Re: Political offices considered as names for pets

1

I'm not so sure about pet naming, but I once belonged to a golf club that had a professional in residence at the course. Everybody wanted to get a lesson from Resident Pro Tim.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 9:37 PM
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Disgusting.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 9:43 PM
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3

Chairman Mao would be a cute cat name since "mao" with high tone instead of rising tone means cat. This is probably the world's most obvious, horrible joke if you know more than one semester of Mandarin.


Posted by: Mister Smearcase | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 9:47 PM
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4

2: Well, it's late and I'm tired.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 9:49 PM
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5

Pretty sure there was a chairman meow joke on a tv show, but I don't remember where.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 10:05 PM
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3 is a more sophisticated joke than 5 of course.

Regina is not known to me

Poor, lightly visited Saskatchewan.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 10:09 PM
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1 made me laugh, though mostly for its pure shamelessness.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 10:24 PM
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I think Bob Dole's dog was named Leader.


Posted by: Klug | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 10:37 PM
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9

Our first childhood dog was named Queenie because she was an English Springer Spaniel, plus we had just been to England.


Posted by: DonBoy | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 10:40 PM
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10

I think it's interesting how terms for intermediate-level nobility like Duke, Earl, and Baron are also more recently outdated names for men.


Posted by: Neil the Ethical Werewolf | Link to this comment | 12-19-12 10:46 PM
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11

This is probably the world's most obvious, horrible joke if you know more than one semester of Mandarin.

Or have read the Illuminati Trilogy.


Posted by: Josh | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 12:11 AM
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12

IIRC, in the film Diva, the protagonist's friends have a cat named "Ayatollah". I hope you all find that to be a meaningful contribution to the thread.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 12:55 AM
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"Bursar" is a great name for a big hairy dog


Posted by: Lambent Cactus | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 1:09 AM
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I think Frank Skinner and David Baddiel had a cat called Chairman Miaow.

Duke and Prince are classic dog names.

All of my parents' cats (plus one dog) are/have been named after Greek letters.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 1:28 AM
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We named cats for Roman emperors.


Posted by: Keir | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 1:34 AM
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16

"Speaker" would be the obvious political name for a marmalade cat.

And, for a small female dog, "nosflow."


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 2:29 AM
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I once had a cat named Princess. This list is bizarrely a-skewed, and includes 'Attaboy,' which might make it hard to house train the referent.


Posted by: beamish | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 2:43 AM
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I think cats called Princess are not uncommon (I knew a guy who called his cat Princess because his last name was King). I also knew a cat called God - it wasn't a Dog - which used to surprise the neighbours when its owners were calling it in.

"God! God? Where are you, God, you little bastard?"


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:03 AM
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I knew of an iguana named Whip and I'll bet there are some whippet owners who are boring enough to choose it too, though presumably not for political reasons.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:46 AM
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Pasha or Satrap for a cat, the latter for a Persian especially.

Is neb going to just sit there and take 16.last?


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:47 AM
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21

Prothonotary would be a good name for a warbler. In trying to find out how it got that name (1780-90, Americanism; so called because its coloration resembles the robes traditionally worn by prothonotaries) I came across this political story previously unknown to me:

The prothonotary warbler became known in the 1940s as the bird that, in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, established a connection between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss. Chambers had testified that Hiss enjoyed bird-watching, and once bragged about seeing a prothonotary warbler. Hiss later testified to the same incident, causing many members to become convinced of the pair's acquaintance.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:55 AM
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22

20.last: Sure, it's been acknowledged for years that there are two LB's among the FPPs.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:57 AM
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23

We considered calling our dog Nimrod (as in the Mighty Hunter), then settled for Jet (as in jet black, but also an injoke about him nearly being Nimrod).

My former neighbour's awesome cat was called Poppy, of all things.


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:59 AM
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18 is even better if the owner is named Margaret.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:08 AM
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25

I have named the dog Cartouche in accordance with your wishes.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:09 AM
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it seems all but impossible that there's no pet for whom "Whip" would be a good name

Snake, obviously.


Posted by: MAE | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:03 AM
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27

Byzantine titles and epithets are the best. Porphyrogenitos, Logothete, Protospatharios, Parakoimomenos.

I like Undersecretary a lot in English.

Negus for the Ethiopian king of kings has a nice ring to it.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:12 AM
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28

Our lord, our executioner, and our enemy.


Posted by: OPINIONATED AZTECS | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:17 AM
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29

There is a dog out there called Special Agent Dale Cooper.

For cats, I would also consider Senator (the decadent Roman kind).


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:25 AM
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30

Count Palatine would be good for certain breeds of dog. (to be addressed as "Pal")


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:27 AM
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31

Oh, Grand Moff.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:31 AM
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32

31 sounds more like an expletive than a political title or a goldfish.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:44 AM
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33

"whip" might work best as one of those joint pet-names.


Posted by: text | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:08 AM
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34

Quaestor would be a good name for a parrot. It sounds like the annoying noises they make.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:16 AM
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35

I also know a dog named Special Agent Dale Cooper. A tea cup chihuahua, to be precise.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:16 AM
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36

As long as I can have a canary called Curule Aedile.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:17 AM
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37

36 > 34, obvs.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:17 AM
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38

My sister has a regular chihuahua with a name that has nothing to do with any political office. It shakes so much I want to give it Xanax.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:18 AM
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39

A friend has a parrot called 'Otik'. (As in the film)


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:28 AM
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40

A friend of my wife named her dog, Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy is a good dog.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:34 AM
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41

They had three better dogs that all died tragically.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:35 AM
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42

My turtle is named Bentham because he lives in a panopticon. (His real name is something else, in fact, but the rationale is accurate.)


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:38 AM
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43

It sounds like the annoying noises they make.

That it does, Ned.


Posted by: text | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:40 AM
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44

I think "The Under-Secretary" is a good name for a dog.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:43 AM
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45

I have a fat little bulldog who over-explains jokes whenever she feels threatened, don't remember her name though.


Posted by: text | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:44 AM
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46

36 > 34, obvs.

If math were obvious, heebie would be out of a job.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 10:03 AM
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47

She's a mathematician, not a comparator.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 10:53 AM
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48

When we were kids, my sister named our dog Victoria, somewhat more after the era than the Queen herself. But we always shortened the name to Vicky.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 11:40 AM
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49

My in-laws have a cuddly cairn (i.e. Toto dog) named Thor. I've known several dogs named Bodhi(sattva). Sadly, my parents' lab Bodhi died recently.


Posted by: Alfrek Macsteinie | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 12:17 PM
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21: I spent hours researching this! And not finding a satisfactory answer (although I was amazed by the references available on the internet - I ended up on a German site looking at the first recorded mention of the warbler). I was actually looking for a picture of a prothonotary (human) because I couldn't figure out what part of the prothonotary (warbler) would be referenced by its name. The little black cap? A grey cape? Yellow under-robes? If this the Catholic prothontary or are there other sorts? Why would a Dutch man be naming something after a Catholic (minor?) functionary?

I resolved to call them Yellow Swamp Warblers from then on.

My friend had a corn snake named Karo.


Posted by: hydrobatidae | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 12:52 PM
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51

Daughter's parakeet (deceased) was named "Toby" after Winston Churchill's parakeet. Daughter named current bird "Penelope" after having to read the Odyssey for school.


Posted by: bill | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 1:30 PM
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52

His real name is something else, in fact, but the rationale is accurate.

How does something get to be the "real" name of a turtle? Does knowing it give you power over him?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 1:34 PM
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53

52: That's the true name.

The real name is the name that, when multiplied by itself, always produces a positive name.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 1:36 PM
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54

The Ethiopian king-of-kings is a "Negusa Nagast," actually. (A distant Castock cousin claims to be in line for the throne, but then he also claims to have invented argyle, which seems dubious.) And why would it be difficult to apply Pharaoh to a cat?

Honorifics might work, too: Dai Lo ("elder brother") for instance?


Posted by: Lord Castock | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 2:19 PM
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55

he also claims to have invented argyle

Sounds like a pattern of exaggeration.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 2:24 PM
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56

As long as he doesn't claim to have invented Argyll. That was my lot.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 2:34 PM
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57

And why would it be difficult to apply Pharaoh to a cat?

It wouldn't. It would be easy—seemingly too easy. But it's not too easy. It's not difficult. But it's not too easy.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 2:43 PM
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imj-r zXA.ww a ni-swt - [Intendant] of the scribes of the archives of the King


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:08 PM
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52: I was using his pseudonym, except he actually has a different pseudonym I can't think of right now. The name story wouldn't work with the pseudonym.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:26 PM
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My in-laws have a cuddly cairn (i.e. Toto dog) named Thor.

Our family cairn that died two years ago was named Loki.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:31 PM
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61

OT: Is there an official place to note I got my Fuck You Clown? Because I did and it's awesome.


Posted by: hydobatidae | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:45 PM
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62

What's a Fuck You Clown? Did I miss a prior discussion, or are you talking about a circus-themed blow-up doll?


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:48 PM
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63

Nevermind, you mean a card from Heebie.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:55 PM
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64

62.1: Ronald McDonald.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 3:57 PM
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65

Yeah, I forgot a word. But it's funnier if you picture it as a doll.


Posted by: hydrobatidae | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:05 PM
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51: I was actually looking for a picture of a prothonotary (human) because I couldn't figure out what part of the prothonotary (warbler) would be referenced by its name.

Well, Wikipedia says it is golden robes, but the pictures are scarce. It might be what this guy is wearing, he was a "Protonotary Apostolic". But not sure how the name is not well-suited to many species of yellow warbler.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:06 PM
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60: That's a good name for a Cairn. We have one too, but her names a less godly Maggie.


Posted by: Alfrek Macsteinie | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 4:41 PM
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Is there an official place to note I got my Fuck You Clown [card]?

I added my acknowledgement of receipt to the post where she had made the offer. It is an awesome card.


Posted by: md 20/400 | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 5:09 PM
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69

"I wouldn't want Danny to see me in a wheelchair."


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 5:24 PM
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70

An entirely symbolic and useless act. Thanks, VW.


Posted by: text | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 5:30 PM
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71

OT: The internal fuse on an electric dryer is really buried deep.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:19 PM
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72

If I had a hangdog, I'd name it Speaker of the House. Woo hoo! Tears of the Fuck You Clown!


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:24 PM
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73

71: Hott! And kinky!


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:25 PM
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74

Clear "Undersecretary" is a good name for a dog but "Undersecretariat" is an even better name for a pony.


Posted by: snarkout | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:27 PM
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75

Or for Katherine The Great, nod wink lolz.


Posted by: text | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:30 PM
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76

Lumpenundersecretariat.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:32 PM
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77

The fuck you clown card was lovely.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:36 PM
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78

I have already told TFA about my racing turtle Secreturtleit.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:44 PM
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79

There is no dead mouse in the dryer, but I still can't get the fuse out. Can I borrow a small-nanded, extremely patient child?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:44 PM
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80

70: ?


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:50 PM
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81

I loved my Fuck You Clown card.


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 6:52 PM
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82

81: Novel sexual acts galore on here tonight!


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:02 PM
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83

|| Predictably and hilariously, Boehner's plan failed to get enough Republican support.
|>


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:02 PM
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84

72 -> 83


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:04 PM
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85
"On a separate note, Republican leadership thought they could silence conservatives when they kicked us off our Committees. I'm glad that enough of my colleagues refused to back down from the threats and intimidation, thus preventing the Conference from abandoning our principles."
Eat your own you crazy motherfucker crazy political terrorist fucknuts!

Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:07 PM
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86

Missed that. We're still doomed, but watching the Republicans tear at each other as their party dissolves into irrelevance will amuse for the next 20 years.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:13 PM
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I guess Boehner's not going to be Speaker after the New Year. On the one hand, I'm not thrilled at the thought of listening to Cantor's drawl/whine. But on the other, I suspect having Cantor serve as Speaker will have a bracing effect, as the nation will be confronted with the reality of the what the GOP has become.


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:15 PM
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||
Is there a name for these Amazon review pile-ons?
|>


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:23 PM
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89

There is no fucking way that anybody can reach that screw. Fucking fuckers.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:24 PM
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90

The Germans used Jewish children to assemble the trigger mechanism for bombs. Just sayin'.


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:28 PM
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91

If Bohner was a good speaker, he's start whipping a bill that raises taxes on everyone who makes more than $900,000, and then when that doesn't work, $800,000. If he kept ratcheting it down, eventually either enough Democrats would join him, or some of the hard core conservatives would get on board to make sure the number didn't go any lower.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:30 PM
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92

Are you volunteering your kids, VW?


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:31 PM
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93

A Dutch auction! Is Boehner Dutch?


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:32 PM
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94

92: antisemite.


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:33 PM
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95

Is Boehner Dutch?

You mean Boehner the Orange? Yes.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:36 PM
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96

Norm Ornstein on PBS Newshour was funny this evening: he was like, Either this is really stupid on Boehner's part, because there's no way he can get the FREAKS in his party on board; or else it's really clever, because if he can get enough Republicans on board, then he's gotten them used to the idea, and can ratchet them down further. I guess. But anyway [continued Ornstein], it's totally weird and I have no idea.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:41 PM
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97

I have only a regular kid.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:53 PM
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98

Gentile kid, whatever. Anyway, I got the fuse and it had indeed blown. Now I wait for the part to arrive.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 7:55 PM
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99

Anyone want to buy a teenager, cheap? Slightly used: Recovering from a snowboarding injury, he takes off his wrist splint, and drives a friend's snowmobile. Into a stump (because of weak injured hand), sending him flipping over the front, whacking knee on handlebar. Strains back seriously helping load broken snowmobile into pickup.

All reasonable offers considered.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:44 PM
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100

Is the snowmobile on offer?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:45 PM
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101

I'm told the repair bill will probably be less than $2,000.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:50 PM
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99: So I guess it's not a "Limited Time Offer."


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:51 PM
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103

$2000 is a pretty good price for a teenager these days.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:52 PM
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104

Does he continue to charge when wounded?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:56 PM
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Yeah, that's just the snowmobile. We'll see what the doctors say tomorrow. Probably some PT, ultimately, but that doesn't mean they won't do some expensive shit first.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 8:58 PM
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106

Maybe this will help you feel better in some vague way.


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 9:26 PM
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107

So is Boehner the weakest Speaker ever, or just the weakest of any of our lifetimes?


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 10:00 PM
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108

107: he's certainly the weakest in my memory -- not to mention the most pathetic. Honestly, as much as I think Brian Beutler is probably one of the two or three best political bloggers working right now, if he can figure out that you're bluffing before you even bluff, you're going to get called by the real card players.


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 10:05 PM
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I thought the only thing that "saved" the debt deal last year was Pelosi whipping up the last few votes. Boehner's been weak a long time.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 10:11 PM
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110

Between him and McConnell filibustering his own debt ceiling bill, they're quite the clown show.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 10:12 PM
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111

In the past, Bohner could have corralled the rabid ferret vote by handing out earmarks. One of the reasons he is such a weak Speaker is the stupid decision to get rid of them.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 10:59 PM
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112

You think? These guys don't seem to want trade their purity. Or maybe they're bound by their blood-oath to Norquist.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 11:30 PM
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113

99: Tough love, Charley. Tell him all future trips to the doctor will involve no anesthetic.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 12-20-12 11:49 PM
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114

The bad parenting advice in 113 was me.

Could someone else do a better job as Speaker, though? I don't see how.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:00 AM
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115

Or maybe they're bound by their blood-oath to Norquist.

Note that Norquist granted a special exemption for this Plan B thing, and they still wouldn't vote for it.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:07 AM
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Could someone else do a better job as Speaker, though? I don't see how.

With this caucus? I don't know, but we'll probably find out soon.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:09 AM
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117

Who's likely to be next Speaker, if not Boehner?


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:09 AM
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118

I think Cantor's next in line.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:11 AM
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119

||

So Ryan North's Choose-Your-Own-Hamlet thing has raised over half a million dollars, making it apparently the most successful Kickstarter publishing project ever, with a few hours to go. I've gone back and forth about whether I should donate to the Kickstarter ever since it started, but at this point I think I'll just wait and buy the book when it comes out.

|>


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:15 AM
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I didn't realize concrete action was taken on earmarks. I assumed some token gestures would be made and nothing would change. Though it does seem everyone is quickly finding new ways to do it.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:20 AM
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121

Earmarks were always a picayune issue, of course.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:21 AM
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122

"One evening at a hotel in New York I flipped around the television channels. Suddenly there on the public access channel was a voluptuous young woman, naked, her body oiled, writhing on the floor while fondling herself intimately.... I watched for some time-riveted by the sociological significance of it all."

Just think how riveted he would be by the social significance of all the internet porn that's out there these days.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 6:43 AM
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115: Note that Norquist granted a special exemption for this Plan B thing, and they still wouldn't vote for it.

Without all the other dynamics in play I think they may have voted for it. But per the quote in 85 I think this was also a big FU to Boehner and his whole approach of negotiating with black presidents.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 6:51 AM
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124

So enjoyed my FYC card. It's near the Bo Obama card on our sideboard.


Posted by: bill | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 7:03 AM
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122 is obviously wrong thread. But to those of you who read it and had a vision of Robert Bork furiously masturbating to the social significance of it all..... you're welcome.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 7:42 AM
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126

Kevin Drum

Instead of trying to craft a bill that can get 218 Republican votes, he'll round up fifty or a hundred of the non-crazies and pass a compromise bill along with 150 Democrats. On this reading, today's failure actually makes a fiscal cliff compromise more likely.

Ezra Klein

Boehner doesn't have enough Republican support to pass any bill that increases taxes -- even one meant to block a larger tax increase -- without a significant number of Democrats. The House has now adjourned until after Christmas, but it's clear now what Plan C is going to have to be: Boehner is going to need to accept the simple reality that if he's to be a successful speaker, he's going to need to begin passing legislation with Democratic votes.

So it will be Democrats, with a few Republicans, who raise taxes and cut Social Security. And Republicans will have to face voters rage in 2014 for not raising taxes and not cutting SS.

Damn stupid crazy Republicans.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 9:20 AM
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127

I don't think Boehner can do that and expect to be reelected Speaker. And I'm not sure I'd bet on 60 votes in the Senate for a bill that teahadis get to run on.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 10:50 AM
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I don't think Boehner can do that and expect to be reelected Speaker.

I agree, and even now, I have to wonder what support Boehner has among the Rs - he seems so ineffective even within his own caucus. It would be amazing for him to have a "Profiles in Courage" moment and structure a deal that attracts moderate Ds and Rs (if any) at his political risk, but I see no indication of that coming.


Posted by: bill | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 12:11 PM
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||

As I am reading Harry Harootunian History's Disquiet right now, well not while I am writing this comment although I am listening to some good Lou Donaldson, and seeing so much to cut-and-paste about the ahistorical everydayness of late capitalism and Empire that motivates the horror of 127 and 128 above, which I may explain a little later...in particular HH's discussion of EH Carr, Richard Evans, and Peter Novick...

...well, I posit that the problematic of Kushner and Spielberg's Lincoln leaving out black agency is dwarfed by their massive error of leaving out the East, China, Japan, India and ME.

That many consider it absurd to say that Lincoln perhaps even needed to focus on Euro-American-Asian relations is precisely, exactly, the same kind of closed consciousness that is so comfortably condemned for leaving women and blacks out of history. In fact, the New "Inclusive" History (Cambridge School) is a tool of Neo-Liberalism actually created to enable continuing Western Imperialism and primitive accumulation.

Capitalism, Imperialism, and the opening of the East not important in 1862? It was the most important. The freeing of the slaves and the gradual liberation of women was so necessary and sufficient to Imperialism and Fordism as to explain the processes completely.

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Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 5:45 PM
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130

How's the newsletter coming?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 5:48 PM
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127,128:Briefly, and assuming that Bernanke, and Democrats and Republicans etc will manage to engineer a "Shock" in the next six months that makes the double-dip or Depression inevitable, that liberals will support (and you will) an austerity budget enacted by Democrats without remembering the consequences of the last Obama Shock Therapy move (PPACA):the 2010 midterms is precisely a symptom of modernist/post-modernist ahistorical "realist" consciousness


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-21-12 5:52 PM
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You know, bob, all that reminds me of the time you predicted that Obama would destroy the US economy in order to run for election in 2012 as a Republican.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 12-22-12 5:03 AM
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126 is plausible, on the other hand. It'll be interesting to see what they give up to get the necessary few Republican votes, and who defends the compromise if it happens.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 12-22-12 6:44 AM
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