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Brave new worlds

Darleen’s already done the hard work of putting together the post, but I wanted to extract something former Bush speech writer Michael Gerson said in his Hewitt interview for special emphasis, because I think it gives insight into one prong of the strategy behind Obama’s remarkable and unconscionable buckling to his far-left base on the issue of potential “torture” prosecutions:

I think it’s a terrible error for a couple of reasons. One of them is that I think that the release of these memos, and now the talk of these prosecutions, is creating an atmosphere in which people in our intelligence services, people in our government, are going to be very timid about pursuing absolutely essential elements in the war on terror. This is creating an atmosphere that’s more like the pre-9/11 atmosphere when people were complacent and afraid to confront these problems. And I’m afraid that we’ve returned to that attitude, that we’re going to return to some of those outcomes eventually. And so I think it’s a serious challenge. Now let me make one more point here, which is if there are going to be investigations of people who knew about these things, and who approved of them, then that’s going to have to include Nancy Pelosi and Senator Rockefeller, who were both briefed, along with other members of the Intelligence community in Congress about thirty times on all of these techniques beginning in 2002. The fact of the matter is that this represents what was happening in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. the intelligence community had no idea if there were going to be further attacks, how large the al Qaeda network was in the United States. And they were pursuing by their best lights, according to their best legal interpretation, matters that they thought were essential to American security. You can’t criminalize that.

As others have pointed out, actual convictions aren’t the goal here, as any serious effort to prosecute will be met with grumbles from Democrats who would then be open to similar charges. Rather, the goal of this prong of the progressive strategy is to make sure that the intelligence community becomes so mired in bureaucracy and ass-covering that it becomes subsequently hamstrung, as a result will become far less effective, further leveling the playing field against US exceptionalism, which Obama clearly abhors.

Our President, it is clear to me both from his governing style and his remarks overseas, does not have this country’s best interests at heart (and please, spare me the semantic arguments: if you love the country but require it’s complete restructuring before you concede its essential goodness, you don’t love this country); instead, Obama would like to see the US become a European-style social democracy (republicanism? federalism? Those are the extremist ideas of rednecks, bitter war vets, and the criminalized class that he hopes to make of conservative thought). Weakening the US intelligence apparatus will help him move toward that goal.

But the move toward social democracy is only a secondary consideration here. The real goal of all this is to distract and scapegoat — with conservatism and conservative / classical liberal legal thought to be put on public trial for the purpose of demonizing it in hearings and in the media. Obama wants a certain style of thinking to be equated with extremism (the DHS memo many on the right have counseled we should just ignore quite baldly laid out the skeleton of the rhetorical strategy); he wants those who are closest to American ideals to get caught up defending themselves and those ideals so that he can move forward with less media scrutiny on his plans to shore up progressive Democratic power by building a permanent client state.

Obama knows where the media will train its focus during these kinds of show hearings, and so he has now expressed a willingness to go that route if he believes it will take the heat off of him and his administration.

My question is, if Obama, through his AG, can make the claim that anyone connected with the previous administration who pushed an “illegal” idea of “torture” can be prosecuted (for what is essentially differences in legal interpretation), why must they stop there? What of those columnists or TV analysts who pushed the same argument? What about those bloggers?

To make progressivism work the way it is designed to work (and I’ve long pointed out that progressivism moves inexorably toward totalitarianism by virtue of its foundational assumptions), it is necessary to control language. One way to do that is to provide yourself the (philosophical) means to define terms and frame narratives (and post-structuralism and reader-response theoretics, along with a healthy dash of Said’s Orientalism, has provided just that, as the linguistic turn has become increasingly institutionalized). Another way to do that is to circumscribe speech — using inverted ideas of “tolerance” and “hate” to effectively turn the First Amendment into a stepchild of government-sanctioned speech.

Here, Obama sees a way to connect “torture” (ill-defined) to conservative legal thought (criminal and extreme) in order to taint all conservative thought by proxy.

This is all about perception, on one level — and about the rewards that creating a certain perception will reap in the long term.

So. What to do?

Refuse to comply. This will never happen — and even if it did, we’d be treated to endless “conservative” tut-tutting about rule of law and honor, etc, in addition to the predictable media spin about the Bushies being lawless and having something to hide, blah blah blah.

But at this point, I’d rather that come to pass than to lend legitimacy to such a pure political power play.

Arrest us or get bent, the answer should be. But they’ll be no public commission hearings where conservatives are required to prove they aren’t extremist criminals.

And fuck you for even trying.

252 Replies to “Brave new worlds”

  1. JD says:

    Barcky is a dick. I think that was mcgruder’s phrasing, and I like it. The Left always wants to criminalize politics. It is what they do. It is who they are.

  2. DarthRove says:

    Maybe we should all start wearing yellow armbands reading “Thought Criminal”. Then we can at least trade surreptitious nods as we pass in the hallway and share a fleeting feeling of camaraderie. Until the Black Marias come to take us away to Camp #924 for Change and Re-education Through Hope.

  3. Live Free or Die says:

    All I want them to do at these Slánský trials is stand up and say “It was torture and I would do it again, what of it?”

    It’s plain and simple, if you got a guy that has your kid in a box with and hours worth of air, and his not giving up the location of the box, what do you do?

    Lib’s start writing their kids eulogy, we classicals grab the closest towel and bucket.

  4. David R. Block says:

    The Media can bite me. This is serious shit, by a totally non-serious administration. More later tonight from home.

  5. George Orwell says:

    spare me the semantic arguments: if you love the country but require it’s complete restructuring before you concede its essential goodness, you don’t love this country

    Oh yes… I can’t remember who said this, but I liked the formulation. To say you love your country’s ideals and what it could be after criticizing nearly everything about it is like saying you love your wife not for who she is but for the wife she could be.

    This aim here doesn’t even require arresting or convicting or even charging anyone. As the saying goes, the “trial” will be the punishment. Just the issue of subpoenas and holding hearings will require people to bankrupt themselves as they cannot dare appear without legal counsel in this environment. It’s clearer every day that passes. This government quite literally no longer sees any limits to their powers. It won’t be a night of the long knives. It will be the terror of a Congressional subpoena. Keeping one’s head down will be the order of the day, and dissent is crushed by threat of personal ruin merely for expression of an opinion.

    Goebbels and Himmler are high-fiving in Hades.

  6. geoffb says:

    It is fear they aim at causing. Making everyone afraid to be seen as opposed in any way to anything they decide to do. Doing this means they are the ones who are afraid. Their power is unsure, unstable.

    It is always so with tyrants. They know too well what they themselves would do to reclaim a lost position of power. They assume all others think and act as they do. That is not true, and believing it is, puts them into a world that exists only inside their own minds.

  7. Pablo says:

    and please, spare me the semantic arguments: if you love the country but require it’s complete restructuring before you concede its essential goodness, you don’t love this country

    Traitriotism.

  8. spare me the semantic arguments: if you love the country but require it’s complete restructuring before you concede its essential goodness, you don’t love this country

    Oh yes… I can’t remember who said this, but I liked the formulation. To say you love your country’s ideals and what it could be after criticizing nearly everything about it is like saying you love your wife not for who she is but for the wife she could be.

    Remember Hillary Clinton’s formulation from a few years back: I pledge allegiance to the United States that can be.

  9. Squid says:

    It is fear they aim at causing. Making everyone afraid to be seen as opposed in any way to anything they decide to do.

    Yet another reason the tea parties have them freaking out. It’s hard to keep people silent and frightened when they keep showing up with thousands of their friends and neighbors to make themselves heard. It’s part of the reason why I don’t get too worked up about the incoherent messages at the rallies — to me, a big part of it is simply that ordinary people are standing up together to resist the government.

  10. Rob Crawford says:

    Refuse to comply. This will never happen — and even if it did, we’d be treated to endless “conservative” tut-tutting about rule of law and honor, etc, in addition to the predictable media spin about the Bushies being lawless and having something to hide, blah blah blah.

    But at this point, I’d rather that come to pass than to lend legitimacy to such a pure political power play.

    Arrest us or get bent, the answer should be. But they’ll be no public commission hearings where conservatives are required to prove they aren’t extremist criminals.

    And we should be prepared to back up the wrongly accused. The question becomes how, and how far?

  11. Alec Leamas says:

    “I pledge allegiance to the United States that can be.”

    More evidence that Leftists are ingrates whose moral development was arrested at 15 years of age, as if more was needed.

  12. dicentra says:

    Now, Jeff. Obama didn’t actually say that he was going to prosecute anyone. He just said that it wasn’t his job to go after anyone.

    You wingers are so paranoid. Next you’re going to accuse Teh Won of appeasing dictators and nationalizing the banks.

  13. Magic Dog says:

    Gosh, the F-bomb. Why are conservatives so angry? Could it be that you’ve lost and you know the trajectory still points downward? Others in your crowd have figured it out. It would seem that the Little Green Footballs have switched sides, anyway.

    Who knew that the Democrats might reach the magic 60 in the Senate by virtue — and yes, it will be a virtue, because my side is into virtue — of a special election in Texas, of all places? Yup, the next Democratic senator, and the most crucial one of all, might come from Texas. Now maybe that is a torture that ought to be banned by someone, wouldn’t you say?

  14. maggie katzen says:

    because my side is into virtue

    BWAH HA HA HAAAAaaaaa. Bill Clinton could not be reached for comment.

  15. dicentra says:

    MD:

    Please explain why it’s OK for a sitting administration to go after a past administration for its political policies? How is that not a banana republic way to go about things.

    Otherwise, take your name-calling and jeering elsewhere. This blog is for grown-ups, not arrested adolescents.

  16. Carin says:

    because my side is into virtue

    Diane Feinstein could not be reached for comment.

  17. slackjawedyokel says:

    I think Dick Cheney is very close to providing the proper response (and George W. ought to follow suit): stand up and say to these dirtbags, “I authorized these opinions. It was the right thing to do, and it saved American lives. So put me up in front of your ass-wipe committee and have your show trial, you mealy-mouthed bastards. Let’s lay out ALL the facts.”

  18. Patrick, says:

    Jeff, when you eventually buy a new PC, can I have your old keyboard? I want to have it bronzed…

  19. George Orwell says:

    Ah, the virtue of letting a jet slam into a Los Angeles skyscraper instead of wet-toweling a misunderstood terrorist. Would that it came to pass in the liberal dreamworld.

  20. nikkolai says:

    Virtue!

    Sincerely,
    Barney Frank

  21. Alec Leamas says:

    “Who knew that the Democrats might reach the magic 60 in the Senate by virtue — and yes, it will be a virtue, because my side is into virtue — of a special election in Texas, of all places?”

    They must be pre-stealing it.

  22. Alec Leamas says:

    “Virtue!

    Sincerely,
    Barney Frank”

    Sometimes, Barney has a whole mouth full of virtue.

  23. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by Magic Dog on 4/22 @ 12:15 pm #

    Gosh, the F-bomb. Why are conservatives so angry?”

    Maybe because Obama is on a path to destroy America.

    “Who knew that the Democrats might reach the magic 60 in the Senate by virtue — and yes, it will be a virtue, because my side is into virtue —”
    No you’re not, you’re revealed as a collection of power hungry fascist thugs.

    Oh, and why don’t you just fuck off, fascisti?

  24. Rob Crawford says:

    NOB — to the left, power is virtue.

  25. N. O'Brain says:

    And, Jeff, you get the Ranty McRant award for the day.

  26. Magic Dog says:

    Life ain’t fair or comfortable for the losers. Better get used to it before your heads explode. For now and the next few election cycles — probably the next 20 years — the Democrats will have the upper hand. That’s about how long these things last. Every dog has its day, and today the Magic Dog basks in the sunshine and warm winds, laughing at the Republi-cat crying outside of the fence. It’s going to get worse for you. Count on it!

  27. mojo says:

    “Thoughtcrime does not entail death; Thoughtcrime is death.”

    http://www.zazzle.com/thought_criminal_t_shirt-235549774314826254

  28. Mr. Pink says:

    Why do these people view politics as a kinda sport with teams and shit?

    Example: LeftwingDoucheLogic “You are to the right of me. Which means you vote Republican. So that means you lose if Dems win. I do not like most right wing ideas so I will shout yay team and hope all Dems win. Do not trouble me with facts or results of what they do when they get in office, I will just keep voting right down the left side of my ballot”

    Hey moron why do you think Republicans lost by so much lately? It is because alot of us are fed the F@$@ up with them not doing what we voted them there for. Your TEAM is spending us into a trillion dollar hole, going back on every campaign promise they ever made, and going to continue the Iraq war you all hated so much until January of this year. Yet you will continue to come on here and yell “YAY TEAM” and voting for them like a freakin douchebag.

    Go back to Kos where you belong and fellate yourself.

  29. Molon Labe says:

    OT: Has this Hitler/Johnson spoof escaped notice here?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFgKXAphIlc

  30. Charlie Rangel says:

    Yup, the next Democratic senator, and the most crucial one of all, might come from Texas.

    Yeah and they’ll show up on Capitol Hill wearing a ten gallon hat and riding a unicorn. Dream on, doggie.

  31. N. O'Brain says:

    “If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.

    -George Orwell”

    Yeah, Rob, that fits the reactionary left to a t.

  32. Wm T Sherman says:

    The Dog entity could perhaps explain in what way things are so good now. So far, it has extruded only mindless neener neener.

  33. Magic Dog says:

    By the way, did any of you read James Clavell’s Shogun? There’s a scene where a British sailor is boiled to death, and for two days the shogun meditates on his screams. That’s why I am reading the right-wing blogs these days. Why, I could just burst into haiku.

    Republican cries
    The winter of discontent
    Torture isn’t bad

  34. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by Magic Dog on 4/22 @ 12:35 pm #

    Life ain’t fair or comfortable for the losers.”

    And you prove it with every post.

  35. slackjawedyokel says:

    Every dog has its day, and today the Magic Dog basks in the sunshine and warm winds, laughing at the Republi-cat crying outside of the fence. It’s going to get worse for you. Count on it!

    If it gets much worse,MD, the sunshine and warm winds may caress you and your buddies as you dance the Newgate Hornpipe from adjoining lampposts. As you say, every dog has his day.

  36. BumperStickerist says:

    MagicDog – be sure to look surprised when the Dems fumble the House and the Senate next election cycle.

    A twenty year reign of Democrats would be possible if LBJ were Senate Majority Leader, Tip O’Neill running the House and a middlingly competent person President.

    Instead you’ve got your hopes pinned on the abilities of Pelosi, Reid, and Obama.

    As they say … “h’eh”

    .

  37. BumperStickerist says:

    Well, at least we now know that “torture” worked.

    Thanks, Obama!

    .

  38. Sdferr says:

    The source of Rob’s correct observation at #24, which however, is a modern thing, available to one and all as such, regardless of party.

  39. Slartibartfast says:

    Magic Dog
    Moby Dick
    Moby?

  40. N. O'Brain says:

    Just dick.

  41. Magic Dog says:

    You have to admit (not that you will) that Rahm Emanuel’s operation has been crafty. Best Democratic political operation in a couple generations, I’d say. They don’t seem to be frenetic like Clinton was. No war room pumping shit out every afternoon. Every now and then, they come up with something that penetrates the fog and just sits there, killing everything in sight.

    Right after Obama was inaugurated, it was Rahm Emanuel who crowned Rush Limbaugh the leader of the Republican Party and used his own words against him and the Republicans. When some Republicans in Congress tried to tell Limbaugh to sit down and shut up with the failure theme, they were muscled into obsequious fealty to Limbaughism. More importantly, they were seen to be muscled into it.

    And now, there is the latest theme, which is that the Republicans have no proposals. They are nothing other than the Party of No. It’s simple stuff, but powerful stuff. Welcome to your world. As someone who’s done his share of fretting when his side was on the outs, I can tell you a little secret: Losing sucks. It really, really sucks.

  42. dicentra says:

    #13

    Now where did I read this before?

    Oh yeah. In the previous thread.

    the Democrats will have the upper hand, blah blah blah

    Interesting. Most of your jeers are all about who is in power and who isn’t. Not what is right or what is wrong. Not even what is conservative and what is progressive.

    Just power. And who has it.

    Does that make you moral, Gordo? Acquiring power and laughing at the losers, that is. Because you remind me of an erstwhile victim of bullies who becomes a bully himself.

    Congratulations on the promotion.

  43. Alec Leamas says:

    “Comment by Magic Dog on 4/22 @ 12:52 pm #”

    He’s awful proud of a series of useful lies, huh?

  44. dicentra says:

    But if el gordón is that into popularity, perhaps he can crow over this.

    h/t AoSHQ

  45. maggie katzen says:

    He’s awful proud of a series of useful liesvirtues, huh?

    FTFY. maybe.

  46. Sdferr says:

    Hmmm dicentra, looks like if that trend is to continue the Streams will soon be crossing. Bad things happen when the streams cross, I’m told.

  47. nikkolai says:

    Dude DOES seem like a bully. And bullies are usually PUSSIES. I think MD/Gordo is a big pussy.

  48. Carin says:

    Life ain’t fair or comfortable for the losers. Better get used to it before your heads explode. For now and the next few election cycles — probably the next 20 years — the Democrats will have the upper hand. That’s about how long these things last. Every dog has its day, and today the Magic Dog basks in the sunshine and warm winds,

    Yea. Sure. Whatever you say dog person.

  49. Magic Dog says:

    Would you like to know just how far you’ve fallen? Of course you would. Turns out that China, Russia, and Venezuela are more popular than the Republican Party. Damn, that’s unfair. Damn!

  50. Slartibartfast says:

    It IS all about the power, isn’t it?

  51. Sdferr says:

    And with Republican Party good ol MD further demonstrates it’s incomprehension. Damn, that’s unfair.

  52. Mr. Pink says:

    Ok so is this the part Gordo where you just spout nonsense that has nothing to do with what anyone says. Well let me join in. When are you signing up to go die for Obama’s wars for oil overseas?

  53. nikkolai says:

    How miserable must it be to be a radical leftist? Bitter, angry, with little physical power or creativity. Usually very unattractive. Smelly. No wonder they are always so pissed-off.

  54. Live Free or Die says:

    Still waiting for that virtuous backup Magic Dog, anything? Anything not done at the end of a gun? Didn’t think so, but what does it matter, you won right? Winning, at any cost, America be damned!

  55. Alec Leamas says:

    “Turns out that China, Russia, and Venezuela are more popular than the Republican Party.”

    Well, the media is “fair” to China, Russia and Venezuela.

  56. Mr. Pink says:

    55
    Hahahahhaa.

  57. maggie katzen says:

    well, you know, it’s important to be popular… like Hitler.

  58. Steve says:

    I haven’t been here for a long time but I wanted to see the take on the torture memos and glad I finally saw one.

    I think there’s a tendency to see too much deep strategy here.

    There was nothing strategic about Abu Ghraib and that was five years ago and the new memos basically endorsed everything that was done there.

    There was noting strategic in the Red Cross report issued two months ago, and everything in that report is in these memos, too, or didn’t anyone read it?

    What appears to have been strategic is the deliberate destruction of interrogation tapes, and counter legal opinions (see Zelikow elsewhere).

    These memos were released because the ACLU was going to sue for them, and get them.

    I am not interested in seeing Americans published for this stuff, but I don’t want Jay Bybee on the Supreme Court, nor do I want him giving an opinion on anything from left-wingers to Ruby Ridge. Are we going to have any reprisals for this crap, or not?

    The same concept that endorses spying under Bush is the same concept alive and well under Obama. Does everyone want to give it up to be “safe”? I don’t want ANYONE having that power.

    I also don’t buy the maltreatment, or torture, or whatever you want to call it. Absent a ticking time bomb, which has never been demonstrated, it’s just sick, sadistic, stuff, and I’m feeling pretty lonely because of the lack of STRAIGHT conservatives with the balls to call a spade a spade. If you think the standard operating procedure — I mean it seems to have been done to EVERYONE — of stripping a human being naked and shackling him to the floor for weeks at a time is not disgusting, then you have lost any opinion credibility whatsoever. I mean only a partisan or sadist could justify that sort of thing.

    Nothing will come of any of this stuff, of course. It will be supplanted by some other crisis in a couple of weeks. Book it.

  59. cynn says:

    While I admire much of Jeff’s writing, I think he is overwrought here. I can’t imagine any prosecutions over torture memos or what have you. And the Obama administration is not scheming to co-opt the language and force righties to cower in fear. That’s not Hugo Chavez, it’s Boris Badenov.

    I do agree with the 60% on that Rassmussen poll that the govt has too much money and power, though.

  60. Hadlowe says:

    This is the point in the parable where the members of the crowd most invested in the fiction start throwing stones at the ones pointing out the emperor’s dangling ding-dong.

  61. maggie katzen says:

    There was nothing strategic about Abu Ghraib

    and that’s probably why the people involved were tried and convicted and some in their command demoted.

  62. happyfeet says:

    Ben Feller takes it deep and hard for his dirty socialist piece of shit president.

    The decision itself to release the memos weighed on Obama; he calls it one of the tougher ones he’s had to make, which is saying something considering he’s widened the war in the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier, ordered deadly force to halt the hijacking of a U.S. sea captain and grappled with a crippling recession.

    what a trooper

  63. mojo says:

    “Art thou noble? Or art thou base, common – Popular?”
    — Pistol, “Henry V”

  64. Magic Dog says:

    Lots of Republican anger here today. Obama Derangement Syndrome runnin’ wild. “Live Free Or Die,” doesn’t it just chap your ass that President Obama (that’s right, President Obama, repeat it after me, President Obama, President Obama, President Obama) was freely elected? No gunpoint. And in 2010, the Democrats will get their filibuster-proof majority, and then my side’s gonna rock and roll. Go Galt! See ya!

  65. Rob Crawford says:

    Are we going to have any reprisals for this crap, or not?

    “Reprisals”?

    BTW — that something makes you uncomfortable to hear about does not make it a crime. That someone advocated — or, more properly, found nothing illegal about — something that makes you uncomfortable does not make them criminals.

  66. Bod says:

    Frankly, I don’t see any need for the Democrats to get their filibuster-proof majority, because they own the whole ball of wax right now.

    Just as Magic Dog’s felating himself – right now.

  67. Magic Dog says:

    Steve, you’re taking it too seriously. Everyone is. It’s just Republican S&M. The most interesting thing about all of the torture debate has been the window into fraternity hazing. So they strip each other naked, shackle each other into stress positions, waterboard each other a couple hundred times, put each other into little boxes. Who knew collegiate Republicans had so much fun?

  68. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “So. What to do? ”

    Cheney could take them quail hunting.

    Shoot ’em all in the grape.

    There will be no questions sir.

    “There was nothing strategic about Abu Ghraib ”

    Look! A pony!

  69. blowhard says:

    I kinda get a kick out of the fact that MD/Gordo seems to think we’re as unhappy as himself. Why do the troubled so often assume a shared condition?

  70. Alec Leamas says:

    “President Obama was freely elected? No gunpoint.”

    Nope, no guns. Just a whole lotta lies and moral intimidation.

  71. Magic Dog says:

    Frankly, I don’t see any need for the Democrats to get their filibuster-proof majority, because they own the whole ball of wax right now.

    Then you won’t mind if we just go ahead and do it, will you?

  72. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by Magic Dog on 4/22 @ 1:01 pm #

    Would you like to know just how far you’ve fallen? Of course you would. Turns out that China, Russia, and Venezuela are more popular than the Republican Party. Damn, that’s unfair. Damn!”

    Damn, that’s stooooopid. Dam.

  73. Bod says:

    I would have thought that the very people MOST likely to be experienced in the matter of Frat Hazing would be Democrats – I mean, they’re the ones who are meant to have IQs above 100, aren’t they?

  74. Jeff G. says:

    Magic Dog still doesn’t recognize that he’s dealing with critics of the GOP here.

    Admitting that might confuse him, however; he’d feel like he has to be on our “side” should he do so, and his little head might explode in the process of thinking his way toward an out.

  75. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by cynn on 4/22 @ 1:16 pm #

    While I admire much of Jeff’s writing, I think he is overwrought here. I can’t imagine any prosecutions over torture memos or what have you.”

    But the Obama administration can.

  76. Magic Dog says:

    Magic Dog still doesn’t recognize that he’s dealing with critics of the GOP here.

    I see that lame meme on a bunch of right-wing sites these days. Makes me laugh. But if it gets you through the night, well, as a Democrat I’m tolerant. Tell me, Jeff, is this your favorite song these days? You amuse me.

  77. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “Just as Magic Dog’s felating himself – right now.”

    Dogs can do that.

  78. Jeff G. says:

    I didn’t say there’d be prosecutions.

  79. N. O'Brain says:

    “Go Galt! See ya!”

    So, who are you gonna suck the blood out of then? Seeing as you’ll have no productive people to parasite off of and all.

  80. Abe Froman says:

    Well, Magic Dog has already admitted he’s pushing manufactured themes so while he gets one point for self-awareness he loses eleventy for doing the work of a useful idiot without financial compensation. It must be nice having an army of mindless trollbots.

  81. Alec Leamas says:

    Does Magic Dog do anything but “neener neener?”

    ‘Cause if he does, I’ve yet to see it.

  82. Jeff G. says:

    I see that lame meme on a bunch of right-wing sites these days. Makes me laugh.

    I honestly don’t care what makes you giggle. I was on NPR dumping on John McCain during the primaries. You?

  83. Sdferr says:

    It’s cool Jeff, cynn was speed reading and missed that part.

  84. N. O'Brain says:

    “Who knew collegiate Republicans had so much fun?”

    Yeah, you coulda had something done for free that you’re paying $350 an hour for.

    Damn!

  85. Magic Dog says:

    I was on NPR dumping on John McCain during the primaries.

    And in the general election you pimped for … whom?

  86. Jeff G. says:

    Alec —

    Spot on. This guy does the hit work of progressives just to be part of something.

    A joiner.

    It’s sad.

  87. Magic Dog says:

    Oh geez, I forgot to mention the teabaggings. How does it feel to be a national obscene joke? Wait, you already were. Carry on!

  88. Live Free or Die says:

    MD, I wasn’t talking about the election, I know full well what position he has been elected to. What I was questioning is, are there any virtuous actions done by your Dems, that are not done by force. For all of the noble and virtuous things the Dems do, it is just theft and coercion.

    I’m more bearish on the Republican situation than most of my peers here, I agree that it’s gonna be an uphill battle, I don’t think it can even be won. I’m not a delusional, I know there is not John Galt, I wish there was. But the key to your party keeping power is simple, promise the world to 51% of the country, at the expense of the other 49%.

    But I’m gonna keep on keepin on, go to my tea parties and liberty rallies, an keep my middle finger raised on high….

  89. Jeff G. says:

    I didn’t pimp for anyone in the general election. You?

  90. Mr. Pink says:

    I love hearing that frat boy card getting played. I was in a frat in college. Those slurs usually come from the guys whose women we would invite to our parties and steal. Or the guys that got invited to no parties who on friday nights sat at a table in small cliches at one of the main campus buildings. They would talk to themselves about politics or Dungeons and Dragons while consoling themselves with the fact all the frat guys were huge stupid douchebags who they would surpass once they graduated. Then they would go home alone to “blog” or play World of Warcraft into the wee hours of the morn.

  91. Ric Locke says:

    Heh. He also doesn’t seem to realize that not too long ago — 2002, 2004, that time frame — GOPers were gloating about their “permanent majority”. You didn’t catch me doing that, I don’t believe, unless I was pretty drunk at the time, and I don’t get drunk much.

    Worms do turn; the Democratic Party’s wins prove that. Gloating is never particularly wise. –which, of course, is what has your panties in a wad over the TEA parties.

    And I’m unhappy about a filibuster-proof Senate of either party, but not so much in this case, because we have here a situation similar to that in 2006. Democrats were ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that putting Pelosi, Reid, et. al. in charge meant “frogmarching George Bush” off to the carcel. It didn’t happen. Why? Because lots and lots of Representatives and Senators started getting letters and phone calls from their constituents, telling ’em that’s not what we elected you to do. Result: stasis. The TEA parties are a further elaboration of that.

    For me, personally, if a ten-megaton nuke went off 5000′ above the Washington Monument, the only thing I would regret is loss of the Smithsonian. Yes, I have friends and acquaintances in DC, but to paraphrase Angel Eyes, they taken the money.

    Regards,
    Ric

  92. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    Jeff, you “amuse” that Magic Dog with your piddly scribblings.

    You make him laugh.

    He is oh, OH so much smarter than you.

    You just wait buddy.

    He’s gonna school you any minute now.

    Be nice everybody. I’m sure if we all just wait a minute Magic Dog will come through.

    Then we can all shave our collective heads, put on a hemp robe, and chant and sing while we follow him to liberal progressive nirvana.

    Over to you Magic Doggie.*

    *are you David Blaine’s Magic Dog? Cuz if so, that would be fucking AWESOME!

  93. Jeff G. says:

    Oh, lookit! Homophobia from Magic Dog!

    And yet I’ll bet you a thousand bucks he’s a HUGE advocate of SSM.

    You have an argument to make, make it. If not, we’ll be seeing you. I’ve given you ample opportunity to engage in actual debate. Thus far I’ve seen nothing that tells me you’re worth having around.

  94. blowhard says:

    Mad Dog, have you considered taking up some charity work, trying out a group sport, spending more time with family and friends?

    It’ll help you feel better about yourself. Give it a try.

  95. Magic Dog says:

    I didn’t pimp for anyone in the general election.

    You were neutral, then? Hmm.

  96. happyfeet says:

    The point is that our dipshit president is piss poor at keeping our little country safe and it’s very alarming. The polls never ask how much confidence do you have that this pompous dirty socialist asshole has our little country’s best interests at heart and has the vaguest fucking clue how to safeguard them.

  97. Magic Dog says:

    He also doesn’t seem to realize that not too long ago — 2002, 2004, that time frame — GOPers were gloating about their “permanent majority”

    There is no such thing as a permanent majority. The pendulum swings in roughly 20-year cycles. The next 20 years are ours, and you guys aren’t gonna like our 20 years any more than we liked your 20.

  98. happyfeet says:

    oh. I supported McCain so I wouldn’t be responsible for what this dirty socialist hungarian muppet does to my little country. It’s not that I respected McCain in the slightest.

  99. Jeff G. says:

    No, I wasn’t neutral. I was anti-Obama. Still am.

  100. N. O'Brain says:

    “…you guys aren’t gonna like our 20 years any more than we liked your 20.”

    Guess what, bitch. Neither will you.

  101. Sdferr says:

    Is Magic Dog anyone we already know by another name? Or is Magic Dog really only a new visitor with nothing new to say in the same not-new ways we’ve seen hundreds of times before?

  102. Jeff G. says:

    He’s also posted under “Loving it”

    Schadefreude as a screen name must have already been taken.

  103. Magic Dog says:

    #96, you need to keep a lid on your anger. So, so much right wing anger! It’s been only three months. There are seven and three-quarter years left in this presidency, and then another eight years for the Democratic successor, whoever that might wing up being. And my side will get back to the upper 200s in the House, maybe even 300, and 65 in the Senate.

    I seem to recall a different president who liked to say, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

  104. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “I didn’t pimp for anyone in the general election. You?”

    Yes…but she wanted to be there!

    Spitzer was paying $3K a night.

    That girl was incredible.

    It was the first time Barney Frank banged a chick!*

    *she said it was horribly uncomfortable, and, as a result, she’s now somehow in debt to a small bank in the northeast. Plus she woke up with a tattoo that says, “Fannie Was Here.”

  105. Mr. Pink says:

    What a second am I missing something here or does MD’s idea of governing seem to just involve pissing of anyone that ever voted for a Republican? I mean if his ideas and party (only using that term because he himself did) are so great shouldn’t that mean they are great for everyone.

  106. Jeff G. says:

    Okay, still nothing from Magic Dog.

    I’ve had enough. Anybody else?

  107. Jeff G. says:

    Actually, nevermind. I think he serves a purpose here. Puts a face on the progressive mind.

    It’s the face of a dullard.

  108. Roland THTG says:

    and you guys aren’t gonna like our 20 years
    I don’t think it will last 20 years, one way or another.
    And based on the 3 month trajectory, there won’t very much to like anyway, talking dogs not withstanding.

  109. Abe Froman says:

    I love hearing that frat boy card getting played. I was in a frat in college. Those slurs usually come from the guys whose women we would invite to our parties and steal. Or the guys that got invited to no parties who on friday nights sat at a table in small cliches at one of the main campus buildings. They would talk to themselves about politics or Dungeons and Dragons while consoling themselves with the fact all the frat guys were huge stupid douchebags who they would surpass once they graduated. Then they would go home alone to “blog” or play World of Warcraft into the wee hours of the morn.

    Yeah, funny ain’t it? The beta males snicker while we were too busy having all the good looking girls on campus hang out at our house to notice the Magic Dogs even existed.

  110. blowhard says:

    Yeah, he’s not offering anything.

    Of course, I do mean well when I think he should consider playing some softball this summer. Exercise, socialization, a chance to meet a nice girl.

  111. Magic Dog says:

    No, I wasn’t neutral. I was anti-Obama. Still am.

    Not only that, but a very sore loser. You know, America doesn’t like or respect sore losers. The right-wing echo chamber didn’t get that memo. This is why Limbaugh’s “failure” meme was such a devastating error, along with the unanimous Republican opposition to everything Obama has proposed. It makes your side feel good, and you think it rallies your troops. But it’s going to be the millstone around your necks for quite some time.

    You see, a lot changed last fall. This has been a time for the public to form fresh impressions of all the players. Now, stand back, Jeffy, and tell yourself the truth about the new impression than you and your cronies have been making. That’s why you amuse me so. You couldn’t have done a better job for the Democrats if we’d written your script for you.

  112. Rob Crawford says:

    Actually, nevermind. I think he serves a purpose here. Puts a face on the progressive mind.

    It’s the face of a dullard thug.

    FTFY.

  113. happyfeet says:

    Anger isn’t really an issue so much as personal integrity I think. I just have to be steadfast in not being part of the problem. If you have any suggestions on how I can kneecap the efforts of this dirty socialist piece of shit do please let me know. Every day in every way I’m getting better and better at pissing on this phony piece of shit hungarian catspaw’s Chicago street trash head I think.

  114. N. O'Brain says:

    “It’s the face of a dullard.”

    I don’t think the bitch is that smart.

  115. maggie katzen says:

    This is why Limbaugh’s “failure” meme was such a devastating error

    because it increased his audience? oh please give me that kind of error!

  116. Jeff G. says:

    So you’re here to help me find my way? To help prevent me from helping out “your side” in the future?

    I’m no strategist, but that seems like a bad call on your part, Magic Dog. Why not just let me continue to spread my hatred and sore-loserness all around? If it’s so effective for your side and all, I mean.

    I don’t amuse you. I scare the shit out of you. I know it and so do you.

    And nothing you can say will change me. I’m not worried about being sneered at by progressives. That’s like being laughed at by Trekkies.

  117. Live Free or Die says:

    This pendulem you speak of, you are counting Bush on your side, because he was no classical liberal, just your kind of liberal, and when you add in Clinton, looks like your time is running out… Poor Carter V2.0 is only going to get one term, sucks too because i wanted to see some of that hope and change on steriods…

  118. Bod says:

    We’ve come a long way.

    If you want a picture of the future, imagine a dog’s paw stamping on a human face–for ever.”

  119. Mr. Pink says:

    I think everyone should cut MD a break. “Proggressive” ideas have been so very helpful to Chicago, California, Detroit, D.C., and Baltimore he just wants to see them applied to the entire country.
    /

  120. Rob Crawford says:

    Mr Pink, I object to your characterization of the non-frat member. Sure, my friends and I would spend Friday night playing D&D (we were are geeks, after all), but afterwards I would go bang the hottest girl on campus.

  121. JD says:

    Magic puppy just makes history up as it goes along. It almost makes Gordo seem clever. I keep waiting for it to stick out its tongue and say na na nee boo boo …

  122. Ric Locke says:

    No, Mr. Pink, Magic Dog isn’t that imaginative.

    “His team” won. What he perceives as “Our Team” lost. He couldn’t call plays for whichever NFL franchise’s logo he wears, either, not that he cares — he’ll still go to bar afterward and sneer at the Other Guys for losing.

    Regards,
    Ric

  123. N. O'Brain says:

    “That’s like being laughed at by Trekkies.”

    Ooo, that’s gonna leave a mark.

  124. Mr. Pink says:

    120
    I was not referring to all GDI’s Rob, just the ones that you would hear stereotype members of frat’s in negative ways ad naseum.

  125. Carin says:

    The “sore loser” meme also has some feet to it. Too bad these progressives can’t think for themselves.

  126. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “America doesn’t like or respect sore losers.”

    Holy.

    Fucking.

    Shit.

    Thank you Magic Doggie. That is the funniest thing I have heard this week (and I watched Blazing Saddles last night).

    Your CV reeks of 8 yrs of “loser” hate.

    Is there a mirror in your house you unbelievable douchebat?

    “Dissent is patriotic.” Remember?

    Code Pink. Sheehan. International Answer, etc., etc. Where the fuck were you? Stuck in the Democratic Underground?

    You have fucking ZERO to contribute to any meaningful debate.

    Nothing.

    Hip check this assclown and be done with him.

  127. Carin says:

    “That’s like being laughed at by Trekkies.”

    Ouch. HItting a tad close to home, there, Jeff.

    I’ll assume I’m safe as long as I’ve never attended a convention. But, I kinda want to go to this. And, yes, I’m a bit excited for the movie.

  128. Roland THTG says:

    MD is one of those idiot voters who can’t recall any details or specifics. It just heard that O! was teh awesomest!!!!111! and managed to find the booth in between the blunts and beer bongs, woke up in a daze an saw the election results. DUDE! WE TOTALLY WON!!!

    Rawk on dawg.

  129. happyfeet says:

    Rawk on dawg like Nelson or Winger or those Josie’s on a vacation far away come around and talk it over losers I think.

  130. dicentra says:

    Magic Dog is Gordo, I thought.

    Same stench.

  131. Alec Leamas says:

    “The “sore loser” meme also has some feet to it.”

    What about the “sore winner” meme?

  132. mojo says:

    I need another can of “Troll-B-Gone” – this one’s empty.

  133. N. O'Brain says:

    Speaking of trekkies check out these astonishing pictures of Saturn:

    http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/cassinis_continued_mission.html

    Un-frikkin’-believable.

  134. happyfeet says:

    Saturn is far away just like Josie.

  135. Dash Rendar says:

    “I think everyone should cut MD a break. “Proggressive” ideas have been so very helpful to Chicago, California, Detroit, D.C., and Baltimore he just wants to see them applied to the entire country.”

    Don’t forget beautiful Newark, NJ.

  136. McGehee says:

    “That’s like being laughed at by Trekkies.”

    Methinks MD is 11.

  137. OBAMA (and Magic Dog) ARE MADE OF FAIL

  138. Matt says:

    *GOPers were gloating about their “permanent majority”.*

    Ric hits the nail on the perennial head right here. I think many of us at PW saw the writing on wall pre-2006. The republicans in Congress were not standing by their principles. They were compromising on spending, shoving pork into bills and basically acting like democrats. After 6 years of war weariness, the American people didn’t see much of a difference between the two parties and they were right.

    The other point, which some folks made a few days ago, is this is a good explanation for people like mad dog, who appears to be frothing mad (still saying anyone that left must be a parody but whatever) and feels the need to constatly remind us who’s in power. Even an idiot can see the the economy is still tanking, the Norkes still have nukes and Iranians will likely get them during Obama’s term, the jews and palestinians hate each other and gays still can’t marry- Obama’s not really succeeding at anything. I mean really, the decision to take the pirate raft “by force” was a brave decision ? It was a no brainer to me. So with obama tanking, his approval ratings nosediving, the left’s rhetoric only seems to become louder, as if the sound and fury can drown out the dirty socialist muppets failures at every turn.

  139. blowhard says:

    Wow, thanks for that link, N. O’Brain.

    Amazing photos.

  140. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    I was layin’ back in the cut, minding my peeps, and checkin’ my traps…

    And caught this:

    http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=325207949387991

    …this needs it’s own post here.

    NOW.

    “It suspects that venture capital seeks economic returns over political ends and will not direct enough funding to politically favored sectors”…

    Jesus H. Christ. A question of “economic returns over political ends?!”

    For venture capitalists?

    The folks who invest (and make possible) our small businesses?

    What. In. The. Blue. Fuck?

    This is the death knell of America.

  141. Gordo's Unicorn says:

    Magic Dog and gordo get together every now and again and play Dungeons and Dragons in the nude. I see them in my darkest nightmares.

  142. JD says:

    happyfeet – The Outfield? Play Deep?

  143. Alec Leamas says:

    “happyfeet – The Outfield? Play Deep?”

    Oh, I saw that too – Josie, that is.

  144. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    Wait. Is this magic dog the same as gordo? The amorphously shaped guy with really red nipples? That guy? His comments are like being in a sports forum. There is no there, there. Just cheap talk. He’s as deep as a puddle. And all this projection about anger is priceless, because you just know that for the last 8 years this severely red nippled freak was pissed off beyond measure. The beta male thing rings so true. His wife probably slaps him around, so he’s turned to neener neenering on the internet. Pathetic little doggie.

  145. blowhard says:

    Was just emailed some breaking news: “Freddie Mac Acting CFO Found Dead In Vienna

  146. JD says:

    This Magic Dog thingie is a real douchenozzle. I vote for not banning, as I think it is important for Leftists like Magic Puppy and Gordo to have as big of a stage as possible, and as strong of a microphone as possible. We should want as many people as possible to hear and see this kind of idiocy, the precise type of idiocy that has allowed Barcky to become our President.

  147. JD says:

    OI – Not the same people. There are more than 1. SHOCKA

    I vote for Magic Dog to be the next volunteer to be waterboarded at a Code Pink protest.

  148. Sdferr says:

    Dittoing bhard’s praise for the Saturn link N. O’Brain, thanks. Here’s a bit of a return favor. Be sure to find the little blue dot on the left, it is Earth.

  149. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    Ok, so maybe MD’s nipples aren’t freakishly red then. Still a dipshit that has said nothing.

  150. thor says:

    What makes a butt wedgie funny is not the hard pull, it’s the screaming that follows.

    Repubs are feeling the yank, just listen to ’em.

  151. N. O'Brain says:

    “Ok, so maybe MD’s nipples aren’t freakishly red”

    But his politics are.

  152. william says:

    Obama’s criminal enterprise:

    Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky’s report, it may well be that TARP is just one big criminal problem.

    Listen to this: Barofsky’s investigators reported Monday that they have opened 20 criminal probes into possible securities fraud, tax-law violations, insider-trading, and mortgage-modification fraud related to TARP. Yup, those are criminal probes. Barofsky is the special IG overseeing the bailout program. And for some reason the mainstream media refuses to report this on the front pages where it belongs.

    Barofsky’s report spans 247 pages. And it says that the very character of the bailout program makes it “inherently vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse, including significant issues related to conflicts of interest facing fund managers, collusion between participants and vulnerabilities to money laundering.”

    By the way, one of Barofsky’s recommendations is for Treasury to abandon its whole plan of buying toxic assets from banks and investors. The IG’s report also notes that what started last October as a single-purpose $750 billion effort to buy toxic securities has morphed into twelve separate programs that cover up to $3 trillion in direct spending, loans, and loan guarantees. In other words, TARP is nearly equal in size to the entire federal budget.

    http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2FjZWMyZDA2OGEyNWFmNWQ0OWFiZjQzMTcxNDYwZmM=

  153. Mr. Pink says:

    I bet MD is a fan of the Cowboys, Yankees, Democrats, and Lakers. Meanwhile he lives in Ohio and has never left the state.

  154. N. O'Brain says:

    Please ignor the lying paranoiac.

    Thank you.

  155. Timstigator says:

    Magic Dung is cute. He’s just like the libs in that sense. Victorious, but neurotically insecure about their new-found power. They just know they won’t keep it. They’re more comfortable being the party that whines. Avis. They’re #2. Even in victory.

  156. thor says:

    And right on cue posts our David Duke wannabe with his patented plea for mercy.

  157. happyfeet says:

    The Outfield got a lot a lot more airplay than their talent warranted a lot like our dirty socialist doucherag president I think except Barack Obama I can tell apart from Cutting Crew. Mostly cause Barack Obama is somewhat black.

  158. Abe Froman says:

    What makes a butt wedgie funny is not the hard pull, it’s the screaming that follows.

    Good to know you can laugh about it now thor. I’m sure you were traumatized when the A/V kids did it to you though.

  159. Slartibartfast says:

    Ok, so maybe MD’s nipples aren’t freakishly red

    Gordo can’t help it; he’s nursing a grudge.

    I haven’t the heart to tell him that he’s doing it wrong.

  160. kelly says:

    What about the “sore winner” meme?

    Precisely. What magicdogshit fails to understand is that while most people dislike “sore losers,” they absolutely detest “sore winners.” Magicdogshit is scared. Winners know what it’s like to get in the endzone and handle it with aplomb. Magicdogshit is hamming it up in the endzone.

    If magicdogshit had a scintilla of common sense, he would recognize the electorate as still being 40-20-40. (Or 35-30-35, if you must.) Here’s a clue, magicdogshit: the 40’s don’t turn the elections, the middle 20 does. I suggest you think about this but it’s obvious you lack the slightest critical thought processes.

    Here’s a word to look up if you actually know how to do such a thing, magicdogshit: hubris.

  161. AJB says:

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/66622.html

    Report: Abusive tactics used to seek Iraq-al Qaida link

    The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a former Army psychiatrist.

    Such information would’ve provided a foundation for one of former President George W. Bush’s main arguments for invading Iraq in 2003. In fact, no evidence has ever been found of operational ties between Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network and Saddam’s regime.

  162. JD says:

    Didn’t the lead singer from The Outfield look a lot like the lead singer from Tears for Fears?

    Is the Magic puppy taking it doggy-style from his blow-up Barcky doll?

  163. Jeff G. says:

    Relentless pressure to use harsh tactics during the interrogation of guys like him that sawed off Daniel Pearl’s head?

    Why, string ’em up!

  164. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “What makes a butt wedgie funny is not the hard pull, it’s the screaming that follows.”

    That screaming is not just “repubs” jackass.

    It’s from Americans of all sorts (the ones that have fucking jobs anyway).

    Don’t yank on a tiger’s tail if you’re not prepared to deal with its teeth.

    Also, don’t pull on Superman’s cape.

    Stupid.

  165. kelly says:

    AJB: Another Jerkwad Blowhole.

  166. Jeff G. says:

    If torture, as currently being defined by the left, were a hanging offense, thor would have been rotting under a heavy limb for going on year now.

  167. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “I wonder how many Dick Cheneys will be behind bars due to the torture gate investigations.”

    None.

    Now stop “wondering.”

    You’re gonna hurt yourself.

  168. JD says:

    I see AJB got its marching orders. I just love how the Left co-opted the actual words of President Bush and changed it to “operational” connections. Ansar Al-Islam. Abu Nidal. Zarq. Terrorist training camps.

  169. “America doesn’t like or respect sore losers”

    Um…*cough*ALGORE*cough*

  170. thor says:

    Ya never should have feigned a Whitey tape. It’s for that that I think Obama is going to seek a measure of revenge.

    The funniest thing is he’ll portray himself as the peace maker who pulls the reigns back on the inquisition. He’ll be more popular than ever after it’s all said and done, and after the final pillar of the Republican machine collapses like a Wall Street investment bank.

    He’s good.

  171. Magic Dog says:

    No, I wasn’t neutral. I was anti-Obama. Still am.

    By the way, what are you FOR? Nothing and no one, as far as I can tell.

    I don’t amuse you. I scare the shit out of you. I know it and so do you.

    Whatever gets you through the night, Jeffy. After all, it’s going to be a long, long night.

  172. happyfeet says:

    Not so much Tears for Fears. Maybe a little except TFF didn’t bedazzle their shirts I don’t think. Wowsers. An anonymous piece of shit CIA cunt has an opinion what he wanted to share with a dirty socialist propagandist from dying dying dead McClatchy. This could be a game changer.

  173. JD says:

    “America doesn’t like or respect sore losers”

    America doesn’t like or respect winners that act like you even more. Apparently, this one never played any type of sports, at least the kind that involved interpersonal interaction. Being a sore loser pales in comparison to being a “winner” like you. I suspect that in aligning yourself with the winning team in this most recent election, this is your first experience in life being a “winner”.

    Sadly, you will learn nothing from it.

  174. Live Free or Die says:

    What scares me is that these douche bags are not even remotely scared about a one party state. What if the Republican machine fell apart and could break the math of 51% promised/49% F’ed. You would be perfectly chill with no opposition?

    It just kinda hit me that Thor really is out there, hes not just a troll, scary stuff.

  175. JD says:

    Magic Puppy – There are none so blind as those that refuse to see.

  176. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “thor would have been rotting under a heavy limb for going on year now.”

    So…he hasn’t been rotting under a heavy limb?

    Huh.

    Ya know, that would have explained most of his comments.

    Oh well.

    Rotting under a dark rock maybe.

    Or a hammer and cycle jerk off accident?

    Currency Trading Ninjas beat him until he was retarded?

    His trust fund stipulated an IQ minimum?

    How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

    The world may never know.

  177. happyfeet says:

    The CIA is probably the gayest government agency I think. After that I would guess the State Department is a lot the second gayest. That’s remarkable cause not ten years ago everyone would have said State was the gayest plus they even had Colin Powell in charge for awhile but the CIA got their gay on in a big way since then.

  178. kelly says:

    By the way, what are you FOR? Nothing and no one, as far as I can tell.

    The sheer vacuity of magicdogshit gives me the douchechills.

  179. JD says:

    Nothing and no one, as far as I can tell.

    Seeing as though you cannot tell your ass from a hole in the wall, your ability to read years of writing about what your ideological opposites believe comes as no surprise.

  180. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    “By the way, what are you FOR? Nothing and no one, as far as I can tell.”

    That’s because you are quite the dumbfuck. Read, jackass. Archives all around. And “jeffy”? Doesn’t the ESL psychotic teacher call Jeff, jeffy?

  181. Magic Dog says:

    _America doesn’t like or respect winners that act like you even more_

    True enough. But I’m just one guy commenting on a right wing site. If I were, say, Speaker Pelosi or President Obama, I’d be the soul of reason. Welcome to Politics 101, kids. Apparently the right wing, which is one in the same with the Republican Party, forgot the basics. This happens to both sides eventually. It happened to the Democrats in the 1970s and ’80s, and it happened to the Republicans in the ’90 and the ’00s. You’ll learn, but (thankfully for my side) it’s going to take way too long.

  182. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    You would be the soul of reason? Bah. You don’t have the chops. You’re a deluded apparatchik pussy “teasing” from the comfort of your home. Prove otherwise.

  183. JD says:

    WE WON … Your bitch Barcky is just like you, Magic Doggy-style. I knew those unicorn horns had a purpose.

    You do not even know fucking basic history, do you?

  184. kelly says:

    [sounds of razor blade chopping on a mirror]

    Oh, I knew that would get your attention, magicdogshit. You’ve been snorting up so much “we won” bullshit from your messiah, not only has your septum deviated, your Medula oblongata speaks Spanish with a Bolivian accent.

  185. Roland THTG says:

    Faildog aspires to be Pelosi.
    HAHAHAHA

  186. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “and after the final pillar of the Republican machine collapses like a Wall Street investment bank.”

    But…but, you’ve regaled us for years about your “Wall Street” prowess.

    Now it’s all shit?

    Its a “Republican Machine?”

    Fucking Wall Street? Really!? A Republican Machine?

    Good grief. Nobody’s THAT stupid.

    Nobody.

    Your a fucking ridiculous poser.

    You always have been.

  187. Magic Dog says:

    You do not even know fucking basic history, do you?

    So much anger!

  188. Roland THTG says:

    Stupid pisses people off around here.

  189. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “But I’m just one guy commenting on a right wing site.”

    We’re a “Right Wing” site? I better get a fucking bumper sticker!

    “If I were Speaker Pelosi or President Obama, I’d be the soul of reason.”

    Snicker…no…LOL. Try soul of corruption there, prince valliant. Wait, does corruption have a soul? Hold on and I’ll ask Harry Reid.

    “Welcome to Politics 101, kids”….

    “Kids?” Yeah dumb dumb, the folks around here have been teaching the fucking class for a while now.

    “You’ll learn.”

  190. dicentra says:

    Ok, so maybe MD’s nipples aren’t freakishly red

    Gordo can’t help it; he’s nursing a grudge.

    I haven’t the heart to tell him that he’s doing it wrong.

    ROTFL! And that’s just one on this good thread. Thor got a wedgie from the A/V team? Priceless!

    Apparently the right wing, which is one in the same with the Republican Party,

    Only in your virtual reality, MD. Out here in the meatworld the conservatives or “right wing” or whatever you want to call it is not at all happy with the GOP. Hasn’t been for years.

    Yes! We’ve been PWN3D! Oh, the agony, the agony! I cannot endure the thought of Not Being In Power for another second! Quick, help me commit seuppuku in the bloodiest and most disgusting manner possible!

    Happy? Now go away.

  191. Slartibartfast says:

    More like bored amusement. It’ll pass, though, into bored boredom soon enough.

  192. JD says:

    I am not angry, you stoopid lying mongrel. I am despondent that people like you get to cancel out the votes of sentient human beings.

  193. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    …”your Medula oblongata speaks Spanish with a Bolivian accent.”

    That so needs to come out of Seth Rogen’s mouth in the next Judd Apatow flick.

  194. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    …”Quick, help me commit seuppuku in the bloodiest and most disgusting manner possible!”

    There’s a Michael Moore film festival I know about.

  195. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    Funny thing, Dicentra, and I’m just speaking for myself here, I haven’t felt like “my” team has been in power for all of my politically aware life. The republicans, again for me, were closer to the mark, but to me they abandoned all pretense of a small government platform the last 8 years. And I’ve never been on board the social conservative agenda, either. I’m kind of bumming right now.

  196. Anybody seen a dog running loose in here, crapping on the floor?

    Sort of stupid. Answers to the name “Magic.” I’m here to take him for a ride…

  197. kelly says:

    It happened to the Democrats in the 1970s and ’80s, and it happened to the Republicans in the ‘90 and the ’00s

    In addition to lacking critical thinking skills, you also suck at math, dogshit. But as you’re too stupid to figure it out, the pendulum starts swinging back, per your historical view, just about…2010. Knob.

  198. cynn says:

    This is all part of our evil plan to persecute and terrify you frothing righties before we cut your tongues out, thereby stealing the LANGUAGE1111

  199. LTC John says:

    Jeff,

    Were it left to a vote… too boring, face or not. That you let the other trolls clog up threads here shows you are open and all too tolerant to begin with.

  200. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “This is all part of our evil plan to persecute and terrify you frothing righties before we cut your tongues out, thereby stealing the LANGUAGE1111”

    We’re on to you WHORE OF BABYLON!

    I’m just kidding. But seriously, you’re fucked by a long shot. We’ve, uh, out planned you.

    You and yours can fuck up the country as much as you’re allowed to.

    By us.

    We’re fine.

    After all, we need a 21st century Carter to get a 21st century Reagan don’t we?

    And here comes OBamby.

    Your time’s up qick.

    Hear me knockin?

  201. kelly says:

    It happened to the Democrats in the 1970s and ’80s, and it happened to the Republicans in the ‘90 and the ’00s

    In addition to lacking critical thinking skills, you also suck at math, dogshit. But as you’re too stupid to figure it out, the pendulum starts swinging back, per your historical view, just about…2010. Knob.

    Self-deleted. I was distracted. Well, that and blinded by Mad Dog 20/20’s brilliant actus performance.

  202. cynn says:

    You guys are sure easily provoked!

  203. Magic Dog says:

    kelly, the pendulum started swinging our way in 2006. At minimum, it’ll last for a decade, like the Eisenhower surge of the ’50s, which really got going a couple of years before his election in ’52. Or it’ll be like the Reagan surge, which started in ’80 and went for 26 years. Clinton was an anomaly made possible by Bush Sr.’s political ineptitude and Clinton’s ability to co-opt Republican themes, but there’s no doubt the ’90s were a Republican decade in many ways.

    Now, we’re heading into a solid Democratic period. Never discount the ability of the Democratic Party to completely screw it up, but my gut says we’ll have two decades. Main reason: The Republicans are self-immolating. They’ll eventually recover, but it’s going to take quite a while.

  204. Magic Dog says:

    cynn, provoking right wingers has always been easy, but never as easy as right now. They are absolutely seething with anger, likely because they see the handwritin’ on the wall. Defeat’s a bitch on steroids.

  205. Alec Leamas says:

    “likely because they see the handwritin’ on the wall”

    If the handwritin’ on the wall is criminalizing the views of O’s opposition, then yeah.

  206. Mr. Pink says:

    Every comment you make reads like someone who views the Democrat party as his football team and I bet you couldn’t throw a spiral to save your life.

  207. Ric Locke says:

    Ah, well, let’s see how the July 4th TEA parties come out.

    Next up: a Constitutional convention, no sitting elected people allowed. Illegal you say? — well, so was the first one, and amendments have to be ratified by the States; there’s nothing that says definitively that they have to come from a particular source.

    First thing to be addressed: term limits, with an added clause that says nobody currently sitting is eligible for re-election. It’d pass in a landslide.

    Regards,
    Ric

  208. thor says:

    If you took a bullwhip to the sacred heart girls choir it still wouldn’t match the r-wingered’s pain-filled pitch.

    This is a classic moment in the long history of r-wingered benders.

  209. thor says:

    Hi cynn.

  210. cynn says:

    What? You seriously believe that this administration is trying to “criminalize” peoples views? I’d rather criminalize hijacking the nation’s economy. And this:

    “Obama knows where the media will train its focus during these kinds of show hearings, and so he has now expressed a willingness to go that route if he believes it will take the heat off of him and his administration.”

    As much as I loathed Bush, I never claimed to be able to read his mind.

  211. Magic Dog says:

    If you took a bullwhip to the sacred heart girls choir it still wouldn’t match the r-wingered’s pain-filled pitch.

    Now THAT is a good line! Ha ha ha!!

  212. Squid says:

    You guys can hammer on “right-wingers” all day long, and it doesn’t matter a whit. I come here because I believe that the Founders were on to something important when they strictly limited the powers of the federal government, and I believe that the erosion of those limits has made this nation progressively (see what I did there?) worse over the past four generations.

    I just want to be left alone. I don’t care if potheads smoke weed, I don’t care if gays want to be saddled with alimony, I don’t care if fundamentalists want to teach their children that the Earth is flat, and I don’t care if CEOs and professional athletes make “obscene” incomes. I just want to be left alone to pursue happiness as I see fit.

    I don’t want the State telling me what to do, and what to support, and what to spend my money on, and what to eat, and what to drink, and what to teach my children. I’m a grownup, and I’d be damn happy if the government would treat me and my neighbors as grownups instead of trying to take care of us and force us to spend our time and money on things that they feel are good for us.

    It’s frustrating that you refuse to defend your policy prescriptions against the overwhelming body of scholarship that exists arguing that such policies are harmful and are far beyond the limits that this county’s government has historically been expected to adhere to. “Your team” is embarking on a course of action that involves spending, regulation, and entanglement in the public sector that are orders of magnitude beyond anything attempted in the history of the United State. So far, none of these efforts have borne positive outcomes.

    So you’ll forgive me if I stand up and “just say no.” The truth is, “your team” is the one engaged in wholesale shredding of the Constitution (sound familiar?), and therefore “your team” is obliged to provide justification for these activities that consist of something more concrete that “We won!” or “You’re just a sore loser.”

    That the formulation of any such argument lies outside your abilities is not surprising, but is no less saddening for its predictability.

  213. B Moe says:

    For now and the next few election cycles — probably the next 20 years — the Democrats will have the upper hand. That’s about how long these things last.

    I remember thinking that same thing in 1976.

  214. Makewi says:

    Magic Dog sure is happy to be a Democrat/Leftist/Progressive isn’t he? You can almost feel how much he is personally invested in this label being important to his well being. I would put good money on his being unable to truthfully express why.

    IMO, he would do well to drop the hate for those not in his club because that sort of thing almost always leads the individual to bad places.

  215. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “You guys are sure easily provoked!”

    [yawn]

    “If you took a bullwhip to the sacred heart girls choir it still wouldn’t match the r-wingered’s pain-filled pitch.”

    We’re gonna have that same “sacred heart girls choir” to sing in the 2010 opening Republican owned Congressional Session.

    We asked them to sing at the 2012 “Obama Ass Whipping” inauguration but, as they’re Catholic, they refused to be anywhere near “the one.”

    Ya know, as he’s the whoop-de-doo, above my pay grade abortion champion and what not.

    Jeez. Murder puts those Catholics off something fierce don’t it?

  216. Jeff G. says:

    Just as I mentioned last evening: thor will reach out to anyone here he thinks will throw a few attaboys his way. It’s rather sad to watch.

    By the way, what are you FOR? Nothing and no one, as far as I can tell.

    Likely because you are a moron who is too busy arguing with cartoons of your own making than you are willing to take on flesh and blood folks and their arguments.

    Which in your case is a good strategy, because you don’t have what it takes to compete on the playing field of ideas. Explains why you believe Obama’s popularity, such as it is, rubs off on you.

  217. N. O'Brain says:

    Douchechills are going on my bucket list.

    Wait.

    Nevermind.

    We got thor.

  218. kelly says:

    kelly, the pendulum started swinging our way in 2006.

    Unwittingly, you’ve pretty much hit on the crux of the meta-narrative (if I may be so presumptive on Jeff’s blog) of PW. The blog proprietor and most of the commenters don’t feel stirred about the collective “our.” You’re not the first boor to come here and start adolescent taunts about “our” side winning.

    You might be somewhat better received if you…ah, who am I kidding? You’re clearly “all in.” You better be hoping your hand is stronger than your bluff, cuz if we were in a poker game, we’d probably all note that film of perspiration forming on your upper lip by now and this is just the first hand.

  219. Lamontyoubigdummy says:

    “thor will reach out to anyone here he thinks will throw a few attaboys his way.”

    He does pick out his dodge ball partners pretty quick.

    And then blow ’em.

  220. meya says:

    “My question is, if Obama, through his AG, can make the claim that anyone connected with the previous administration who pushed an “illegal” idea of “torture” can be prosecuted (for what is essentially differences in legal interpretation), why must they stop there? What of those columnists or TV analysts who pushed the same argument? What about those bloggers?”

    There’s a difference between committing a crime and adovacating for crime. Free speech cases of the last century, sometimes argued by liberals, should show you that, if you didn’t already know this.

  221. squid — that comment was beautiful, and i want to have it’s babies, or at least hump it madly. you perfectly express what i feel, except that you say it so much prettier than i do. i just hope your comment will have me, even after knowing there’s a star fleet officers’ uniform (TNG) hanging in my closet. >_>

  222. B Moe says:

    That’s nice, meya. Get back to us when you work your way up to defining a crime.

  223. Dan Are says:

    I just want to be left alone. I don’t care if potheads smoke weed, I don’t care if gays want to be saddled with alimony, I don’t care if fundamentalists want to teach their children that the Earth is flat, and I don’t care if CEOs and professional athletes make “obscene” incomes. I just want to be left alone to pursue happiness as I see fit.
    _____________________

    That Squid is growing on me. Hope that doesn’t make me as gay as the CIA.

  224. Makewi says:

    Free speech cases of the last century, sometimes argued by liberals, should show you that, if you didn’t already know this.

    These days, if you wish to know about the modern progressive idea on free speech you do better to look to the behavior aimed at Conservative speakers on college campuses; the actions taken against those supporting traditional marriage definitions in California; and the reactions to any mention or expression of religion in the public sphere.

    The so-called-liberal idea of free speech outside this nations borders are even worse.

  225. meya says:

    “Here, Obama sees a way to connect “torture” (ill-defined) to conservative legal thought (criminal and extreme) in order to taint all conservative thought by proxy.”

    But what connection do these memos have to conservative legal thought? Yoo writing them? He also wrote against the “imperial presidency” … discussing Kosovo. Is that conservative legal thought? Or is conservative legal thought something that changes with the presidency?

  226. Jeff G. says:

    Free speech cases of the last century, sometimes argued by liberals, should show you that, if you didn’t already know this.

    Meya evidently hasn’t been paying attention to all the gyre widening.

  227. JD says:

    Squid – That was beautiful.

  228. JD says:

    meya has not paid attention to a whole host of topics, Jeff.

  229. JD says:

    meya is Gordo and Magic Wanker without the bombast and name-calling. She is no less mendoucheous.

  230. Sdferr says:

    Just watched Sec Clinton’s smug non-answer to Dana Rohrabacher’s question whether she is in favor of releasing the classified documents Dick Cheney has suggested ought to be released. By all means watch the whole 5:30 odd minutes of Rohrabacher’s question time, but if you want only to see the smug non-answer, slide over to the 4:35 mark. It warrants a good hard slap down.

  231. suzy Q says:

    That’s like being laughed at by Trekkies

    Eat me.

  232. JD says:

    Sdferr – I was proud of Rohrbacher for not backing down from Billary.

  233. JD says:

    suzy Q’s rock

  234. Bozoer Rebbe says:

    Anyone think that MagicDog or Thor will respond in any substantive way to Squid’s post?

  235. JD says:

    Oh! Oh! Oh! Call on me!

    Not a chance

  236. SBP says:

    Anyone who might be clueless enough to believe SFAG’s spin is invited to go here and see how many of the free speech cases involve brave “progressives” being silenced by The Man.

  237. dicentra says:

    Erwin Chemerinsky is on Hewitt saying that what he thinks is torture is torture, damn the legal definition. FEEEEEELINGS!

    He keeps citing the Red Cross report as evidence that torture took place, and figures that prosecuting the lawyers who wrote their opinions get to hang for it because their writings “led to” the TOR-CHA!

    Man. What a whiner.

  238. dicentra says:

    Hugh is NOT on Erwin’s side, and neither is the other guy. Not. At. All.

  239. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by cynn on 4/22 @ 4:28 pm #

    What? You seriously believe that this administration is trying to “criminalize” peoples views?”

    Are you so fucking stupid as to believe that they’re NOT?

  240. cynn says:

    Step back, moron, and take a look around. You’d be surprised by reality. I, for a lefty, don’t think you’re a criminal.

  241. SmokeVanThorn says:

    Rememember, Obama is a good man.

    Does a Magic Dog lick his own Magic Balls?

  242. Sdferr says:

    Pete Hoekstra, WSJ, Congress Knew About the Interrogations:

    Members of Congress calling for an investigation of the enhanced interrogation program should remember that such an investigation can’t be a selective review of information, or solely focus on the lawyers who wrote the memos, or the low-level employees who carried out this program. I have asked Mr. Blair to provide me with a list of the dates, locations and names of all members of Congress who attended briefings on enhanced interrogation techniques.

    Any investigation must include this information as part of a review of those in Congress and the Bush administration who reviewed and supported this program. To get a complete picture of the enhanced interrogation program, a fair investigation will also require that the Obama administration release the memos requested by former Vice President Dick Cheney on the successes of this program.

    An honest and thorough review of the enhanced interrogation program must also assess the likely damage done to U.S. national security by Mr. Obama’s decision to release the memos over the objections of Mr. Panetta and four of his predecessors. Such a review should assess what this decision communicated to our enemies, and also whether it will discourage intelligence professionals from offering their frank opinions in sensitive counterterrorist cases for fear that they will be prosecuted by a future administration.

    Perhaps we need an investigation not of the enhanced interrogation program, but of what the Obama administration may be doing to endanger the security our nation has enjoyed because of interrogations and other antiterrorism measures implemented since Sept. 12, 2001.

  243. thor says:

    #

    Comment by cynn on 4/22 @ 8:47 pm #

    Step back, moron, and take a look around. You’d be surprised by reality. I, for a lefty, don’t think you’re a criminal.

    Attagirl, cynn!

    I’m a attagiver.

  244. dicentra says:

    The only comfort I find in all this is that I don’t live in a high-target area.

    But it’s frosty comfort indeed, and I’d prefer not to have to think in those terms at all.

  245. thor says:

    I’ve put out a bounty for your waterboarding, di. Capitalism rocks!

  246. dicentra says:

    Bring it on, thor. I assure you there’s nothing in my head that could possibly interest you, but would bore you to tears instead.

    I welcome the opportunity.

  247. SporkLift Driver says:

    Gotta love the whole “Ticking time bomb” requirement. If you don’t interrogate captured terrorists how do you even discover that you have such a situation on your hands? What are the odds that the right person will fall into your hands at the right time?

    Lets try a more realistic scenario. A terrorist attack is scheduled for eight months from now. This guy you just captured would give up the information if interrogated, he might also be the last guy you capture that would give up that info, but you don’t interrogate him. That’s O.K. though, you’ll capture another guy two months from now. No wait, you won’t interrogate him either or the guy you capture five months from now or the one you capture ten days before the attack. It’s all good though. You’ll find out there’s gonna be an attack and who knows about it some time in the last 48 hours then you can interrogate him. Just like in the movies!

    Sorry, the whole “Ticking time bomb” nonsense is so idiotic it makes me angry.

  248. SporkLift Driver says:

    I posted a comment before I got to the part where magic dog hijacked the thread. That sure is some weapons grade stupid. It goes really well with the small spirited nastiness. No point in torturing him though. He knows nothing.

  249. Live Free or Die says:

    The ticking time bomb scenario is moot, we water boarded 3 dudes, 3! And it saved American lives! You gotta problem with that? Go to L.A. and explain to them that you would rather sleep well with a clean conscience and see more people having to jump out of a flaming tower.

    PISS OFF

  250. happyfeet says:

    Dirty socialist NPR already has a special section on their website to cheerlead Barack Obama’s fascist inquisition of Republican policy makers. Daddy Soros wants denazification so Daddy Soros gets denazification and our dipshit dirty socialist president will act like it’s all out of his Chicago street trash hungarian muppet hands.

  251. Rusty says:

    #249
    You simply can’t be taught, can you.

    I would, however, like to hear your views on the morality of all this.

  252. […] already argued what I believe is the impetus behind this selective and, it turns out, politically expedient, […]

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