We Are In Agreement

LBJ Orders Pants

"the crotch, down where your nuts hang, is always a little too tight."

President Lyndon Baines Johnson, August 9, 1964, on the phone with Haggar slacks.

White House Tapes

The Holy Father Has No Roommates

Probably for the best, I would imagine the whole "infallibility" deal would make intra-apartment squabbles pretty infuriating.

I'm not emotionally fit enough to be a parent

Could you imagine if this happened to your kid?

"The prosecutor brought charges Monday against nine teenagers, saying their taunting and physical threats were beyond the pale and led the freshman, Phoebe Prince, to hang herself from a stairwell in January

[...]

In the Prince case, two boys and four girls, ages 16 to 18, face a different mix of felony charges that include statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury, harassment, stalking and disturbing a school assembly." NYT

My parental response would be to hunt-down every one of those little fuckers, climb into their rooms while they sleep, and squeeze the life out of them ... whispering in their ear,

"I found you asleep you foul little demon, your sins die with you, unforgiven, staining your wretched soul. No God for you, just Hell and damnation and torment."

See, that's not normal. I shouldn't have children.

Heh

Glenn Beck supporters conned into parking in a no-parking area, get towed.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dozens of people who parked at the University of Central Florida for an event say they were set up after their cars were towed. They said event parking signs directed them to a lot, but more than 50 cars in that lot were towed. People said those signs and their cars were gone when they got back.

A viewer contacted WFTV after his car was towed Saturday, along with 52 others. All of them were in line to recover their cars at an impound lot and all of them attended the Glenn Beck show at UCF.

The people parked in a Kappa Sigma lot. Mike Vedder thinks they were set up. He doesn't know if it was a dislike of the conservative commentator or money.

Obama is smart

TPM President Obama pointed out today that despite the many criticisms of the health care bill by Republicans, it's a lot like the plan former GOP Gov. Mitt Romney passed in Massachusetts.

    In doing this Obama ties Romney to the [tepid, centrist] health-care reform just passed by Congress. Fast-forward to 2012 when Romney (who at this point appears to be the most formidable Democratic challenge) is forced to tack very hard right to sustain the attacks leveled by Palin, Huckabee and talk radio.

To win the GOP nomination, Romney will have to totally disavow his own plan, while at the same time deliver what borders on hate-speech re: immigration, national security, and treatment of detainees.

And then compete with Obama in the general election.

The GOP will fail in 2012 by its own hand, sacrificing its best shot at the presidency in favor of demagoguery and ideological purity.

    On this subject, the health-care win for the Democrats (and "loss" for Republicans, in the zero-sum American political parlance) really does seem like an own-goal by the GOP.

Obama did sign into law HCR that strongly resembles Romney's plan in Massachusetts, and whatever political hay the Republicans will make out "socialism" or "radical government take-over" or whatever the hell they're saying, will be offset by the Democrats' legislative victory (voters like winners).

The Republicans could have signed on to the bill (taking advantage of Obama's fetish for having one, just one Republican signature), and continued the decade-long narrative that the Democrats can't do anything without Republican support, and the Dems are feckless losers who can't find their ass with both hands.

Instead the Democrats sign into law a Republican bill, the media narrative is "The Biggest Legislative Victory in Decades" and the Democrats look like winners with a nicked Republican plan.

Boehner and Steele should be strung up.

Saucy

I cannot make a baby with her, her womb is so polluted. Also she's 8.

Sarah Palin Ad

Those are cross-hairs drawn over districts whose congresspeople supported the healthcare bill, each cross-hair has a corresponding name.

 

So that's nice.

Props to Fox News

For Keeping Shep Smith on staff. He's a smart, responsible journalist, deserving of a gig on any channel. That FNC keeps him on staff is a actually pretty impressive.

From mediaite.com

Understanding Economic Graphics

If you're anything like me, you don't understand things. And you understand economic things even less.

Here's how I quickly get to the meat of a statistical graphic like this:

What the heck do all the colors mean? What is the highest quintile? Does "highest" mean the best or the worst? What's up with all the yellow?

Here's what you do: Find Michigan. Whatever color Michigan is corresponds with the shittiest economic condition.

 

Hope that helps.