What’s left to say, really? Hobbits rule, GOP establishment / Democrats / inside the Beltway pundit class both left and right, drool.
Somebody do me a favor and send Bill Kristol a nice fancy cheese log.
****
update: I honestly can’t get over the audacity. J Pod, Commentary:
The Left will and is already blaming the Tea Party and Republicans. The Right will and is blaming the growth of the federal debt and the refusal to deal with the unsustainable path created by the entitlement programs. This is a grinding battle that will lead to an intellectual and ideological stalemate. There’s truth to the Leftist charge that the conservative Republican decision to use the debt ceiling fight as leverage to force a cut in the national debt at a particularly risky time was unsound. But that is nothing next to the liberal fantasy that the U.S. can stay on the present course is the most destructive notion in present-day politics.
For Podheretz and some of these other GOP establican pragmatists to even suggest there’s some germ of truth to the leftist lie that the TEA Party was in any way responsible for this downgrade — it was the TEA Party, after all, who called for greater cuts and a systemic change to how we do business, one that would reassure credit rating agencies that we were serious about addressing our debt problem — is nothing short of a kind of intellectual treason: While Podheretz, the WSJ editorial board, Jen Jen, most of NRO, and the entirety of Rove Republicans and the Kristol Standard crowd were working to bully the TEA Party into accepting the fraudulent debt ceiling deal (it was “sober, serious” and the “best we could get”), those of us who vehemently opposed the deal because it didn’t do enough — precisely the complaint of S&P that precipitated the downgrade — were being called terrorists, hostage takers, Hobbits, vain, purists, crazies, and so on.
And now the very people responsible for this downgrade think they’re going to get away with joining the Democrats in demonizing the only sane, fiscally responsible contingency left in American politics?
Fuck that.
This is war.
If the TEA Party breaks en mass from the GOP, the GOP would be a dead party. That’s the truth. And it’s time they learned it. Otherwise, we’re where we’ve long been: stuck in a battle pitting the DC ruling class, regardless of party, against the rest of us.
There’s a reason 20% of the population has been able to control the other 80% for so long. And that’s because the GOP establishment and their media enablers and sycophants have been content to play right along with the left, the only difference being that they seem occasionally to try to slow the growth of government as a way to differentiate themselves.
They disgust me. And if they follow suit with Podheretz here and try to pin this on the TEA Party, they are an enemy out to diminish and marginalize the very people who helped the GOP back into power.
And they’ll be named as such.
(thanks to bh)
*
from now on the bar at Hip Hop BBQ is cash only
I was just going to link this song but your update says it better, Jeff.
i luvs watching dc crash and burn. you go grrl jpod. you balled headed midget.
i luv the smell of ruling class fear with bbq ribs
Podheretz got the message, but he can’t be bothered. Commentary forbids him to deviate from his assigned narrative; a thin, mostly blue, line right down the middle of the political divide.
Add another notch to my alienating my own side.
There’s a reason I don’t have many readers left. Besides my being a dick, I mean.
Ummmm…don’t know that he’s on anyone’s side but his own. Certainly not one I’d look to add to my trench.
link
no you ijiot bald midget one view is correct the other one communist
look on the bright side we won’t hear from jen the rube til sunday
failshit ceo-whore Carol Bartz’s in-the-shitter company Yahoo! (YHOO) has decided to lead off their coverage by pimping a piece by noted obamawhore Daniel Gross
Is the U.S. Credit Rating a Victim of GOP Sabotage?*
They‘ll blame the Tea Party. Others, who proclaim to be on our side, will only sorta blame the Tea Party.
some soothing jen the rube for your friday evening:
link
get those answer in tout suite clingers
I wonder if Daniel Gross knows that the Bush tax cuts made the code even more progressive?
Yeah, he knows. Who am I kidding. He’s just a liar who lies to dumb people.
The Left is desperate to blame this down-ding on the Tea Party, because to do otherwise would be to admit their own guilt; the years of demeaning Americans to dependency on State. Are there enough American citizens who will look up from Jersey Shores long enough to understand what’s really going on?
I don’t think many will. They will react as the sheeple they’ve become, as directed by news soundbites.
But this is Barack Hussein Obama’s ding. I wonder if he’s interrupted his partying long enough to notice?
I hear Hong Kong is nice this time of century.
S&P can refuse to let a false story about the debt-ceiling go without challenge from here on out.
They can pipe up at every turn to say “No! The debt-ceiling fight was not the primary desideratum here. Net spending cuts not obtained, on the other hand, were.”
But we can already see that S&P is in process of being painted as a villain making political calculations. Why, they can’t even do math!
i heard the dulcet tones of john huntsman on hughhewitt tonite. the ruling class has their paid shills.
“All of the Republican presidential candidates with the exception of Jon Huntsman opposed the final deal.”
jen jen likes some mormon stuff. we got mccain 3.899999(infinite loop) going on
link
What cut in the national debt?. All the gov’t has done since this “sober, serious” and the “best we could get” deal was agreed to is add to the national debt.
Time for a Low Budget
Every time a Republican is accused by the MBM of causing this down-grade by not agreeing to tax increases, they need to respond with the guarantee that this down-grade would never have happened if the Democrats had compromised with Republicans by accepting Cut Cap and Balance. It was and is the only plan out there. We guarantee that if the Democrats who have previously committed to voting for a Balanced Budget Amendment stuck to their word and joined Republicans to pass Cut Cap and Balance, our rating would return to AAA immediately. Any Democrat plan willing to make that guarantee? Any Democrat plan period?
Absolutely, Ernst. Even CC&B did nothing but add to the debt for years and years.
As has been pointed out here quite a bit, it was the compromise.
Never shit the money bed my friend.
mr. baracky’s elevated intelligence had nothing to do with this action. no sir non at all.
oh sterling such an ijiot. have swiss cake roll danke.
If you had friends, Elfie, their facial reactions would show you how doltish you appear when you attempt humor.
This lack of feedback has left you stunted. So, draw a sexy cartoon girlfriend, jerk off, and hope tomorrow doesn’t suck for you quite as much as today did.
A tax hike is but a move to pull more money from the private sector and filter it through people who use it to stock jets with liquor for their friends, and approve studies about the size of gay men’s schlongs. Did this Gross asshole remember that Obama himself, just a scant 8 months ago, noted that you don’t raise taxes in a recession? No?
Enemy.
Well, of course you don’t raise taxes in a recession.
He, on the other hand…
Thank God the recession is over then. Next our ever-victorious armies of people’s workers will set about whipping inflation now!
Any chance that the GOP will immediately take up legislation titled something like, “Restoring America’s Credit”?
If not, why not?
(Because they’ll counter with the need to raise taxes? Fine, let’s agree to that. Broaden and flatten. As the President’s own commission recommended.)
We sent them as our representatives, yes? Well, I’m not so happy about greater debt costs. Try and fix it. Wait ’til 2012? How about you make an issue of this now and earn those votes in 2012? If we’re talking about taxing/spending and the underlying economy until the election, we’ll expand our lead in the House, take the Senate, and kick Obama onto the speaking tour.
Chop, chop.
And use the tax code to raise revenue instead of reward friends, punishing enemies and enacting grand social expirements, bh? Surely not!
bh i agree with broaden and flatten on the revenue side. And i think a national discussion needs to happen sooner rather than later concerning Social Security and Medicare with the goal of them being both self sustaining and transitioned and redefined.
Oh, the fun we could have, Ernst.
This is not their terrain. So… let’s fight them here.
Hells yeah, BT.
Too bad we’re lead by a bunch of McClellan’s. Right now they’re all busy figuring out how to not be blamed for this instead of figuring out hold the Dems accountable.
Someone should post 32 on Sarah’s Facebook page. Even if she isn’t going to run she can help shape the dialog.
Does anyone have that quote handy? I can’t seem to find it. There’s too much of his bullshit to sort through.
you could start shutting down depts. and regs. but jen jen & jpod might disagree. oh well time for GAZPACHO
Something I really like about Palin, BT, is that I have a feeling she’s way ahead of me.
Dollars to donuts, she’ll post some pretty good rhetoric on this very soon.
here Mr. Pablo
and don’t sell yourself short Mr. bh
Don’t shit where you eat seems more appropriate.
link
Thank you, ‘feets.
we need more doughnuts these days
Stick a fork in America, we are finally DONE!
It’s over guys, and the Marxists have won. We are now (unofficially, but truly) a communist nation. I would like to thank all the flying assholes who have brought this once great country to it’s knees, and are now patting themselves on the back for it. And a special “HUZZAH” to the Kenyan, Barry Soreto (or whatever his real name is) and George Soros.
IF we make it to the next election (which I have serious doubts about), it will be the last chance to turn this shit even part way around. I thought Beck was nuts a ways back, but now think that there is a good chance that Jug Ears will say “screw the constitution, power is, – from now on, – MINE! MINE! MINE!” And who will have the balls to stop him? A “Chavez”, so to speak.
How did we manage to accumulate so many clueless retards in Washington? Maybe because for the last 40 years, our children have been taught that clueless retards are the way to go, and money comes from heaven (even though there is no such thing in the new USSA).
Check out Ann Barnhardt.
OK, I need to calm down.
Harry and Nancy are putting emphasis and their faith in the ‘Super Committee’, for a ‘fair and balanced’ (tax increases) approach. No word from Baracky; likely he’s still passed out in the Rose Garden.
Uggh. Pablo. I needs palate cleanser.
Damned Communists are smarter than Democrats…
h/t Ann Barnhardt’s twitter thinger.
Jeebus, are the ChiComs actually writing pretty decent political ads for us now?
Didn’t see that one coming.
Hmm…let’s see, what’s next on the list of campaign promises? Ah, yes, here it is: “Kyoto Protocol”…
Bachmann Calls for Geithner to Resign
And his boss too.
I’d rather see him impeached.
For teh catharsis~!
ann barnhardt is distilled patriotism with bonus americalicious patriotism crystals sprinkled on top
National Sooros Radio propaganda butch Frank James has it all figured out
oh. And read on for to enjoy…
the Tea Party is responsible for the loss of our cowardly failshit whore of a country’s prestige, you see, says the federally subsidized National Soros Radio propaganda bitch
sprinkles on the doughnuts is calming
that wasn’t supposed to say propaganda butch that is in fact a misspelling of “propaganda bitch”
“Recent surveys of public attitudes by the most credible polling ”
who be dat?
i need maple syrup with my npr propaganda
So “recent surveys of public attitudes…” is the new “there are those who say/some say” by which the reporter means “me and the people I drink with think X about Y.”
The Twitter is most foul tonight. I’ve been called names I wouldn’t have called Thor.
The finger pointing is to be expected.
The opportunity to take command of the rudderless ship and steer it towards liberty and prosperity should be the goal, not for party, not for power but for country, because as Americans that is what we do.
Fixed that for you.
Podhoretz is being an idiot.
And he had this stupid idiot LGF idiot working at Commentary.
Notice how all these political commentators are writing about the political impact of how the downgrade will be perceived — each at the same time creating the narrative he’d like to see ossify — and yet none of them can be bothered to simply reference S&P’s own statement for why we were downgraded — namely, that debt ceiling deal wasn’t serious about controlling the debt, S&P had already warned that they were looking for substantial changes to the way our government does business, and our politicians (from both parties) don’t have the will to do what needs to be done.
It was the TEA Party people who excoriated the deal for not taking any real steps toward fixing the problem. That is, they took the position that S&P took. And now the Dem and GOP establishment are both in full finger-pointing mode, and it’s the TEA Party they want to see most weakened here.
That horse has left the barn, fellas. You underestimate who and what the TEA party is. Americans are on to you: they didn’t like the deal; they don’t trust this President; and they aren’t happy with either House of Congress, though they know that the holdouts were TEA Party candidates warning that this deal doesn’t fix dick, doesn’t cut dick, and could lead to a downgrade.
Those TEA Party candidates who jumped ship are as to blame as the GOP leadership they followed. Most to blame, though, is the Dem Congress and President who, with supermajorities, not only spent us into a credit downgrade, but managed to get as a return on their investment an economy that is shrinking yearly, in terms of GDP; 2.7 million lost jobs; an atrophied private sector; record food stamp allotment; and soon, inflation.
If the Tea Party were smart, they’d rename themselves to the “Debt Is Too Damn High” party.
the socialist cunt what was all “we have to pass it to find out what’s in it” when they assraped America with obamacare is all about transparency now?
[…] Jeff Goldstein: Historic! […]
Several things come to mind this morning…
1) Only S&P as “downgraded” the US out of the 3 agencies
2) The credit agencies have had too high a profile in this event as they seemed determined to try and shape the legislation AND the White House was willing to try and influence them (I wrote about that earlier)
3) These are the same agencies that didn’t seem to catch on to the whole financial shenanigans up-ramping to the 2008 meltdown.
After listening to the Obamabots on Wed, who aren’t really that organized yet on the ground, regardless of the yammering from Obama’s Permanent Campaign staff, it is actually time for TEA party members to come together and actually take over the local GOP apparatus and force the change upwards.
As Rubio earlier said, there is two visions of what America should be and there is no middle ground.
the krauthammer review online
yea but what about the herman
link
mr. kurtz’s “tested on the national stage” means he lost to john freakin’ mccain
More evidence that damned Communists are now smarter than Democrats…
“The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed”
“The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy”
“It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options”
“Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues”
Source: S&P downgrade statement.
president suckadick sure blew it huh Mr. sterling now our borrowing costs are gonna go up and all that motherfucker knows how to do is borrow and take take and borrow
learned it from his food stamp slut of a mother I guess
Fuck you, anime clown. You had to slice and dice about 97% of what they actually said to try to push your narrative. You are a clumsy fucking liar.
What I don’t get is, why can’t these asshats in DC understand that THERE IS NO MORE MONEY FOR THEIR ASS RAPING OF AMERICA?
1. House passed CC&B, bipartisan legislation. Dem controlled Senate used procedural gambit to table it, not bring it up for vote.
2. The TEA Party pointed out that only threat of “default” was if the President chose to “default.” And it was he suggesting that seniors wouldn’t get their checks as a way to pressure increased borrowing without commensurate spending restraints.
3. Want new revenues? Lower taxes, flatten taxes, lower capital gains taxes, etc. That all works to raise revenues. Look it up! And, as the President himself said in December, you don’t raise taxes in a recession. Typical liberal mindset, though, equating “revenues” with higher confiscatory tax rates.
4. That’s a good thing. Although the CBO is forced to score such cuts as a loss to the government, it’s money the government never, and so shouldn’t be counting on. All money does not belong to the government. I’m willing to bet S&P is not eager to see the economy further destroyed by tax increases, particularly with all the future tax increases built into ObamaCare on the horizon.
Tell me, elfie: you’re one of the 51% who doesn’t pay federal income tax, aren’t you?
“happyfeet posted on8/6 @ 9:01 am
president suckadick sure blew it huh Mr. sterling now our borrowing costs are gonna go up and all that motherfucker knows how to do is borrow and take take and borrow
learned it from his food stamp slut of a mother I guess”
I think you left out the part about throwing OUR money down HIS and Soros’ stinkin’ private toilet.
Hip hop BBQ my ass! That’s what he has turned this country into. Yeah. Shake your booty because now EVERYBODY is fucked. But guess who will be there to pick up the pieces when this whole country comes down around our ears?
Going to the WI state fair, honky?
The most galling thing about this is that Obama and his blinks are playing “Pin The Fail On The Honky”. (HT – iOWNTHEWORLD, I think)
Source: S&P, as quoted in the link available in this very post!
So you see, the base argument that drives all the others is that our recent “fiscal consolidation plan” fell short. Why is that?
Oh yes: because the Democrats insisted that they get spending increases with little in the way of fixing our explosion in debt — and the GOP go-alongs ultimately caved.
Or is your implied argument, “sterlinggray,” that our credit was really hindered because we didn’t just raise the debt limit another $2.6 TRILLION without thinking twice? That is, that our credit would have been just fine so long as we pretended we didn’t have a problem?
And honestly, what is your endgame? What kind of perverse satisfaction do you get playing partisan politics with the future of this country’s economic stability? Is it that you’ll never reproduce and have a family of your own to worry about, and you just assume the government assistance will always be there — or at least, will last until you go to that great Heavy Metal Comic Book in the sky?
People like you repulse me. You’re my enemy. I don’t want to hear from the likes of you anymore. It’s time we just steamrolled right over your thieving, sophist asses.
The market had adjusted to this weeks ago. Ratings always follow what the markets hash out.
This is just a reason to have a Knob Creek at lunch today.
I think it’s funny that S&P — you know, the discredited political actor S&P!, the S&P which the political left will be railing upon for the next 16 months — gets quoted to prove that the conservative stance on the debt question is the wrong stance.
Hey, numbnuts! Get with the program already!
who else can suck a dick is Warren Buffett it’s remarkable what a surpassingly greasy whore that geriatric Nebraskan fuckstain has become it’s like he has Soros envy
ooh look at me I’m a goddamn fucking genius I bought stock in Coca Cola
those of us who vehemently opposed the deal because it didn’t do enough
That plus what it DOES do, which is put us further into debt.
Spend your money now, while it’s still worth something.
Warren Buffet is the guy who buys up those small family business that people are forced to sell when their parents die, to pay the hyper-immoral inheritance tax.
Screw him and the horse he rode in on.
Pin The Fail On The Honky
Oh dear. That’s so good. So awful but so good.
link
The only NRO folks who are true and faithful are Peter Robinson, Andrew McCarthy, VDH, Mark Steyn, James Lileks, and Jonah Goldberg. Maybe a couple three others.
Hewitt gets religion when the GOP is actually in the midst of failing, but then he believes that next time Lucy won’t pull back the football.
Ingraham got into it with Mike Lee, who said he would vote Hell No on anything that didn’t have a BBA or that raised the debt ceiling (which he did). I thought she was smarter than that. (Chaffetz also voted Hell No. Those are my guys. Mine. I voted for them.)
O’Reilly predictably railed against the TEA Party, and without looking I know that Medved thought the deal was splendid.
Anyone know how Prager came down on this? Whittle? Beck was vehemently against.
A tax hike is but a move to pull more money from the private sector and filter it through people…
Lileks crafted a nifty line similar to this in his “Athwart” column from the August 1 2011 paper edition of National Review, wherein he commented on the outcry over Paul Ryan’s $350 bottle of wine:
Want new revenues? Lower taxes, flatten taxes, lower capital gains taxes, etc.
Sell federal lands (but not to the Chinese, plzkthx). Ask countries to pay for their own defense (Oh, Canada!).
Sell enchanted nights in the Lincoln bedroom. The possibilities are endless.Good fairies equal time department.
Faerie’s Aire and Death Waltz. Better’n a cup of coffee.
As a symbolic move, this is as crushing an American defeat as Kasserine Pass, the first few days of the Bulge or what have you. We are no longer set apart by our economic dynamism and strength. We are as limited by our past bad behaviors as Mexico and Denmark.
As a practical measure, it’s long overdue. I view us–the USA, as a body politic–as perhaps a single-A credit at most. Our political culture is structurally leveraged towards spending and deficits in that politicians are culturally and professionally reinforced for spending and concurrently diminshed for practicing restraint.
This is where JG shines most: Because the left has hijacked language, spending is “investment” and deficit-concern is evidence of a lack of empathy.
This will be recalled by historians long after 9-11 is a footnote. We just, in other words, got shown the plot in the cemetary.
Ragged thoughts:
1. Dan Gross is one of the nicer, more supportive people I’ve met in my career. My interview with him was wonderful because he had read my book and is bright so he asked good questions. I’m bummed about that article though http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/fatal-risk-aig-victim-self-inflicted-wounds-says-20110408-052318-075.html
2. Then again, Joe Nocera and I are pretty friendly and he has gone straight batshit on the NYT Op-Ed page. Again, though, a guy who has helped me out no small amount.
3. As the lone “Classic Liberal ” in MSM, I am frequently dissapointed by my friends pronouncements. They, however, are APALLED by mine.
4. That Kurtz snap analysis–“This is good for Romney!”–is beclowning of a high order. I fail to see how a situation that came about by spending is going to be accretive to a rich guy who spent his states money like it was monopoly money.
For a filthy Canuck, Steyn is a real mensh, but damn do I hate it when he starts elucidating the truth:
More Steyn, different article:
But there’s one difference between us and Latin America: the Latino people don’t have a tradition of self-rule stretching back four centuries, nor do they have the Protestant work ethic in their blood, nor Enlightenment principles as their governmental bedrock. Spain recreated the feudal system in their colonies, whereas the English colonists took a more individualistic path.
If only there was some way to persuade all to persuade all those businesses and all those filthy “rich” sitting on their money piles to put some of that cash they’re hoarding back into the market. But first, I suppose, we’d have to understand why they aren’t participating in our grand public/private partnership in the first place, and where’s the fun in that? Phoney-baloney jobs are at stake, and there’s a class warfare to be demagogued!
Jonah at NRO tips to William Voegeli, who writes:
Add Voegeli to the list of good guys, along with Walter Russel Mead, who has been hitting all the right points lately.
Peter Berkowitz addresses many of the same issues with Progressivism in the WSJ today:
From di’s link to Meade…
Thus speaks a wobbly-kneed nerd remembering being locked in the depths of a jockstrap-filled gym locker.
I never understand that formulation.
The smart kids produce serial policy failures? Uhhh, how exactly are they smart again?
I remember one actual smart kid saying that no one can know enough to pull all of these assorted levers correctly.
Only a dumb kid would think otherwise.
Let’s stop using the exact opposite adjective for what we mean.
The coordinated quarterback fumbled the ball twice and threw four interceptions. The maladroit quarterback threw for three touchdowns with no picks.
The alpha predator was killed by four ants. The lowly prey destroyed all of Manhatten overnight.
The cold night air caused me to turn on the air conditioning. The heat of the midday sun gave me a shiver so I put on a sweater.
These statements are just as logical as the way we use smart/dumb and elite/common.
Me? I’m game.
People have tendency to equate being able to remember everything you are told with being smart or intelligent, disregarding that the accuracy of that info and your ability to use it are also fairly important.
I agree, B. Moe.
Smart people would question the validity of the information and contructs they’re absorbing as well as understanding the whole of it well enough to either act constructively or do nothing at all.
That isn’t in evidence with these people.
Only two towers this time around. But they’ll likely be back.
“People have tendency to equate being able to remember everything you are told with being smart or intelligent, disregarding that the accuracy of that info and your ability to use it are also fairly important.”
Also, I think many see someone doing something they consider stupid, not knowing an entirely different agenda on the part of the one doing that something makes what they are doing very smart.
In other words, understanding perspective, tempering judgment with the wisdom that you know only a tiny fraction of what there is to know, leads to one never making declarative statements they will regret in retrospect.
4 Rooms. Bobby Orr.
I don’t mind Daniel Gross so much other than he always sounds as if he’s pontificating around a couple of chipmunk-scale cheeks stuffed with pork rinds.
sterlinggray hasn’t been back since Jeff stuffed his quotemangling attempt.
Maybe he’ll never be back. That might happen, if he had some shame.
From sdferr’s Voegeli quote:
Wrong. The reason that it seems like these so-called leaders don’t know what they’re talking about is that they’re lying. I agree with Darleen that Voegeli is one of the good guys but he’s too charitable when he lends credence to the ol’ Clinton shuck -n-jive: What? Us crooks? Don’t be silly. We’re too incompetent to be crooks! Fuck that. They’re crooks. And the American people had damn well better start paying attention to them.