Great Minds Think Alike


"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against everyform of tyranny over the mind of man."


"So what Jefferson was saying was 'Hey! You know, we left this England place because it was bogus. So if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too.' Yeah?"

Lunch Room Politics

I think I should just change the name of this blog to "What Digby Said."

All of this is to say that there has long been a campaign to emasculate Democrats. (I suspect that there is a corollary in the defeminization of Democratic women as well.) This is powerful stuff and we'd best admit that it is going on so that we can formulate a response that actually works. Right now, we either try to out-manly them or we laugh it off, neither of which are working. (The worst advice that Paul Begala ever took was when Tucker Carlson told him to laugh when these kind of insults are hurled. He often sounds like a nervous hyena they come so fast and furiously and it has the effect of making him appear slightly unhinged.)

I think this tactic plays into many people's anxiety about changing social and gender roles in our fast moving society. A lot of folks out there are genuinely freaked out by the rapid pace of change and because of it are very susceptible to rigid stereotypes. They just feel more comfortable on the side of the fence where the macho high school boys and the girls who love them are. It's very hard to even get them to peek over and see what's on the other side.

So true. Why run with the smart crowd and take responsibility for our actions as a country, when the cool kidz say that if we just stop thinking so much, we can kick A-rab ass and have tax cuts at the same time?

Welcome back to high school. Did somebody say "hotel party?"


"I don't want your life!"

Great Moments In Republican History

Tom Delay (R - fuckstick), the smartest man alive.

A delegation of Republican House members including Majority Leader Tom DeLay accepted an expense-paid trip to South Korea in 2001 from a registered foreign agent despite House rules that bar the acceptance of travel expenses from foreign agents, according to government documents and travel reports filed by the House members.

Justice Department documents show that the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, a business-financed entity created with help from a lobbying firm headed by DeLay's former chief of staff, registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on Aug. 22, 2001. DeLay; his wife, Christine; and two other Republican lawmakers departed on a trip financed by the group on Aug. 25 of that year.

Does anyone remember back in 1994 when the Republicans took control of the House and Senate by promising to clean up the corrupt, intrusive culture created by the Democratic majority?

I'm just saying...

This Just In

University of Maryland star Nik Caner-Medley has been selected number one in the supplemental college-draft by the Breezewood, PA Wendy's.

Asked why the fastfood giant selected Caner-Medley, a projected starter, over other available stars such as his UM teammate John Gilchrist, Wendy's night manager Ron Goodman replied, "I just think Nik has so much potential. His speed is surprising for a guy of his size, which allows him to play any position on the floor, but he's also just so smart. We're going to start him out on the fryer but with his talent, I think that in no time you could Nik working the register or possibly even making Frosties."

We Play To Win The Game

Digby has the perfect response to Joe Klein, who towed the inside-the-beltway convential wisdom on Sunday's Meet The Press.

MR. KLEIN: The answer to a radical right challenge isn't a reactionary left response.

Digby:

No the answer is to keep making the same mistakes over and over again, apparently.

This is the essence of the argument within the Democratic Party right now. We either acknowledge the nature of the opposition and gather our courage to fight it with an affirmative defense of our beliefs and a willingness to take the fight to the Republicans or we continue with a constant tweaking of issues and small bore accomodation in the hopes that we can eke out a tiny win election to election, the latter of which I would find a dubious proposition what with the questionable "wins" we keep seeing in states run by Republicans.

Here's the problem. The other side is waging a battle for total political dominance. They are willing to do anything to achieve it from cheating at elections to government propaganda to spending billions on a travelling political spectacle to entertain the folks. We will not defeat them with pocket protector arguments about the information age (although if anyone were qualified to make such an argument it would be Paul Krugman, the quintessential economist geek.) I suspect the fact that Krugman sees the big picture while Klein is still floating on a cloud of Seinfeldian nostalgia speaks more to the fact that Krugman famously does not hob knob with the in crowd while Klein famously lives for it.

As Ari Berman points out in his article in The Nation, the DLC and the allegedly liberal media are one big circle jerk.

At some point, all the Democrats out there wagging their fingers at the "radical" base need to open their eyes and realize we're in the middle of a street fight here.

Overreacting Always

While I still support the idea of burning down any monument to the traitorous Confederacy -- including making several stops in the state of Virginia where even the individual stalls at rest stops are named for dead Confederate horses -- the always-reliable Steve Gilliard says that Lindsey Graham was not pining for slavery, but instead referencing to the very same burning of Columbia that this blog mentioned in an earlier rant on the Senator, when he said:

“We don’t do Lincoln Day Dinners in South Carolina,” Senator Graham told a Lincoln Day gathering in Tennessee Saturday. “It’s nothing personal, but it takes awhile to get over things.”

More Duke

According to his official biography, JJ Redick was born on June 24, 1984, which would make him about four months shy of 21 years old.

So can anyone explain to me why this picture of Saint JJ, clutching what appears to be a Natural Light, is posted on the official Duke University website?

BREAKING NEWS

***EXCLUSIVE!!! MUST CREDIT THINGSFALLAPART!!!***

This just in: Duke is AWESOME!

In the comments section of a previous post, I was reminded of this fact and e-mailed the Duke University Athletic Director for confirmation. Within moments, I recieved a return e-mail stating that the school's official postition on this topic is that they are, indeed, awesome.


"I think the part where I didn't make
any shots in the second half on the UNC
game solidified my position as the best
pure-shooter in college basketball history.
Plus it was totally awesome."

Super-Terrific Brilliant Hour

From the New York Times:

Dozens of terror suspects on federal watch lists were allowed to buy firearms legally in the United States last year, according to a Congressional investigation that points up major vulnerabilities in federal gun laws.

People suspected of being members of a terrorist group are not automatically barred from legally buying a gun, and the investigation, conducted by the Government Accountability Office, indicated that people with clear links to terrorist groups had regularly taken advantage of this gap.

...

At least 44 times from February 2004 to June, people whom the F.B.I. regards as known or suspected members of terrorist groups sought permission to buy or carry a gun, the investigation found.

In all but nine cases, the F.B.I. or state authorities who handled the requests allowed the applications to proceed because a check of the would-be buyer found no automatic disqualification like being a felon, an illegal immigrant or someone deemed "mentally defective," the report found.

"I Burned For Her"

Via RAW Story, Senator Lindsey Graham (R - SC) explains how losing the right to hold slaves is kinda like breaking up your with girlfriend.

"We don't do Lincoln Day Dinners in South Carolina, Senator Graham told a Lincoln Day gathering in Tennessee Saturday. It's nothing personal, but it takes awhile to get over things. (my emphasis)

I say, employing gene-altering technology that has been around for years, we resurrect Sherman and burn Columbia to the ground for old time's sake.

"The truth is, the whole army is burning with an insatiable desire to wreak vengeance upon South Carolina. I almost tremble at her fate, but feel she deserves all that seems in store for her."

P.S. Lindsey, it's taking awhile "to get over things" because we kicked your racist Confederate asses all up and down the mid-Atlantic, traitor.