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“Dear Casey,

"My friend John has been going through a tough spell at work lately. Though he's a fair boss and a nicely tanned procedural leader of men, try as he might, he can't seem to win the affections of a small band of rogues and roughnecks who seem to take pleasure in undermining his authority.

"As it's New Year's Day -- and the new year brings with it the promise of hope and compromise, and the bravery it will take to save the country from going over the fiscal cliff -- Casey, can you please play Bread's 'Sweet Surrender' for my friend John?

"Sincerely,
"Hugh, inside the Beltway (if only in spirit)"

Thanks, Hugh. And to your friend John, hang in there, and here’s to a happy and productive New Year, one in which all the extremist Hobbits who fetishize the Constitution and insist upon principled purity spontaneously combust and leave little green oily reminders of their recalcitrance and treachery.

Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the status quo!

Bread, “Sweet Surrender”:

91 Replies to ““Dear Casey,”

  1. Darleen says:

    Dear Hugh,

    Maybe you should listen to your tanner friend, Thomas

    To me, the Republican establishment is the eighth wonder of the world. How they can keep repeating the same mistakes for decades on end is beyond my ability to explain.

    Bret Stephens said, back at the beginning of 2012, that Mitt Romney was one of the “hollow men,” and that voters “usually prefer the man who stands for something.”

    Yet this is not just about Mitt Romney. He is only the latest in a long series of presidential candidates backed by a Republican establishment that seems convinced that ad hoc “moderation” is where it’s at — no matter how many of their ad hoc moderates get beaten by even vulnerable, unknown, or discredited Democrats. […]

    But, to this day, the Republican establishment still goes for pragmatic moderates who feed pablum to the public, instead of treating them like adults.

  2. happyfeet says:

    the only credible alternatives to romney imploded or were a cheesy political hack named newt

  3. leigh says:

    Mister, we could use a man like Newt Gingrich again.

  4. happyfeet says:

    that’s mostly cause of a dearth of leadership talent though

  5. leigh says:

    We are in a leadership free zone.

  6. happyfeet says:

    I’m in a zone where the only place you can get a manicure is walmart

    but a lot of that’s cause of it’s a holiday

  7. dicentra says:

    Hugh, inside the Beltway.”

    Ironically, Hugh is in California and is constantly poking fun at people for being “inside the Beltway” and therefore only talking to the other folks in the bubble.

    One minute he’s yelling at John Campbell for not sticking to principles and the next he’s applauding unprincipled ignoranimity for being a win.

    Someone get the man back on his lithium.

  8. serr8d says:

    I’m in a zone where the only place you can get a manicure is walmart

    You’re not a self-made manicure ?

  9. happyfeet says:

    I just don’t have the patience god love me

  10. leigh says:

    Oh happy. A man with well-manicured nails ain’t gettin’ any. I learned this on a rerun of Frasier.

  11. serr8d says:

    Well, leigh, he’s not getting anything but man. icure. )

  12. McGehee says:

    When you “get” a manicure, you’re paying somebody just to hold your hand. And it might be a dude.

    Have some ambition, ferchrissake.

  13. newrouter says:

    House Republicans emerged from their caucus meeting with a majority reportedly opposing the Senate’s fiscal cliff deal. Among its opponents is House Minority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor. He told CNN that he opposes the bill but “no decisions have been made.” House Speaker Boehner is said to be lukewarm at best to the deal as well. There appears to be a building consensus to amend the Senate build and then send it back over to that side of Congress.

    link

  14. happyfeet says:

    I start my new job next week and I’d rather pay a not californian I think

    plus it’s kind of a down day so I’m casting about for things to accomplish

  15. eCurmudgeon says:

    And here I thought a more appropriate song dedication would be Fishbone’s “The Warmth of Your Breath”

  16. McGehee says:

    I’d rather pay a not californian I think

    It’s been at least four years since you last said anything that sensible.

  17. palaeomerus says:

    “Oh happy. A man with well-manicured nails ain’t gettin’ any. I learned this on a rerun of Frasier.”

    Is that why so many ladies try to get their new husbands to take better care of his finger nails? It’s a scare-crow to scare the birds away?

  18. happyfeet says:

    yay!

  19. leigh says:

    They do? It must be generational.

  20. palaeomerus says:

    Seen on Ace:

    “Report: Amendment Effort Dead, House Will Pass Senate Bill As Is”

    Yep.

  21. RI Red says:

    Hello, New Year! Goodbye, GOP!

  22. slipperyslope says:

    I like how you guys expect to get everything you want by just controlling the house – as though the senate and president can just be made to do whatever you demand.

  23. newrouter says:

    I like how you guys expect to get everything you want by just controlling the house

    we can shut down the gov’t just like it is “shut down” every weekend.

  24. SBP says:

    “I like how you guys expect to get everything you want by just controlling the house”

    I like how ignoramuses don’t understand that the government can’t spend any money without permission of the House.

    Obama and Reid can do anything they want, as long as they pay for it out of pocket.

  25. leigh says:

    Everything we want? Hardly. I just want spending cuts and for deadbeats to start paying taxes like everyone else.

  26. Jeff G. says:

    “Report: Amendment Effort Dead, House Will Pass Senate Bill As Is”

    May as well shovel some fucking dirt over them.

    Next they’ll “compromise on guns.” And after that? The horrors begin.

  27. cranky-d says:

    slipperyslope says January 1, 2013 at 6:08 pm

    Fuck off.

  28. newrouter says:

    forgive me i keep thinking “our” side has gonads

  29. Mike LaRoche says:

    “Report: Amendment Effort Dead, House Will Pass Senate Bill As Is”

    May as well shovel some fucking dirt over them.

    Next they’ll “compromise on guns.” And after that? The horrors begin.

    Christ, how I hate the Republican Party these days.

  30. newrouter says:

    the vote for the speaker on thurs/friday will be of interest .

  31. palaeomerus says:

    ‘slipperyslope says January 1, 2013 at 6:08 pm
    I like how you guys expect to get everything you want by just controlling the house – as though the senate and president can just be made to do whatever you demand.”

    Nobody said any of that nonsense you ignorant jackass.

  32. leigh says:

    When did that ever stop him from making up shit and attributing it to someone else?

    I’m with cranky: Fuck off.

  33. McGehee says:

    you ignorant jackass.

    Take note of what palaeo called you, slippy. A jackass is a farm animal.

  34. palaeomerus says:

    The 15 minute vote has been called. Fiscal Cliff thing is in quantum flux, both heads and tails until the waveform collapses into a yes or no.

    Yep.

  35. leigh says:

    Tremendous amount of NV on that board.

  36. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Only 150 Republicans in the House worth supporting as of now.

  37. leigh says:

    Yeppers. We need a plan.

  38. palaeomerus says:

    Yeah. A lot of them voted for being primaried.

  39. leigh says:

    Ed Henry just said that Jugears will grace us with some speechifying in about 30 minutes or so.

    I expect the smug to stick to my furniture.

  40. William says:

    It’s not being spineless shortsighted idiots I mind, it’s the pretending to be the opposite. But America has been obsessed with cheap grace and bad math for years now, so I’m not surprised.

  41. palaeomerus says:

    $41 in revenue for every $1 in cuts. That’s the best the GOP can do.

    I think we can do better. Let’s do better. The GOP likes their little gutless pity ditch.

  42. palaeomerus says:

    “Ed Henry just said that Jugears will grace us with some speechifying in about 30 minutes or so.”

    He ain’t gracing me. I don’t love big brother and my TV has an off switch.

  43. Ernst Schreiber says:

    $41 in revenue for every $1 in cuts.

    So, what’s that accomplish? Instead of borrowing 50 cents of every dollar spent, we’ll only borrow, what? 48.5 cents?

    He asked rhetorically

  44. Mike LaRoche says:

    We need an American version of UKIP, a real conservative party. Nigel Farage rules.

  45. leigh says:

    Is Jugears threatening to take the power of the purse from the congress?

    It’s time to start drawing up the impeachment papers.

  46. sdferr says:

    We do have needs alright, among which, for one, is that this Republican Party charade dies stone cold dead.

  47. palaeomerus says:

    “So, what’s that accomplish?”

    It effectively shows that the republicans are delusional useless back stabbing little pussies and that they got rolled.

    Now they’ll want to slap us extra for being so awful and backward and hobbity if only to prove that they still get to slap somebody.

    According to Drew over at Ace, Paul Ryan and Bohener voted yes.
    Cantor and McCarthy voted no but they did it AFTER the saw that it was going to pass anyway.

    The elephant forgot.

  48. slipperyslope says:

    You guys can focus on primarying your house “traitors”, but you should actually be thinking about winning the Senate and some day the White House. White Men need to start making more babies, I guess. Maybe make it part of the classic liberal religion that contraception is for communists.

  49. sdferr says:

    For now, it may be sufficient to focus on being rid of the company of liars like yourself slippy.

  50. palaeomerus says:

    We can primary the softer side of the house AND focus on the senate at the same time. Focusing on presidency now is idiotic like most of your advice.

  51. Mike LaRoche says:

    Get stuffed, troll.

  52. palaeomerus says:

    This turd has gone on long enough that it might be time for someone to finally pinch the loaf.

  53. dicentra says:

    White Men need to

    So White is an ideological category, huh? Don’t you find it obscene to think that way?

  54. JD says:

    Slurpy is objectively racist.

  55. leigh says:

    He’s homophobic, too.

  56. palaeomerus says:

    He’s a childish ‘school-yard taunt’ style liar too. I’m not sure his brain ever made it out of middle school. He’s spoke in a clique more than a person judging by his posts. Everything he posts seems to be right out of a “how to argue with ultra right wing racist BUSHITLER neocon hatey wing-nutters: throwthese dumb zingers at a wall and see what seems to stick” mailing list. Cold canned talking points and cartoons get fucking old real fast. And that’s all the guy ever does.

  57. newrouter says:

    White Men need to start making more babies, I guess.

    in the fiscal collapse the low iq black folks die. see susan powers and rwanda

  58. Mike LaRoche says:

    So the “fiscal cliff” deal passed 257 to 167. I’d say the price of tea just went up.

  59. sdferr says:

    The vote record is here, under Roll no. 659.

    85 Rep. Ayes, 151 Noes, 5 NV

    172 Dem. Ayes, 17 Noes, 3 NV

  60. palaeomerus says:

    I just saw a great comment on Ace of Spades.

    126 I just read Ryans statement, “Had to make the tough Choices”, “Did the best for the most people”, “Americans chose divided government” “We must exercise prudence”, Really? Well pretty boy, you just took 600 billion of our money and shoved it up a hogs ass while we were screaming no. Many people lost there jobs with your vote today, but your families ok, right? Fuck you Paul Ryan.
    Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, aka Jack July author of Amy Lynn available on Amazon. at January 02, 2013 12:19 AM

    “Jan -1 2013 You just took 600 billion of our money and shoved it up a hogs ass while we were screaming no. ”

    I’m going to get a stamp made that says that and stamp all GOP fund raising letters I get with it and send them back with grocery store coupons for toilet paper.

  61. Ernst Schreiber says:

    What’s so tough about going along with Democrats?

  62. newrouter says:

    what was the point for orangeman? you idiot.

  63. newrouter says:

    after the “vote” jan 3 then despair. orangethings must go!!11!!

  64. palaeomerus says:

    I imagine the tread marks on the face are a bit rough. The president really broke it off in them tonight and put the footage on youtube set to Benny Benassi music. Sad. They can’t even recognize the lesser evil anymore. The GOP is either jobbing the matches to the heel, or they’ve gone punchy. Either way…they don’t get it, and it’s time for them to go.

  65. Ernst Schreiber says:

    For that matter, where’s the prudence in kicking the can further down the road?

    And newrouter, orangething will go.

    After the Republicans meet to elect a new Minority leader for the 114th Congress in Jan. 2015.

    My guess is they’ll pick Paul Ryan, now that he’s established his bona fides with the other insiders.

  66. palaeomerus says:

    On an Omega shaped spaceship, IN SPACE, apl.de.ap dances while Kelis gets blown up by a meteorite and Jean Baptiste Kouame and the Benassi Brothers play the keyboard, man a mixing table, and basically just don’t do anything about it. But it might all be happening in Benny’s head while he engages in anti-gravity meditation. This is some mysterious and deep shit. We are talking Spuds McKenzie levels of deep here.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddC6GEHAlkg

  67. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Seriously, Paul Ryan just proved he’s Leadership material. He can make tough choices and stand up to the right wing.

    My God, he’s heroic!

  68. sdferr says:

    It’s beyond the point at which Louis M. Seidman’s complaint is de facto comically out of date — as if there were still a Constitution governing from which to give up on. Still, we could use a laugh now and again.

  69. cranky-d says:

    slipperyslope says January 1, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    Fuck off.

  70. palaeomerus says:

    Get on the Spaceship Ernst. America is getting on the spaceship. Spaceship.

  71. geoffb says:

    Direct link to vote.

  72. palaeomerus says:

    BTW Ernst, Cantor was allowed to vote ‘No’ after the ayes had it, so I think maybe is an indication of who’s next in establishment line if ‘ol Orange-face gets too stinky to support safely. He might have already staved off a challenge to his speakership by agreeing to step down if things don’t pick up for him before he has a chance to sell us out on the debt ceiling.

  73. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Thank god it’s a warm rain trickling down the back of my neck!

    The Bush tax cuts lapsed at midnight last night. Every R voting for Senate bill is cutting taxes and keeping his/her pledge.

    — Grover Norquist

    (via. Prof. Jacobson)

  74. Ernst Schreiber says:

    You get on the spaceship.

    I’m trying to decide between the tall grass and the catacombs.

  75. palaeomerus says:

    America is all about the Spaceship now Ernst. We’re over the cliff. Past the guardrails. We’re flying! Spaceship. Didn’t you hear apl.de.ap ? Let the music take control…

    Spaceship. Forward. Slogan. Dumb euphoria. Move to the beat. Get so drunk and high that you don’t even feel the crash.

    Spaceship, man.

    Spaceship.

    America is spaceship.

  76. palaeomerus says:

    Ghost dance. Koolaid. Applesauce and comets. Once we do that thing like that guy says we’ll all wake up in a better place. We gotta.

  77. Ernst Schreiber says:

    And my reading of Cantor wasn’t that he was “allowed” to vote No. It’s that he chose to break with the leadership, and he did it for the same reason Ryan voted with the leadership.

    Same objective, different constituencies to work in the interim.

  78. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Lots of interesting comments in this thread.

    The whole thing is a damnable farce.

  79. palaeomerus says:

    Those yellow lines painted down the length of the road won’t and can’t ever stop a single car. They only stop careful attentive drivers who know why they are important and choose to obey them. So sayeth yonder god of the copy book headings.

    And what’s this thing coming toward me very fast? So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like ‘Ow’, ‘Ownge’, ‘Round’, ‘Ground’! That’s it! Ground! Ha! I wonder if it’ll be friends with me? Hello, Ground!

  80. Ernst Schreiber says:

    CBO Estimates “Obama Tax Cut” To Add $4 Trillion to Deficit Over Next Decade

    There’s so much wrong with that headline that I feel like Pris.

    We’re stupid and we’ll die.

  81. palaeomerus says:

    CBO runs on garbage in garbage out principles like any other analysis method or institution. Congress isn’t Merlin or anything. They don’t age backwards, jump out of a tree and and tell you how things were tomorrow and ask you how things were yesterday. The CBO tends to assume weird stuff like 4% growth anyway so the revenue loss is bound to be lighter under current pitiful growth rates even if you accept the weird premise that revenue not collected is a loss and therefore a form of spending. .

  82. palaeomerus says:

    Stupid? Yes. Not chicken head or ant head though.

  83. palaeomerus says:

    ” They don’t age backwards, jump out of a tree and and tell you how things were tomorrow and ask you how things were yesterday. ” -> will be yesterday.

  84. Bob Belvedere says:

    WOLVERINES! indeed…

  85. Slartibartfast says:

    I’m in a zone where the only place you can get a manicure is walmart

    And you may just be the only person on Earth who gives a flying fuck.

  86. Ernst Schreiber says:

    I wasn’t talking about either the CBO or their estimate. I was talking about Tyler Durden’s headline and all the erroneous assumptions therein, scare quotes not withstanding.

    And, no disrespect, you just proved my point.

    The one about being stupid and dead.

  87. leigh says:

    Obama tax cuts? WTF?

  88. […] -Quoting a comment made by Oldsailors Poet over at Ace Of Spades, palaeomerus comes up with a damn fine suggestion: […]

  89. palaeomerus says:

    “And, no disrespect, you just proved my point.
    The one about being stupid and dead.”

    I’d say that what happened with Akin proved your point. or at least confirmed it independently.

Comments are closed.