whenever I begin to fall asleep, the thought of a nightmare of that will grant me insomnia.
Well played! It's especially important that we maintain our dignity in the face of the silly aspersions he cast on us with the funny mouth of his.
So that's how he's scoring with the hot chicks.
max
['Maybe he should get the body mod and have it forked.']
If you keep this up, you know that you're going to end up eloping with Eli Lake, Ogged. And your mother, the lookist, will be utterly crushed.
If Eli Lake and Ogged gay married and abducted adopted some kids, what would they name them?
"Little Bitch" and "Squeaky."
This isn't quite the political thread, is it? Well.
OT, then:
Crap. My mother just forwarded me this Ken Blackwell Obama-scary!piece of junk from the New York Sun several months back. I see from her to: and from: lines that it's being passed around. She's passed it along to a dozen people who are, yes, 60-something, along with a couple of their kids for good measure.
Oh dear. I normally ignore these forwards. I wonder if I should step in now, though. What a drag.
My ex-wife just got that from her father today, with stuff tacked on the end about how Obama fits the prophecy for the antichrist.
I would dearly love to dismiss it. My mom forwards without editorial comment, which she thinks is preferable. Eh. Dismiss it? A sort of "fuck them" sentiment? I don't know.
(That is, I have just written back to my mom in firm tones, concluding with an expressed preference that she not engage in the forwarding of this material, lest we wind up with a McCain presidency. Help!)
Dear Mom-
McCain is the Manchurian Candidate. At least Hussein Obama X will protect us against the Commies.
Regards,
&c.
Seriously tho when will Dems start to compete in the Scurrilous Email Battle? It can't be that hard to insert these memes into the email forwardings of credulous seniors. I know there's a lot of "Rush says" element to what gets traction, but that just makes it easier with mccain - Rush has said plenty against him over the years. Just paste together quotes, and add a little "he'll steal your SS check," and it's Senior Fear Olympics gold.
I think Dems should start an e-mail rumor that Obama is secretly an Ethiopian Jew. Muddy the waters entirely.
12: Pandagon has had a couple pieces recently about McCain's mental health--did you know he hasn't had a mental health checkup in seven years??!? And you know, he *was* a POW. And he has a reputation for having a temper!
I'm actually finding it kind of offensive.
Seriously, just thought of that, but someone should put together a collection of forwardable email responses.
14: There's probably a sort of "General Betrayus" dividing line. I'm uncomfortable going after him for suffering suffered as a POW. Or anything related to his POW status or military service, really That just seems unbelievably wrong. But others may disagree, and I'm not sure there's a way to demonstrate that one of us is "right."
Seriously tho when will Dems start to compete in the Scurrilous Email Battle?
Believe it or not, that's sort of what I'm thinking. I mean, honestly. If this sort of thing is going around, can I not forward a response to everyone on my mom's forwarding list (she doesn't hide it)?
No, I'm not going to do that, at least not without her permission. But shit, man. It's not just the seniors, you know. And they know they're lacking real information.
I'm not sure why you mention Rush. The people on the receiving end of these emails in my mom's quarter are Dems -- they don't like McCain; they're Clinton supporters.
Yeah, so anyway, I guess with these people it's got to be an "anybody but McCain" sort of thing. Which rather sucks.
If someone forwards me something, I'll forward back to everyone on their list. In theory.
16: It's not the POW thing that bugs me. It's the casting aspersions on mental health thing.
Like for instance, I'd be completely comfortable with an argument that, because he was a POW, he's too fucking stubborn about American military action. But the "you know, he *might* have some mental illness...." line is just assholish.
Seriously, I would not want to have a mentally ill President, Disabilities Act or not. I knew someone once whose supervisor had been certified disabled based on something or another, and it made their job intolerable.
18: Hey, John, I'm off to consider this. I'll review what I sent my mom and see whether I think it's okay to reply to all. It's what I wanted to do, after all.
21: but McCain's not. Crazy in the colloquial sense meaning likely to do weird things without thinking through the results, sure, but not mentally ill.
Further to 22: No, no, what am I saying? That's like airing dirty laundry in public! Not that there was anything personal there. Jesus christ. I will just ask my mother for permission, there you go.
But frankly, some of those people need to hear a different voice. Mine, obviously.
See, that's the weird thing. If someone has bad judgment and a bad temper but isn't mentally ill, they're vulnerable. If they're declared mentally ill and disabled, in the same circumstance they get certain protections.
Sounds like an internet rumor, but it happened to someone I knew. (Actually, a friend of mine was called into the case by the union.)
With Republicans, of course, the term "mentally ill" is redundant. Hagee and Parsley make tons of money off delusions, paranoia, and free-floating anger.
But the "you know, he *might* have some mental illness...." line is just assholish.
Interesting. I don't like the use of his POW suffering to justify doubt about whether he has a mental illness, but it's definitely the POW part that bothers me. I'd be fine, for example, with saying, "George Bush did a lot of drinking, and that can leave your mental health physically impaired even after you quit, so...." Would the challenge to GWB's mental health bother you, too?
21: Not all mental illness is severely disabling. I mean, god forbid anyone's ever seen a therapist for mild depression, etc.
There are few people here I would want to see become president. I'm absolutely sure that the feeling is mutual.
14: did you know he hasn't had a mental health checkup in seven years??!?
This is kind of funny: what's a mental health checkup? Do we have these regularly?
27: What bothers me is the innuendo and stigma against mental illness, even if it's in the past and/or simply hypotthesized. Here, the argument is that b/c he was tortured as POW, he probably had PTSD, and that makes him unfit to be president.
Which, think of the effects of that kind of implication. It's not as though military vets don't already have a lot of resistatnce and stigma associated with PTSD diagnoses. We've already had presidents who've had past problems with various mental problems--addiction, depression. It's all well and good as long as you deny it.
Basically, the effect is to discourage people from seeking diagnosis and treatment. Which is precisely the opposite of how we should address mental illness.
I want you to be President, John, and I'm pissed off that you don't reciprocate the feeling. I'm casting my general election vote for B, just to teach you a lesson.
Jesus christ, no. Don't vote for me. The last thing I want is responsibility. (I refused to be nominated for PTO secretary just this week.)
So if I vote for you, I can teach both you and John a lesson. Intriguing. (Twirls moustache.)
Jesus christ, no. Don't vote for me. The last thing I want is responsibility. (I refused to be nominated for PTO secretary just this week.)
A modern-day Sherman.
27: I don't like the use of his POW suffering to justify doubt about whether he has a mental illness, but it's definitely the POW part that bothers me. I'd be fine, for example, with saying, "George Bush did a lot of drinking, and that can leave your mental health physically impaired even after you quit, so...." Would the challenge to GWB's mental health bother you, too?
In GWB's case there's a lot of evidence having nothing to do with his past drinking that suggests he was not qualified for the presidency.
Look at the form of your argument here: it sounds much the same as those who say that Obama can't get the Muslim out of him. We're in dangerously problematic analogy territory here, but still, that form of argument doesn't stand on its own. Some people are inclined to reply to the Obama-as-Muslim reservation with "but that's a good thing, gives him insight!" The same can be said for McCain's experience as a POW.
surely with McCain, the problem is that he's got poor judgement and a bad temper, and whether this is caused by mental illness in the medical sense (if one actually believes in that as an objective category which I don't necessarily), by his POW experiences, or by just generally being born a cunt (my personal theory), is more or less second-order to the observable fact that he's a snappy, cranky weirdo? I mean seriously, much more than Bush, I absolutely would not trust that guy (or at least his public persona) to run a whelk stall.
In order to be president you have to correctly misunderstand what's going on, because if you actually understand what's going on, you become angry, unpleasant, and possibly insane. On the other hand, there are right and wrong misunderstandings. Paranoid fantasies about Iran: Good. Paranoid fantasies about Israel: Bad. Think Reverend Moon is Jesus: Good. Think that Koresh is Jesus: Bad.
With Parsley and Hagee, the line of acceptability seems to have shifted slightly. Moon is still OK, though.
I drank as much as Bush in my day, but I didn't quit. What a pussy motherfucker.
31: I see it as parallel to the "Obama is a Muslim" charge: not true, and hard to "properly" deny because you don't want to stigmatize the group with whom you're being wrongly associated. "I'm not gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that." This time, I think, Dems are unwilling to lose because they were too nice. I mostly support such a posture. My concern is that some Dems misperceive (or so I perceive) the various potholes that you have to avoid. You shouldn't attack military service, calling McCain a racist will help McCain much more than it will hurt him, etc. Maybe mental health is another one of those.
The Moon thing is weird. When I was a kid, the Moonies were the cult. Nothing was more out of the mainstream the the Moonies. But it just goes to show you that the Republican party is basically for rent to the highest bidder; Moon starts underwriting part of the party's extra-governmental apparatus, and poof, criticism vanishes.
Yeah, I think calling him an irresponsible underprepared hothead is plenty without medicalizing it.
Yeah, I think calling him an irresponsible underprepared hothead is plenty without medicalizing it.
For whatever reason, medicalizing it makes the charge seem more credible, as if it's an assertion of fact rather than merely an opinion.
41: Seriously. I think every tv movie in 1980 was about brainwashed teenagers selling flowers at intersections. And their subsequent abduction and deprogramming.
(Not to mention the awesome Martin Mull satire Serial.)
The Moonies did try to get me once. French Moonies!
40: Tim, I partially pwned you, and that's all there is to it.
You shouldn't attack military service
Absolutely. This is just a very bad move in American politics these days.
I suspect that "you shouldn't attack military service" is one of those things that everyone assumes is terrible and politically bound to recoil, but if anyone tries it, they'll find that actually it's not such a third rail after all. After all, I don't seem to recall all those purple heart plasters that the Republicans wore to mock John Kerry's medals doing their cause any harm.
those purple heart plasters that the Republicans wore to mock John Kerry's medals
Gawd, that still enrages me.
dsquared, they were questioning the validity of Kerry's service. It's continuous with the celebration of the military, or martial, here.
The McCain mental health thing is kind of offensive, but there's also the fact that it's stupid and unlikely to convince anyone. Pointing to his POW experience makes him look heroic, and saying he has a temper is just pointing out that he's human.
Better to really get people reflecting on the fact that he's going to be 76 in his last year of office. That's something we all know can be kind of disabling. Even 76 year olds know that. Perhaps them most of all.
Have to make that point in your best concern troll voice.
This is the ugliest blogfight I have ever seen.
As for dirty e-mail battles over John McCain, people, people. All you need is this. POW cred evaporates in the face of having been punked by a nonentity.
McCain is crazy. Literally, like a psychopath. I mean that in terms of the specific psychological diagnosis, nothing less. That's why he has been such a spectacularly effective mole for his deep cover ChiCom handlers.
dsquared is correct in 37.
McCain is just crazy. Not to be trusted.
51 and 50 get it right. I'm surprised Will is agreeing with D2's doubt of mental illness as a medical category, though.
I was ignoring the part about whether mental illness was a medical category. That was just dsquared trolling.
Right, okay. In that case 52 gets it right as well.
47 is very, very true. I'm sure we both think of the same photograph when we think of it, too.
56: I would still like to kick that woman's ass.
||
My son is selling "artificial snow" to the neighbors. Only, he isn't; he's selling the *idea* of artificial snow. For a quarter, he'll tell you how to make it.
|>
There'd probably be a way to spin the McCain thing to sound very sympathetic to his condition and sadly shaking their head. It's a shame, etc., but the finger on the button shouldn't be someone who hasn't dealt with his anger.
59: at 3AM, do you want a crazy fucking wackjob -- you know, the kind of loon that volunteers to be a fighter pilot, and thinks marrying a heiress is the height of personal responsibility -- to have his finger on the button? Remember, he's senile.
the kind of loon that volunteers to be a fighter pilot, and thinks marrying a heiress is the height of personal responsibility
Non-starter in today's America. Come on/
Okay: that volunteered to be just like Duke Cunningham.
64: Duke Cunningham, that soldier for the family and traditional values? Sign me up! Where's my purple-heart sticker?
PK says he sold artificial ice to a "dark-skinned man--at least, I think it was a man--in fact, he kind of looked like Obama."
The man in question was apparently somewhat disappointed that PK was only selling the *recipe* for artificial snow, so I've dumped a bunch of ice cubes in a bowl and told the boy he has to make fresh artificial snow for his customers, dammit.
66: how weird is it that the modern scion of "conservatism" is the kind of person who has relied in every moment of their adult lives on the succor of the state or those more fortunate? Them wackjobs is funny!
67: PK, the artificial snow king of Ventura County? It has a nice ring.
Artificial snow is, of course, irresistible to dark-skinned men. Don't let the guy's external demeanor fool you. He has sought That Secret like his ancestors, and their ancestors before them.
I like that he was a man who apparently looked like Obama, but whose gender was uncertain. He's also managed to rip off sell to "some rather old people" and the older boys across the street.
71: His next business move? "Oi, I'm the finest chimney sweep in all London, guv'nor!" To which the only logical response is, "Here's a penny for your troubles, poppet."
Actually, he came in, reported that "sales are now plummeting because it's that kind of day, when people are more interested in going and getting home from work back to their family than acting on the sudden whim to buy artificial snow", and announced that he's going door-to-door now. I tried, weakly, to say no on account of it being the dinner hour, but off he is with a bowl of ice and an entrepeneur's attitude.
I'm amused but also sort of mortified in an uptight way. However, I'm hiding it well.
And yes, DS, you're right: everyone so far has given him over the asking price of a quarter.
Pk is possibly the greatest threat to carbon policy the world has ever known.
Honestly, I think it's pretty fucking awesome that he's teaching himself sales skills at that age. If I'd done that, Ogged would now be paying me for his webspace, and I would also rule the world and have a very large palace.
74: Don't tell him that, he'll have a crisis. He's more misanthropic about global warming than Stras, even.
75: It is, and I'm hoping he'll become rich at it. Lacking all entrepeneurial impulses myself, I feel almost like I should run out there and make him stop hassling people, but I'm not doing it.
And, as predicted, the awesome neighbors next door bought two snowballs and threw them at their own lawn lamp. I really like those people.
but whose gender was uncertain
Obama looking dude was probably thinking the same thing about PK.
I like that he was a man who apparently looked like Obama, but whose gender was uncertain.
Neither black nor white nor male nor female! The Antichrist! And PK gave him fake snow!
77: I know! One result of the long hair is that PK often qualifies guesses about people's sex with the acknowledgment that, you know, he *could* be wrong. I love this.
77: Probably? That has to be PK's greatest weapon.
You don't have a palace? This totally blows my whole image of you. I plan to spend the first part of the night pouting before rallying and conjuring a new image of a hardscrabble DS.
Hear me whine, for I am old. I pedaled my bicycle all over town today, with the intention to come home and do work after a constitutional in the fine sunshine, and lo, I came home and fell asleep, and managed to get to a coffee shop at 6.
So now I'm drinking wine.
81: I'm from the street, Ari. I think a very close analysis of my hitherto Unfogged comments will confirm this.
82: I find it irritating when people who are clearly much younger than me whine (or wine) about being old. Please stop. My lower back hurts, my gums are receding, and I think I'm getting a bunion. If I ate enough meat, I'd have gout.
85: I got a blister today. It was very traumatic.
84: Golda Meir lives in a palace in the sky. Everyone knows this. You can't throw me off the trail so easily.
86: You're easily traumatized for a hero of the Jewish people.
88: Maybe, but they're the good kind, I bet.
87: Ghetto in the sky, you anti-Semite. (Admittedly a sheltered subdivision, 89.)
91: Oh, I know that place. I can deliver your invitation by hand now and save a stamp.
PK is sighing now over having done a hard days' work.
93: "I used to be a salesman. It's a tough racket." [Swigs milk]
If I weren't so tired I'd make a quip about Ben, footballs, and attention must needs being paid.
My lower back hurts, my gums are receding, and I think I'm getting a bunion.
I'm 2 for three. But despite being the high-heeled shoe queen, I have no bunions.
Then again, the cholesterol stupidity has taught me that this bullshit "diet" concept only makes you crave stupid food that you never eat, but now that it's forbidden, you're dying to have. Like Hostess cupcakes and that kind of nonsense.
93: The liveblogging of PK's descent into Lohmandom is just about my favorite thing you've written since you lost your potato. Speaking of which, did you ever find it?
Nope, the potato never did turn up. I was just thinking about it the other day, for some reason, too.
96: Actually, I was kidding about the bunions. My feet do hurt, though. But I've been walking miles and miles every day because of the puppy. So maybe that's why. Also, the baby learned how to walk a couple of days ago. So I'm constantly jumping up to keep him from falling off the edge of the earth. That's a lot of wear and tear on these old bones.
My hips and lower back hurt because of all this damn exercise I've been getting. Stupid tight hips.
Oh, it was you with the cholesterol thingy, B? I have a recipe for you (I couldn't remember whether it was you or someone else.) This is courtesy of one of my friends who sadly has about six thousand health issues, and in any case, having this smoothie for breakfast apparently has eliminated her need for Lipitor. It's mostly a way to get oatmeal without having to eat it the same way all the time.
PK: "Look, look! Look what Luna has!"
Apparently the cat has found a cricket. Which I'm being ordered to take outside. Sigh.
100: Not you, the uncle or brother in Death of a Salesman.
103: Thank you. Despite varying the fruits and such that I'm adding to the oatmeal, I am, indeed, growing very bored with it.
104: He needs some motivation, clearly. Suggested phrases:
"Put. The lemonade. Down. The lemonade is for closers only."
"You see this watch? This watch cost more than your allowance."
"You think this is child abuse, you thumbsucker? You can't take this, how you gonna take the abuse you get selling chocolate bars?!"
How does reenacting Glengarry Glen Ross relate to the poor cricket, which was missing a hind leg? (But which I duly removed outside to live what's left of its life.)
(PK just now looked over my shoulder and asked what I was doing. I told him I was telling you guys about his ice-selling. DON'T TELL THEM ABOUT THAT! he yelled. If I give out the recipe for free, I'll undermine his empire!
I told him I hadn't told you all the recipe, which I believe is true. In any case. Forget you ever heard this story, and remember that PK's intellectual property is copyright.)
The poor cricket's gonna be shining my shoes. If it wasn't missing a hind leg, and if it wasn't a cricket. There's a point here, sort of.
A cricket with only one hind leg doesn't have a very bright future, I'm afraid. Did it have bunions? How about receding gums?
You did give it a dental exam before freeing it, right? And a foot massage? Otherwise you're just cruel.
The poor cricket's gonna be shining my shoes
Racist.
111: I told PK that the cricket was doomed, but he pointed out that it was still crawling around, so I said okay. If I lack the energy to keep him from selling snowballs to the neighbors at 8pm, I certainly lack the energy to argue with him over a doomed cricket.
Speaking of racist crickets, I was reading the older boy The Cricket in Times Square last fall, and man, that's some racist shit. I kept stopping short, and he kept asking, "Daddy, why aren't you reading every word?" And I'd say, "Because some of the words are really hurtful." To which he'd reply, "What do you mean?" Then I tried to explain racism to him. Great moments in upper-middle-class honkydom.
114: Just teach him about the evils of "political correctness," Ari. It'll all balance out. Plus, libertarian cred! I hear it opens doors.
114: Is it? I tried reading it to PK a couple years ago--I mean, how could he not love that book?--but he didn't, and we abandoned it.
115: Good point. Consider it done.
116: It really is. The Chinese cricket cage vendor is waaay over the top. And the Italian immigrants really love opera. And so on. Fortunately, I talked to the boy about Gunnar Myrdal and then explained the significance of the Moynihan report. Federal housing policy from the FHA to the Great Society took a few minutes, but it was worth it. Then we needed more background, so we ventured into the historiography of slavery, paying special attention to the Elkins-Tannenbaum thesis and Winthrop Jordan, before finishing up with the work of Omi and Winant. Oh, we also listened to Cornel West's new CD and watched a couple of seasons of Good Times.
Meh, I don't think that loving opera is a really perniciously bad stereotype. And isn't the cricket cage vendor at least sympathetic?
However, I'm forewarned, and will edit as needed when we eventually return to that book.
I don't think that loving opera is a really perniciously bad stereotype.
How much opera have you seen?
119: It's the vernacular in which the dialogue is written that's the problem. Very yellow peril. And whatever the equivalent for Italians would be: WOP peril? By the way, does that really stand for "without papers"? Where's that Nápi guy? He answers all my questions.
The Moynihan report and no Gutman? Child protective services is on the way.
A fair bit, and I always dress appropriately.
121: All illegals are Mexicans, Ari. Naturally.
Though the NYT article that began by citing an earlier article where Joe DiMaggio was praised as a real American who likes Chinese food, not that nasty spaghetti and meatballs and doesn't slick his hair back with olive oil was priceless.
121: Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I'll be careful with that, since PK's already got this fake Mexican accent thing he does. Too much damn Ren and Skippyjon Jones. I blame the Chihuahuas.
122: Fuck, I knew I forgot something. And so did he: "Daddy, I'm not really sure I believe that slavery fractured the black family. Isn't possible that freedpeople, and enslaved African-Americans before them, adopted more flexible familial relationships, including fictive kinship, in order to cope with the horrors of slavery, especially the threat of having loved ones sold down the river?" I really didn't have a good answer. Now I know why. Like I said: fuck.
And whatever the equivalent for Italians would be: WOP peril?
I hope the book included this joke.
125: That Skippyjohn Jones book makes my eyes bleed. And yet, the boy loves it. Fortunately, he also loves book burning. Score one for fascist parenting!
Aw, c'mon. Skippyjon Jones is hilarious.
Plus, fun language play! I'm holding out for Skippyjon Jones as lighthearted tongue-in-cheek cheer rather than offensive racist stereotyping.
Aw, c'mon. Skippyjon Jones is hilarious.
Nope, no sale. That said, would you happen to have any artificial snow? I'm fresh out and could use a scoop or two.
130: Agreed. I also don't think that Clinton was suggesting that someone should kill Obama, though, so what do I know.
Sadly, the artificial snow mogul is donning his jammies and brushing his teeth. How about tomorrow?
132: I actually agree with your interpretation of the Clinton thing: dumbness brought on by fatigue and desperation rather than actual wishful thinking/threat. Comity!
132: Heretic! The Dark Father will know what to do with you.
Glad to see that B and I are in harmony, as always.
Skippyjon Jones
Heees HEAD is too BEEEEEG for hees BAWWWDY.
135: But, but...I watch Good Times. And listen to Cornel West. I'm one of the good ones. Really.
Crap, shouldn't have posted 134. Now Slack will think less of me.
137: That's why he theenks he's a chihuahua, obviously.
139: Not at all! You remain a Worthy Opponent.
138: And listen to Cornel West.
Reprieve: granted.
For the moment.
135: Also, I'm not saying that she doesn't wish him dead. I just don't think that gaffe was a call to arms. Will it be heard that way, regardless? God, I hope not. Seriously, as I've said before, that shit keeps me awake nights. And not just because I love the black man. But that, too.
Crap, Skippyjon Jones ruins another good blog. Well, it was only a matter of time, I suppose.
Will it be heard that way, regardless? God, I hope not
Nah.
144: I just don't think that gaffe was a call to arms.
You are naive in the ways of the Force, dear Ari. I look forward to completing your training.
Yes, of course this particular "Clinton Uproar" is absurd. Honestly, her comparison of her campaign to the fate of democracy in Zimbabwe was far stupider. That kind of shit can't be put down to sleep deprivation.
Speaking of, btw, there was a trailer for the Panda Kung Fu movie before Indiana Jones this afternoon. Apparently the conceit is built on the "different styles of kung fu" thing you were talking about the other day. I wasn't sure if you were just making that shit up, but your expertise is now confirmed by a Jack Black movie starring a cartoon panda.
151: Which proves that there is a God in heavean, and She favours me.
Truth be told, I was conflating Good Times and The Jeffersons. And, now that I think about it, Cornel West and 50 Cent. Whatever, all those people look alike to me: like Presidents of the United States. President West, President Walker, President Hemsley, and President Cent. But not President Stanis. That shit's a bridge too far.
God works through Jack Black movies about cartoon pandas?
154: Reprieve revoked, and reinstated, all at the same time. Fuck, this blog is confusing.
154: Oh gawd, The Jeffersons was pretty awful.
I wrote something like 148.2 just yesterday. Which is to say, you're wrong, motherfucker.
Okay, I gotta go read to the little entrepeneur now. But before I go, just three words: Sanford and Son.
151: You didn't know there were different styles of Kung Fu? Ironclad proof that the gender essentialists are correct is at hand.
161: She's a Mantis Style master. Beware.
144: so she wants him to get assassinated, but this was not actually an explicit order to her racist minions. Really, so generous.
It was just a desparate plea for people to remember, hey, people stay in the primaries into June all the time! Since given her background and generation, RFK/June is engraved in her brain.
Pretty ironic overall too, given that Obama is the Kennedy-esque darling for whom all is forgiven, and her support of the Iraq war turned her into the sad LBJ figure left behind by history. (Although LBJ was more tragic, she's a smaller figure in every respect, but the dynamic seems similar).
The LBJ comparison has occurred to me, too. Hopefully she doesn't wind up colluding with the CIA to get Obama assassinated.
162: Whatevs, she's just a girl. [Runs from the computer to lock all the doors and windows and get his blankie from its "special" storage place (in a chamber of his heart, of course) and hide in the back of the closet, the closet in which he had an outlet installed so that the Care Bears nightlight would work just fine in the event of an emergency, which this may be.]
163: Are you drunk again, PGD? Because the last time you trolled me late at night like this you ended up aplogizing the next day. And so did I. So if you're drunk, let's just skip the fight, okay? But if not, if you're sober, how about you read my comment again. Because I didn't say that she wants him assassinated. I said that she wants him dead. There's a difference. Also, skip the sarcasm. I'm long past caring if people think my reading of Clinton's actions are "generous." I've tried to be generous at various points in the primary. Then she has lunch with Scaife or issues some statement about Zimbabwe.
85: 82: I find it irritating when people who are clearly much younger than me whine (or wine) about being old. Please stop. My lower back hurts, my gums are receding, and I think I'm getting a bunion. If I ate enough meat, I'd have gout.
You too? Because that really bugs me as well. Assholes! But it's good to find someone who I can share my outrage with.
I'm always ready to be outrageous with you, JP.
168: You're just now realizing this?
Anyhoo, what's this "mantis style" all about, hm?
171: Just now, yes. And as if you don't know.
If you're going to make me do my own internet research, I'm going to have to remember your lack of service, Slack.
You mean you don't remember our moment?
I swear, from this moment forth, that I will never vote for Hillary Clinton in Alberta again. This is the end.
151 is tragic, like finding out someone has never smelled flowers.
When did Ari and PGD switch places? Is this some hitherto undocumented consequence of Obama whirly eyes?
Walt, how did we switch roles? It all felt very familiar to me. But I might have missed something.
And B, can I, in good conscience, really take a 5-year-old boy to see the new Indy movie? Said boy has already seen all the Star Wars films, save for 3, which is too dark, and all the Harry Potters, save for 4, which is both too dark and not very good.
Though the NYT article that began by citing an earlier article where Joe DiMaggio was praised as a real American who likes Chinese food, not that nasty spaghetti and meatballs and doesn't slick his hair back with olive oil was priceless.
In Lifetime. It also notes that he doesn't reek of garlic, like most Italians.
I just reread the last n pages of The Last Novel, starting, coincidentally, with the page on which Markson notes that very article.
Aren't you "defending" Clinton, and PGD is attacking her? Or have my reading comprehension skills eroded that completely? Please phrase your answer in the firm of the first-order predicate calculus, so that I can be sure to understand it.
Oh, I thought he was doing a bit of both. And so was I. See, it's complicated? Like calculus. (God, I loved that class. I sometimes have odd fantasies about taking a sabbatical and doing nothing but sitting in on math classes. Other similar fantasies involve taking a couple of years off and getting an MFA in non-fiction writing. My fantasy life is pretty awesome, no?)
Said boy has already seen all the Star Wars films, save for 3, which is too dark
Wuss. Movies aren't going to hurt him. My 8 and 10 year old girls came with me to No Country For Old Men.
Movies aren't going to hurt him.
Specially not that one. "Execute Order 66." Fuck off, you ponce.
You should publish a parenting harndbook, gswift. But only if DS will ghost for you.
handbook
Apparently I should publish a spelling and grammar primer. Also one on syntax.
I should start some kind of "summer camp for children of liberals". Toughen them up. But not Apo's kids, 'cause he's got one that smashes nuts with a light saber.
167. of course she wants him dead. The odd part here is that you find this on some level shocking.
I find it interesting that we don't have more political assassinations. No one cares anymore. Or perhaps political positions aren't really worth fighting for anymore. The are other fairly reliable ways to money and power now that are more efficient (business degrees). But if politics is so impoverished such that it no longer attracts the ambitious and greedy as it once did, surely this may be a good thing. I guess for trade though you do open up space for a certain amount of nationalistic weirdos
I find it interesting that we don't have more political assassinations.
You'd think it'd be more common what with the easy gun access + shitty access to mental health care.
I find it interesting that we don't have more political assassinations.
Just wait.
You mean you don't remember our moment?
Don't kid yourself. It was nice, but not *that* nice.
Ari, I think you can take a kid who's seen all the Star Wars movies except #3 to Indiana Jones, yes; that's just where PK is in re. Star Wars. Though he has seen all the Harry Potters.
Really, the worst/most graphic thing in the new movie is a fistfight in which the bad guy's mouth gets all bloodied, and then a bunch of fire ants swarm over his body and into his mouth and he dies. The bloody mouth was, to my mind, unnecessarily graphic, but the fire ants were appropriately cartoonish, I thought. There's not even any face-melting, though there is a disintegration ala the "poof" effect of vampires getting dusted in Buffy.
On the other hand, Gswift is a sadist. Kids don't need that nightmare shit (although, obviously, different kids have different reactions, blah blah. PK is good with the Harry Potter movies, but can't abide it when the little duck crossing the path of the zoo animals in Madagascar gets eaten by a crocodile).
I will say, though, that PK sat on my lap during the movie (as he does during all adventure movies) and squirmed and *almost* covered his eyes during the requisite caves-filled-with-skeletons-that-pop-out-of-the-walls scenes.
185: What makes you think I'm shocked? I'm puzzled by this reading of my comment. Really, though, I have no idea if she wishes him dead. I just meant that she'd probably be quite pleased if he were run over by a bus and couldn't accept the nomination. As for why there aren't more assassinations, the same question could be asked of murder generally. In a county in which guns are cheap and readily available, why don't people kill each other more often? Probably just force of habit, I'm guessing.
I'm puzzled by this reading of my comment
It's Michael, dude. The open secret around here is that he's almost as Bonobo as I am.
189: Cool, we'll go see it tomorrow. It's supposed to be cloudy again -- so weird for here at this time of year -- so an indoor activity might be just the thing. Oh wait, one more question: has PK seen the other Indy movies? In other words, does he know the story and characters already? Because my son doesn't and won't. (Though he has seen Jurassic Park. Take that, gswift. I'm not raising any candy-asses.)
He's seen the first one, and surprisingly the melting face scene didn't freak him out. He hasn't seen Jurassic Park. You don't really need to know the characters to enjoy the movie, though of course it helps--but he will get all sorts of "college professors are so cool" vibes, which can't be bad.
And you can tell me if you think that's UOP in the initial campus scene.
Also, it rained here this morning, like 15 minutes after I hung out the laundry. Sigh.
Colleage professors really are so cool. Witness the unveiling of my fantasy life upthread. Hottttt!
And sorry about your laundry. It rained here, too, if that's any comfort (not sure why it would be). And the puppy totally freaked out. She had never seen rain before and seemed convinced that the world was ending. I think Stras might be having a real impact on her. I've got to install one of those parental filters on her computer so she can't go to Unfogged without my knowing about it.
Those valley dogs, scared of weather.
The laundry will be fine. It'll be dry tomorrow.
clearing up questions from a zillion comments ago, neither knowing or caring whether anyone's already answered them, doop de doop ...
By the way, does that really stand for "without papers"?
No. Backronyms like this are almost always folk etymology. It is actually from "Guapo", a Spanish word meaning "handsome", which was used to describe migrant Italian grape-pickers in Spain, who were felt to be amusingly concerned with their appearance. HTH.
196: The dog I had growing up used to try to outbark the thunder.
199: Thanks, D2. Between you and Nápi, I won't ever have to crack a book again. So, what do you know about Anglo-Indian relations in Colorado Territory in the 1860s?
what do you know about Anglo-Indian relations in Colorado Territory in the 1860s?
Both the Angles and the Indians were quite confused to have been transplanted from the subcontinent.
202 is why I rely on D2 and Nápi as my research assistants, Ben. Maybe you're better suited to offering legal or financial advice?
I'm very well suited to offering financial advice.
Give me your money.
The open secret around here is that he's almost as Bonobo as I am.
Did you just call me a cute little nympho?
206: I played it cool last night: a combination of being tired and suddenly getting into what I was writing. But I had no idea, either. I'm relieved to learn that I'm still the coolest cat on the 'nets.
Ari, I think you can take a kid who's seen all the Star Wars movies except #3 to Indiana Jones, yes
And seriously, how many adventure flicks are there for kids to watch in which Our Hero is an academic?
