I have to say that Romney handled the few digs aimed his well quite deftly. As I noted in an earlier comment, he’s polished and slick, and he’s got the political game down. He’s also been forced to move to the right.
But when he sticks in bits like investing in “human capital,” I hear “compassionate conservatism” and I think of spending deals cut with Democrats.
Perry is going to have problems with the Texas governor thing, and his sop to illegals is also worrisome. If Palin enters, she’s Bachmann with more executive experience, and she’s in the perfect position to lead on energy policy — which, as Cain pointed out nicely, is about both fueling the economy and national security.
The best part of keeping this field as is is that it’s moved Romney to the right. People, particularly politicians, can change when they realize they’re going out of fashion (witness Orin Hatch); Romney might be moving in the proper direction.
Gingrich forced himself back to relevancy. He’s stubborn and narcissistic, but when he’s not trying to be too clever by half, he’s intelligent and compelling. Perhaps he, like Romney, has realized that, to remember what’s important and why you are a conservative to begin with, it’s best to get away from the Beltway political class for awhile. Calling out this ridiculous “super committee” for what it is was a shot across the bow of the GOP establishment — and it had the further effect of making Huntsman irrelevant, once he decided (intentionally!) to stand up for the Boehner deal.
Newt – more a venture capitalist than a CEO. Has a HUGE women problem that will prevent him from winning national office. Great vision, excellent advocate for conservatism, lousy leader.
Bachmann – the current liberal media punching bag. Sarah-lite, in the eyes of most. Will gain traction with some, but has too narrow an appeal.
Romney – has that ‘air of inevitability’ and it’s ‘his turn’. Of course, the same was said of Dole and McCain. Nice hair, plastic persona.
Cain, Paul, Santorum,Huntsman – see’ya! Thanks for playing.
Pawlenty – proves, once and for all, that you can’t build a conservative coalition from the middle. It’s like starting a bridge in the chasm, rather than at the ledge. Too cool, too measured. We need a ‘hot’ candidate to beat Mr. Cool.
Perry – coming up fast on the outside. The media is laying in wait with a Palin-esque character assassination in the near future. How he survives the next couple of months of media revelations, distortions and misrepresentation will tell the tale.
Chris Christie – still my #1 pick, if only he’d run.
PVRWC
My pick would be Paul Ryan, like you “if only he’d run”. He HAS debated Obama in person (that round table thingy a year or so ago) and easily made O! look foolish. Ditto Debbie Wasserman Schultz (ok…that’s not a hard thing to do, but still)
I don’t think it’s true we need a hot candidate to beat Obama, since a cheese sandwich could do the job. But as Pablo said excellently, as over against the troll’s posited need of a miracle (at the time), we only need common sense, though of course the more comprehensive and coherent, the better.
The best pick would be one who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the ring. Chris Christie comes the closest to this. Paul Ryan is another.
I would say who my pick is, but it would summon comments I am tired of reading. Christie makes a good Governor, but he likes gun control, and I don’t need rights trampled on any more than they have been. I would probably still vote for him, but he will not run this time. I would not rule him out for the future, especially if he can be reformed just a tad.
Darleen,
I agree with you on Ryan.
Christie/Ryan or Ryan/Christie, either one works for me!
Although, I did see a great bumper-sticker the other day:
CHENEY/VOLDEMORT 2012!
(in which case, either Cheney, Liz or Dick, works for me as well)
Perry is the only one in the running what is a president out of the whole bunch and he’s an egregiously dignity-lacking pandering squack. But pandering squacks are kinda of the moment these days.
So low has America fallen.
Bill/Opus 2012!
I think Rick Perry could well be my own inoculation against the “perfect != enemy of the good” accusation, and the immigration thing doesn’t bother me as much as maybe it should — because I remember when GWB tried to foist amnesty-by-another-name on the nation and we kicked him in the teeth for it.
It felt good, and I confess I wouldn’t mind doing it again if necessary.
::sigh::
again, griefer, with the “if they don’t apologize for being Christians then they must be pandering to the stooopid god-botherers” schtick is wearing pretty fucking thin.
Give me a devout Christian or Jew over a devout Socialist/Fascist any day of the week. At least I know whose principles are better suited to America.
immigration as an issue is like a tiny little sugar pea set against the world’s largest ball of yarn what are America’s woeful structural economic problems
[…] do wish Thaddeus McCotter had been at the debate. More from Jeff and Darlene, both at Protein Wisdom. OK, who was it that linked to this from […]
America doesn’t elect people for to have them stand in a sports stadium and get all jesused up for the cameras
only trailer park people go to stadiums to get their jesus on and only the trashiest of those ones do it in front of cameras… for normal people affirming one’s faith is a nice casually-social community based sort of thing what isn’t filmed
for reals darleen you should ask around
Do you realize what a douche you are, or have you lived among them for so long that you can’t even tell any more?
America doesn’t elect people for to have them stand in a sports stadium and get all jesused up for the cameras
That was organized long before Perry decided to run for President – but you know that and ignore it so you can get your Christian-hateyness on.
for normal people affirming one’s faith is a nice casually-social community based sort of thing what isn’t filmed
So the only valid “normal” way of being Christian is how YOU define it. And it should be back-yard cocktail party, not serious prayer stuff like, heavens! in public or anything. What would OTHER PEOPLE THINK???
Wonder what you think of those obviously abnormal Orthodox Jews that walk around in black hats and curly locks IN PUBLIC!!!
Bigot.
America doesn’t elect people for to have them stand in a sports stadium and get all jesused up for the cameras
In fact, America does exactly that. Whether they’ll fall for it again is another question.
I’m not a douche I just would never go to a church what had cameras rolling that’s just for people what order from lillian vernon and have a deep freeze full of steak-umms and never bathe their dogs
for normal people
affirming one’s faithgetting married is a nicecasually-socialtraditional religious community based sort of thingwhat isn’t filmedwith someone of the opposite sexYou wanna decide whats “normal” and “acceptable” in polite society, that means you have to live with what other people decide is “normal” and “acceptable” in polite society. You really wanna go there, you screechy little rodent?
I’m not a douche I just would never go to a church what had cameras rolling that’s just for people what order from lillian vernon
That right there is worthy to be posted as a Protein Wisdom nanofiction. If only you possessed the self-awareness to realize why…
pickles!
A man I used to work for became the music director at a big evangelical church that you would absolutely hate, happy. The people there come together as a big happy family and raise a joyful noise to the Lord. They contribute time and money and labor for the betterment of their community and the greater world. They take care of one another when there is an illness or injury or other misfortune. They give far more to their neighbors and each other than they would ever dream of taking for themselves.
Rick was one of the best bosses I’ve ever had. Kind, wise, and bright, he had high expectations in me, confidence that I could meet them. When I fell short, he had forgiveness and guidance so that I could do better next time.
I’ve little doubt that his home was filled with Lillian Vernon knick-knacks, and I know he liked all sorts of junk food. He’s from Arkansas originally, so he’s got an unmistakeable Ozarks manner of speech. He has a penchant for loud, ugly Hawaiian shirts and bad redneck jokes. He is, in every way, the living embodiment of all the simple American things you hate, and he’s easily twenty times the man you could ever hope to be.
I don’t go for overt expressions of faith. I don’t really consider myself one of the faithful anymore, anyway. But I still live and work among them, and I have great respect for them and the many good works that they do. If you limited your criticism to saying that Perry’s appearance at the religious event rubbed you the wrong way, I’d have been right beside you. I’ll admit that I find such displays distasteful, myself. But when you stoop to insult and denigrate everyone who attends such an event, and when you treat evangelicals with a casual contempt that you are not worthy to bestow, you make me long for the day when you find the rat poison cupcakes we’ve left in the corner of the Pub for you.
You are a douche, happy. Through and through. What’s more, you embrace your doucheyness and think it elevates you above the masses. We all recognized that a long time ago, so you can stop pretending now.
well send me a youtube of his church and I’ll take a look
except
So I guess that means in your world our woeful structural economic problems are like a tiny little sugar pea set against the world’s largest ball of yarn which is trailer trash chisters having their voice included in our national conversation.
I was in high school and, with some friends, went to a Billy Graham revival at Angel Stadium. Having been raised in a nice, socially acceptable Presbyterian church (I also liked to tag along with friends/family to Catholic mass and to Jewish temple) it was an eye opener to Evangelicals.
Maybe not quite to my tastes but I really could/do appreciate the joy, love and passion these people had for each other and God. The energy was incredible.
like monster truck jam levels of energy or was it more of a wwe type thing
I’ve had many, many similar experiences to Squid.
Starting from very young, by the way. Didn’t get government cheese or go to the crappy local public schools. But, I highly doubt my mom paid for all that stuff in the pantry and I’m quite sure we didn’t have the money for parochial school tuition. To top it off, I seldom got teased for being the poor kid.
Still not a believer but I’m quite happy to be seen around the church and they get every nickel of money and 95% of the time I give to local charity.
Sometimes, during the summer, you can see me at a church picnic/festival doing all sorts of cringe-worthy Americana. I have a very hard time being embarrassed about that.
Hey, at least hf owns his snobbery. It’s telling that he seems to think the Jeebus-cooties are contagious, however.
me I go to all kinds of church stuff in texas and minnesota and iowa but not in los angeles but all that’s totally different than being a party to the pimping of religion for political gain can I have an amen
To put it in terms that even a yellow hamster that has for years been self-administering electroshock therapy can understand: the evangelicals are the gays of the Christian world. They’re loud; they’re proud; get used to them.
Oh, who am I kidding? Massenfeet probably believes that Christers shouldn’t be allowed to marry.
Other shit is getting conflated.
I know white trash. They have neck tattoos and knock up teenage girls with surprising abandon. They complain about everything and do jack shit about any of it. Hell, moving garbage off their front lawns is considered an intolerable level of work. They spend more on TVs and video games than books or educational toys for their kids.
Do a Venn diagram between that group and the evangelicals. Where’s the overlap?
mr. bh if you take away a pikachu’s hyperboles they become listless and despondent
See, you’ve got this backwards. I know that the Graham Crusades, as well as many similar evangelical events, predate monster truck jams and the wwe type thing. So the energy existed back then, before, unstaged, not faked, but for real. It was a scary, crazy, weird thing to experience. But I’m glad I did.
On the other hand, I do get skeeved out by the whole “hands in the air, eyes shut, swaying to and fro” praise services. Not my cup of tea. Too close to pentecostal for me, I guess. I’m afraid the ghost of little Marjoe Gortner is gonna start slapping people on the head while gibber-jabbering in tongues. Once that happens, the snake wranglers aren’t too far behind. And then its “get thee behind me, Satan” time for me.
Well, the hyperbole is less appreciated when you’re talking about people who are more likely to turn off your headlights for you than steal your radio.
speaking of white trash I got my car winder fixed from the break-in but they didn’t have a hubcap for me so I need to get online and do that this weekend
the guy on the phones said they had a set of 4 I could have for $100 but they were the spokes kind and I thought that sounded kinda … fancy at best
but Mr. bh it’s sufficient I think that we’re talking about people what are willful participants in the pimping of religion for political gain
that is a choice and one I think reflects poorly on the choosers
Well, the hyperbole is less appreciated when you’re talking about people who are more likely to turn off your headlights for you than steal your radio.
Tell Dave that.
Ha!
I love that photoshop, SW.
Then say something like that without tossing off all sorts of intentionally inflammatory rhetoric, ‘feets.
As you can see in this thread, you wouldn’t be the only person in the world who’s not psyched about that sort of thing. That’s not why people are smacking you around here.
I like saying stuff how it comes to me in my head
it feels more honester
people what are willful participants in the pimping of religion for political gain
but your definition of “pimping” is any public expression you find distasteful. Are you, like, auditioning to be Andrew Sullivan?
Draft Teh FRED!
There’s a reason we don’t do that in the real world. It doesn’t work. It makes us all chaotic and stabby. It would also become impossible to talk to attractive members of the opposite sex.
One time when I was a kid I asked a midget why he looked so funny. I still feel bad about that when I think of it.
Honesty is for people with Asperger’s and unpopular drunks.
I disagree for reals I don’t think I said anything out of bounds or what is different from what I would say in a conversation wif my friends or family
That’s because your friends are douches like you, and your family has no choice but to put up with you.
Saying all sorts of transgressive stuff is one way to bond with friends and family.
A close friend or relative can say to me that I look like I just got face-fucked by a rhino when I wake up hung over. I’d smile a little and then resolve to draw a cock on their face with a Sharpie if I ever get another chance.
That isn’t how I’d talk about politics with some random dude on the internet. It would become chaotic and stabby and then I’d remember sad midgets of Christmas past.
And yet another thread devolves into an ultimately unsuccessful Intervention for the electric hamster.
You can set your watch by it.
Ehhh, it is what it is.
It’s Friday and I don’t have a lick of work to do this weekend. This makes me very happy and non-stabby.
Soon I shall be grilling and frolicking carefree in the sun.
Way ahead of you, mate.
‘feets, if we promise, pinky-swear even, that Rick Perry will NOT come to your apartment in North Hollywood and ask you for an “Amen” in an embarrassingly loud voice in front of the neighbors, will you shut the hell up already and give it a rest with the “I Hates Me The Flamboyant Christers” comments?
I know, I know. But it was worth a try.
Sweet, SW.
Tomorrow is the Moravitz Car Launch. I’m precognitively sunburned and hung over.
God bless America!
£1.66 a bottle at everyone’s favourite German supermarket. Came in a mixed six with their other ones. I drank the 10.5% ones already. They never seem to last.
Marjoe Gortner was in, like, Earthquake, wasn’t he?
Awesome.
for penance I went and had me an italian philly cheese steak sammich wif broccoli rabe and wiz fries which is same as steak-umms probably just more fancy and tastykake butterscotch krimpets and then also me and NG split a red sorrel quesadilla which I don’t think either of us ever had red sorrel before it says you can grow it pretty easy
I’m sorta debating asking whether or not I was called a snob somewhere upthread or if I read that comment wrong…
… nah, still too happy that it’s Friday to worry about it.
corndogs
Link
I didn’t call you a snob I promise I would never do that
Corn dogs are Texas.
Didn’t think you did, ‘feets.
Corn dogs are state fair, sdferr. Texas has no claim on them!
Hmmm, according to Wikipedia, Texas does have a claim on them apparently.
I’m not buying it. They seem so very Midwestern.
Oh yes it does! As much anyhow as Philly lays claim to a cheesesteak. My granddaddy voiced Big Texs for a time in the ’50’s, so State Fair hits close to home.
Cornbrats would probably be insanely good if you used a beer batter.
That was a joke comment but now I’m wondering if that wouldn’t make me a millionaire and even more famous than Bart Starr.
bh’s test kitchen should tell the tale!
Corn and hogs are raised in Iowa. Thus, corn-covered sausages could not have originated in Texas.
Corn dogs, the North Stars — is there anything you bastards won’t steal from the upper Midwest?
I may have been born in Texas Squid, but I grew up in DC, so let’s don’t be getting squabbly over “stealing” from here or there. I’m looking at you, Twins fans.
I can understand why someone from DC wouldn’t want other parts of the country to start paying attention to stealing.
heh
I got mine alright, a good swift kick in the seat of the pants.
Ralph’s always sends me corn dog coupons in my custom mailer they send every month where you get your free Ralph’s dollars and NG makes fun of me cause she knows that means I bought them in the past
Just saw where Althouse was physically confronted at the Wisco State Capitol today. She’s all like, I ain’t doing anything about it.
she is smart and pretty and someday if she keeps working at it she will be in full possession of the sense god gave a grapenut and she will stop voting for anti-american socialists
In a way I can understand not pressing charges. I doubt I would.
But, I sorta think you should press charges if you’re unlikely to be able to kick the shit out of the guy later.
I wouldn’t press charges either bh. What’s more, it’s too simplistic of me to phrase it “doing nothing” since she’s blogging it, and who knows what else later.
Do we have any feel for relative sizes and ages between this Kirby asshole and her son? This sort of thing puts incredibly violent impulses into 99.99% of sons/husbands/fathers.
Maybe the cops stopped it very quickly.
just read the althouse thing and I’m SO mad at the cops for telling her HER SON could have been arrested for intervening to keep the guy from assaulting his mom. Cop said he should have “retreated”
I HATE this kind of cop bullshit. The asswipe doesn’t have a leg to stand on. I would have asked the cop to repeat that for the camera.
cops are goony and dumb
That cop should have suffered an aneurysm or spontaneous combustion the moment those words escaped his lips.
Okay, it’s grillin’ time.
Happy weekend, folks.
This happened to me. Only it was defending myself against a drunk neighbor. And his drunk cop buddy told me that had I punched the dude who took a shot at me, I’d have been arrested because I could have retreated.
What kind of world is this?
I told the cop to fuck right off. I’m not surrendering my right to defend my person and family to some beer swilling, fat state employee looking to play petty tyrant and life referee.
That’s how I roll.
goony and dumb and greedy
NG got a cell phone ticket when traffic wasn’t even moving and she wasn’t even talking she was just checking email
and before she could even get back on the freeway she said the same piggy piggy LAPD thug had already pulled over someone else
it’s disgusting
The laws on retreating are bullshit. Retreating from a bully just makes him more of a bully. A good shot in the face every now and then (or at least the threat of it) does wonders to calm down one’s desire to be a major asshole in public.
In California, it’s all about collecting taxes. That’s what the police do most of the time.
Jeff
That kind of cop-speak translates into “I don’t want to be bothered so I’m going to tell you YOU are in the wrong, subject to arrest, so I don’t have to fill out a fucking report. I don’t give a fuck about any real law ‘cept what I feel is going to work in MY interest.”
I had a cop try and pull the same bullshit line on me when I was chaperoning a bunch of bandkids on one of our tours. One night some drunk got pissed because one of the kids mistook his door and knocked believing it was one of the chaperones. Guy started chasing the kid, shoving other kids around, screaming. One other kid planted himself of this staggering idiot and the drunk banged into him, falling on his butt.
Cop had the audacity to tell me that “impeding the man’s forward motion could be considered assault.”
I told him he was out-of-line, that the drunk was the problem and he wasn’t going to talk to ANY of the kids without me being right next to them. Stood toe-to-toe with the guy … I literally had my face within 8 inches of his and was one cold bitch and I was ready to go to jail for “my” kids.
I didn’t go to jail and the cops only asked a couple of questions of the kids with me there and moved on.
I went back to my room later and had a huge case of the shakes.
here’s petey whining
Link
petey let’s cut the spending 1st and let’s cut the spending 2nd and let’s cut the spending…. then we don’t need to raise taxes.
That’s the truth. Just is.
not the face not the face
kick in the shins then
So the video is up.
Oh. No, I’m not saying I feel like punching you in the face. In case it read like that.
I have a feeling I might be misunderstandable today.
(I also don’t dislike church people or find them embarrassing, Darth@27. In fact, the opposite. Which I possibly conveyed too facetiously here or there.)
Brain lesion perhaps. Hard to say.
Okay, watched the Althouse video.
Wouldn’t have blindly murdered the asshole because of blind rage like I was originally assuming. Probably would have just grabbed him or pushed him down and then explicitly promise to hurt him if he ever came near her again.
Also probably would have demanded an apology — no, not to me, to her — but that’s just a thing my people do.
vid here
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/08/attack-on-althouse-at-wisconsin-capitol.html
She might should get herself one of those telescoping batons, for at least to buy a little time ’til better help can arrive.
no I just meant in general drudge made me look at the chimpanzee lady all day
I’m gonna quote myself:
(Used the i tag because I don’t remember whether b or emp or whatever works properly in the comments here.)
That has to have an organic explanation, doesn’t it? I’ll prime myself with a word and then use it again in the same sentence or the next. So it’s in Broca’s region, right? Wernicke’s?
It’s a strange thing. Not in the books as far as I can tell.
Yes, this is far off topic but also sorta on topic as I’m liable to make the brain lesion mistake and then joke in just about any thread.
i see no problem with that
you gotta express and inorganic expression is sorta tedious I mean it’s ok if you’re one of those left-brainers and you can’t help it but it’s not something everyone else needs to aspire to
b works
There’s a not insignificant chance it’s just something dumb people do.
I’m hoping for another explanation. Objectively. For science even. Not out of some silly pride.
I’ve been distracted by a slow-smoking picnic roast all the long day. Damn smell’s up my nose to where nothing else seems to exist. That’s what I’m selling for an excuse, and Imma stick to it.
They’ve hit [garbled] !
C’mon girls !!
Everyone does that though. That’s how I understand the concept of priming… because of the obvious econometric value of cog pysch. (That’s a joke, you can laugh. It was a silly time in Chicago.)
But I do something else. I don’t prime along some related tree, I syncopate or stutter even with an only slightly modified word across close clauses or nearby sentences.
That, my friend, that’s probably brain cancer.
Most likely.
Or I’m just dumb.
not everything’s a pathology people is just quirky
That’s a very nice way of saying I’m dumb.
Hey… let’s hope!
i know what you mean one time i was seeing double double and whatever I focused on would dis ar so i went to the doctor ready to hear the worst and he said I had a severe case of eye strain
which went away in about a day once I stopped working on my school stuff
Heh.
Benefits of giant thunderstorm! Crazy cold air pours down around the outside of it as it passes to the north.
Funny isn’t it that the cop saying to Ann’s son he had not right to stop an assault, only “retreat and call the police” is a fat fuck. Never saw that coming.
Cops don’t tell me things like, “You should have retreated — you could be arrested for fighting back.” I don’t know why, they just don’t.
I think I must have an “If I’ll go to jail just for fighting back I might as well try to kill the motherfucker” kind of face.
He’s not necessarily helping fight that stereotype, is he?
As a giant oaf, I know that’s not crazy talk, McG. Lots and lots of these things seem to happen when scary expression guy and giant oaf guy aren’t around.
There’s probably some sort of geo-political import to these things.
Well, hallucinated Jeff and hallucinated Mal the Tert, because I learned it from you.