Symmetry required it: 2012 american general election thread #2

etc

should I change title to "general election thread #2"?

yeah there will be a lot of #2 in here

yeah you don't have to convince me. i always want new threads when old ones get too long and people say dude, bookmark it. but i'm thinking of the children...

sure!

cuz to READ the whole long thing you have to open it and it can be a hassle. but in the future people will have crazy computers probably.

love this title

Did anyone post this in the last thread? Because wau

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/558262_10151061627637572_1155492852_n.jpg

haha

Haaaa

that's awesome

dudes, locking old threads/starting new threads best practices tip #69: link to the new thread just before you lock the old thread

what a waste of a #69

the most important election of your lifetime: 2012 american general election thread

dunno how you guys feel, but watching this thing I see a crowd whipping itself into feeling excited for its running mate. I heard more enthusiasm for Palin than for Ryan last night. Apart from the fact that no one's watching, I don't see Romney-Ryan getting much of a "bounce" from this thing.

would've preferred a We Can Change Mitt/We Can't Change It in the thread title personally

the hurricane/lack of media coverage will def cut into the "bounce" is my guess

We Can Change If You Want -- You Can Leave That Debt Behind!

a bounce really depends on whether romney can actually pull off earnest bluster even to the level christie and ryan can

I am looking forward to Romney angrily jabbing his finger in the air about something, and then smiling awkwardly/nervously at any received applause

the "charismatic" "fiscal conservative" got the media talking about what a lying liar he is, and now we get a guy who's like quimby, lionel hutz and mr burns put together.

nah 2 of those three guys are drunks

Romney only drinks the finest breastmilks

clint eastwood can come out dressed like ronald reagan and throw dollar bills at the audience, he still won't get to pitch hit for obama in the debates

shit at this point I'll settle for Clint Eastwood doing his John Huston impersonation again

against obama, i mean xpost

I assume you also meant pinch hit

gah yes

Pareene:

It was an attempt to break the mainstream political press. CNN is constitutionally unable to say “that was a load of tendentious bullshit.” Wolf Blitzer, who isn’t paying attention to the speeches and wouldn’t understand them even if he was, sort of figured out (probably because a producer in his ear told him) that the speech had some whoppers but more important to him was that the man on the stage said things that the people in the crowd seemed to enjoy so it was a Good Speech. “His mom is up there,” Wolf Blitzer said. He noticed that part. Paul Ryan has a mom.

I have never understood why Wolf Blitzer has a job

He wears glasses and can talk into a TelePrompTer.

his name! his name is wolf blitzer! of COURSE he has a job

he's a white american guy named wolf blitzer. he couldn't have been dealt a better hand. being a somewhat famous cable news guy is really a let down, he should be captain of the galaxy by now

WOLFBLITZER should've been a metal band of some kind. Maybe it still can be. I can dream.

This conversation between Blitzer and Erin Burnett is so bad:

Blitzer: So there he is, the republican vice presidential nominee and his beautiful family there. His mom is up there. This is exactly what this crowd of republicans here certainly republicans all across the country were hoping for. He delivered a powerful speech. Erin, a powerful speech. Although I marked at least seven or eight points I’m sure the fact checkers will have some opportunities to dispute if they want to go forward, I’m sure they will. As far as mitt romney’s campaign is concerned, paul ryan on this night delivered.

Burnett: That’s right. Certainly so. We were jotting down points. There will be issues with some of the facts. But it motivated people. He’s a man who says I care deeply about every single word. I want to do a good job. And he delivered on that. Precise, clear, and passionate.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/08/great_moments_in_cnn_euphemisms.php?ref=fpblg

"The demographics race we’re losing badly,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.). “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”

did he mean to say this out loud or ?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/30/1125916/-Angry-white-guy-bemoans-lack-of-angry-white-guys-in-Republican-Party

He’s a man who says I care deeply about every single word.

what does this even mean

Although I marked at least seven or eight points I’m sure the fact checkers will have some opportunities to dispute if they want to go forward, I’m sure they will

translation: "Do I really need to get my tongue out of Ryan's asshole?"

The other big problem with TV coverage is that they allow guests to come on and unleash torrents of talking points when they're asked a specific question. It seems to me that reporters can take a bigger stand on this - that not allowing it is actually a simple standard they're not adhering to.

isn't that why Chris Matthews got so much abuse last weekend – he actually called some fool out?

but so many politicians are used to skipping the question and getting straight to the talking points. to force them to actually answer a question would unleash chaos, similar to that classic SNL bit where the teleprompter goes down during a local newscast and they panic and eventually resort to cannibalism.

We need Will McAvoy now more than ever.

He’s a man who says I care deeply about every single word.

It means he was targeting an audience that far more values a narrative of apparent certainty/directness/assuredness/earnestness than it does anything even approaching factual accuracy.

The standard they should stick up for is not allowing someone to use airtime for what are actual propaganda tactics.

uh but that's what airtime is for

there are only so many Frasier and Who's the Boss? reruns that can be used, though! you gotta fill up the airtime with something..

I don't remember if it was an attempt at talking point obfuscation in the Matthews interview. I think it was more unusual for the persistence in the follow-up questions and for his emotion.

Bobby Jindal is the worst I've seen with this recently. He is absolutely relentless.

Kornacki giving an impassioned diatribe about the Romney/Ryan calculation that the media will leave the truth to the fact checkers. He holds up the NYT front page and says it takes 18 paragraphs to mention the possible lies in the speech. SE Cupp responds that the 'line' was crossed a long time ago when Romney was accused of killing a woman.

can i interrupt all this conventioneering crap (which i'm ignoring) to say that i'm not especially optimistic about this election?

people's optimism seems based on the electoral college & nate silver's parsing thereof. it turns out he lowballed 2010. here he is on sept. 15 2010:

"On average, the model predicts a net gain of 45 to 50 seats for Republicans, which if achieved would put the G.O.P in the majority. But there are 90 districts, the model finds, in which either party still has at least a 10 percent chance of prevailing, and it is on a district-by-district basis that each party will learn of their fate on Nov. 2." (http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/g-o-p-has-2-in-3-chance-of-taking-house-model-forecasts/)

the GOP gain turned out to be 60. and, i think we are living among 2010's electorate, not 2008's. perhaps a direct, rather than proxy defense of Obama will energize his 08 voters, but i think pessimism is on order there too.

my one point of optimism is the sense, attested to in several places, that political professional in both parties assume that obama is running/positioned stronger than the polls suggest. plenty of psychological mis-attribution possible there tho.

House elections and national elections are very different kinds of elections though. Predicting individual districts is a lot trickier, for one thing. and no electoral college.

for instance, those 10 extra seats Silver didnt predict could come from districts whose votes in a presidential election are outweighed by heavier voting turnout elsewhere in the state

not that i dont agree that theres a lot of misplaced optimism but i think silvers final prediction was closer (though still a lowball):

FiveThirtyEight’s House projection is unchanged over the past 48 hours. Over the course of its simulation runs, our model found Republicans gaining an average of 53 seats, which would bring them to 232 total. Democrats are given a 16 percent chance of holding the House, down slightly from 17 percent on Wednesday.

Increasingly, there seems to be something of a consensus among various forecasting methods around a projected Republican figure somewhere in the 50-60 seat range.

Several of the expert forecasters that FiveThirtyEight’s model uses, like the Cook Political Report, the Rothenberg Political Report, and Larry Sabato, have stated that they expect the Republicans’ overall total to fall roughly in this range. A straw poll of political insiders for Hotline on Call found an average expectation of a 50-seat gain. And some political science models have been forecasting gains somewhere in this range for some time.

it took me a second to realize that's from 2010 and not now. My heart stopped.

he also hedged a LOT going into election night. you can believe it or not but his line was that 2010 was a weird/unique election, the model had a really wide range of possibilities, etc. he had a long thing about why he thought GOP might do better than his model was predicting; as it turned they did though not by an immense amnt

yes, i mean, i'm not attacking silver so much as i'm questioning a particular frame of mind. general idea: "it will be close, and ugly, but obama will hang on to 50.1% in x, y, z states." i wonder...

again, as i said, both campaigns seem to be living with this general idea.

statewide polling/predicting is always 'better', shakey otm

I just don't get what states Romney is going to flip the polling in and win to get past the 270 mark. He might get a couple of the tossup states, but there's no way he's going to get all the ones he needs.

there's about a 40 million voter turnout difference between 2008 and 2010. I also tend to see mid-terms as attractive to the more politically active.

i can't believe that lindsay graham thing! i mean, i can, but still...

yes, i mean, i'm not attacking silver so much as i'm questioning a particular frame of mind. general idea: "it will be close, and ugly, but obama will hang on to 50.1% in x, y, z states." i wonder...

again, as i said, both campaigns seem to be living with this general idea.

― goole, Thursday, August 30, 2012 3:47 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh yeah that's totally true. even if you buy 538 wholesale he still gives romney ~40% of winning the electoral college. which is not bad!

I'm not confident because of Nate silvers #s, I'm confident because republicans actually hate the guy they have to vote for and it's increasingly difficult to see new upsides for the ticket

thread needs a GOOD LUCK USA

I'm not confident because of Nate silvers #s, I'm confident because republicans actually hate the guy they have to vote for and it's increasingly difficult to see new upsides for the ticket

― iatee, Thursday, August 30, 2012 2:54 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i get you, but my thinking is that these guys have all the 'inspiration' they could possibly need

pundity prediction - zero convention bounce for Romney

Eastwood confirmed

they've gone full retard. and by retard I mean angry white male.

haha i was just thinking the other day, i'm an angry white male, but not that kind.

will Eastwood get a box office bounce

All I hope, whomever wins is a larger wedge between working class and rentier class Republicans.

given that the Dems convention is next week even if there is a bounce it'll be wiped out in a few days lol

"It seems to me that America is having....Trouble with the Curve"

kinda funny that they've gone with Eastwood. guess Arnold didn't turn out like they'd hoped lol

so if i'm reading this right, the CNN camerawoman wasn't even operating a camera at the time.

The perpetrators "didn't know what I was doing. I happened to be standing there," near one of the delegations.

http://mije.org/richardprince/cnn-camerawoman-not-surprised-peanut-throwing#Carroll

and by retard I mean angry white male.

"The demographics race we’re losing badly. We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."

yeah that's why he said that.

sad that they have totally given up on all the OTHER angry guys. who aren't white. that's how you take over the world. get all the angry guys on your side. then you got killah GOP army.

and here's Ron Brownstein a few days ago:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/politics/obama-needs-80-of-minority-vote-to-win-2012-presidential-election-20120824?mrefid=site_search

too bad the other angry GOP guys are Cubans who are ten years from death rattles.

Btw, I too am an angry white guy

SE Cupp responds that the 'line' was crossed a long time ago when Romney was accused of killing a woman.

Referring to this ad, apparently is part of the Republican strategy for justifying their campaign. But naturally, this ad has not been seen regularly yet while the welfare ones are on all the time(here in Virginia and elsewhere)

http://kdvr.com/2012/08/21/controversial-soptic-ad-thats-never-aired-backfiring-on-obama-campaign/

Bill Burton, the former Obama aide who started PrioritiesUSA to compete with conservative super PACs like American Crossroads, has yet to respond to a FOX31 inquiry about the ad and whether it will ever hit the airwaves in Colorado or other swing states.

Repubs are going to be unwilling to see a difference between a National Prime-time Convention Speech by a VP Candidate and a TV ad by a super PAC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDpJICJBQvI

I have never understood why Wolf Blitzer has a job

― chicago rap twitter luminary (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, August 30, 2012 6:40 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

AIPAC connections go a long way

You should have waited one more day for a new thread. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new morning in America.

it's teatime in america

"It's Monday morning in America!"
"FUCK!"

it's 4:45 am in america and we're starting to wonder whether it's even worth going to sleep at this point

So fyi as one of the more vocal firearm supporters on ilx, i would like to state clearly that the part where the governor of NM talked about how when she was guarding the church bingo lot at age 18 her father made sure that she had a 357 magnum was COMPLETELY BATSHIT FUCKING CRAZY.

Last night i watched "The Fog of War" and McNamara at one point says "Don't answer the question you are asked, answer the question you WISH you were asked." I thought that pretty much sums up Palin's debate style, which has pretty much morphed from a strategy for individual politicians to the entire party platform. I mean, "We built it!" is basically answering a question the republican party wishes it was asked.

I like how it implies that they are done building stuff

We Built It! brb

gone fishin

Unsure this is the best place for it but Corey Robin wrote a long essay on the origins of the GOP's (and now Dems') austerity obsession.

on the plus side, googling for the exact quote did let me find out that there is a mixed drink called the 357 magnum, so some good has come out of her speech i guess

I assume the "drink" is just six shots to the face

http://grist.org/climate-energy/gop-convention-addresses-the-climate-issue-our-comprehensive-coverage-day-one/
http://grist.org/climate-energy/gop-convention-addresses-the-climate-issue-our-comprehensive-coverage-day-two/

i'll also add my comprehensive coverage of climate change in GOP platform:

search for "climate change", one result: "Finally, the strategy (ZS: the Obama Administration's National Security Strategy) subordinates our national security interests to environmental, energy, and international health issues, and elevates "climate change" to the level of a "severe threat" equivalent to foreign aggression. The word "climate," in fact, appears in the current President's strategy more often than Al Qaeda, nuclear proliferation, radical Islam, or weapons of mass destruction. The phrase "global war on terror" does not appear at all, and has been purposely avoided and changed by his Administration to "overseas contingency operations."

search for "warming", no results.

search for "Agenda 21", one result: "We strongly reject the U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty, and we oppose any form of U.N. Global Tax."

First result:

1 oz Bacardi® 151 rum
1 oz vodka
2 oz amaretto almond liqueur
2 1/2 oz 7-Up® soda

Pour the Bacardi 151 rum into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Add the vodka and amaretto. Fill with 7-up, and serve.

hmmmmmm. Intriguing.

On a semi-related note, has anybody been watching the Rightwing Uncle Sam billboard on I-5 up in Chehalis, WA lately? I'm wondering how he's been keeping up.

so this is apropos of nothing but when the Obama IAmA thing was going on and that picture of him at the mac showed up, it occurred to me that Mitt Romney probably doesn't know how to touch-type.

Low-hanging fruit, but http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/30/republican_delegate_george_engelbach_on_abortion

NBC Nightly News going almost lie-by-lie through Ryan's speech

Alex Castellanos (creator of the "White Hands" ad in '88...) just told one of those humanize-Mitt stories on CNN that was actually funny. The first time he met him, at Romney's house, Mitt introduced him to "My wife, Ann," then turned to his campaign manager and said, "And my other wife, Brenda."

True or not, I don't know.

HA!

The joke was probably lost on Mitt Romney himself, though.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/08/30/us/30convention2_span/30convention2_span-articleLarge.jpg

Not to cast aspersions, but that looks like a prompter is being set up for a person whose name isn't Barack Obama.

that's aspersionist

NBC Nightly News going almost lie-by-lie through Ryan's speech

― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Thursday, August 30, 2012 7:06 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its v interesting to see in the last few days there seems to be some movement on the calling out political lies front

maybe this has been discussed today idk u all kinda went buck

its v interesting to see in the last few days there seems to be some movement on the calling out political lies front

― lag∞n, Thursday, August 30, 2012 6:42 PM (3 minutes ago)

If Chris Matthews' hissy fit at Priebus prompted any of this, his existence on the planet will finally have been justified.

i kinda feel like its been a long time bubbling up via blog complaints etc but yeah that matthews moment did feel like the dams bursting

It's been mentioned places, but from what I've seen mostly on political blogs and MSNBC. David Brooks sort-of mentioned it and then dismissed it on PBS. Impressed that NBC Nightly News gave it a full segment.

curious to see how itll play out if romneys speech is all lies too

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-convention-speech-media-backlash.php
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-media-backlash-continues.php

If Chris Matthews' hissy fit at Priebus prompted any of this, his existence on the planet will finally have been justified.

He did one other thing a few years ago that I didn't hate, but since I don't remember what it was this will be justification enough.

The Appeasement thing was pretty awesome.

Newt and Callista hammering Obama for getting rid of the welfare work requirement and failing to put forward bipartisan legislation during the Reagan tribute.

The fact-checking craze got a little surreal (I assume--I drifted off before it came on) on CNN when Wolf Blitzer sat down with Eric Cantor to fact-check Ryan's speech. I'd like to think he went for a two-for-one takedown, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Sullivan just posted this:

http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intel/2012/08/30/piechart-greatestthreat.o.gif/a_560x375.gif

50-delegate survey at the convention. Obama's really stealing the U.N.'s thunder there.

where's bill ayers

It just occurred to me, if exactly 50 delegates were surveyed, I'm not sure how they arrived at those percentages. Tom Brokaw has apparently been hired as an RNC pollster.

maybe they got some answers like Barack Chinarism

some prob just threw peanuts at them

The UNpresident of American TERRORISM!

ugh, g.e. smith

lol this Mormon dude is TERRIFIED

Imagine how much bigger that percentage would be if he didn't kill Bin Laden.

The last words Mitt will hear before he speaks tonight, from an off-stage RNC official: "Just go out there and be yourself...but different."

forget about those peanuts!

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/david-chalian-fired-from-yahoo-over-romney-black-people-gaffe.html

You can tell paulistas weren't seated since the fed and fiat currency aren't there I guess.

has anybody been watching the Rightwing Uncle Sam billboard on I-5 up in Chehalis, WA lately?

i passed by last week. it's the usual, "vote for the american" etc

But the Cayman Islands are a British territory?

http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intel/2012/08/28/28_christie.o.jpg/a_560x375.jpg

this photo cannot be posted enough times

Z S to thread

no results for video chris christie running man

CENSORSHIP

Not to cast aspersions, but that looks like a prompter is being set up for a person whose name isn't Barack Obama.

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, August 30, 2012 7:40 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

i ran the teleprompter for mccain when he rehearsed his speech in d.c. on tuesday -- they looked at the prompter when they came in and joked that it was 'the obama setup'

"Chris Christie punching air" works.

Great McCain story!

It's more real if you just pull the shit out of your ass.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9li9jVYEK1qzpiyuo1_400.jpg

omg

Bizarre: "Chris Christie onanistic fist bump" gets you a bunch of Francis Bacon paintings.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6b/DaVinciCode.jpg/200px-DaVinciCode.jpg

who knows what time romneys set to go on

This will surely alleviate skepticism about Romney's musical tastes...

Probably 10:30 for Romney? Rubio and Eastwood speak first. Assuming Eastwood's on before 10:00, I'm surprised the networks are taking a pass on that.

look at all these white ppl

lol they can't even chant USA together

this is sweet but money quote: "I can't explain love." - Mitt Romney

lmao

end Romney video cut to convention floor man in the mirror is playing

once upon a time in florida...

conservative Hollywood doesn't go around hot doggin it, like appearing at the GOP convention

wow clint is just wingin it up there, kudos

talkin to a chair

this is odd

this is super odd

what the fuck is going on?

I hope this ends up on his wife's reality show

clint is an american gem

this is how they chose to kick off prime time network coverage on romney's big night

hmmm

Strange, strange, strange...and sometimes defies logic: he's crying the night Obama won, and he hasn't cried that hard since...something that applies to the present.

do u think he's drunk?

how old is clint

342

god this is so bad

this is super pathetic and amazing

millions of viewers who thought they may as well watch some of this gop convention thing are changing the channel to college football right about now

'what if we put a 90 year old man up there...and gave him no script'

'...perfect'

you're the best in the world, whether you're a democrat or a republican or libertarian

one final touch have him talk to a chair

the weirder it gets, the less anyone's going to talk about what romney says

i doubt this is by design, but you never know

wow

so glad i tuned in tonight

God, I wish J. Edgar had been that interesting. I wonder if he was really seeing someone in the chair?

i just drank clint eastwood's water. thank you!

I think I just drank Clint eastwoods water thanks! lol

xp

what's clint on about? i'm sadly not watching.

ha Rubio has sort of a best man toast vibe goin here

my favorite is that they just spent all this time showing how nice Mitt Romney is, and then had Clint Eastwood come out and say "don't vote for someone just because they're nice"

Maddow anchoring on MSNBC:

"I don't... I don't... I don't... I don't know.. I don't know... Clint Eastwood is 82 years old........

That is the weirdest thing i've ever seen at a political convention in my entire life."

The Democrats can have a field day with that next week. Every speaker, even Obama, should have any empty chair next to them.

i got the impression that clint does not really love republican party but for whatever reason felt compelled to do to participate in this (maybe for his career? maybe they kidnapped his pet?) and so he drank a lot of alcohol, got on stage and tried to convince himself and the RNC to vote for romney bc fuck it, that's what we're going to do, even if you shouldn't vote for a guy just for being nice, but you gotta throw the other bum out so let's do it, yeah! no i won't shut up.

Rubio has large ears and a baby face

i may be as inebriated as clint clearly was

let me address the RNC

man they gave this dude a script, not nearly as interesting

DNC re-thinking their Peter Fonda surprise speech

this saturated red behind a lot of the speakers hurts my eyes and makes them seem angry

No cheering there--71.3% of the people in the hall think he's a bad person.

yeah the red is nagl

the gop used to be pretty good at these little things

i may be as inebriated as clint clearly was

― Mordy, Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:19 PM (19 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

naw he was def not fully committed to the whole scene

next to address the RNC: dane cook!!!

red background makes eyes look pink and irritated

hi! what'd I miss????

dark red, to signal to the american public the republican party's commitment to drenching the world in a sheet of blood

btw I should let you guys know: we in South Florida have produced better than Marco Robuio.

rubio is clearly someone's little brother

he's a cub scout

it turns out God built it who knew

I have arguments with people who think he's a Powerful Orator.

oh man he's going for the occupy wall st vote, smart move

his high-pitched fag voice betrays him.

wow no shit, seriously underwhelmed here

people said i ten year old boy already juggling a demanding paper route and fourth grade couldn't become a united states senator, but I knew in my hert that in America anything is possible

SPANISH

GIVE MARCO RUBIO A GIN AND TONIC

the party is really excited that they have a guy who can speak spanish

they were cheering before he could even translate

Sad I missed clint :(

we get one guy to speak spanish and this things in the bag

Sully re Clint:

This has to be the weirdest speech I've ever heard at a convention. The thing was building and building and now ... it's an after-dinner speech by a geriatric actor, extolling the virtues of a businessman.

TALK TO THE INVISIBLE VOICE, RUBIO

they musta prepped the crowd beforehand "guys, he's gonna speak spanish, please, please, please don't boo"

Sad I missed clint :(

Don't worry--it will pass into legend and be replayed endlessly.

i thought for a moment that he would tell us a little bit about romney, but nope

the thing about Mitt Romney is that his dad was awesome

2016 GOP primary: Christie, Ryan, Rubio

the thing about Marco Rubio is that his bartender dad was awesome

when u guys listen to these do u actually complete the syntactical relationships between words making sentences in your head? i can't pay enough attention to do more than notice when a couple interesting words are used together in sequence

which is what made Obama's speeches in 2004 and Reagan's in 1976 so marvelous as orations.

there are literally zero excited people in that enormous room atm

like, you had no idea where they'd go yet they spoke in sentences. Rubio talks like a 10th grade B- speech class student.

mitt is hugging old white guys

ok no way mitt gets as much love as Ryan did last night

this is already awkward

they're not that hyped about this are they

They'd be so all over Obama for the State of the Union choreography there.

Jonathan Karl: the room is "going wild" as Romney makes his way to the platform.

lol mark shields 'Michael Dukakis did this is 88'

"no no no dont touch me"

did u guys hear that?

wow they all really look incredibly unenthused

mitt givin us the puppy dawg eyes

taking all my strength to not watch clint on my dvr but i feel like i need to wait to watch it with the mrs

he genuinely does love this man

he loves his kids and mom!

omigod these two hate each other don't they

'Americans always come together after elections' UH

Digby ran this Clint interview from last year's GQ:

GQ: [To Eastwood] You’ve described yourself as a social libertarian. What does that mean to you?

Clint Eastwood: I was an Eisenhower Republican when I started out at 21, because he promised to get us out of the Korean War. And over the years, I realized there was a Republican philosophy that I liked. And then they lost it. And libertarians had more of it.

Because what I really believe is, let’s spend a little more time leaving everybody alone. These people who are making a big deal out of gay marriage? I don’t give a f–k about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of.

Leonardo Dicaprio: That’s the most infuriating thing—watching people focus on these things. Meanwhile, there’s the onset of global warming and—

Clint Eastwood: Exactly!

Leonardo Dicaprio: —and these incredibly scary and menacing things with the future of our economy. Our relationship to the rest of the world. And here we are focusing on this?

Clint Eastwood: They go on and on with all this bulls–t about “sanctity”—don’t give me that sanctity crap! Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want.

yeah he just wants to be left alone w/ his pile of money and gun collection

that makes him a moderate republican these days

romney doesn't move his body at all when he talks. do u think candidates who talk more w/ their bodies/hands get trained not to do that when they run for higher offices?

HUG YOUR KIDS A LITTLE LONGER

savor the freudian slip, you hack:

Kathryn Jean Lopez ‏@kathrynlopez

As someone which thought he could/should be prez in 2007, can't quit believe we are here tonight #Romney #GOP2012

jimgeraghty profile

jimgeraghty Oh, f*** you, protesters. As if a candidate delivering a national address uninterrupted is too much to ask.

i just turned on the tv to make sure it was on the right station (didn't want the dvr to cut off at 11 if it went over, and holy cow the face that man is making.

...one giant leap for unctuousness

unctuousness looks like a smiling lubricated asshole

MY FRIENDS CARED ABOUT WHICH SPORTS TEAMS WE FOLLOWED THAN WHAT RELIGION WE BELONGED TO

we WERE mormons. now we're regular christians like u guys

Onion just posted this to FB. Already on the ball.

Best They Could Get Accepts Republican Nomination

August 30, 2012 | ISSUE 48•35 | More News

TAMPA, FL—Addressing thousands of faithful GOP supporters at the Republican National Convention Thursday evening, the best they could get right now formally accepted the party’s nomination for the presidency of the United States.

“It is a great honor to stand before you all today and accept your nomination for president,” the only real viable alternative they had, given the options, told the assembled GOP delegates at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. “Together, we will take America in a new direction. Together, we will win the White House.”

With Thursday night’s speech, the by no means perfect choice what are you gonna do finally reached the end of a difficult nomination process, having beaten a field of challengers in the primaries that included they’d have to be crazy, not a chance, and the absolute worst-case scenario....

these desperately ingratiating facial expressions r killing me

what is this love shit

WTF is this guy ON about?

this rose story really endears romney's father to me

He's got that one mannerism where he sounds so sad when his voice trails off.

the second i saw was straight up "if you were running for president i'd vote for you"

WAHT

lol i know they wanted to "humanize" him but this unconditional love business is out of control

he just announced his cabinet?????

Gawker with the Clint vid:

http://gawker.com/5939482/watch-clint-eastwoods-rambling-bizarre-speech-at-the-rnc

Haven't been watching any of this, actually. Will cause my anxiety levels to skyrocket. Drinking beer and getting ready to head to the Glass Candy/Chromatics show in an hour instead.

he's going to rip off his shirt to reveal a care bear belly beneath

"unconditional love!"

It would have been so great if he'd accidentally said "pile of money" instead of "pile of kids."

*insert message to moms/indie women here*

romney doesn't move his body at all when he talks. do u think candidates who talk more w/ their bodies/hands get trained not to do that when they run for higher offices?

― Mordy, Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:42 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

definitely, these guys can be amazingly impressionable and self-conscious when their handlers tell them what to do, how to look

maybe ann shoulda ran for president

Mitt is doing a great job convincing me that everyone else in his family would be a better President than him

um, ann has a much more important job than potus guys - she's a mom

Communities doing much better tonight than four years ago.

lol dan

he kinda rubs his cheek against his shoulder like a shy little boy

Chelsea Peretti ‏@ChelseaVPeretti

is romney religious

7:23 AM - 31 Aug 12 · Embed this Tweet

*insert message to moms/indie women here*

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:51 PM (13 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its baffling they think this half assed pandering will work

Albert Brooks ‏@AlbertBrooks

That's what I thought! RT @dagdahlcast: Clint's doing an old Albert Brooks routine!

Clint referred to himself as a "movie tradesman"

JonahNRO Ooof. I think Barack Obama just felt a terrible disturbance in the force.

I don't understand the mindset of anyone watching this going "OH YEAH"

steve jobs came back and changed the world by building iphones for liberal yuppies

Mitt's wistful look up in the air is hilarious

haha yeah it's been happening nonstop

Oof. I think JonahNRO just felt his dick get hard in the Target parking lot.

JonahNRO Ooof. I think Barack Obama just felt a terrible disturbance in the force.
JonahNRO Ooof. I think Barack Obama just felt a terrible disturbance in the force.
JonahNRO Ooof. I think Barack Obama just felt a terrible disturbance in the force.
JonahNRO Ooof. I think Barack Obama just felt a terrible disturbance in the force.
JonahNRO Ooof. I think Barack Obama just felt a terrible disturbance in the force.
JonahNRO Ooof. I think Barack Obama just felt a terrible disturbance in the force.

which of these equally exchangeable banal remarks was jonah swooning over?

omigod all Mitt's fucking punch lines are falling flat

Times like these remind me of how deeply I love ILX

i've been watching with the sound off and his expression really doesn't change at all

OMG

YES! FUCK THE PLANET!!!! WOO-HOO

Guys I was in the car and heard this on the radio and felt the need to text someone about my own emotional disturbance. Then went into a grocery store and they had some weird promotion involving piñatas. So many mixed emotions right now.

That will be the sentence that emerges from all of this. It will have to do battle with Clint.

the thing is it wasn't even climate change denial, it was just like 'lol...yeah we don't care'

i find it hard to believe that anyone could get any emotional impact off this, positive or negative

mitt very toothy tonight

LOLOLOL they're not sure what the answers are!!!

"no-o?"

hahahaha

"Do we want our schools to lag behind other schools?"
"... No? (Is this a trick question?)"

"the unspeakable darkness"...That will be noticed.

He should have ended with a DeanScream

I followed the last campaign reallllly closely and heard most all the major political/policy speeches Obama has given since being elected, and I have zero, zero recollection of him making any memorable and direct promises about "healing the planet" and whatever.

Seemed so out of left field as an attack, because who remembers Obama having said any such thing or anything even resembling it?

I hope someone remembered to remove the president from that mad scene up there.

full transcription of clint's speech - http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rnc-2012-clint-eastwoods-speech-to-the-republican-convention-in-tampa-full-text/2012/08/30/4247043c-f314-11e1-a612-3cfc842a6d89_story.html

if you like the environment and say nice things then you think the planet needs healing and you can do it

that is why nixon approved the creation of the epa

this is why none of this really matters:
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/base-turnout-strategy-may-be-too-narrow-for-romney/

Romney got some fine ass daughter in laws

Alex Castellanos: "good enough." Gergen: "solid." Not what you want to hear from your cheerleaders.

lol xp

so many kids + grandchildren!

did you guys talk about the woman who gasped and covered her face when Mitt talked about the rose on the night stand

BeBe Winans is killing it

yeah chris wallace called it workman-like

Albert Brooks ‏@AlbertBrooks

World's oceans very excited tonight, If Romney elected they will take over the earth.

"he did what he needed to do," right? the kind of thing you say when you're going to have to play the whole season with a QB who's there to "manage the game" while you go 7-9

yup

MSNBC is like "hey that wasn't bad for mitt!"

sharpton: I suspect Eastwood has talked to chairs other times than just tonight

lawrence o'donnell just named by name exactly who staged the thing, said the guy was the one who chose to put on clint eastwood, loves stagecraft and politics, used to write for him on west wing, and putting on eastwood in prime time was a disaster

ice cold

rachel maddow and i both felt great the day they announced they killed bin ladin

lol @ Sharpton.

It was just so bland. I can see, just because it's pithy, and because it seizes on one caricature of Obama, the ocean vs. your family line getting some play. Otherwise, nothing.

i don't like the focusing on clint eastwood.

i mean, he was hilarious, but msnbc nagl bashing him imho

I don't understand how anyone can watch this not on fox news

i have to wipe clint from my memory banks. jesus, jon voight is the best you can do??

"he did what he needed to do," right? the kind of thing you say when you're going to have to play the whole season with a QB who's there to "manage the game" while you go 7-9

― seriously, THIS GUY (daria-g), Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:23 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the Gus Frerotte of American Politics

m@tt I kiss you

i mean, he was hilarious, but msnbc nagl bashing him imho

― Mordy, Thursday, August 30, 2012 11:29 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

naw this is funny they love it

i mean, he was hilarious, but msnbc nagl bashing him imho

― Mordy, Friday, August 31, 2012 3:29 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they're not bashing him, they're talking about how fucking awful and horrible it was to put that in your last hour of a convention

there are lots of republicans in hollywood. you know angelina jolie? well her dad is one.

I thought for sure Clint would be speaking at like 6pm or something

eric roberts, bonnie franklin, i could go on and on.

I only caught bits of the end of Mitt's speech but Chris Matthews said nobody applauded the line about helping the poor?

http://gifsoup.com/imager.php?id=2036603&t=o

(made that up. do not know their affiliations. eric roberts somehow the first person i thought of after jon voight. don't know where bonnie franklin came from.)

Even Gergen's ridiculing the 12-million-jobs promise. "Excuse me?"

times must be rly tough for the gop when they can't find an old white rich guy who's actually a republican to fill their guest spot.

Don't forget Vincent Gallo.

Republicans in Hollywood: Eastwood, Voight, Thompson... Stephen Baldwin... Kirk Cameron... Lisa Welchel

it's kinda tragic how badly the republicans want celebrities to like them

i'm predicting a historically mediocre convention bump

I already predicted 0

janine turner spoke already, guys!

half the msnbc panel trying desperately to give Romney some credit the other half just openly laughing at the whole thing

I already predicted 0

― iatee, Thursday, August 30, 2012 11:37 PM (27 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^

Don't forget John Milius. He's a big name these days.

Sorry to harp, but the TPM cutline must be intriguing for anyone who missed it: "Clint Eastwood opened up the primetime portion of the Republican convention with a rambling, mumbling and often incoherent address next to an empty chair that was meant to represent President Obama."

http://jezebel.com/5939444/a-romney-grandkid-just-put-on-the-they-live-glasses-and-is-freaking-out

yeah the clint thing is gonna go viral and 'the internet matters' by now

poor gus

I followed the last campaign reallllly closely and heard most all the major political/policy speeches Obama has given since being elected, and I have zero, zero recollection of him making any memorable and direct promises about "healing the planet" and whatever.

Seemed so out of left field as an attack, because who remembers Obama having said any such thing or anything even resembling it?

― seriously, THIS GUY (daria-g), Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:16 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/obamas-nomination-victory_n_105028.html

Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

tellingly if you google the phrase "the oceans began to recede" you only get rightwing shit

i'm experiencing this event solely thru this this thread, thankig u

feel kinda bad for clint tbh.

poor angry old world-historically talented coot.

anyone who agrees to speak at the GOP convention is on their own afaic

I do love his movies tho

duh, so that's where it's from. but it hasn't seemed to be much mentioned ever since

line about oceans/planets etc

having Clint do that speech was total Michael Steele/CPAC amateurville

I agree with what someone posted above, right after Eastwood finished; that the weirdness was grew out of his mixed feelings, not his age. He really wasn't very critical of Obama at all.

(delete "was")

madow pointing out that Clint was the first thing network viewers saw, not mitts happy video, not rubio, but a strange old man talking to a chair

clint doesn't need your damn pity

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/753052/thumbs/s-RNC-UNSPOKEN-MESSAGES-large300.jpg

Robot arms

feel like Clint's apparently been going to the Oscars for years and only going up onstage to collect awards, all the while wishing it was him and not Billy Crystal up there doing the jokes and wacky skits

madow pointing out that Clint was the first thing network viewers saw, not mitts happy video, not rubio, but a strange old man talking to a chair

a strange old man who's been a huge box office draw since the '60s. i'm giddy to watch the clip but i don't think clint's going to alienate swing voters or anything.

CNN's "independent" focus group--i.e., Republican-leaning--indifferent about Romney's speech.

feel like mitt's trying on his john saxon in hadrian's pic there

a strange old man who's been a huge box office draw since the '60s. i'm giddy to watch the clip but i don't think clint's going to alienate swing voters or anything.

― da croupier, Thursday, August 30, 2012 11:59 PM (8 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what its gonna do is overshadow mitts speech

what isn't

Wolf Blitzer's mad because Eastwood was disrespectful to the president!

Srsly WTF do they need to oil him up first?

http://i.usatoday.net/news/gallery/2012/n120830republican_convention/18rnc0830-pg-horizontal.jpg

argh

http://i.usatoday.net/news/gallery/2012/n120830republican_convention/18rnc0830-pg-horizontal.jpg

teal and orange

what isn't

― da croupier, Friday, August 31, 2012 12:02 AM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya theres a reasonable argument to be made that none of this matters, but if mitt has a chance hes got to make an impression at some point

'denim jacket over shirt and tie' is intrstn.

support

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/assets_c/2012/08/eastwood-rnc-cropped-proto-custom_2.jpg

I thought they weren't letting Ron Paul speak at this thing.

did clint at one point say "we own this country" ??

guess i should read that transcript

yup he did! haha well that's sure to strike a bright note for some people...

...

I would just like to say something, ladies and gentlemen. Something that I think is very important. It is that, you, we -- we own this country.

(APPLAUSE)

We -- we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours.

(APPLAUSE)

And -- so -- they are just going to come around and beg for votes every few years. It is the same old deal. But I just think it is important that you realize , that you’re the best in the world. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or whether you’re libertarian or whatever, you are the best. And we should not ever forget that. And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go.

(APPLAUSE)

Okay, just remember that. And I’m speaking out for everybody out there. It doesn’t hurt, we don’t have to be

(AUDIENCE MEMBER): (inaudible)

(LAUGHTER)

I do not say that word anymore. Well, maybe one last time.

(LAUGHTER)

We don’t have to be -- what I’m saying, we do not have to be metal (ph) masochists and vote for somebody that we don’t really even want in office just because they seem to be nice guys or maybe not so nice guys, if you look at some of the recent ads going out there, I don’t know.

(APPLAUSE)

But OK. You want to make my day?

(APPLAUSE)

All right. I started, you finish it. Go ahead.

AUDIENCE: Make my day!

EASTWOOD: Thank you. Thank you very much.

play Freebird!

Clint Eastwood IS...Neil Hamburger.

i dunno, eastwood's thing seemed ok to me. it was obviously written out ahead of time and his 'meandering' was mostly only a bit of weakness from age; otherwise, it was a celebrity-comedy-relief / crowd-warmer kind of thing.

Why, I made the comparison to America's Funnyman for a reason!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/315079_426668737369703_1879877859_n.jpg

http://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/241392153148915712

zing.

Hahah.

According to a friend on FB, "He then turned around to reveal

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/096/044/trollface.jpg?1296494117

awesome tweet O

weird imo

tho clearly a grab for the 'internet vote'

(not kidding btw, esp after the reddit thing)

I still don't understand the reddit thing, even though I have at least three people I know on the OfA internet team. I think it was his direct group that did that, though.

finally saw the eastwood thing, wish i hadn't heard the peanut gallery on it beforehand, undoubtedly weirder without warning

Clint Eastwood, manchurian paulite candidate

Did anybody ever find out what happened to Gabbneb?

Have we explored the possibility that Clint might have actually thought that Obama was in that chair and infuriatingly and invisibly refusing to answer his questions?

Also, once upon a time long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, Clint Eastwood made _High Plains Drifter_

Great Tweet among a bunch of them posted by Sullivan: "This is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama."

ok this is maybe left-field speculation but before the convention Trump was tweeting about a big surprise alongside a pic of him mugging with an Obama impersonator. is it possible that the empty chair in Clint's speech was originally going to be a fake Obama before wiser judgement prevailed? because that would be mind blowing

in any case, good job RNC for using an 82 year old actor in your bold appeal to the youth vote

has anyone mentioned here yet that the number of jobs romney pledges to create - 12 million - is the CBO projection w/ no further policy shifts

I still don't understand the reddit thing

― your native bacon (mh), Friday, August 31, 2012 1:08 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just a way to get some press during the gop convention

ok this is maybe left-field speculation but before the convention Trump was tweeting about a big surprise alongside a pic of him mugging with an Obama impersonator. is it possible that the empty chair in Clint's speech was originally going to be a fake Obama before wiser judgement prevailed? because that would be mind blowing

― real men have been preparing manly dishes for centuries (elmo argonaut), Friday, August 31, 2012 8:38 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

woah yeah

would pay

Great Tweet among a bunch of them posted by Sullivan: "This is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama."

― clemenza, Friday, August 31, 2012 6:44 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha yes

http://i.imgur.com/Pe4t3.png

https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23Eastwooding

Mona Charen will have none of it, you liberal heathens:

Also, Romney, as stage manager of the Tampa convention, (and as the man who chose Ryan) deserves credit for highlighting the incredible talent of the Republican bench. I cannot recall, in my lifetime, any time when Republicans were blessed with such a crop of highly articulate, intelligent, philosophically-grounded governors, members of Congress, Senators, and candidates for other offices.

Finally, a word about Ryan. There’s a reason the so-called “fact-checkers” and other liberals have gone beserk about him. It’s quite simply this: He is the most impressive Republican politician since Reagan. Not just smart and well-informed, but also disarming, comfortable, and persuasive. Like a triathlete, he’s great at many things at once. As such, he delights us and scares the Hell out of them.

lol sure sure lady

ok this is maybe left-field speculation but before the convention Trump was tweeting about a big surprise alongside a pic of him mugging with an Obama impersonator. is it possible that the empty chair in Clint's speech was originally going to be a fake Obama before wiser judgement prevailed? because that would be mind blowing

some pundit needs to get on this this morning because it seems obviously true!!

as much as i like this theory trump's big surprise was supposed to be on monday

Ann Romney: Mitt showed the 'deepest part of his soul'

o man

haha, aww

i mean clint's speech was terrific anyway, that should be enough

the jokes in eastwood's routine would make even less sense if there was an actor dressed like obama telling him to fuck himself

the routine was pretty clearly some bob newhart phone conversation gag

romney's acceptance speech is being p heavily overshadowed by the reaction to clint afaict

stop being spoilsports. original script called for Obama impersonator to say "well, go fuck yourself, then" into a live mic

while obviously having one of the biggest elderly stars in hollywood do a vaudeville bit beforehand didn't help, i think romney would have been a non-event either way, since none of the speakers beforehand actually ramped up anticipation for it as much as they did their 2016 runs.

someone needs to do a video of those pained lil emphasis face romney was doing after every line

also not seeing mentioned: he was talking v fast

i watched clint's speech again this morning and i think ppl are right that it was totally out of place at RNC, but i don't think he was crazy. he sounded like a guy who really liked obama at one point but had serious questions for him and who was maybe trying to convince himself to vote for romney but really doesn't like him and by the end of the speech i thought maybe clint was still going to vote for obama this election.

hah

someone needs to do a video of those pained lil emphasis face romney was doing after every line

yessssss

The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair, was that the big buildup line was "you don't have to vote for someone just because he's nice" after an hour of establishing that Romney is really, really nice

also the part where he said we should bring the troops home tomorrow at the RNC

"don't settle" is a weeeeeeird thing to say at a romney event

I believe the original plan was to have Trump on stage as Obama, in blackface. At least, that seems the most classy - and by extension, Trumpy - explanation.

i watched clint's speech again this morning and i think ppl are right that it was totally out of place at RNC, but i don't think he was crazy. he sounded like a guy who really liked obama at one point but had serious questions for him and who was maybe trying to convince himself to vote for romney but really doesn't like him and by the end of the speech i thought maybe clint was still going to vote for obama this election.

while i think clint was fine in a "grandpa gives a speech at the kiwanis club" way that certainly won't make america reconsider the fifty odd years they've been paying money to see him in movies, a movie star alienated by obama trying (and possibly failing) to convince himself to vote for romney by arguing with a chair on stage at the rnc during prime-time is about as crazy as it gets.

also the part where he said we should bring the troops home tomorrow at the RNC

only for Romney to get on stage and say "you know what we should do, is invade Syria, Iran and Russia"

bring the troops to syria

still consider it Clint's best performance since In The Line of Fire if not Unforgiven.

ACADEMY VOTERS, PLZ GET OVER YOUR LIBERAL BIAS AND CONSIDER THIS PERFORMANCE

Liked it better when the invisible negro was a six-foot rabbit.

I feel totally trolled by this Clint Eastwood business, but I'm not even remotely sure who/what is behind it. If someone simply wanted to get people to talk obsessively about the RNC, A+ work! Done! Apologies for butting in just to say that, but has there been any discussion of whether or not Eastwood was told to go out there and just "go nuts"?

seems highly unlikely

i dunno, it definitely is keeping people from talking about how fucking weird mitt romney is and how he was trying to play up his...bill clinton voice? i heard it on the radio on my way home from work, so i didn't see the little faces he makes, but i could almost hear them.

It's working if so - I've only been catching it via here and the Guardian, but I have no idea what Mitt said about a) the Mormon church and b) Bain Capital, which is odd considering his speech was supposed to be about them.

The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair,
The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair,
The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair,
The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair,
The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair,
The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair,
The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair,

have we mentioned the fact that there is an obama tumblr now

I came to the same conclusion as La Lechera overnight: Romney's speech was so thoroughly mediocre, Eastwood may have done him a favour by deflecting attention away from it. His five-point recovery program reminded me of SCTV's Goin' Down the Road parody: "There'll be lots of jobs! Good doctorin' jobs and lawyerin' jobs--jobs for everyone!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPFAAGC0Jxo

also "weirdest thing i have ever seen" is a prestige event, politically speaking, right?
everyone wins
oh and also romney will protect our freedom of religion and the sanctity of marriage

wut?

I don't think the Eastwood speech was at all designed to keep attention off Romney. From what I hear, the Romney camp was increasingly upset as Clint's speech progressed.

Losing focus on Romney is the last thing his campaign needs. Their goal for the RNC was to build excitement for Romney, and I think they failed miserably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slagiV7oOhc&feature=plcp

nope

xp I hope so. His humanoid speech gave me the creeps. I guess everything about the RNC in general gives me the creeps though.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/31/what-to-expect-when-youre-expecting-a-convention-polling-bump/

All told, Holbrook expects to see a 3.8 percent point bump for Romney and 1.8 percent point increase for Obama.

“Right now, the two candidates are in a tight race, with Obama holding a slight advantage in the polls,” he writes. ”Based on my bump predictions, I expect that the race will continue to be tight after the conventions but that Romney will hold a slight lead.”

There is one new variable, introduced in 2012, that Holbrook was not able to account for: Clint Eastwood delivering a monologue to an empty chair. All bets are off on what that will mean in ensuing poll numbers.

so that's why i wonder if maybe eastwood just decided to let it all hang out and talk to a chair and why he made that decision

It was Romney's job, more than anyone else, to build excitement for Romney. Not surprisingly, if you've spent any time watching Romney, he failed to do that. (I'm of course not saying Eastwood's speech was designed to deflect attention, just that he may have fortuitously done so.)

apparently it's Rubio's job to excite Cuban-Americans on Facebook.

that klein piece is v strange, keeps referencing this unexplained 'expected election outcome'

Not surprisingly, if you've spent any time watching Romney, he failed to do that.
Seriously, it's like he has chosen to sing a song that is way too high for his range.

I dunno if Nate Silver writes his own headlines at NYT but someone wrote this:

In Prudent Speech, Romney Seeks Role as Generic Republican

Dreher on Clint:

But man, that was embarrassing for all concerned, not only for a doddering old white man, but for the entire Republican Party. Not that it much matters, but the conservative Celebrity Auxiliary is exceedingly lame. It feels like they deploy U2, and we deploy Stryper.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/08/31/blogs/538-romney-cloud/538-romney-cloud-blog480.jpg

murder tag clouds

old man yells at word cloud

http://i.imgur.com/Y6AJQ.gif

Inside the beltway media insider (and knucklehead) Chris Cillizza take:

Romney did what he needed to do in his speech, a workmanlike address in which he made a strong case against the incumbent and a slightly-less-strong case for himself.

The most quoted line of the speech will almost certainly be this one: “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise … is to help you and your family.”)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/08/30/republican-national-convention-night-3-winners-and-losers/?hpid=z2

gettin some "secret" charismatic starpower at the convention is probably the smartest thing the GOP has done this entire election cycle

― chicago rap twitter luminary (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, August 29, 2012 3:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

man am I happy to have been totally wrong about this lol

funniest RNC convention ever

The most quoted line of the speech will almost certainly be this one: “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise … is to help you and your family.

this line made me wanna murder motherfuckers tbrr

Ever so suave:

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/08/31/781511/rnc-delegate-offended-by-presence-of-mexican-at-disneys-epcot-center/?mobile=nc

Don't tell this guy about the new Tres Caballeros ride in Mexico.

Maybe the outcome this entire election basically will be decided by whatever news events happen the week before.

Also, big effing deal about 'family'. Congratulations on meeting an impregnating a woman, Mitt!

My promise … is to help you and your family... unless you live near the ocean.

Maybe the outcome this entire election basically will be decided by whatever news events happen the week before.

pretty sure the outcome of this entire election has already been decided

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/the-morning-plum-why-are-obama-swing-voters-sticking-with-him/2012/08/31/65b46edc-f35a-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_blog.html

this is a good piece, greg sargents been making that point for a while, its kinda indicative of the romney camp altogether that they cant really get it together to emotionally manipulate people, like they have a candidate who looks like a tv president and they think thats a good set up, and they also think that the most obvious base underestimation of voters intelligence and motivation should work too, fucking w/voters heads is a subtle art, you cant just be lazy cynical about it, its p hard to get elected president

btw

http://i.imgur.com/l7xOI.gif

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/08/31/ann-romney-clint-s-speech-unique.html

hahaha in band dude terms that's "You guys were really tight...really looked like you were having fun up there"

lol

some GOP apparatchik last night: "it wasn't the greatest nomination speech ever, it wasn't even the best speech of this convention, but it was the best speech Romney's ever given in his life"

that may be the faintest praise ever tho

hahaha in band dude terms that's "You guys were really tight...really looked like you were having fun up there"

so otm. "Nice work!"

"Good job!"

(btw, found out the hard way you can't say "Looked like you were having fun up there!" to a laptop composer)

And what did Dan Deacon say to you in response

"You guys really had a lot of energy up there"

"that sounded really tight, like you guys have been working on it for a while!"

Or

"I swear I saw the sound guy rocking out to one of your songs"

I feel totally trolled by this Clint Eastwood business, but I'm not even remotely sure who/what is behind it. If someone simply wanted to get people to talk obsessively about the RNC, A+ work! Done! Apologies for butting in just to say that, but has there been any discussion of whether or not Eastwood was told to go out there and just "go nuts"?

― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Friday, August 31, 2012 10:07 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i kinda doubt it. when i was at McCain's speech rehearsal there were like 4 people in the room (incl. Rick Davis) going over the latest umpteenth draft and discussing additional changes (true story: they actually fretted about the exact # of times the word "freedom" appeared in the speech). they might not have had the reigns on Eastwood as tight since he doesn't work for the party like the other speakers but they definitely micromanage this stuff. but as the Ryan speech proved, they don't necessarily look for the right things to fix before it goes in front of the public.

Or just the more succinct, "Dude, awesome! Let's go get a beer!"

And never mention it again ever

although i like the idea of Clint asking to have a chair onstage and they ask why and he just winks and goes "you'll see" (xpost)

lol

"Phew, glad he went with the backup speech instead of his Flashdance routine."

Anyway I have your third party team for America right here:

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/538935_523388187686697_101073702_n.jpg http://communicategood.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/carbon-rod.jpg

IRL LOL

xp

https://twitter.com/juliasegal/status/241451622121734144/photo/1

Rod should be at the top of the ticket, lot more experience plus a better public speaker.

This is true.

Meantime

http://gawker.com/5939613/peggy-noonan-knows-how-those-latinas-talk

one of Sully's readers' reasons for Clint's inclusion:

Why feature Clint Eastwood? Because Ronald Reagan's dead and they wanted to make this connection:

I have my veto pen drawn and ready for any tax increase that Congress might even think of sending up. And I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers. Go ahead--make my day.

That was Reagan at the American Business Conference. Focusing on Reagan allows the Republican party to ignore the GWB years. And it might have worked except for the fact that Clint Eastwood has never been a good public speaker. (However strange his performance tonight, it's not far off from any appearance he's made on a talk show or when accepting an award.)

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/runners-world-we-cant-verify-paul-ryans-sub

yeah and like I said upthread, they would have gone with Arnold if he hadn't turned out to be a liberal-coddling commie Californian

xp

peggy noonan is basically everything i hate about america that's not explicitly violent/ criminal

http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/08/31/paul-ryan-says-hes-run-sub-300-marathon/

In the interview, after Ryan told Hewitt that he ran in high school, Hewitt asked if Ryan still runs. Ryan replied, "Yeah, I hurt a disc in my back, so I don't run marathons anymore. I just run ten miles or less." When Hewitt asked Ryan what his personal best is, Ryan replied, "Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

doesnt even know his time, dead giveaway

yeah, what person runs a sub three and doesnt know it down to the tenth of a second?!

theres no way in the world a dork like ryan could resist telling you his exact time and full training regimen the weather that day etc

too busy being wonky to be bothered with exact times

prob only does p30x

it'll be really funny if the marathon lie is the one he eventually has to apologize for

DNC should snag Christopher Walken for surprise celebrity speaker

http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/08/did_one_of_romneys_housekeepers_make_a_surprise_cameo_in_rnc_video.html

Babs with a box of Franzia in her.

xp

nightscientist ‏@nightscientist
still waiting for Kmart to verify that Rubio's mother worked all night... I think they stock during the day.

DNC should snag Christopher Walken for surprise celebrity speaker

Alec Baldwin more likely

dems should just get like a hundred celebrities and have them stand around on stage looking smug and w/e

But the VMAs are almost here anyway.

dems should just get like a hundred celebrities and have them stand around on stage looking smug and w/e

― lag∞n, Friday, 31 August 2012 18:57 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they should put on some sort of Stomp type mini show with chairs of imaginary presidents

coming up next george clooney sits down on john adams

Haha, can't wait to see the revamped Disneyworld Hall of Presidents attraction.

http://www.basso-continuo.com/Gloria_d/2005/Images/20051029/Empty_Stage.jpg

Meanwhile:

@BarackObama

The race is on: http://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/241595336278294528/photo/1

loooool

lmao

Haaaaaa

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9mudsXG1e1qdmmiqo1_500.gif

omg yes

Old white guy delivering rambling one-sided argument to invisible make-believe opponent in chair pretty much sums up the GOP.

can i tweet that? that is so rad

Great Tweet among a bunch of them posted by Sullivan: "This is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama."

― clemenza, Friday, August 31, 2012 6:44 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you could retweet it

Ha, I'm starting to see it or something more or less just like it pop up all over! NYtimes ed, for example. Poor take-away for the GOP.

Taking Note: Imaginary Barack
The speech was the perfect distillation of the Republican campaign.

Like this, which is on the current front page of the Time site.

clint eastwood is a great artist

i love clint. i will chalk it up to bad medication. how does he even act in movies these days? cgi, i guess.

I haven't watched Clint yet (maybe never), but I wouldn't be surprised if he was trolling? Or, like, speaking not as a supporter of Romney but just as a grouch who isn't thrilled with Obama?

ya i suspect a lot of the strangeness did stem from his ambivalence

wish i could get clint to read that taibbi RS article on mitt the businessman.

Wouldn't be that surprised if i find out later Clint votes for Obama.

https://twitter.com/Mr_Electrico/status/241409253238255616

Yesterday, upon a chair/ Clint met a man who wasn’t there/ How sad it is that Rowdy Yates/ Has ended up as Orly Taitz

Vote Mitt, I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all,
Not even the chair.

Once upon a convention dreary, while I listened weak and weary,
To many a quaint and curious volume of misbegotten bores,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a chatting,
As of some one gently speaking, speaking from my empty chair.
`'Tis the President,' I muttered, `sitting in my empty chair -
Only this, and nothing more.'

lol

wow the knives really ARE out in the GOP

how delicious

Other than the Akin joke, Nothing too much new here. But grrrr, can't stand Rove.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-31/exclusive-inside-karl-roves-billionaire-fundraiser

“We have to keep in mind whose vote we’re trying to get—it ain’t the delegate from Alaska. It’s not the alternate from Alabama. It’s some undecided voter in the battleground state who likes the president.”

Rove spoke almost exclusively about defeating Barack Obama and retaking control of the White House. There was sparse praise for Mitt Romney—either as a candidate or as a future leader and policy maker.

it's some kind of small comfort to know that I'm living through the self-immolation of the Republican party

I hear you, but I hope it's a while before that phoenix comes flying out.

itll be v interesting to watch them attempt to pivot from their standby total racism strategy

I don't think that's going to happen, honestly. racists need a party too!

problem is then do to demographic realties theyre conceding the presidency

yep. tbh I'd be more stoked about it if it didn't mean that the Dem party will continue to drift ever rightward as it tries to absorb more and more of the GOP voting base

I'm honestly disappointed that the far righty party I suspected would emerge post-2010 never did. GOP elite aren't going to put up with this shit much longer though, and those factions may still be unceremoniously ejected yet.

Repeal Obamachair!

(Not mine. Sullivan keeps finding funny stuff.)

haha

can someone explain to me why the conspiracy/ron paul/fake moon landing people believe EVERYTHING that is made up and crazy? like, they don't just believe one or two things that are obviously made up they believe every single crazy theory. there is a hippie-ish guy in his 60's who sells me records and he was telling maria and i all about how obama is a gay muslim who wants to bring back sharia law and i could have made up pretty much any story about obama and bin laden and terror plots and he would have believed whatever i said. and then he would have repeated the stuff i just made up to other people.

sorry, probably the wrong thread. but the convention got me thinking about this and how the repub people just keep repeating things that aren't true over and over and then this guy came in today. with these people everything true is untrue and the other way around. i guess its a form of church. they just take everything crazy on faith. and all these people are racist. every conspiracy person. all of them.

i'm kinda with them with the jfk thing though. something definitely wrong with THAT picture.

ya i have a conspiracy friend and he believes its all, crop circles, the amero, fema prisions, global warming hoax - the only thing he rejects is lizard people which according to him is just another conspiracy to discredit the movement

JFK was a secret gay muslim commie born in Uganda. That's why they killed him.

is it really crazier to believe 20 of these things than it is to believe 1? once you're willing to accept one stupid thing that no one could possibly believe, you might as well believe them all.

i kinda think the problem stems from ppl realizing that most politicians are self-serving hypocrites but lacking the common sense necessary to realize that actual government conspiracies are mucked-up farces like watergate and iran-contra, not supernaturally effective plots like a fake moon landing.

tbh i think JFK assassination ppl are by far the most tiresome and impossible to argue with because they NEVER give up and they've got decades more of 'research' to draw on than the 9/11 truthers.

Yeah i think living through JFK and then 50 years of nuclear war paranoia, capped off by the sheer surrealness of 9/11 probably explains it.

they just want to make sense of chaos, feel like theyre smarter than everyone

it's reasonable to assume that if something as ott and absurd as a moon landing conspiracy occurred, then surely there must be a lot of other conspiracies. And if you believe in something like the illuminati, you're really believing in a conspiracy of conspiracies.

a pyramid of conspiracies

its that whole EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG thing. nothing can be taken at face value. everything means something else. they really go for it whole hog. there must be a name for that. a psychological term. true believers. it does remind me of fundamentalism.

i think the more curious thing is that nothing can be taken at face value, except this very tenuous theory that's been concocted, which is clearly true.

Also believing in one thing usually = twisting your brain to believe that ten coincidences aren't coincidences and that creating plausible coincidence is a powerful tool for The Powers That Be. After that, nothing is a coincidence and the dominoes .. come tumbling .. down.

pretty sure there's a separate thread for this stuff

or... do THEY want us to THINK there's a separate thread for this stuff

too early in the day for thread police mayn

yeah i'm sure there is a conspiracy thread. really am curious about the thought process. or non-thought process. this is millions of people. not some lunatic fringe. all kinds of people believe this stuff.

like at the convention this idea that obama is literally DESTROYING the country. for real! they believe that. president obama is systematically DESTROYING the united states. i mean....what do you say to that?

i generally explain how obama is really a republican

actually, entire morbzian conceit is a lot of fun to play on lunatic right wingers. "you're right, he's terrible and destroying america. but that's only bc he agrees w/ you."

you'd think the science guy would know a bit more about ass lube physics

science rules

yeah, there's this black guy who hangs out at the same bar as me and we have the usual political discussions. he's a lawyer and a self-described 'Rockefeller republican'. didn't vote for BO the first time but is pretty impressed with his liberal republican policies. he had quite a conversation that i ease dropped on with another republican trying to convince her that Obama isn't a wild eyed socialist. it went nowhere. cutting taxes, bailing out the banks yeah real Lenninist we have as prez.

do people in ireland like this guy? we need more fightin' irish taking on the tea party people:

http://www.upworthy.com/a-tea-partier-decided-to-pick-a-fight-with-a-foreign-president-it-didnt-go-so-we?g=4&c=ufb1

Well we elected him President after that, but I think he had his time on the last thread.

oh okay didn't see it!

I don't think conspiracy nuts are helped by the internet either. First off, you can find so many more conspiracies and fellow nuts. Secondly, there's the know-it-all culture that makes people write things like "The moon landing was faked!" in response to Neil Armstrong obituaries. Not that anyone hasn't heard of the moon landing hoax, but there's a certain one-upsmanship that is probably 90% responsible for those posts. It doesn't quite mean the poster literally thinks the moon landing was faked any more than he thinks he's smarter than all the other posters.

i really want my brother-in-law to run for office. some office. he's so righteous. maria's older brother. not that i usually wish politics on anyone. some people are just obvious leaders. he takes on stupid talk in this speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl6Y3MsxPL0

i mean he's inspiring to me. i don't know what he inspires me to do, but he's just generally inspiring. i could help him with his speeches. maybe he could run for mayor of seattle.

Just saw something on one of the newscasts that I didn't see last night (maybe I'd walked away from the computer to post): reaction shots of Ann Romney and the Ryans as Eastwood rambled. The Ryans shift impatiently in their seats, and PR seemed to do that thing where you puff out your cheeks and exhale slowly when you know things aren't going well.

i generally explain how obama is really a republican

^^79% of my political discussions irl and online are basically a variation of this

i find it pretty useful to point out to ppl that o's basically more like eisenhower than he is any recent democratic pres -- fiscal conservatism, ruthless but low-cost and efficient foreign policy, at war with right-wing lunatics (except that they're in the other party, not his own).

pretty sure there's a separate thread for this stuff

Yeah, I think we go into it in the anti-vaxxer/Jenny McCarthy thread. I've posted about it some, and Plasmon and Grady have too, and I'll happily go into why people desperately want conspiracy theory to be true, but this ain't the thread for that.

Plus my usual style is to lapse into lecture mode and do walls-o-textdumps and heavy linkage because I read so much about this stuff and don't trust my abilities to summarize and present it as well as the authors I've read or certain succinct ex-ilxors who now collect salaries for their online otm-ness.

Will post run-on paragraphs 4 beer

He's a good speaker, scott! Maybe it's good he's not running for office. Leave politics to the politicians. Sounds like he's making a difference in a more real way.

^ this!

and all these people are racist. every conspiracy person. all of them.

well, tbf there are probabably many who are okay with black people and only hate jews

in my experience the JFK conspiracy ppl are just cranky old liberals

sure, that's what they want you to believe

"He's a good speaker, scott! Maybe it's good he's not running for office"

yeah, i've thought this too. probably does better work from the outside. plus, he went to harvard and his biological father was nigerian. and maria's mom is a radical feminist/lesbian. wouldn't want to see him go through the obama-hater gauntlet. though in seattle maybe none of that would matter. they are rad there, right?

The problem with "really a Republican" arguments is that they sort of imply a fixed identity for either party that neither has ever had. Like, OK, Obama's sort of like an Eisenhower or Rockefeller Republican, except that he and the current Democratic Party are way more liberal on a lot of social and cultural issues than any party in the country's history has ever been. And the Democratic Party in Ike's day still had all those Dixiecrats in it. I just don't really like those kinds of simplifications.

Right, there's no black JFK conspiracy people....let's give it up for Dick Gregory.

the troll is designed to demonstrate that obama has enacted numerous policies (some of my favorite examples are foreign affairs, war on terror, preservation of capitalism thru bailouts, HCR being originated by Heritage/Romney) that the listener agrees w/. not to make some bold claim about the true essence of the republican party.

Didn't anybody else notice some of the OTHER weird things that happened during the Eastwood speech like....the Republican audience cheering the idea that it was stupid to go to war in Afghanistan? The Republican audience cheering the idea of "bringing them (the troops) home tomorrow?"

can someone explain to me why the conspiracy/ron paul/fake moon landing people believe EVERYTHING that is made up and crazy? like, they don't just believe one or two things that are obviously made up they believe every single crazy theory.

― scott seward, Friday, August 31, 2012 5:57 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Wood, Michael and Douglas, K.M. and Sutton, R.M. (2012) Dead and alive: Belief in contradictory conspiracy theories. Social Psychology and Personality Science . ISSN 1948-5506. (In press):

Conspiracy theories can form a monological belief system: a self-sustaining worldview comprised of a network of mutually supportive beliefs. The present research shows that even endorsement of mutually incompatible conspiracy theories are positively correlated. In Study 1 (n = 137), the more participants believed that Princess Diana faked her own death, the more they believed that she was murdered. In Study 2 (n = 102), the more participants believed that Osama Bin Laden was already dead when U.S. special forces raided his compound in Pakistan, the more they believed he is still alive.

http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo346/HadrianVIII/clint-eastwood.jpg

(full text)

like....the Republican audience cheering the idea that it was stupid to go to war in Afghanistan?

yes that was very very wtf and made me wonder if the delegates were even paying much attention to what was actually being said or if they were just automatically cheering during any pauses

Read and heard very little about the speach. I'm guessing u were all impressed w/ how Mittens DEFINED HIMSELF.

Hope you have fun parsing the (occasionally) more subtle, artful lies on display next week.

it was v impressive, the definition

finally morbs reveals that he doesn't read other people's posts

finally

hey I didn't pay attention to this thing that happened, but I gotta stop by to say you guys were wrong about it

^^^ good ILE board description tbh

MA still w/ the non sequiturs

Friend of mine just posted this photo to FB with the caption, "Dinner in the sunroom with the last four Presidents. I'm so excited!!"

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/854/photoaug31213745.jpg

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/3382/photoaug31213745.jpg

ABC world news program ran a spot tonight on Romney's mystery bundlers at the convention. They had a reporter going up to these guys as they were coming out of some event and they were refusing to identify themselves or answer any questions. They also tried to talk to one of the Koch brothers and he wouldn't say a word - just got in a car and closed the door.

"Conspiracy theories can form a monological belief system"

yes! this is what i was thinking today. its like church. and faith. (faith in your lack of faith in reality...)

so Eastwood appearance was Romney's own idea, was unscripted and unrehearsed, chair was a last minute addition by Clint's request = wow

ABC world news program ran a spot tonight on Romney's mystery bundlers at the convention. They had a reporter going up to these guys as they were coming out of some event and they were refusing to identify themselves or answer any questions. They also tried to talk to one of the Koch brothers and he wouldn't say a word - just got in a car and closed the door.

― timellison, Friday, August 31, 2012 9:55 PM (21 minutes ago)

mysterious!

This evening the terrific running journalist, Scott Douglas, figured out that Ryan had actually run a 4:01 in Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1991, when he was a college student. This is not quite so fast. A 2:55 would have put Ryan 130th out of 3277 men in that race. A 4:01 put him 1990th. It’s the difference between racing and running.

I contacted the campaign this evening about the discrepancy. Ryan, through a spokesman, responded that he'd just mixed things up. “The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin—who ran Boston last year—reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three. If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight."

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/08/paul-ryan-marathon.html

ya sure two fifty something v four oh one honest screw up easy enough to do

mustve killed him not to break 4

"they were automatically cheering during any pauses" ---- that's what I was thinking too.

The Clint Eastwood thing reminds me of the scene in The Electic Kool Aid Acid Test where the anti-war rally gets Ken Kesey to do an anti-war speech and instead he produces this bizarre deflating spectacle complete with harmonica.

"Didn't you have enough speakers?" says Krassner? "You need all the big names you can get, to get the crowd out." "Well, that's what you get for being celebrity fuckers" says Krassner. (p. 234)

a Dem VP candidate would get slaughtered for this marathon thing

new yorker rlly h8s marathon cheaters

war criminals the lot

it's funny that of all his lies, this is the one he is forced to respond to. runners are intense, yo.

ABC world news program ran a spot tonight on Romney's mystery bundlers at the convention. They had a reporter going up to these guys as they were coming out of some event and they were refusing to identify themselves or answer any questions. They also tried to talk to one of the Koch brothers and he wouldn't say a word - just got in a car and closed the door.

― timellison, Friday, August 31, 2012 9:55 PM (21 minutes ago)

mysterious!

― k3vin k., Friday, August 31, 2012 7:18 PM (1 hour ago)

I don't know if you're being snarky - I was just bringing it up because it was a pretty unflattering piece to be running a day after their convention to whatever ABC World News' audience demographic is.

I mean, it was kind of like a 60 Minutes piece where they're pursuing some hustler.

olds I'd assume xp

The swooning over Bam this week by FB-friend Dems who were "so disappointed" 6 months ago is as predictable as the sunrise.

<3 CHAIR FOR PRESIDENT <3

(if only we could get the bloodstains out)

money's a bit out of whack

"(if only we could get the bloodstains out)"

and you don't want to KNOW what clinton left on the chair. wait, everyone knows what he left on the chair...

this thread made me lol very hard several times.

i'm just so, so, so happily smug that i don't vote.

well aren't you special

it's fun!!

(no joek)

xpsot

joke/ post

The new thread isn't really bedded in until we get some yelling at non-voters.

Genuinely curious, Dr M - what lies are you expecting?

The problem with "really a Republican" arguments is that they sort of imply a fixed identity for either party that neither has ever had. Like, OK, Obama's sort of like an Eisenhower or Rockefeller Republican, except that he and the current Democratic Party are way more liberal on a lot of social and cultural issues than any party in the country's history has ever been. And the Democratic Party in Ike's day still had all those Dixiecrats in it. I just don't really like those kinds of simplifications.

otm, so tired of this

another detail from the running thing:

"Runner's World has been unable to find any marathon results by Ryan. Requests for more information from Ryan's Washington and Wisconsin offices, and from the Romney-Ryan campaign, have so far gone unanswered.

If Ryan has broken 3:00, he'd be the fastest marathoner to be on a national ticket. John Edwards has run 3:30; George W. Bush has run 3:44; Sarah Palin has run 3:59; and Al Gore has run 4:58."

(poor al gore.)

Read and heard very little about the speach. I'm guessing u were all impressed w/ how Mittens DEFINED HIMSELF.

Hope you have fun parsing the (occasionally) more subtle, artful lies on display next week.

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Friday, August 31, 2012 9:19 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

nobody is sitting in that chair you're arguing with fyi

so, so happily smug

haha al

This is fun:

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/31/poor_donald_trump/

Mocking Donald Trump for getting shunned by a convention that happily embraced Jon Voight and Stephen Baldwin.

What was Huckabee's marathon time

23 min on his treadmill

damn thats a fast marathon