nicely creased pants on fire.

I am not a subject. I’m not. I refuse to be. Nor am I an object. Which makes me a verb. And that being the case, I choose resist. Outlaw.

Rush Limbaugh today read news excerpts from 1967 and 1979 in which the Treasury Secretaries for LBJ and Jimmy Carter, in arguing for a raise in the debt ceiling, warned that Social Security checks, military benefits, payments to civil servants, etc., would be cut should Congress not act. Exactly like today. The names and numbers have changed, but the playbook is precisely the same. We’re being held hostage by a

Well, I guess we can be thankful he didn’t trot out “Uncle Tom,” right? KEITH OLBERMANN: It’s unclear to whom Mr. West thinks he’s steadfast and loyal. It’s not the United States, it’s not to democracy, it’s sure not to sanity. Just resign congressman, you’re making a jackass out of yourself.. again. Ah. Kinda makes you kind of pine for the days of dueling, doesn’t it? Here’s the takeaway, if

No, ya think? WSJ: House Republicans are finding more than a few flaws with the “Gang of Six” deficit plan, but haven’t rejected it outright. The latest evidence comes in an analysis by House Budget Committee Republicans produced on Tuesday night. According to the analysis, the Gang of Six plan “appears to include a $2 trillion revenue increase” relative to current tax rules. That’s considerably more than the $1.2 trillion

For now. That they were cut off at the knees by the Senate? Well, we’ll see what happens. We’re being told by our betters that now that this political theater is out of the way (and the ludicrous Tea Party dolts “mollified”), the grownups can talk, and therefore that real leaders (of the kind it takes to raise our ability to vote ourselves a credit increase in order pay for

Like clockwork, the self-important “pragmatists” in the Senate are banding into their little gang so they ride to the “rescue” and save us from ever having to decide something on principle. Then they clap themselves on the back for it! You can read it yourself, or you can trust that I’ve pulled the most important bit, here: As it would take time to enact such changes, the plan calls for

Visigothery! Somewhere, Terry Moran’s brother is poring over his OED with a magnifying glass and cursing the Tea Party for its hickspittle refusal to split rhetorical hairs. And he’s not alone.

…but should he try to use the 14th amendment to get around the separation of powers — and that trial balloon has been floated, and is garnering agreement from at least one former lawyer best known for a shrill wife and for slipping a bent cock into the mouth of an eager young intern before blowing a load on her dress — this bit from the Treasury General Counsel, George

One pissed off Chihuahua.