February 2012
2 posts
1 tag
OK, Let's see the Context....
First off - a campaign which ran the most out-of-context remarks in political history ad against the President a few months ago cannot say “out of context” with any credibility. Feel like that needs to be said. (I’m talking about the ad which took Obama’s quote about the McCain campaign and ran it like Obama was saying it on his own.) But, here’s the full excerpt...
“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs...”
– Mitt Romney on CNN, February 1, 2012. Yikes. First of all, the safety net has tons of holes. I think most of us see them - we see the homeless, we see the state which the worst public schools are in, we see the crime rates in their neighborhoods, we see the health care (or lack of health care)...
January 2012
20 posts
1 tag
Lame Debate Questions, So I Put My Money...
TO: WOLF@CNN.COM FROM: JOHNSNOTES RE: BETTER DEBATE QUESTIONS Since your staff seemed to have problems drafting and/or selecting interesting and relevant debate questions, I decided to sit down and give myself 30 minutes to draft some. (I cheated in that I had internet access.) Included at the end is a “gotcha” question for each candidate since I know you may be into them. ...
Haters Gonna Hate →
To those who thought that the President’s speech last night was insufficiently centrist or insufficiently compromising? Get over it. The campaign has begun. Governing is over. Congress will pass the payroll tax extension and not much else. The debt ceiling and Bush tax cut debates will occur in the lame duck Congress and be largely dictated by the results of the Presidential election. ...
Lapham's Quarterly: John Tyler's Grandsons Are... →
laphamsquarterly:
Shut UP, history! You are so crazy!
mentalflossr:
Born in 1790, John Tyler was our 10th President. He took office in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died. And he has two living grandchildren!
Not great-great-great-grandchildren. Their dad was Tyler’s son.
How is this…
Mittens Gonna Win, But... →
I think Josh Marshall is right, Mitt Romney will eventually be the GOP nominee. He has the money, he has the organization. He will be on the ballot in every state (Newt will not.) But, there is going to be some pain along the way. Nights like last night left me with the following conclusion - Romney has got to get the point where he can start skipping these debates. And he needs to do so soon....
ESPN....They Don't Look So Good →
This Deadspin piece just eviscerates ESPN’s argument to ever be considered a legitimate journalistic organization. Which might be an argument they aren’t that interested in making. ESPN, after all, is an set of entertainment channels. (It’s even in the name). But, at times, they also try and lay claim to the mantle of sports journalism. They have shows (Outside the Lines,...
“[Eli] Manning has had the sort of season that’s left people saying he, and...”
– ESPN New York on why the 11-7 Giants (9-7 regular season) are the best (they say “most complete” but I’m not sure what that means or is meant to mean if not a synonym for “best”) team left of the remaining four NFL playoff teams. Just for my information, who says...
Robert Reich: Free Enterprise on Trial →
robertreich:
Mitt Romney is casting the 2012 campaign as “free enterprise on trial” – defining free enterprise as achieving success through “hard work and risking-taking.” Tea-Party favorite Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina says he’s supporting Romney because “we really need someone who understands how…
“To the extent free enterprise is on trial, the real question is whether the...”
– Robert Reich (look above). Correctly pointing out that the “job creators” Mitt Romney is most familiar with face- relatively speaking - no risks whatsoever.
WatchI was going to write a long-ish post about Romney and capitalism but I think this Newt clip is better in some ways.
Remember, John Kerry “reported for duty” in 2004 and tried to argue that his military service made him more qualified to be commander in chief. And then people started saying, hey, let’s take a long (and arguably slanted at times) look at that service. This...
What Romney Said Today Is Dumber Than It Seems If... →
A tremendous point made by Matt Yglesias. (I disagree with him in only one small part, it’s not progressives who are piling on Romney today, it’s Republicans. It will be progressives doing the piling on in a few months.) Forget whether Romney was talking about his own firing of people. Although companies Bain owned or invested in fired a LOT of people in Romney’s tenure.
The...
A Great Debate...About Comedy →
Before you go to the link in this post, scroll down two entries and read my re-blog of Barbara Gray’s account of going to see Patton Oswald a few nights ago. Then jump up and read Jonas Polsky’s (great) explanation of why comedians care about the unauthorized taping of their shows. The link above is Patton Oswald’s own explanation of the event. Great set of perspectives. On...
Jonas Polsky: Comedy Audiences And Taping →
jonaspolsky:
by Jonas Polsky
This evening there was a dust-up about how a young Patton Oswalt handled an audience member videotaping his set. Patton asked if she was taping and the woman responded, “You’re going to want that whole chunk on tape, it was perfect!” I wasn’t there, but that quote underscores…
The Barbtian Chronicles: That One Time When Patton... →
barbaragray:
I witnessed something really gross happen last night. Something I wish I’d never experienced.
I saw one of my heroes be a total asshole.
I was booked on a show called Odd Thursdays at the Palace, a Chinese restaurant in Los Feliz. There is a small upstairs room that has become home to a few…
1 tag
Crisis? Chicago Style Politics? What Channel is...
Ugh. I don’t know how long I can put up with this before completely dropping out. President Obama today appointed Richard Cordry to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) as well as three members of the National Labor Relations Board on a recess basis. There is a clause in the Constitution which allows the President to make executive appointments which...
We Are The 0.6% →
parislemon:
Hard to pick the most ridiculous element of these updated numbers.
Is it that just 0.6% of Android users have Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) three months after it launched?
Is it that of the remaining 99.4%, only 55% are upgraded to Gingerbread (2.3), which came out over a year ago?
Is it that over 30% are stuck on Froyo (2.2) which is 20 months old?
Is it that 8.5% (something like 10...
December 2011
7 posts
Robert Reich: My Political Prediction for 2012:... →
At some point, I think the President’s campaign people need to take a long look at whether Secretary Clinton would really provide an electoral boost as V.P. in the key non-Kerry states. If there is evidence that she does - and I think that the concept is nearly empirically impossible to substantiate - what’s the upside of staying the course? I don’t think the V.P. slot changes...
WatchTypical Newt foolishness. Say something absurd and then, after the fact, refer to something completely different and less absurd. (“I was talking about compelling judges to attend their impeachment.”) Now, what O’Reilly should have asked was “is there any precedent for a judge being impeached purely for issuing a decision with which you disagree?”
Will Carroll's Rndm Crap: Braun Possibility →
willcarroll:
One possibility I heard from a very credible source today was that there’s a new possibility for Ryan Braun. Forget all the talk about “false positives” and “medications”; I’ve gone over why those defenses probably aren’t winners before. This new possibility is focused on the second test….
Will Carroll's = (No) False Positive →
willcarroll:
Ok, I’m going to explain this one more time:
There is no danger of a “false positive” in testosterone testing. This discussion is specific to Ryan Braun, but it’s also the case in all modern sports testing. I thought I’d detailed this enough in my recent SI piece, but I guess it’s worth making…
Newt, Debates, etc... →
Newt Gingrich likes these debates. He’s offering them to everyone. He’s already threatened to try and debate the President 20 times before the election. (OK, I’m exaggerating but not by much.) And I think Andrew Sullivan was saying the other day that there is a wing of the GOP electorate that savors the prospect that Newt will mop the floor with the President during debates...
November 2011
12 posts
Giants to Bring Back Clark-Era Unis →
This is a good thing. Always liked the 80s-early 90s Giants road uniforms (not necessarily to the detriment of their current ones) for the Giants. It would probably be too much to hope that they also deploy the old pre-‘94 logo on caps - I guess I don’t NEED them to, I still have (and occasionally wear) my 1993 New Era 5950.
1 tag
The Field
It’s been a while since I wrote a longer post about the GOP field; I’ve mostly confined my comments to twitter (@jcsnotes). But, I did get a chance to watch a lot of the CNN National Security debate tonight and thought some longer form stuff was in order.
Mitt Romney. Sorry, I couldn’t get beyond the part where he alleged that Mitt was his real first name. Maybe there’s...
BCS - Someone agrees with me →
A system where LSU is undefeated but has a less-secure chance to make it to the National Championship game is insane. By not making the SEC Championship game, Alabama has a greater chance to make the BCS Championship than LSU. Nuts.
“The video is being taken out of context. He was taking questions for about 30...”
– Cain campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon on why Herman Cain generally sounded like a moron today when asked whether he agreed with President Obama’s actions with respect to backing Libyan opposition. Which, when you cut through the BS, translates to “don’t interrupt his sleep when...
Perry, Brain Cramps, and Talking Points
The reason Rick Perry had a brain cramp on Wednesday was because his government-agencies-I’d-eliminate is, to him, a shopping list, not something he actually believes or knows anything about. And, by the way, when you do it once, it’s a brain cramp. When you do it during every debate, it’s who you are.
Um, no. →
If you follow the link, you will see a bunch of Republican flacks on Face the Nation yestedray try and explain away the Goofy Perry Speech. Were I Bob Schieffer, I would have said the following in response to either Blackwell, Cheney, or Gillespie. “This is a speech the Governor gave to people in New Hampshire in an effort to convince people to vote for him as President. This is the...
Amazon Lockers →
These strike me as a ridiculously good idea if one happens to live and/or work in places which don’t accommodate dropped-off packages securely and easily. Amazing. I could definitely see using this if it ever came to SF and avoid using a certain NOT-brand-name overnight service - which I will not name - which can never remember out that my office is not open until 7 pm! Sadly, only...
Not trying to be dense... →
But even assuming that someone on Perry’s staff spilled the beans on Cain to Politico, what’s to apologize for? So far, the only things Cain has denied have been things Politico (or the Times or the Post) did not accuse him of. (Sorry for the preceding two dangling prepositions. Too lazy to figure out how to write those two sentences without them.)
Politico said he was charged...
October 2011
12 posts
Dude Does Not Get It →
You don’t try and dimiss controversy over birtherism with a call for the President to release his college transcript. Seriously, the guy’s already been President for almost 3 years. If the transcripts of that time aren’t enough? I don’t know what to tell you. (Basic rule of politics = gaffes are only gaffes if they reinforce a bad impression of you. No one thinks Obama...
Perry's Not So Flat Tax
Rick Perry started the day by keeping the birthers happy, oops, I mean by announcing his flat tax plan. Slate’s John Dickerson got the birther part right. No doubt that the adults within the GOP will shut Rick Perry up quickly on the birther nonsense. But the discussion (presumably in an interview either Sunday or yesterday) shows a lack of discipline. Why step on what you are putting...
20-somethings and unemployment →
This New York Magazine piece centers around why being a millenial/20-something is tough right now. Unemployment and college-related debt for people in this generation is high. Then again, the specific examples I’m reading in the piece relate to English and Poetry majors being unemployed. The hosts on NPR’s “Car Talk” have been joking about these majors (along with Art...
This. Is. Awesome. →
A Putin/Medvedev badminton video. Imagine an Obama/Biden badminton video? I can’t.
Wow, that's ironic →
Campaign which has been sending out a preacher to, among other things, brand Mormonism as a “cult,” now thinks that they are losing out of anti-Christian bias. I think even the “attack on Christmas” folks might balk at that presumption.
“So when is the GOP circular firing squad going to form up around Herman Cain?”
– That’s me. It was a near tweet but I opted for here so I could expand upon it. I like the analogy because in primaries, ganging up on an opponent sometimes results in damaging the attackers, especially when the distinctions between the attackers and the target aren’t so great. Sure,...