraqi walks into a bar in Baghdad... and is immediately executed for violating strict Shia prohibitions on alcohol consumption. HEY-O!
So. What do you call a cop in Fallujah? I Don't know... I don't speak Farsi! Get it! Over your heads. Ok.
I see Rove is over there eating some Lobster. Karl? Hey? How ya doing? Enjoy that lobster. I know you usually don't get that up on the Death Star. Say hi to your intern - Darth whats-his-face. Hope his asthma is getting better.
Speaking of Asthma. What's all this I hear about pollution and Global Warming? Warming? Obviously these scientists haven't been to Europe with me. You never felt a place get so cold when Air Force One shows up.
Who needs 'em, huh? Am I right? Am I?
posted by tkchrist at 9:21 AM on March 29, 2007 [36 favorites]
"Adversarial press"? I'm sorry, is Hillary president now?
(And it was so nice to see NBC Lapdog David Gregory kicking back from a hard day's journalism, right up front there backslapping Rove)
posted by wfc123 at 9:21 AM on March 29, 2007
(And it was so nice to see NBC Lapdog David Gregory kicking back from a hard day's journalism, right up front there backslapping Rove)
posted by wfc123 at 9:21 AM on March 29, 2007
Yesterday on newsnight. Gudio Fawkes (blogger) on MSM's need for access and how this compromises them. Nick Robinson's response.
posted by srboisvert at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
That gwb - such a cutup! Hopefully, next year will be different.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:39 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by madamjujujive at 9:39 AM on March 29, 2007
We need some Bakhtin up in this shit. Someone elect me king for a day.
posted by nasreddin at 9:42 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by nasreddin at 9:42 AM on March 29, 2007
Honestly people, lighten up. This administration has done far worse things.
Interesting note#1: history of the dinner here and here
Interesting note#2: Googling correspondents dinner brings up Colberts 2006 performance a LOT, along with various blog posts about it, doing the "Go Get'em Steve!" or "You won't believe this!" theme. Yet Bush is still President and we got outta that performance was 5 feel good minutes.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:43 AM on March 29, 2007
Interesting note#1: history of the dinner here and here
Interesting note#2: Googling correspondents dinner brings up Colberts 2006 performance a LOT, along with various blog posts about it, doing the "Go Get'em Steve!" or "You won't believe this!" theme. Yet Bush is still President and we got outta that performance was 5 feel good minutes.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:43 AM on March 29, 2007
Eh. I found this kinda humanizing and fun, frankly. But I guess if you have decided that you hate the president unconditionally, you do have to criticize everything he's involved with, right?
posted by klangklangston at 9:44 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by klangklangston at 9:44 AM on March 29, 2007
(It's not illegal to suggest the president kill himself, is it?)
I wouldn't say it too loudly, either way. There are those of us in here, and I won't say who (*looks over at delmoi*), who may work for the Secret Service.
My brother works for the secret service. Last thanksgiving, I asked him if he thought it might be better if the president just went ahead and blew his own head off.
He got upset and asked me if I was threatening the president - I replied, "No, I'm just hoping he might be a threat to himself."
He thought about it for a moment, and then said "Well, I guess that's okay."
posted by bradth27 at 9:54 AM on March 29, 2007 [10 favorites]
I wouldn't say it too loudly, either way. There are those of us in here, and I won't say who (*looks over at delmoi*), who may work for the Secret Service.
My brother works for the secret service. Last thanksgiving, I asked him if he thought it might be better if the president just went ahead and blew his own head off.
He got upset and asked me if I was threatening the president - I replied, "No, I'm just hoping he might be a threat to himself."
He thought about it for a moment, and then said "Well, I guess that's okay."
posted by bradth27 at 9:54 AM on March 29, 2007 [10 favorites]
"I like to ... tear the tops off of small animals."
"Yeah, they're so better when their topless, aren't they? (whisper from Rove) Uhh, headless,ok. So, you like to rip the heads off of- this is like Silence of the Lambs, isn't it?"
Get it right, I like to torture cute bunnies, not masturbate to them!
posted by ken_zoan at 10:10 AM on March 29, 2007
"Yeah, they're so better when their topless, aren't they? (whisper from Rove) Uhh, headless,ok. So, you like to rip the heads off of- this is like Silence of the Lambs, isn't it?"
Get it right, I like to torture cute bunnies, not masturbate to them!
posted by ken_zoan at 10:10 AM on March 29, 2007
I define "The Good Old Days" as the ones before this miscreant was elected.
posted by SaintCynr at 10:11 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by SaintCynr at 10:11 AM on March 29, 2007
Well, there ain't no party like a Grand Old Party because a Grand Old Party don't stop unilaterally invading sovereign states to topple anti-Western regimes only to find themselves embroiled in bloody, open-ended civil wars with cultures they don't understand.
Hey. Ho. Hey. Ho.
posted by StopMakingSense at 10:11 AM on March 29, 2007 [5 favorites]
Hey. Ho. Hey. Ho.
posted by StopMakingSense at 10:11 AM on March 29, 2007 [5 favorites]
Honestly people, they hired Rich Little (I mean... Rich Freakin' Little!??) to do the job Colbert was hired for last year. What did you expect?
posted by miss lynnster at 10:17 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 10:17 AM on March 29, 2007
Skot: Jesus, I can't stand this idiot myself, but really, it's comments like these that feed the LGF crowd.
I thought it was blind, all-consuming genocidal rage towards Arabs that fed (feeds?) the LGF crowd.
posted by Avenger at 10:18 AM on March 29, 2007 [5 favorites]
I thought it was blind, all-consuming genocidal rage towards Arabs that fed (feeds?) the LGF crowd.
posted by Avenger at 10:18 AM on March 29, 2007 [5 favorites]
I liked the skit where Bush squeezes the blood out of an amputee Iraqi child into the gas tank of a Hummer, and then uses the Hummer to run over a hippie.
Funny, funny stuff.
posted by Cookiebastard at 10:19 AM on March 29, 2007 [5 favorites]
Funny, funny stuff.
posted by Cookiebastard at 10:19 AM on March 29, 2007 [5 favorites]
Future generations will mock us just as we mock those who danced to Nero's fiddle, built Mad King Ludwig's castles...
Hold on a minute RPM, at least Ludwig's castles have brought joy and amusement to those future generations. I can't see anything these people are doing that will help others down the line.
Unless they are related to them, that is.
posted by quin at 10:19 AM on March 29, 2007
Hold on a minute RPM, at least Ludwig's castles have brought joy and amusement to those future generations. I can't see anything these people are doing that will help others down the line.
Unless they are related to them, that is.
posted by quin at 10:19 AM on March 29, 2007
Rove is repulsive, and i'm glad he messed up the Fitzgerald "joke" at the beginning. What a giant difference from Colbert to these lame improv guys.
posted by amberglow at 10:20 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by amberglow at 10:20 AM on March 29, 2007
I guess if you have decided that you hate the president unconditionally, you do have to criticize everything he's involved with, right?
Wow, klang. Really?
At some point you have to recognize that that guy's administration has been an unmitigated disaster (for America and a fair bit of the world) and that any attempts of it to poke fun at itself or make light of its own failings are unseemly at best, and obscene at worst. I guess that makes me a humorless bastard, but thought it was odd and unlike you to pull the Bushater card.
posted by psmealey at 10:22 AM on March 29, 2007 [7 favorites]
Wow, klang. Really?
At some point you have to recognize that that guy's administration has been an unmitigated disaster (for America and a fair bit of the world) and that any attempts of it to poke fun at itself or make light of its own failings are unseemly at best, and obscene at worst. I guess that makes me a humorless bastard, but thought it was odd and unlike you to pull the Bushater card.
posted by psmealey at 10:22 AM on March 29, 2007 [7 favorites]
Clinton's correspondents' dinners were the best. That guy had some good writers and some good timing. I actually used to look forward to them.
posted by brundlefly at 10:24 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by brundlefly at 10:24 AM on March 29, 2007
I didn't think it was funny, rather it was embarrassing-like watching your grandfather try to dance at your wedding to Thriller or something.
posted by hollygoheavy at 10:24 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by hollygoheavy at 10:24 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
That actually was kinda funny. Too bad Milosevic never game me a chance to laugh this way.
posted by phaedon at 10:29 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by phaedon at 10:29 AM on March 29, 2007
klangklangston: ...But I guess if you have decided that you hate the president unconditionally, you do have to criticize everything he's involved with, right?
Well, if Hitler wrote a play in 1942, even if that play was pretty good (say, a campy Woody Allen prequel), we'd still be saying "Yeah, fuck that guy." rather than "Awww, he likes puppies!"
Which is to say that the Bush hate is very much earned.
posted by LordSludge at 10:33 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Well, if Hitler wrote a play in 1942, even if that play was pretty good (say, a campy Woody Allen prequel), we'd still be saying "Yeah, fuck that guy." rather than "Awww, he likes puppies!"
Which is to say that the Bush hate is very much earned.
posted by LordSludge at 10:33 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Just to clarify, this is from the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner which is different from the White House Press Correspondents dinner. The WH Press dinner is April 21, and that is the one to be hosted by Rich Little.
posted by jefbla at 10:34 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by jefbla at 10:34 AM on March 29, 2007
Should we hate everything Bush does?
Golly. No.
I hear John Wayne Gacy was a clown. Ed Gein apparently did some hilarious impressions in drag.
Heck. Even Hitler told a couple of real knee slappers.
Golly. No.
I hear John Wayne Gacy was a clown. Ed Gein apparently did some hilarious impressions in drag.
Heck. Even Hitler told a couple of real knee slappers.
- Der Fuhrer:
"Mein Hund hat keine Nase."
Crowd:
"Wie riecht er?"
Der Fuhrer:
"Schrecklich!"
Reading the story, and this thread, I felt so very, very tired. Most of 2007 and all of 2008 left to go. I think that Bush must feel that's a long time as well. What a horrible failure his presidency has been.
posted by WPW at 10:35 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by WPW at 10:35 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
This marks the third time today that I've tried to watch this and failed. I get a little further each time, but I'm not sure if it's worth it to me to wince for five minutes just to watch Rove act like a minstrel-show jackass.
And even if it weren't so unbearably painful - has any rapper anywhere used the title M.C. since Hammer dropped it? This joke is, at best, 15 years past it's prime and wouldn't have worked even then. Maybe next year they can all come out in flannel shirts and backwards baseball caps.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:36 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
And even if it weren't so unbearably painful - has any rapper anywhere used the title M.C. since Hammer dropped it? This joke is, at best, 15 years past it's prime and wouldn't have worked even then. Maybe next year they can all come out in flannel shirts and backwards baseball caps.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:36 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
"At some point you have to recognize that that guy's administration has been an unmitigated disaster (for America and a fair bit of the world) and that any attempts of it to poke fun at itself or make light of its own failings are unseemly at best, and obscene at worst. I guess that makes me a humorless bastard, but thought it was odd and unlike you to pull the Bushater card."
I agree with you about the disaster, but I don't mind seeing fuckups have that moment of self-deprecating clarity. And I'm not gonna hate on solid jokes; I loathe Reagan, but I admit that his quip about not holding Mondale's youth against him was pretty good.
Still, c'mon: "It's no different really than making a humorous quip a The Holocaust---in 1946."
That's why I pulled the Bushhater card.
posted by klangklangston at 10:37 AM on March 29, 2007
I agree with you about the disaster, but I don't mind seeing fuckups have that moment of self-deprecating clarity. And I'm not gonna hate on solid jokes; I loathe Reagan, but I admit that his quip about not holding Mondale's youth against him was pretty good.
Still, c'mon: "It's no different really than making a humorous quip a The Holocaust---in 1946."
That's why I pulled the Bushhater card.
posted by klangklangston at 10:37 AM on March 29, 2007
"Well, if Hitler wrote a play in 1942, even if that play was pretty good (say, a campy Woody Allen prequel), we'd still be saying "Yeah, fuck that guy." rather than "Awww, he likes puppies!"
Which is to say that the Bush hate is very much earned."
I am rolling my eyes with such angular momentum that I am surprised that you cannot hear it from where you sit.
posted by klangklangston at 10:39 AM on March 29, 2007
Which is to say that the Bush hate is very much earned."
I am rolling my eyes with such angular momentum that I am surprised that you cannot hear it from where you sit.
posted by klangklangston at 10:39 AM on March 29, 2007
"Which is to say that the Bush hate is very much earned."
Earned or not, it's very tiring after six years, and I miss nuance.
posted by WPW at 10:41 AM on March 29, 2007
Earned or not, it's very tiring after six years, and I miss nuance.
posted by WPW at 10:41 AM on March 29, 2007
Feeding the LGF crowd?
"..Brains!...Brains!...Brains!..."
The undead feeding on the one thing they never had as nearly sentient beings.
posted by nofundy at 10:44 AM on March 29, 2007
"..Brains!...Brains!...Brains!..."
The undead feeding on the one thing they never had as nearly sentient beings.
posted by nofundy at 10:44 AM on March 29, 2007
Wow. So who is eating the biscuit?
posted by dios at 10:48 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by dios at 10:48 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Before you entertain thoughts of assasinating GWB, repeat this phrase ten times out loud...
President Dick Cheney
posted by pcameron at 10:48 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
President Dick Cheney
posted by pcameron at 10:48 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Man. Tough crowd here. I think it's likely Bush didn't write his own material, and I think his management of the country sucks, but I'm amused: he was actually funny. Possibly funnier than Colbert was. Maybe he took a page from Gore's soaring popularity and self-deprecating performance on SNL. Pretty sharp if you ask me.
posted by namespan at 10:50 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by namespan at 10:50 AM on March 29, 2007
Yeah, I'll admit it... I miss Clinton. Like totally.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:51 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by miss lynnster at 10:51 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Everyone who lowers themselves to participate in this is demeaning himself, including the President, the press, and even the adored-out-of-all-proportion Colbert.
(since the president was paying him there was zero chance of him saying anything genuinely subversive. bottom line: he did a gig for republicans- republicans paid him, republicans I'm sure thoroughly vetted his script beforehand, and republicans laughed at him.)
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:51 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
(since the president was paying him there was zero chance of him saying anything genuinely subversive. bottom line: he did a gig for republicans- republicans paid him, republicans I'm sure thoroughly vetted his script beforehand, and republicans laughed at him.)
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:51 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Shouting out "I'm MC Rove", Mr Rove danced about the stage and postured like a rap star, much to the delight of the watching press.
Verily caricatures the whole regime (I'm assuming limbless orphan iraqi children are behind curtain waiting for back dance cues).
Oh, and you can have my bush-hate when you pry it from my fire fueled revolutionary lineaged blood (coursing through my cold dead hands).
posted by sarcasman at 10:52 AM on March 29, 2007
Verily caricatures the whole regime (I'm assuming limbless orphan iraqi children are behind curtain waiting for back dance cues).
Oh, and you can have my bush-hate when you pry it from my fire fueled revolutionary lineaged blood (coursing through my cold dead hands).
posted by sarcasman at 10:52 AM on March 29, 2007
Yeah, I'll admit it... I miss Clinton. Like totally.
I come too far to go back to Clinton
posted by phaedon at 10:56 AM on March 29, 2007
I come too far to go back to Clinton
posted by phaedon at 10:56 AM on March 29, 2007
Gotta say I'm surprised ilovekarlrove hasn't picked up on the MC Rove thing yet, though.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:57 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 10:57 AM on March 29, 2007
Laura Bush looks just like Zira from Planet of the Apes -- it's her eerie frozen smile.
It's so completely perverse that every year all the journalists actually come to laugh at the President joking! about his crimes and misdeeds. Unbelievably corrupt for the administration to dare joke, and for the media to laugh along.
posted by amberglow at 11:08 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
It's so completely perverse that every year all the journalists actually come to laugh at the President joking! about his crimes and misdeeds. Unbelievably corrupt for the administration to dare joke, and for the media to laugh along.
posted by amberglow at 11:08 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
psmealey is right -- it's obscene.
It also shows us why we have the Managing Editor of Time speaking about their crimes as nonissues not worthy of coverage. After all, they all socialize together, and as these "jokes" show, they're really good guys, right? ugh.
posted by amberglow at 11:13 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
It also shows us why we have the Managing Editor of Time speaking about their crimes as nonissues not worthy of coverage. After all, they all socialize together, and as these "jokes" show, they're really good guys, right? ugh.
posted by amberglow at 11:13 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Wow. So who is eating the biscuit?
The press, mostly. The rest of us are kind of full after six years.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 11:13 AM on March 29, 2007
The press, mostly. The rest of us are kind of full after six years.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 11:13 AM on March 29, 2007
Turd Blossom and the Spurious Four
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 11:15 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 11:15 AM on March 29, 2007
>>Earned or not, it's very tiring after six years, and I miss nuance.
Reality Intrusion
Yeah, something about having the deficit skyrocket, urgent domestic needs going unaddressed, and the heartbreaking plight of our veterans from this misguided conflict makes nuance seem like a relic from a bygone era.
I know! They could actually try and run the fucking country for the people, like all those quaint historical documents say to, instead of taking us for a ride on their short-sighted, rich-get-richer XenophobeFest. That'll bring back nuance.
End Reality Intrusion
posted by SaintCynr at 11:20 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Reality Intrusion
Yeah, something about having the deficit skyrocket, urgent domestic needs going unaddressed, and the heartbreaking plight of our veterans from this misguided conflict makes nuance seem like a relic from a bygone era.
I know! They could actually try and run the fucking country for the people, like all those quaint historical documents say to, instead of taking us for a ride on their short-sighted, rich-get-richer XenophobeFest. That'll bring back nuance.
End Reality Intrusion
posted by SaintCynr at 11:20 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Knock knock? Who's there? 3000 soldiers and half a million Iraqis dead, and boy are my arms tired. Wow, what a great audience.
posted by bukharin at 11:32 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
I was just going to let this one pass, but then I watched the Rove video.
Clearly they were hoping to tap into the same vein as Nancy Reagan's "Secondhand Clothes" and show everyone that Karl is a human being with a sense of humor about himself (several years too late). Would have come in handy with subpoenas hovering overhead.
Instead, it's by far the most embarrassing, obscene travesty of a performance I have witnessed in a very long time, on so many levels. The performance is total sixth-grade talent-show caliber, with the age of the performers sharply magnifying the cringeworthiness of their festive cavorting. "Trove" "Cove" "Strove"? Really?
And that's without even factoring in the issues of taste (rich old white meen gleefully batardizing ancient hip-hop language and stereotypes) and dignity. The point of this dinner is to make look funny, even at your own expense, which is ultimately a mark in your favor-- not to make you into a screeching, flapping, organ-grinder's monkey being rapped at by a lobotomite. This is like watching Ricky Gervais without the relief of irony.
If Karl had hunkered down and emptied himself on stage (retaining that blindly agreeable grin) this could not be more nauseating.
posted by hermitosis at 11:35 AM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
Clearly they were hoping to tap into the same vein as Nancy Reagan's "Secondhand Clothes" and show everyone that Karl is a human being with a sense of humor about himself (several years too late). Would have come in handy with subpoenas hovering overhead.
Instead, it's by far the most embarrassing, obscene travesty of a performance I have witnessed in a very long time, on so many levels. The performance is total sixth-grade talent-show caliber, with the age of the performers sharply magnifying the cringeworthiness of their festive cavorting. "Trove" "Cove" "Strove"? Really?
And that's without even factoring in the issues of taste (rich old white meen gleefully batardizing ancient hip-hop language and stereotypes) and dignity. The point of this dinner is to make look funny, even at your own expense, which is ultimately a mark in your favor-- not to make you into a screeching, flapping, organ-grinder's monkey being rapped at by a lobotomite. This is like watching Ricky Gervais without the relief of irony.
If Karl had hunkered down and emptied himself on stage (retaining that blindly agreeable grin) this could not be more nauseating.
posted by hermitosis at 11:35 AM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
since the president was paying him there was zero chance of him saying anything genuinely subversive. bottom line: he did a gig for republicans- republicans paid him, republicans I'm sure thoroughly vetted his script beforehand, and republicans laughed at him.
Um. No. The White House Correspondent's Assosciation hired him.
"Several of Bush's aides and supporters walked out during Colbert's speech, and one former aide said that the President had "that look that he's ready to blow."
posted by oneirodynia at 11:37 AM on March 29, 2007
Um. No. The White House Correspondent's Assosciation hired him.
"Several of Bush's aides and supporters walked out during Colbert's speech, and one former aide said that the President had "that look that he's ready to blow."
posted by oneirodynia at 11:37 AM on March 29, 2007
Knock knock? Who's there? 3000 soldiers and half a million Iraqis dead, and boy are my arms tired.
HAHAHA, I *get* it -- it's funny because they're dead!
::wipes tears of... laughter (yeah that's it)::
posted by LordSludge at 11:38 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
HAHAHA, I *get* it -- it's funny because they're dead!
::wipes tears of... laughter (yeah that's it)::
posted by LordSludge at 11:38 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I'll admit it... I miss Clinton. Like totally.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:51 AM on March 29 [+]
[!]
Awww, he likes puppies!
posted by lysdexic at 11:58 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 10:51 AM on March 29 [+]
[!]
Awww, he likes puppies!
posted by lysdexic at 11:58 AM on March 29, 2007
rudepundit: ... So this morning the Rude Pundit watched Presidential aide and child-raping demigorgon of the K Street underworld, Karl Rove, participate in a minstrel show at last night's Radio and Television Correspondents' Dinner. ... Oh, ho, oh, ho, how the gathered journalists and politicos laughed as Rove said his name was "Patrick Fitzgerald" (misspeaking at first and saying, "Peter," maybe because Fitzgerald denied Rove a subpoena three times and then Rove's cock crowed). Rove tried to joke, saying that one of his hobbies was to "tear the tops off of small animals," which was meant as their heads, but Rove's assertion was done with the creepy self-assurance of a man who, with the flick of his Blackberry, could have everyone in the room beheaded. And who has felt warm, sticky puppy blood pouring down his hands.
Then the song started, with Rove and two white comedians dancing and rapping, and David Gregory (for fuck's sake) and Ken Strickland (who is not a white guy) dragged onto the stage as back-up dancers. Man, how the white people loved seeing those white men shuckin' and jivin' up there for their pleasure. The only thing that would have been more hilariouser is if Karl Rove had been in blackface, ...
posted by amberglow at 3:17 PM on March 29, 2007
Then the song started, with Rove and two white comedians dancing and rapping, and David Gregory (for fuck's sake) and Ken Strickland (who is not a white guy) dragged onto the stage as back-up dancers. Man, how the white people loved seeing those white men shuckin' and jivin' up there for their pleasure. The only thing that would have been more hilariouser is if Karl Rove had been in blackface, ...
posted by amberglow at 3:17 PM on March 29, 2007
Laura Bush looks just like Zira from Planet of the Apes -- it's her eerie frozen smile.
You humans, you're so damned ugly.
posted by Dr. Zira at 3:21 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
You humans, you're so damned ugly.
posted by Dr. Zira at 3:21 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
I think it's likely Bush didn't write his own material
You THINK it's likely he didn't???
The man hasn't "written his own material" since the 3rd grade.
posted by frogan at 3:32 PM on March 29, 2007
You THINK it's likely he didn't???
The man hasn't "written his own material" since the 3rd grade.
posted by frogan at 3:32 PM on March 29, 2007
Fuck this moron. Fuck his henchmen. Fuck his friends. Fuck his family. Fuck his dad. Fuck his mom. Fuck the system that perpetuates this.
Laugh at the king - he's laughing at you.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 3:33 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Laugh at the king - he's laughing at you.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 3:33 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Benny: ...Bush on stage, leaning back at the table, like a fat king forced to go to the wedding of a loyal duke, wondering when the cake will come out and if he can get the bride to lick his balls under the table without too many threats to her family. ... (from rudepundit)
Dr. Zira : >
posted by amberglow at 3:35 PM on March 29, 2007
Dr. Zira : >
posted by amberglow at 3:35 PM on March 29, 2007
I wonder how hard Scooter Libby laughed.
posted by bardic at 3:43 PM on March 29, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by bardic at 3:43 PM on March 29, 2007 [3 favorites]
Ah, so now I've watched the Rove video. Which of his jokes doesn't he screw up? You can tell he doesn't want to be there. I don't blame him -- he might end up in jail soon.
Humorless shit like this sets white people back decades though. That's the real crime.
posted by bardic at 3:47 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Humorless shit like this sets white people back decades though. That's the real crime.
posted by bardic at 3:47 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
I know you're not supposed to comment in a thread before fully absorbing the links, but I just couldn't watch the Rove video past the first few drum machine beats. That creepy little milk baby grabbing the microphone over and over again was bad enough. My eyes would turn themselves inside out were I to watch him dance.
posted by EatTheWeek at 4:05 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by EatTheWeek at 4:05 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Could they not even suffer a black guy to do the rap?
posted by bukharin at 4:12 PM on March 29, 2007
, but I just couldn't watch the Rove video past the first few drum machine beats.
Are you kidding me? You missed the best part. I'm MC ROVE!
posted by phaedon at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2007
Are you kidding me? You missed the best part. I'm MC ROVE!
posted by phaedon at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2007
"A year ago my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my vice-president had shot someone. Ah, those were the good ol' days."
I remember Jefferson saying the same thing.
(‘Yo, you can call me Aaron Burr from the way I’m droppin' Hamiltons.)
Although it was not in a lighthearted vein.
Yeah, I gotta go with inappropriate jocularity. I could not, were I President or in the upper chain of command, engage in this kind of foolishness given the solemnity of events under my hand. I could not, for example, imagine Roosevelt or Truman or their people dancing about like this while men they put in the field are coming home in body bags. Why does this “can’t criticize” bullshit extend to the president in time of war, but oh, he can joke and giggle like an idiot. Oh, sorry your son is dead Mrs. Golczynski - but don’t Karl Rove’s antics cheer you up? Sorry Mrs. McDonald but perhaps you and Mrs. Gonzalez and Mrs. Nunez can understand the humor in what a bad year President Bush had last year, and how it’s a joke that it’s so much worse this year while you’re your sons funerals. I guess the fact they were in their very early 20s means they don’t remember the Clinton era so well, so it’s probably a good thing they’re dead, because the jokes would have been over their heads anyway - Zing!
Yeah, terrorist attack in Tal Afar - our thoughts and prayers go out to the families - an’ show ‘em how it’s done Karl!
I’m not saying people can’t make light of grave situations, but generally, y’know, the people who do that? They’re fucking comedians.
“Mr Bush pointed out that presidential hopeful Barack Obama had chosen not to attend. "Not enough press," the president joked.”
Not enough press? Maybe too much class.
And people wonder where the cynicism comes from.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
I remember Jefferson saying the same thing.
(‘Yo, you can call me Aaron Burr from the way I’m droppin' Hamiltons.)
Although it was not in a lighthearted vein.
Yeah, I gotta go with inappropriate jocularity. I could not, were I President or in the upper chain of command, engage in this kind of foolishness given the solemnity of events under my hand. I could not, for example, imagine Roosevelt or Truman or their people dancing about like this while men they put in the field are coming home in body bags. Why does this “can’t criticize” bullshit extend to the president in time of war, but oh, he can joke and giggle like an idiot. Oh, sorry your son is dead Mrs. Golczynski - but don’t Karl Rove’s antics cheer you up? Sorry Mrs. McDonald but perhaps you and Mrs. Gonzalez and Mrs. Nunez can understand the humor in what a bad year President Bush had last year, and how it’s a joke that it’s so much worse this year while you’re your sons funerals. I guess the fact they were in their very early 20s means they don’t remember the Clinton era so well, so it’s probably a good thing they’re dead, because the jokes would have been over their heads anyway - Zing!
Yeah, terrorist attack in Tal Afar - our thoughts and prayers go out to the families - an’ show ‘em how it’s done Karl!
I’m not saying people can’t make light of grave situations, but generally, y’know, the people who do that? They’re fucking comedians.
“Mr Bush pointed out that presidential hopeful Barack Obama had chosen not to attend. "Not enough press," the president joked.”
Not enough press? Maybe too much class.
And people wonder where the cynicism comes from.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]
It's good to see that shitbag from Whose Line Is It Anyway? still gets work.
posted by phaedon at 4:30 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by phaedon at 4:30 PM on March 29, 2007
Eh. That is David Gregory.
To think for a second there I actually had respect for a mainstream journalist. Nice of him to strangle said respect.
posted by bardic at 4:33 PM on March 29, 2007
To think for a second there I actually had respect for a mainstream journalist. Nice of him to strangle said respect.
posted by bardic at 4:33 PM on March 29, 2007
That is David Gregory.
I'm clearly not a big fan of his masterpieces.
posted by phaedon at 4:37 PM on March 29, 2007
I'm clearly not a big fan of his masterpieces.
posted by phaedon at 4:37 PM on March 29, 2007
I wonder if the Roman Empire had roasts like these?
When Rome burned to the ground, was there a laugh track?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2007
When Rome burned to the ground, was there a laugh track?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2007
klangklangston: ...But I guess if you have decided that you hate the president unconditionally, you do have to criticize everything he's involved with, right?
That Islom Karimov guy would boil dissenters alive, but I have to admit, he could make a mean quiche.
But to answer your question seriously, i think its quite possible to be so disgusted with a human being that you refuse to recognize the trite and meaningless positive qualities.
posted by nihlton at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2007
That Islom Karimov guy would boil dissenters alive, but I have to admit, he could make a mean quiche.
But to answer your question seriously, i think its quite possible to be so disgusted with a human being that you refuse to recognize the trite and meaningless positive qualities.
posted by nihlton at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2007
Gosh, he's so folksy! I like a guy who can poke fun at himself. Let's elect him again!
posted by papakwanz at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by papakwanz at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2007
Let's elect him again!
Elect? I'm sure there's some other secret provision in the Patriot Act declaring him Dictator-for-life already.
posted by amberglow at 5:14 PM on March 29, 2007
Elect? I'm sure there's some other secret provision in the Patriot Act declaring him Dictator-for-life already.
posted by amberglow at 5:14 PM on March 29, 2007
It's sad to think that another Colbert-esque POTUS-hack can never happen again. Even the Dems won't allow their congressman to go on his show.
But it's kind of a toss-up. Bush being told he was a fucking incompetent moron pretty much to his face, or Rove dancing like a monkey just days before the subpoenas come. I can't complain about either.
posted by bardic at 5:20 PM on March 29, 2007
But it's kind of a toss-up. Bush being told he was a fucking incompetent moron pretty much to his face, or Rove dancing like a monkey just days before the subpoenas come. I can't complain about either.
posted by bardic at 5:20 PM on March 29, 2007
(Wow. It's actually worth re-watching the Colbert video, just for the Wilson/Plame/Libby stuff. Double ouch.)
posted by bardic at 5:37 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by bardic at 5:37 PM on March 29, 2007
Couldn't bring myself to watch it, but was there anything to equal the First Lady's equine spooge wisecrack?
posted by rob511 at 6:01 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by rob511 at 6:01 PM on March 29, 2007
phaedron - a little while after posting that, I secured my gorge and restarted the video. I let it spool and clicked halfway into it, pinpointing the moment where Karl crossed his arms like my uncle trying to impersonate a Globetrotter and grunted those now immortal words,
"I'm MC Rove!"
Up until that moment, my rational mind had entertained the notion that "MC Rove" may have been coined by a misguided copy-editor in a rush. Somehow, I was more comfortable with that than the phrase actually being spoken out loud in front of people.
I stopped the video again. At this rate, I'll have seen the whole thing by 2008.
posted by EatTheWeek at 6:04 PM on March 29, 2007
"I'm MC Rove!"
Up until that moment, my rational mind had entertained the notion that "MC Rove" may have been coined by a misguided copy-editor in a rush. Somehow, I was more comfortable with that than the phrase actually being spoken out loud in front of people.
I stopped the video again. At this rate, I'll have seen the whole thing by 2008.
posted by EatTheWeek at 6:04 PM on March 29, 2007
I wouldn't say it too loudly, either way. There are those of us in here, and I won't say who (*looks over at delmoi*), who may work for the Secret Service.
Lol, what?
I did take a class with an amazingly beautiful girl who went on to work for the CIA translating technical documents from Chinese to English.
posted by delmoi at 6:23 PM on March 29, 2007
Lol, what?
I did take a class with an amazingly beautiful girl who went on to work for the CIA translating technical documents from Chinese to English.
posted by delmoi at 6:23 PM on March 29, 2007
By the way, this was not the WH Corrispondants dinner, this was another less exciting thing, Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner. Totally different group. I think the WH Correspondents dinner was a while ago.
posted by delmoi at 6:24 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by delmoi at 6:24 PM on March 29, 2007
Oops, the WH Correspondents dinner will be on April 21st.
posted by delmoi at 6:34 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by delmoi at 6:34 PM on March 29, 2007
Anybody have transcripts or photos or quotes from previous events like this so we can compare?
FDR and Truman (to name just two of my personal heroes) were roundly vilified in every manner by a hostile press--- not giving Senor Goofy a pass, but isn't this par for the course?
Just saying.
posted by Dizzy at 6:42 PM on March 29, 2007
FDR and Truman (to name just two of my personal heroes) were roundly vilified in every manner by a hostile press--- not giving Senor Goofy a pass, but isn't this par for the course?
Just saying.
posted by Dizzy at 6:42 PM on March 29, 2007
I've been wanting to comment on this all day, but I'm still too sickened to find the right words.
posted by amyms at 6:59 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by amyms at 6:59 PM on March 29, 2007
Skot: Jesus, I can't stand this idiot myself, but really, it's comments like these that feed the LGF crowd.
You're making the all-too-common mistake that being nice would earn their respect. It doesn't. It just makes you look like a "wimpy spineless liberal".
/ and really, is getting their respect really so important?
posted by PsychoKick at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
You're making the all-too-common mistake that being nice would earn their respect. It doesn't. It just makes you look like a "wimpy spineless liberal".
/ and really, is getting their respect really so important?
posted by PsychoKick at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
MetaFilter: I've been wanting to comment on this all day, but I'm still too sickened to find the right words.
posted by homunculus at 7:29 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by homunculus at 7:29 PM on March 29, 2007
it's comments like these that feed the LGF crowd.
This post exists for no other reason than to bring out those comments. And it's an annual post after all. Just like the Superbowl ads.
I've been wanting to comment on this all day, but I'm still too sickened to find the right words.
Case in point.
is getting their respect really so important?
I don't know Skot beyond his blog, but I doubt he really wants the respect of the LGF crowd. If I had to guess, I suppose he'd like to be able to respect those on his side of the fence a little more, and circle jerks like this post make it a tad difficult.
You're not trying to be nice when you don't want to sink to their level, you just, well, don't want to sink to their level. And if you're doomed to go down, I guess you can go down or you can get still further down on your knees to their level. Either way, you're still going down.
Your choice.
posted by Cyrano at 8:31 PM on March 29, 2007
This post exists for no other reason than to bring out those comments. And it's an annual post after all. Just like the Superbowl ads.
I've been wanting to comment on this all day, but I'm still too sickened to find the right words.
Case in point.
is getting their respect really so important?
I don't know Skot beyond his blog, but I doubt he really wants the respect of the LGF crowd. If I had to guess, I suppose he'd like to be able to respect those on his side of the fence a little more, and circle jerks like this post make it a tad difficult.
You're not trying to be nice when you don't want to sink to their level, you just, well, don't want to sink to their level. And if you're doomed to go down, I guess you can go down or you can get still further down on your knees to their level. Either way, you're still going down.
Your choice.
posted by Cyrano at 8:31 PM on March 29, 2007
Shouting out "I'm MC Rove", Mr Rove danced about the stage and postured like a rap star, much to the delight of the watching press.
Hey, I'm a rich white guy - watch me mock some black people.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:59 PM on March 29, 2007
Hey, I'm a rich white guy - watch me mock some black people.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:59 PM on March 29, 2007
Shouting out "I'm MC Rove", Mr Rove danced about the stage and postured like a rap star, much to the delight of the watching press.
There's no rap star that can touch his body count.
posted by kid ichorous at 10:36 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
There's no rap star that can touch his body count.
posted by kid ichorous at 10:36 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Wow. So who is eating the biscuit?
Sounds like you just volunteered.
posted by oaf at 11:31 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Sounds like you just volunteered.
posted by oaf at 11:31 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
That Colbert sincerely, viciously and hilariously roasted the President at this event last year, and that in the aftermath, both the Administration and the Press insisted loudly that he was not funny, tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the state of the relationship between them.
What Colbert did last year - speaking as much truth to power that it made everyone complicit squirm - will never happen again, and ladies and gentlemen, that is not a good thing.
posted by psmealey at 2:12 AM on March 30, 2007
What Colbert did last year - speaking as much truth to power that it made everyone complicit squirm - will never happen again, and ladies and gentlemen, that is not a good thing.
posted by psmealey at 2:12 AM on March 30, 2007
This is actually really worth it because it provides so many funny things I can repeat to my friends.
posted by Falconetti at 6:35 AM on March 30, 2007
posted by Falconetti at 6:35 AM on March 30, 2007
Thanks for the intro to rudepundit amberglow :>
Disclaimer: Our labels and titles are rhetorical. Just because the Rude Pundit calls someone a "motherfucker" does not mean that he has firsthand knowledge that that person fucks his or her mother. Additionally, simply labeling someone a "cocksucker" does not imply any knowledge that the person sucked any cock. Should that person by chance suck cocks for pleasure or profit, it is purely coincidental. By the same token, a "cuntface" does not literally have a cunt replacing his or her face. The Rude Pundit thinks the word "cuntface" is funny because the implication is of being fucked in the face. However, Ann Coulter is just a cunt.
posted by strawberryviagra at 6:47 AM on March 30, 2007
Disclaimer: Our labels and titles are rhetorical. Just because the Rude Pundit calls someone a "motherfucker" does not mean that he has firsthand knowledge that that person fucks his or her mother. Additionally, simply labeling someone a "cocksucker" does not imply any knowledge that the person sucked any cock. Should that person by chance suck cocks for pleasure or profit, it is purely coincidental. By the same token, a "cuntface" does not literally have a cunt replacing his or her face. The Rude Pundit thinks the word "cuntface" is funny because the implication is of being fucked in the face. However, Ann Coulter is just a cunt.
posted by strawberryviagra at 6:47 AM on March 30, 2007
You're not trying to be nice when you don't want to sink to their level, you just, well, don't want to sink to their level. And if you're doomed to go down, I guess you can go down or you can get still further down on your knees to their level. Either way, you're still going down.
If you think the comments in this thread are in any way even near the same level as the moronic tripe at LGF, then maybe you should go over there and lurk around a while. Then come back and see how refreshingly intellectual and witty the MeFi criticisms are in comparison.
Being nice is french!
posted by nofundy at 7:05 AM on March 30, 2007
If you think the comments in this thread are in any way even near the same level as the moronic tripe at LGF, then maybe you should go over there and lurk around a while. Then come back and see how refreshingly intellectual and witty the MeFi criticisms are in comparison.
Being nice is french!
posted by nofundy at 7:05 AM on March 30, 2007
strawberry--it's seriously my pleasure to intro him to you : >
(he's perfect with stuff like this)
posted by amberglow at 3:23 PM on March 30, 2007
(he's perfect with stuff like this)
posted by amberglow at 3:23 PM on March 30, 2007
Metafilter: a screeching, flapping, organ-grinder's monkey being rapped at by a lobotomite.
posted by zoinks at 3:35 PM on March 30, 2007
posted by zoinks at 3:35 PM on March 30, 2007
HAHAHA!!! What a fuckup!
How pathetic.
And you, you "Movement Conservatives," Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coultier, and all you other bully, jerks, yea, you! That Newsweek with a tear on Reagan's cheek made me wretch! And laugh!
George W. Bush is what Reagan would have been if he could have been -- with the difference being nuclear holocaust rather than catastrophic quagmire, a soul-sucking pseudo-war. (I guess he's like a blended, stupid, talentless Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy)
Thank God for the Democratic Congress of the '80's!!! Bless you, Tip O'Neill!!! Maybe facing thousands of nuclear armed missles on hairtrigger alert caused the public to be realistic enough to reign in these grandiose, anti-republican creeps who now control the government!
All of these assholes have been around since Nixon! At least Reagan had the sense to stop listening to them after the Iran-Contra shitstorm hit the fan! They tried to depose President Clinton at any cost, including taking civility out of the public discourse. And, yes, the Movement Conservatives are squarely responsible for the current poor state of the current public discourse.
Do not be fooled: George W. Bush's government is the epitome of Conservative government.
Some are often confused because Conservatives are suppose to be the party of small government, but they spend a lot of money, and try to prohibit abortions, etc. This is because it is naive to think that the conservatives are for small government. Of course they are not.
Conservatism is about the preserving the authority of those in power. It always has been.
This is why, contrary to popular opinion, the American Revolution was a true Revolution. It is often said the French Revolution was truly revolutionary, while the American Revolution was a Conservative Revolution. There is some truth to this. Political compromises had to be made to get the Nation off the ground.
However, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin. George Washington, and all the other founders, planted the seeds of a true Democratic Republic. The Monarchy was overthrown, just as surely as it was in France. All Men [itself a reflection of the times] are created equal. All persons are entitled to equal protection under the law. Black deserve all the rights and responsibilities of full citizens. Women deserve to be treated as equals to men. Homosexuals deserve to be treated equally with heterosexuals.
It has been a long process, but the seed of the Republic has grown into a mighty tree, sometimes at great cost, self-inflicted and otherwise. It hasn't been perfect, but over time we had become more and more true to the ideals and aspirations of the Revolution! But beginning with the war on drugs, that trend has been reversed.
Conservatives have always been anxious to preserve the authority of those in power. It must be human natire to want to submit to authority and do what everyone else is doing. Many happily give plutocrats the authority to do what they want.
Why? And for whom? In the name of the leaders of organized religion, in order to preserve their influence. In the name of the very wealthy, so they can live in a world removed from the insecurities, inconveniences, and indignities of daily life.
Ultimately, in the name of the plutocratic elite who have enough money to where it becomes a source of poltical power, used to secure their position through the power of the state. This Conservatism, and it is also Libertarianism.
The chief difference between Conservatism and Libertarianism is that the Conservatives are either fooling themselves or they're power hungry, and the Libertarians are earnest, if naive, true believers.
Of course those with authority want to preserve their power. But wantin' ain't gettin", so to speak!
Those who favor the facile, "small government" propaganda masquerading as serious discourse, don't realize that if the government does not act in the public interest, those who accumulate extreme wealth (a seemingly natural outgrowth of Liberal Capitalism) will hijack the political system to change the rules to protect themselves.
The truth is that every time the current philosophy is ascendent, whatever it is called (now it is neoconservatism, or Movement Conservatism), ultimately a few elites control the political process completely and the system stagnates and a crisis emerges. It happens every time.
Historically, some poltical systems fall under the influence of a tyranny, if the chaos caused by the neoconservatives and its anscestors, such as the Nixon Republicans (who were checked by the liberal politics of the time), the McCarthyites, the Red Scare people, etc. It's been limited by our Liberal tadition so far, but traditions and limitations seem to be strained to the breaking point.
Remember, it is all caused by the chaos caused by Conservative government. Under Conservative government most people become more insecure, poorer, working harder for less money, because the wealthy are taking all of the economic growth for themselves. The data is plain. We have had tremendous economic growth over the last 30 years, but most working people's incomes are flat. Professionals and other lackeys (like me) do OK at first, but eventually even they are caught up in the insecurity as the very wealthy begin to suck up wealth like a black hole.
They don't really want to believe that all men are created equal. They want to feel that they are naturally a higher form of life and existence.
Why do you think tickets at sporting events are priced so high. There are a relatively few people with a greater and greater share of the wealth, and there are usually around only 50, 000 seats at a baseball stadium, and it usually takes a city of about 3-4 million, with public subsidy, to make enough money to field successful teams. Look at the proportion of the money spent by those at the top of the pecking order. They have money to burn so they bid up the price of the limited number of seats so that working families can't afford to pay for more than maybe, at most, one trip to the ball park a year.
High salaries are the result of the money ouring in from the elite. The Players are just denmanding their cut, and the owners give it to them because good players are scarce. Oh, yes, greed is King!
This is truly the result of Movement Conservatism and its anscestors. It always fails. It is failing now.
It is time to throw the Movement Cosnervatism-Reagan Revolution-Chicago School-Neoliberal-Libertarian-Goldwater Conservative Trash failure of an ideology into the scrapheap of history, along with Communism, Facism, and its ilk!
The truth is there is no perfect government, and economics and politics are intimitely related. People should be free to find their own reasons to live, either by submitting to the authority of a religion, a philosophy or way of thought, or by some other method. And we should realize that it is unhealthy to have authority and power in the hands of too few people.
First of all, it's bad for the Republic because such people end up acting like they are royalty and above the commoners. This leads to people obtaining huge advantages by birth and by knowing the right people. Eventually, under this system, success is not obtained by talent, but by upbringing and smoozing ability. Eventually, the system calcifies because it becomes harder for talent alone to lead to success and the best ways to feel needs do not come up because the people at the top are not as talented.
We can see it happening again now, after about a generation of Conservative rule. Conservatism has failed ... again.
What is needed is basic freedom, but rational, transparant, and as minimal needed to keep the system stable, methods in place to make sure that wealth does not get too concentrated. Things like progressive taxation, government provided utilities, including health care, governmental policies allowing for unions to have influence.
And an active, lively and free public debate and complete transparency, so no one can get away with shananagans.
Just do things that need to be done together, and make sure there is accoutnabilitry. Make sure you follow all procedures, and treat all people with equal dignity.
This is Liberalism, or Progressiveism. The Movement Conservatives have demonized it, but notice it always has to be ad hominem attacks because in truth, it is the non-ideological, pragmatic kind of government that works best and most transparent. Instead of people hoarding money and power, literally throwing money away in Las Vegas, let's maybe insure that everyone can get basic healthcare. Maybe, instead of heads of corporations, many of which don't make money, getting hundred of millions of dollars, let's require big companies to offer paid maternity leave so single women can spend time with their child at the most critical time of their lives.
If you work hard and play by the rules, we are rich enough to where you deserve health care to be available no matter what, and the right to be able to earn some security and a retirement with hard work. Education should be free through college, and kids should be able to get a living stipend if they are smart enough. You deserve to be able to take a vacation or two a year, and should be able to travel, at least a little.
What's wrong with all that? And it works!
Countries in Europe have systems like that, and by most accounts, it seems they are the healthy, happiest, freest nations on Earth.
But not here, a tremendously wealthy land, but just for a relative few! Oh yes, George W. Bush's government is the epitome of Movement Conservatism -- a stale, failed concept!
Here, we're follwing the same old road. Maybe It's time to take the road less traveled here in America, and have government by for and of the people again!!!
posted by JKevinKing at 11:09 PM on March 30, 2007 [4 favorites]
How pathetic.
And you, you "Movement Conservatives," Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coultier, and all you other bully, jerks, yea, you! That Newsweek with a tear on Reagan's cheek made me wretch! And laugh!
George W. Bush is what Reagan would have been if he could have been -- with the difference being nuclear holocaust rather than catastrophic quagmire, a soul-sucking pseudo-war. (I guess he's like a blended, stupid, talentless Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy)
Thank God for the Democratic Congress of the '80's!!! Bless you, Tip O'Neill!!! Maybe facing thousands of nuclear armed missles on hairtrigger alert caused the public to be realistic enough to reign in these grandiose, anti-republican creeps who now control the government!
All of these assholes have been around since Nixon! At least Reagan had the sense to stop listening to them after the Iran-Contra shitstorm hit the fan! They tried to depose President Clinton at any cost, including taking civility out of the public discourse. And, yes, the Movement Conservatives are squarely responsible for the current poor state of the current public discourse.
Do not be fooled: George W. Bush's government is the epitome of Conservative government.
Some are often confused because Conservatives are suppose to be the party of small government, but they spend a lot of money, and try to prohibit abortions, etc. This is because it is naive to think that the conservatives are for small government. Of course they are not.
Conservatism is about the preserving the authority of those in power. It always has been.
This is why, contrary to popular opinion, the American Revolution was a true Revolution. It is often said the French Revolution was truly revolutionary, while the American Revolution was a Conservative Revolution. There is some truth to this. Political compromises had to be made to get the Nation off the ground.
However, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin. George Washington, and all the other founders, planted the seeds of a true Democratic Republic. The Monarchy was overthrown, just as surely as it was in France. All Men [itself a reflection of the times] are created equal. All persons are entitled to equal protection under the law. Black deserve all the rights and responsibilities of full citizens. Women deserve to be treated as equals to men. Homosexuals deserve to be treated equally with heterosexuals.
It has been a long process, but the seed of the Republic has grown into a mighty tree, sometimes at great cost, self-inflicted and otherwise. It hasn't been perfect, but over time we had become more and more true to the ideals and aspirations of the Revolution! But beginning with the war on drugs, that trend has been reversed.
Conservatives have always been anxious to preserve the authority of those in power. It must be human natire to want to submit to authority and do what everyone else is doing. Many happily give plutocrats the authority to do what they want.
Why? And for whom? In the name of the leaders of organized religion, in order to preserve their influence. In the name of the very wealthy, so they can live in a world removed from the insecurities, inconveniences, and indignities of daily life.
Ultimately, in the name of the plutocratic elite who have enough money to where it becomes a source of poltical power, used to secure their position through the power of the state. This Conservatism, and it is also Libertarianism.
The chief difference between Conservatism and Libertarianism is that the Conservatives are either fooling themselves or they're power hungry, and the Libertarians are earnest, if naive, true believers.
Of course those with authority want to preserve their power. But wantin' ain't gettin", so to speak!
Those who favor the facile, "small government" propaganda masquerading as serious discourse, don't realize that if the government does not act in the public interest, those who accumulate extreme wealth (a seemingly natural outgrowth of Liberal Capitalism) will hijack the political system to change the rules to protect themselves.
The truth is that every time the current philosophy is ascendent, whatever it is called (now it is neoconservatism, or Movement Conservatism), ultimately a few elites control the political process completely and the system stagnates and a crisis emerges. It happens every time.
Historically, some poltical systems fall under the influence of a tyranny, if the chaos caused by the neoconservatives and its anscestors, such as the Nixon Republicans (who were checked by the liberal politics of the time), the McCarthyites, the Red Scare people, etc. It's been limited by our Liberal tadition so far, but traditions and limitations seem to be strained to the breaking point.
Remember, it is all caused by the chaos caused by Conservative government. Under Conservative government most people become more insecure, poorer, working harder for less money, because the wealthy are taking all of the economic growth for themselves. The data is plain. We have had tremendous economic growth over the last 30 years, but most working people's incomes are flat. Professionals and other lackeys (like me) do OK at first, but eventually even they are caught up in the insecurity as the very wealthy begin to suck up wealth like a black hole.
They don't really want to believe that all men are created equal. They want to feel that they are naturally a higher form of life and existence.
Why do you think tickets at sporting events are priced so high. There are a relatively few people with a greater and greater share of the wealth, and there are usually around only 50, 000 seats at a baseball stadium, and it usually takes a city of about 3-4 million, with public subsidy, to make enough money to field successful teams. Look at the proportion of the money spent by those at the top of the pecking order. They have money to burn so they bid up the price of the limited number of seats so that working families can't afford to pay for more than maybe, at most, one trip to the ball park a year.
High salaries are the result of the money ouring in from the elite. The Players are just denmanding their cut, and the owners give it to them because good players are scarce. Oh, yes, greed is King!
This is truly the result of Movement Conservatism and its anscestors. It always fails. It is failing now.
It is time to throw the Movement Cosnervatism-Reagan Revolution-Chicago School-Neoliberal-Libertarian-Goldwater Conservative Trash failure of an ideology into the scrapheap of history, along with Communism, Facism, and its ilk!
The truth is there is no perfect government, and economics and politics are intimitely related. People should be free to find their own reasons to live, either by submitting to the authority of a religion, a philosophy or way of thought, or by some other method. And we should realize that it is unhealthy to have authority and power in the hands of too few people.
First of all, it's bad for the Republic because such people end up acting like they are royalty and above the commoners. This leads to people obtaining huge advantages by birth and by knowing the right people. Eventually, under this system, success is not obtained by talent, but by upbringing and smoozing ability. Eventually, the system calcifies because it becomes harder for talent alone to lead to success and the best ways to feel needs do not come up because the people at the top are not as talented.
We can see it happening again now, after about a generation of Conservative rule. Conservatism has failed ... again.
What is needed is basic freedom, but rational, transparant, and as minimal needed to keep the system stable, methods in place to make sure that wealth does not get too concentrated. Things like progressive taxation, government provided utilities, including health care, governmental policies allowing for unions to have influence.
And an active, lively and free public debate and complete transparency, so no one can get away with shananagans.
Just do things that need to be done together, and make sure there is accoutnabilitry. Make sure you follow all procedures, and treat all people with equal dignity.
This is Liberalism, or Progressiveism. The Movement Conservatives have demonized it, but notice it always has to be ad hominem attacks because in truth, it is the non-ideological, pragmatic kind of government that works best and most transparent. Instead of people hoarding money and power, literally throwing money away in Las Vegas, let's maybe insure that everyone can get basic healthcare. Maybe, instead of heads of corporations, many of which don't make money, getting hundred of millions of dollars, let's require big companies to offer paid maternity leave so single women can spend time with their child at the most critical time of their lives.
If you work hard and play by the rules, we are rich enough to where you deserve health care to be available no matter what, and the right to be able to earn some security and a retirement with hard work. Education should be free through college, and kids should be able to get a living stipend if they are smart enough. You deserve to be able to take a vacation or two a year, and should be able to travel, at least a little.
What's wrong with all that? And it works!
Countries in Europe have systems like that, and by most accounts, it seems they are the healthy, happiest, freest nations on Earth.
But not here, a tremendously wealthy land, but just for a relative few! Oh yes, George W. Bush's government is the epitome of Movement Conservatism -- a stale, failed concept!
Here, we're follwing the same old road. Maybe It's time to take the road less traveled here in America, and have government by for and of the people again!!!
posted by JKevinKing at 11:09 PM on March 30, 2007 [4 favorites]
I am so sorry for that book ... I hope it's at least a little interesting!
posted by JKevinKing at 11:10 PM on March 30, 2007
posted by JKevinKing at 11:10 PM on March 30, 2007
Wow, how long did that take you to write? Man!
posted by miss lynnster at 11:22 PM on March 30, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 11:22 PM on March 30, 2007
Very interesting but i would insert Republican Party every place you have Conservative. The "permanent Republican majority" Rove and so many others are working towards even today is a different animal than just Conservatives, and solely concerned with amassing and cementing power and inserting "loyal Bushies" everywhere in Government. They're unconcerned with law, the Constitution, justice, morality, ethics, decency, governing, etc.
Conservatives actually used and made laws to advance their retrograde and mean-spirited agendas--the Republican Party believes they don't have to follow the laws at all, nor bother with making or passing them, nor with actually governing. None of what this country is built on applies to them at all. They take the "it's not illegal if the President does it" thing, and all live by it. They'll use it if it bestows power on them (like with the Supreme Court, and DeLay and redistricting in TX, etc), but if it threatens to limit it, they simply ignore it. Look at how Bush became President in the first place.
posted by amberglow at 11:29 PM on March 30, 2007
Conservatives actually used and made laws to advance their retrograde and mean-spirited agendas--the Republican Party believes they don't have to follow the laws at all, nor bother with making or passing them, nor with actually governing. None of what this country is built on applies to them at all. They take the "it's not illegal if the President does it" thing, and all live by it. They'll use it if it bestows power on them (like with the Supreme Court, and DeLay and redistricting in TX, etc), but if it threatens to limit it, they simply ignore it. Look at how Bush became President in the first place.
posted by amberglow at 11:29 PM on March 30, 2007
Basically, Conservatives use the existing system (see every GOP Speaker in recent memory), and the Republican party ignores it entirely, knowing that a compliant and cowed media (see the dinner itself), and the actual checks and balances built into the system itself, are very weak compared to naked power grabs. Our common trust--and not believing that people will actually blatantly and overtly ignore the law and everything--are very enabling too.
posted by amberglow at 11:36 PM on March 30, 2007
posted by amberglow at 11:36 PM on March 30, 2007
Also, it's Conservative to resist the expansion and bestowing of rights on the public (opposition to civil rights, abortion, hate crimes, ENDA, etc), but it's Republican to secretly insert provisions into existing bills before Congress without oversight or knowledge, and to actually create bills that go so far as to remove rights from the public (see the Patriot Act in both instances).
It's Conservative to stop taxpayer money from going to groups you don't like, but it's Republican to actually funnel taxpayer money to favored groups (see Faith-based funding, etc).
Conservatives are not radically active in the way the Republicans are. (Even if the GOP calls themself Conservative).
posted by amberglow at 11:46 PM on March 30, 2007
It's Conservative to stop taxpayer money from going to groups you don't like, but it's Republican to actually funnel taxpayer money to favored groups (see Faith-based funding, etc).
Conservatives are not radically active in the way the Republicans are. (Even if the GOP calls themself Conservative).
posted by amberglow at 11:46 PM on March 30, 2007
I believe Ambrose Bierce said all that needed to be said on the subject:
CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.
posted by nasreddin at 3:30 AM on March 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.
posted by nasreddin at 3:30 AM on March 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
NYT Editorial Sunday: The Rovian Era-- Turn over a scandal in Washington these days and the chances are you’ll find Karl Rove. ... Whatever the immediate objective, Mr. Rove seems focused on one overarching goal: creating a permanent Republican majority, even if that means politicizing every aspect of the White House and subverting the governmental functions of the executive branch. ... That seems quaint compared with the Bush administration’s far more menacing failure to distinguish the Republican Party from the government, or the state itself. ...
posted by amberglow at 11:03 PM on March 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by amberglow at 11:03 PM on March 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
and another reason it's important to name them correctly: The rightwing is running away from the "Republican" label themselves, yet this is entirely a Republican thing--
The Word "Republican" Has Vanished From The Vocabulary Of Right-Wingers
posted by amberglow at 1:17 PM on April 1, 2007
The Word "Republican" Has Vanished From The Vocabulary Of Right-Wingers
posted by amberglow at 1:17 PM on April 1, 2007
Attorney Purge = Stacking The DOJ To Suppress Voting Rights
posted by homunculus at 1:46 PM on April 1, 2007
posted by homunculus at 1:46 PM on April 1, 2007
Cummins: Now The Bush Administration Is Lying About Me
posted by homunculus at 1:47 PM on April 1, 2007
posted by homunculus at 1:47 PM on April 1, 2007
...Many of us were told to pipe down when we complained that the Justice Department and the NSA had been involved in spying on Americans with no oversight. But now that we know that Barbara Comstock, Monica Goodling and Tim Griffin, Karl Rove's personal smear artists, were promoted to the highest reaches of the federal police agencies with access to records on their political opponents and every other American, then it's clear that we weren't suspicious enough. At this point, I think we have to assume that with these people in charge and having the use of all the new powers of the Patriot Act, there have been no limits at all on the partisan, political use of the government's investigative powers.
...
posted by amberglow at 4:40 PM on April 1, 2007
...
posted by amberglow at 4:40 PM on April 1, 2007
“Conservatives are...”
Three Word Chant!
Three Word Chant!
Three Word Chant!
What’s the attachment to the labels? Attack the ideas. Conservatives did this, conservatives did that. As far as I know, calling yourself something doesn’t necessarially mean you adhere to that. Hey look everyone! I’m a Kantian. The whole Kantian ethos is screw the other guy, I got mine! That’s what I’m going to do now, and I’m a Kantian!
Balls.
And disliking conservatives does not a liberal make either.
There have always been selfish people. There always will be. But gee, I guess they’re just not smart enough to change their name through the ages, they just lump themselves together under the same auspices.
C’mon. Just go ahead and blame “the illuminati” why don’t you?
I’m happy to call myself - whatever - to represent a certain set of ideas that I follow. But if I call myself a Nazi and preach tolerance, diversity and labor equity, it should be fairly obvious the curtains don’t match the carpet. Far as I’m concerned conservativism isn’t the opposite of liberalism, but the opposite of radicalism.
But I concede, yeah, can be a relative term.
Still - all the more reason to focus on the concept not the label.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:23 PM on April 3, 2007
Three Word Chant!
Three Word Chant!
Three Word Chant!
What’s the attachment to the labels? Attack the ideas. Conservatives did this, conservatives did that. As far as I know, calling yourself something doesn’t necessarially mean you adhere to that. Hey look everyone! I’m a Kantian. The whole Kantian ethos is screw the other guy, I got mine! That’s what I’m going to do now, and I’m a Kantian!
Balls.
And disliking conservatives does not a liberal make either.
There have always been selfish people. There always will be. But gee, I guess they’re just not smart enough to change their name through the ages, they just lump themselves together under the same auspices.
C’mon. Just go ahead and blame “the illuminati” why don’t you?
I’m happy to call myself - whatever - to represent a certain set of ideas that I follow. But if I call myself a Nazi and preach tolerance, diversity and labor equity, it should be fairly obvious the curtains don’t match the carpet. Far as I’m concerned conservativism isn’t the opposite of liberalism, but the opposite of radicalism.
But I concede, yeah, can be a relative term.
Still - all the more reason to focus on the concept not the label.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:23 PM on April 3, 2007
Point being: Reification
posted by Smedleyman at 8:24 PM on April 3, 2007
posted by Smedleyman at 8:24 PM on April 3, 2007
but all this stuff is being done by one party explicitly for one party's benefit--there is a label that fits exactly.
posted by amberglow at 9:07 PM on April 3, 2007
posted by amberglow at 9:07 PM on April 3, 2007
most especially the Justice Dept/Patriot Act/spying/rights stuff. And none of this is secret--they've explicitly spoken of their "permanent Republican majority" and about castrating the opposition until they're like farm animals, etc--you can't have that happen unless you make it happen. There's no permanent any kind of majority without either changing the laws or breaking them -- or both.
posted by amberglow at 9:11 PM on April 3, 2007
posted by amberglow at 9:11 PM on April 3, 2007
They don't want expanded executive powers so that Hillary can have them, or as a general priniciple--they want them for Republicans alone. They would have already impeached and convicted any Democratic administration that did even 1/100th of what they've done.
posted by amberglow at 9:12 PM on April 3, 2007
posted by amberglow at 9:12 PM on April 3, 2007
... the Republican Party has spent a half-dozen years distilling itself down to an apparatus for justifying massive executive power wielded by and for a self-designated elect of “real Americans,” and declaring everyone outside the elect to be fair game. We can disagree on how the Republican Party reduced itself to nothing but cheerleaders for the prerogatives of its own leaders against the rest of us - I have my theories like anyone else - but the rot goes all the way down. ...
posted by amberglow at 10:55 PM on April 3, 2007
posted by amberglow at 10:55 PM on April 3, 2007
I wonder how this presidency would have gone with a Democratic-controlled opposition Congress the whole time. As much as I despise GWB now, I think he wouldn't have been too bad with Congress keeping him in check.
Conversely, how would Clinton's presidency have gone with a Democrat-controlled "rubber-stamp" Congress?
posted by LordSludge at 7:33 AM on April 4, 2007
Conversely, how would Clinton's presidency have gone with a Democrat-controlled "rubber-stamp" Congress?
posted by LordSludge at 7:33 AM on April 4, 2007
Clinton would have still had a very hostile media, Lord, so it's up in the air. Bush had both a compliant passive media and a GOP congress.
Carter didn't accomplish much, and he had a Democratic Congress.
posted by amberglow at 4:19 PM on April 4, 2007
Carter didn't accomplish much, and he had a Democratic Congress.
posted by amberglow at 4:19 PM on April 4, 2007
“but all this stuff is being done by one party explicitly for one party's benefit”
This stuff - yes. All evil stuff throughout history stuff - not so much.
“they've explicitly spoken of their "permanent Republican majority"... impeached and convicted any Democratic administration that did even 1/100th”
Yeah, I’ll cede all that man. I’m pretty anti-GOP lately. Just the whole “throughout history” thing gets me as oversimplifying.
And I’ll have to disagree with your link that the GOP has distilled itself down just to weild executive power -I’m not saying that’s strictly speaking wrong. But it’s not just that. They’ve replicated a good number of government functions. They’re operating as a para-government right now in many ways. Not just through the executive branch. Although that’s the easiest - most linear form - of power so it’s the most manifest.
But I wouldn’t understate the Dem’s culpability in all this either.
“Carter didn't accomplish much, and he had a Democratic Congress.”
Well, peace between Israel and Egypt. National energy policy. The SALT talks. And injected human rights into foreign relations. And the Torrijos treaty that gave the canal to Panama. And initiated energy conservation. And pardoned all draft dodgers from Vietnam. And integrated minorities in government jobs.
Of course him and Brzezinski created OBL and the Mujahideen (not to take away the augmentation by Reagan, but y’know). So I wouldn’t say he didn’t accomplish much. Just what he accomplished sort of was a wash.
And, political parties aside - it’s the same damned people in the background anyway. Hell, Cris Matthews was Carter’s speechwriter.
posted by Smedleyman at 5:49 PM on April 5, 2007
This stuff - yes. All evil stuff throughout history stuff - not so much.
“they've explicitly spoken of their "permanent Republican majority"... impeached and convicted any Democratic administration that did even 1/100th”
Yeah, I’ll cede all that man. I’m pretty anti-GOP lately. Just the whole “throughout history” thing gets me as oversimplifying.
And I’ll have to disagree with your link that the GOP has distilled itself down just to weild executive power -I’m not saying that’s strictly speaking wrong. But it’s not just that. They’ve replicated a good number of government functions. They’re operating as a para-government right now in many ways. Not just through the executive branch. Although that’s the easiest - most linear form - of power so it’s the most manifest.
But I wouldn’t understate the Dem’s culpability in all this either.
“Carter didn't accomplish much, and he had a Democratic Congress.”
Well, peace between Israel and Egypt. National energy policy. The SALT talks. And injected human rights into foreign relations. And the Torrijos treaty that gave the canal to Panama. And initiated energy conservation. And pardoned all draft dodgers from Vietnam. And integrated minorities in government jobs.
Of course him and Brzezinski created OBL and the Mujahideen (not to take away the augmentation by Reagan, but y’know). So I wouldn’t say he didn’t accomplish much. Just what he accomplished sort of was a wash.
And, political parties aside - it’s the same damned people in the background anyway. Hell, Cris Matthews was Carter’s speechwriter.
posted by Smedleyman at 5:49 PM on April 5, 2007
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I'm dead inside.
posted by kbanas at 8:20 AM on March 29, 2007 [4 favorites]