The Sacred and Inane

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:20:30 GMT

Does anyone remember this?. Five years … jeez. I'm not the same person now. Probably a good thing, but let's face it -- misery is kind of exciting. Satisfaction is boring.

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:09:03 GMT

So … the Russians own LJ now? How did I miss this?

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:07:26 GMT

What the hell?

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:44:39 GMT

Marty Peretz, you are a racist jackass. The cops have already ruled out your paranoid fantasies, so going ahead with them at this point exposes your political and racial agenda. Remember when TNR was worth anything at all? OK, it requires a selective memory, but you could piece together some good issues.

It's been a real wake-up call in the past week -- not the event as much, but reading blog comments about it. Racism … not prejudice, not systemic racism, but real, pervasive racism that twists one's soul … is all over the place.

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:23:06 GMT

OK, it may seem odd for me to say these two things:

1. I still find Jon Stewart funny.

2. I agree with the column "Jon Stewart isn't funny anymore."

Specifically, I agree with the bigger premise -- politics is too disheartening these days. I can't have a gentlemen's agreement to disagree about torture or unlimited executive power. It's not something that I can look beyond as someone merely having a different outlook on life. If you believe torture should be legal, I don't want to talk to you -- I don't care if you're a friend or family member. So I don't bring it up. It feels like that sometimes with the body politic, too -- that we can't fix ourselves by polite means, and I don't really want to go there.

The real reason I got out of the news business…

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:34:17 GMT

… was the depressing realization that, in aggregate, the people at the top are totally freaking retarded, and there's no way around that from the inside. Case in point 9,432,728.

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:33:40 GMT

Years ago, I worried that the constant political pandering to the South meant that the Northeast was sliding into irrelevancy, and that all of our candidates would have to fake riding around in pickup trucks, like Fred Thompson. If the presidential race ends up being Clinton vs. Giuliani vs. Bloomberg, though, I'll admit I was quite wrong.

It would be tough for Giuliani to run on his competency when he's not even the most competent mayor of NYC in the race.

Wed, 23 May 2007 14:25:18 GMT

Christianofascist terrorism! Religion of peace! Round them up and torture them! Bring back the lions!

--tiny blue soccer balls

Wed, 09 May 2007 14:01:40 GMT

They really are evil in every possible way, aren't they?

The coming storm

Sat, 05 May 2007 02:07:59 GMT

A lot of things, you have may noticed, piss me off. Well, the coming fight over the expiration of the insane Bush Tax plans has pissed me off for six years already, so it's hard to write elegantly about. Basically, when they passed the tax plan in 2001, they realized that the government's own numbers, even favoring the conservative plan, basically said that the tax plans would have absolutely ludicrous effects after 2010 or so -- squeezing out the middle class, giving extra yachts to the rich, and absolutely decimating the government. The numbers were so ridiculous that the Republicans themselves had to say "Well, the plan stops in 2010 and goes back to the old way." Stops abruptly. Meaning, among other things, if you're old and rich the day before the estate tax goes back into effect, don't let your kids near sharp objects or guns.

Of course, at the time they knew full well that they would just lie their heads off and pretend that the Democrats were raising taxes by not amending their own legislation, and depend on the public to be stupid. We predicted it back in '01; it was obvious.

Well, surprise, surprise -- it's happening.

Read the article. It tries to be objective, but it's obvious that one side is just lying. THEY SAY THEY'RE LYING.

JD Foster, a tax policy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, said such distinctions will be lost on most Americans when they do their taxes in 2011.

"The American people aren't going to care about how the situation came about," Foster said. "What they're going to care about is who is going to solve the problem."

I want to repeat this -- the man FEELS FREE TO TELL A REPORTER ON THE RECORD THAT HE IS LYING, AND THAT HE THINKS THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS STUPID WHEN IT COMES TO TAX ISSUES.

Why am I yelling? Because he's probably right -- or at least the Democrats are too afraid that he is to do the right thing. The smart thing is to let them lapse but meet it with a series of progressive tax cuts aimed at the working and middle classes. The insane thing is to play into the Republicans' hands … so read to the end and weep.

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:40:20 GMT

What's the proper way to draft articles of impeachment for "every last one of you rat bastards"?

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 18:13:54 GMT

What. the. Hell.

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 16:09:29 GMT

Rudy Giuliani has admitted he wants to be a dictator. Not a surprise, but nice to hear some honesty.

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 15:15:06 GMT

Here's an interesting thing about the presidential race. The GOP front-runner -- Giuliani -- is closer to me in policy terms than any Republican has been for a very long time, but he's quite possibly my most-loathed candidate. Strange for me, since I usually say the policy is everything, since it affects the most people, but he's a psychotic scumbag, and with the presidency in his hands, that could affect us all. The guy operated like a fascist when all he had was the power set of a mayor. Even Bush hasn't tried to cancel an election to stay in power -- Rudy has.

Read this story. As a New Yorker, very little was new to me, but it's a great round-up of what makes this guy so scary.

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 02:46:22 GMT

Anyone who takes a single word Michelle Malkin says seriously is a fool.

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 02:27:20 GMT

But … but … Dinesh D'Souza told me racism was dead!

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:07:37 GMT

Keith Olbermann may be the only person on TV historians will look at without snickering.

Democracy only goes so far

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:19:12 GMT

So … an insane, illegal war with Iran looms. Being fully cognizant of the consequences of this, I believe that Bush's intentions need to be nailed down, and if we can't keep him out of Persia he needs to be impeached, or if that's not possible, forcibly removed from office. What do you do when your president is stark raving mad and wants to bring about Armageddon just so he'll have something to talk about? Discuss.

You just wait…

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 03:15:59 GMT

Has anyone realized that Bush's "give me a few more guys and we'll win this war!" plan makes a lot of sense if the extra troops he''ll be adding aren't normal troops at all, but X-Men? Take that, liberals!

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:35:45 GMT

Why does Thomas Jefferson hate America?

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 05:19:26 GMT

This is the saddest thing I've ever heard.

A story so crazy that even the wingnuts are making fun of it

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 05:11:33 GMT

Soy will make you gay. Not. Written. Ironically.

Most important line? "I have nothing against an occasional soy snack."

Projection.

Update: OK, many people, like Dan Riehl and his commenters, are taking it seriously. I think they exist just to make other extreme conservatives appear sane.

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:30:00 GMT

Fox News Channel might air two episodes of a "Daily Show"-like program with a decidedly nonliberal bent on Saturday nights in late January, with the possibility that it could become a weekly show for the channel.

Does this mean Fox News isn't already satire? Now I'm scared.

The show is being put forth by the producer of that laugh-fest "24," so it must be funny. At least it explains that show's "No really, guys, torture is totally cool!" phenomenon.

Here's something weird

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 03:14:33 GMT

A TownHall column that's genuinely insightful. I don't agree with the sniping, but it's persuasive. In my mind, though, it says a lot about the supposedly liberal media that the only place you can go to get an actually liberal point-of-view is to the comedians.

One more Dem to support

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:55:19 GMT

Karen Carter, in a run-off against William "Doesn't everyone keep $90,000 in their freezer?" Jefferson.

Look beyond even the corruption: Louisiana almost finds that charming, calling up nostalgia of Huey Long. All you need to know is that to cover up his own corruption Jefferson directly impeded the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina, commandeering military vehicles to escort him to his house.

I'd support a Republican against this guy without blinking. Luckily, though, you don't have to.