Althouse: At the Cloudscape Café...

August 9, 2011

At the Cloudscape Café...

... you can think quite clearly.

117 comments:

AlphaLiberal said...: I saw this very funny photo of Palin and thought I'd share with the Althousia wingers.

Ha!

BTW, have you seen the CNN Poll today? America's full faith and credit is not the only thing Republicants have run into the ditch. Their approval numbers have nosedived!

TOTAL RECALL!; 8/9/11, 1:02 PM
Scott M said...: ... you can think quite clearly.

...unlike ManBearPig. There's audio of him unhinging in front of crowd at the Aspen Institute. Very impressive.; 8/9/11, 1:06 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: "Bullshit" is the right word for the steaming piles left behind by the polluter lobby.; 8/9/11, 1:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Ominous but beautiful. You need to listen to the 'Götterdämmerung' while looking at it.; 8/9/11, 1:14 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Recall day has Alpha jazzed up.; 8/9/11, 1:16 PM
Carol_Herman said...: What time of day, where you could trust sending the camera lens sky high, and not worry about the sun?

Actually, quite beautiful.; 8/9/11, 1:16 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Via TPM:
From New CNN Poll

Democratic Party: Favorable 47%, Unfavorable 47%

Republican Party: Favorable 33%, Unfavorable 59%

The last poll before this one was from July 20th when the numbers were

Dem: Fav: 45%, Unfav 49% GOP: Fav: 41%, Unfav 55%; 8/9/11, 1:17 PM
chickelit said...: Althouse is channeling Titus with clouds; or is it cumulative?; 8/9/11, 1:17 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Recall day has the whole state abuzz. What a day! It's going to be a long night but we're hoping for some celebrating later on the Square.

They say turnout is at Presidential election levels.; 8/9/11, 1:18 PM
Anonymous said...: AlphaLiberal, how does it feel to see the rotten fruits of your welfare state world view on full display this week?

It must unnerve you that so many saw so long ago where your public dole policies would lead.

And now here we are - exactly where the critics of the socialist state said we'd be.

How humbling that must be for you, that others' could see then and you are only beginning to see now.

Or are you?; 8/9/11, 1:19 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Speaking of polls:

"The poll, which was conducted by Public Policy Polling and commissioned by the liberal website Daily Kos, shows GOP Sen. Randy Hopper leading by one percentage point and GOP. Sen. Luther Olsen ahead by three....

"... Hopper, Olsen, and GOP Sen. Alberta Darling are seen as three lawmakers whose recalls are too close to call, but whose defeat would give Democrats the three-seat change they need to retake the state Senate (presuming of course they protect the two Democratic senators facing recall on August 16)."

Enjoy your elation now, Alpha.; 8/9/11, 1:20 PM
chickelit said...: Althouse said: Recall day has Alpha jazzed up.

More jizzed than jazzed.; 8/9/11, 1:21 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Hi, Quayle! That Kool Aid is bad for you!

News flash: US Treasury bonds have been safe refuge for investors this week as the markets crumble in the harsh light of reality: consumer demand is down, down, down along with wages and employment.

Business are relearning the old lesson from the Great Depression: Workers can't buy products when their wages are constantly being slashed.

Cutting the deficit will not create jobs. Creating jobs will cut the deficit.

live and learn! TOTAL RECALL!; 8/9/11, 1:22 PM
pm317 said...: The picture before this one on your flicker stream is what I called breathtaking. But this one is not bad though there is not enough of the mountains/land at the bottom.; 8/9/11, 1:24 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Well, Alpha Liberal, Boehner was trusted with the car keys.

As to what all the politicians tried to do? Besides stealing another trillion ... they're trying to make the pump INFLATE. While we're in the midst of a Great Depression.

My guess? We're gonna watch prices for things like stocks, and housing, keep going down. Not exactly a nose-dive. But a place where the retail customer will "go back in."

Back in the 1940's ... (Because I remember back to them, those days.) Rents were so cheap ... people didn't think of owning anything. And, landlords? They were put under the thumb of politicians. Who set "rent controls" into place.

Keeping rents cheap.

And, the "retail trade" out of the market until we reached the 1950's. And Trump's dad, and Leavitt ... bought lots far away from New York City. Where they built developments.

People drove out ... and then you saw lots of people buying unfinished homes ... for $7,000. With the GI's getting government support.

I can even remember when people bought ... they became giddy. Only after they moved in ... did the man, who was the wage earner ... get to go two hours ... to get to work. Where he had to show up by 9AM.

Sure. There was a BOOM. You could open a retail store just to cater to the needs of the new homeowners. Who bought everything from lawnmowers. To Frigidaires. To carpeting. And, cleaning materials. School supplies. And furniture.

Jobs also followed. You didn't lose much moving your factory out of Manhattan. To one of the boroughs. Or to Long Island.

Then, Americans doubled the number of cars they kept in their garage.

Funny, back then. People were loyal to a brand name. In other words? If your dad drove a Ford, so did you. Ditto, for Chevrolets.

Meanwhile, we've been through hard times. Investments can turn on a dime. And, you make money, actually, because they are full of risks. As well as, sometimes, rewards.

So many people were in "hands on" businesses ... that you could absorb knowledge even if your dad owned a grocery store.

Margaret Thatcher's dad owned a grocery store. That's how she grew up to become not just the Iron Lady. But the woman who became a conservative's conservative.

Boy, did Elisabeth hate her guts.; 8/9/11, 1:25 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Youse guys and your playground insults will not diminish my excellent jazzed up spirits. Wisconsin will lead a nation out of darkness!

Those Republican dirty tricks will backfire.
Editorial: We're sensing a new kind of vote fraud

On Wisconsin! TOTAL RECALL!; 8/9/11, 1:26 PM
Synova said...: Since the recalls are all about not accepting the will of the people as expressed in the last election, expect that if the Democrats don't get their majority, there will be a public hissy-fit and charges of voter fraud.

It's so hard to be "the man" and "oppressed" at the very same time, but it sure is fun.; 8/9/11, 1:26 PM
Synova said...: Oh, nevermind.; 8/9/11, 1:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Creating jobs will cut the deficit.

So by your logic if the government hires every one of us then we'll never have any unemployment again.

Or do you know of another way that the government creates a job, Alpha?

I, on the one hand, advocate a cut to the deficit to reduce the tax load, and by reducing the tax load a business is able to hire one more person.

You, on the other hand, believe in perpetual motion machines, where the machine creates the power to run the machine.

Except Europe is about 20 - 30 years ahead of us, and the machine is starting to grind down, isn't it Alpha.

Sorry you picked the losing method, Alpha. I really am.; 8/9/11, 1:27 PM
KCFleming said...: "Creating jobs will cut the deficit."

So what will Obama do to create jobs?; 8/9/11, 1:28 PM
Patrick said...: AlphaLiberal. Obama was the one who made the point he was driving the economy. The media reported on his blurbage quite extensively. The GoP had the keys taken from them and were in the back seat.

The only problem was that Obama got a bit drunk on power and swerved off the road narrowly missing the Tea Party. When the police came to test him for sobriety, he blurrly pointed over to the Tea Party and said "it's their fault officer"; 8/9/11, 1:29 PM
pm317 said...: wow, these SEAL guys are gorgeous .. it is pretty sad.; 8/9/11, 1:31 PM
Synova said...: "Cutting the deficit will not create jobs. Creating jobs will cut the deficit."

The first time a Democrat creates a job, pigs will fly and there will be a snowstorm in hell.

Not only do Democrats not create jobs, when someone like Walker makes sure that people can keep their jobs or even hire on more people, the Democrats try to destroy him and anyone elected who supported him.; 8/9/11, 1:33 PM
Synova said...: TOTAL RECALL !!11!!11!; 8/9/11, 1:35 PM
Synova said...: "Cutting the deficit will not create jobs. Creating jobs will cut the deficit."

This is actually very Republican, very Tea Party.

We assume, of course, that the "jobs" are all government honeypots that don't actually create anything at all and can't, as has been pointed out, create a perpetual motion machine. But take that assumption away and assume that "jobs" are private sector jobs and it's a simple statement of fact.

It's not reducing the deficit that creates jobs, it's a better business environment -- something more stable and less punitive so that businesses can risk expansion and hiring. The creation of those jobs is what would reduce the deficit.

Of course, if there is nothing bad about the deficit, why bother? Simply expand government and expand the un-harmful deficit. Borrow more from China. Why not?

It seems to be a matter of religious faith and fervor that there is no harm to operating in the red. Any attempt to do something about operating in the red, at a constant and escalating loss, is portrayed as hateful and outright harmful... terrorists and bombs and all that.

Trying to do something about running government ahead of funds demands months of tantrums and recall elections.

The mind truly does boggle.

Hold the line, Wisconsin. We need the example. We really do.; 8/9/11, 1:42 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: I know, Ann. I read DKos.

These elections are pretty unusual and do not lend themselves to polling. Plus, knocking out 3 incumbents in an August election is a pretty tall order.

So we may not get there today but we will not relent.; 8/9/11, 1:44 PM
Scott M said...: we will not relent

Having been in close proximity with some of them, can you please tell them to at least deodorant?; 8/9/11, 1:46 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Synova gets it wrong from the start:

We assume, of course, that the "jobs" are all government honeypots that don't actually create anything at all and can't, a

You are wrong. they would be public, private, quasi, whatever. People need jobs and businesses need more customers as demand is way down, including government AND private sector demand.

We used to all agree to build up our country but today Rs won't even agree to fix bridges or roads or anything -- if it helps Obama.

If you were a thoughtful, open-minded sort I'd engage in reasoned debate. Not so much.

TOTAL RECALL!; 8/9/11, 1:47 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Scott M:

Having been in close proximity with some of them, can you please tell them to at least deodorant?

That was funny the first time I heard it in the 3rd grade. Not so much.

TOTAL RECALL!; 8/9/11, 1:48 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Synova, there must have been pigs filling the skies back in the 1930s when FDR crated all those jobs. Even then, Republicans opposed job creation.

Hey, Synova, please explain this:
If the Repubclian magic elixir of tax cuts creates jobs, then why did George Bush's two terms with (deregulation and) tax cuts out the yazoo to the tune of trillions of dollars lead to massive job losses?

Remember Bush's last year when we were losing 500,000+ jobs per month?

If tax cuts create jobs, where are the jobs?!?

(A: Philippines, China, Mexico....); 8/9/11, 1:51 PM
Scott M said...: You need to borrow a "Now" and a "," from another sentence. You're all good with borrowing, right?; 8/9/11, 1:53 PM
Curious George said...: Total Recall!!; 8/9/11, 1:57 PM
Scott M said...: Did you know they are remaking that movie?; 8/9/11, 1:58 PM
Shanna said...: Ah, clouds. We had actual rain here for the first time in a month last night and today. It is glorious!; 8/9/11, 2:00 PM
bagoh20 said...: Shorter A.L.:

DUH.; 8/9/11, 2:02 PM
Synova said...: I remember all the *whining* about jobs under Bush, when the unemployment rate was 5 point something.

It was a disaster, we were told. When it was election time in 2004 the media tried to make it about jobs and if someone pointed out that the unemployment rate really wasn't that bad someone else would say, "Tell that to the people out of work!"

Now the unemployment rate is far higher and seems to be stuck where it is at twice the rate or more. There are so many "discouraged" job seekers and so many people who are "underemployed" that the numbers we are given have little actual meaning.

And I'm supposed to believe that it was actually Bush who was shedding jobs and Obama is creating them?

And that Obama is creating private sector growth?

On what planet. I will go there. And get a job.

(Talked to a gentleman last night, young man from Germany working in Physics at the University. He has to decide if he should stay here to write his thesis and complete what he's finding very interesting, or go home to Germany and get his foot in the door there so that when it all goes straight to hell he'll already have an established place. This is not just US in trouble here.); 8/9/11, 2:06 PM
bagoh20 said...: Sharon Stone was extremely hot in Total Recall, but she still needed to die.

Alpha would like that movie too, because the freaks win in the end, but it was fiction after all.; 8/9/11, 2:07 PM
ricpic said...: Lonely Are The Brave

Ya jist gotta clear that thar last hill
And THEN them thar skies'll clear, pardner.
Jist beyond that last hill. So have no fear,
Spur yer pony up and up and into the golden spill.; 8/9/11, 2:09 PM
KCFleming said...: The leftists are winning in London.

They are taking what they want from "the rich".

AlphaLiberal and the Wisconsin Democrats are the first wave of this same mindset in the US.

Destructive buggers all.; 8/9/11, 2:09 PM
Synova said...: Also, please note, that I specifically said what it was created jobs and it was specifically not "tax cuts."

Tax cuts can help, but mostly people who are hiring need to know they aren't going to get screwed by vindictive asses who decide that they've made enough money now, and don't need any more.

The issue is jobs.

Democrats are unserious about creating any that are not based on redistribution of tax funds, throwing more money at pet projects, and calling it "stimulus" while doing their best to make capitalists out to be the villains instead of the saviors.

Eat your damn peas!; 8/9/11, 2:12 PM
Synova said...: And in the end, Walker made some reasonable and responsible changes that allowed budgets to be balanced without being forced to fire people, and it's a crime.

TOTAL RECALL!!!!!

Ignorant infants.; 8/9/11, 2:16 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Synova, come on back to reality:

And I'm supposed to believe that it was actually Bush who was shedding jobs and Obama is creating them?

It happens to be a historical fact. The economy was deep in the shitter before the November 2008 election was held.

I don't have ready access to the monthly job losses but you can see a chart at the following which clearly shows unemployment rocketing on 8% before Obama was sworn in.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

When you guys reject basic plain facts and insist that the world is as FoxNews and the National Review tell you it is, you really forfeit respect.

Anymore there's no point trying to reason with a conservative.; 8/9/11, 2:18 PM
Henry said...: So what will Obama do to create jobs?

Break windows.; 8/9/11, 2:21 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Synova, if you are going to to insist that Bush handed off a fine economy to Obama you really should avoid making these sorts of charges:

Ignorant infants.

You are the one who is ignorant when you said this:

And I'm supposed to believe that it was actually Bush who was shedding jobs and Obama is creating them?

And that Obama is creating private sector growth?

I already provided a link from the BLS showing that, on this Earth, the economy was massively shedding jobs under Bush. (And Unemployment reached 6%, not 5% earlier).

Add to this that the public sector has been losing 100s of 1,000s of jobs.

Fair warning: Fox News lies to you.; 8/9/11, 2:23 PM
Palladian said...: Wow, AlphaLiberal's pussy is all a'shiver!; 8/9/11, 2:23 PM
Palladian said...: I mean, lay down the plastic tarp 'cause there're some damp panties somewhere in Madison today!; 8/9/11, 2:25 PM
Titus said...: Clouds.

thank you.; 8/9/11, 2:29 PM
Irene said...: "So we may not get there today but we will not relent."

Marxist much?; 8/9/11, 2:31 PM
Titus said...: The Seal guys are beautiful.

I especially like the brownie from The Cape.

What a fucking waste.

Clouds.; 8/9/11, 2:32 PM
Anonymous said...: They say Rick Perry's going to throw his hat in the race this weekend. What are your thoughts on him? I'm thinking he's my favorite right now, but I also think I need more information about him. Pros and cons, in the commenters' eyes?; 8/9/11, 2:54 PM
chickelit said...: Earth to Alpha: Obama can't run again on "Bush Sucks"

Simple passing of time has morphed that meme into "Obama sucks"

We understand why you don't like that, but that's what you have
______________
[sentences without periods float like clouds in empty space]

Clouds; 8/9/11, 2:56 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "Pros and cons, in the commenters' eyes?"

Con: His hair isn't as nice as Romney's

Pro: He jogs w/ his handgun at the ready.; 8/9/11, 2:57 PM
Alex said...: All the polls show the recalls are 50/50. Why would Alpha be so elated when it could go either way?; 8/9/11, 2:59 PM
Synova said...: "Synova, if you are going to to insist that Bush handed off a fine economy to Obama..."

If I was going to do that, I would have.

I simply responded to the ridiculous implication that it's not Obama, it's Bush.

Everyone knows, of course (and even if they lie about it), that no one was interested in pushing too hard to reign back the "social justice" based housing loans and economic manipulation prior to the summer of 2008. Republicans are far from innocent in this, even if the notion that bad-debt is a public good was a liberal doctrine. It's not just that Wall Street was playing numbers games but that government had laws requiring banks to issue bad loans and that government was propping up bad business practices.

The economy was not *fine*.

Typically, however, the Democrats who got an overwhelming majority in 2006 and a president who vetoed nothing they sent him, spent even more, and after the economy started to domino in 2008 and Obama was elected Bush signed what the Congress sent him, starting the stimulus and Obama doubled down on corporate bailouts, debt and borrowing, during his first two years of TOTAL DOMINANCE. (You gotta say that like a mortal combat voice over.)

And now, of course, the answer is to do more of the same only bigger and better. The key to the economy wasn't home ownership by people who couldn't quite afford it, that was the key to a meltdown, but we're supposed to believe that the key to the economy is spending beyond our means, to get the juice flowing.

What logic explains why that will work better this time than it did before?

And Obama has been flagrantly neglecting anything remotely like job creation. He continues to scapegoat the job creators as if the economy is simply a matter of preferences, and businesses prefer to be greedy tight-wads.

And somehow, the rates of unemployment are Bush's fault?

Obama is not interested in jobs. He's proven that. He makes noises about it when he has to, but mostly he just wants us all to hate the people who hire us.; 8/9/11, 2:59 PM
Alex said...: AL - the massive shedding of jobs happened from 2007-2008 with Pelosi in charge of Congress.; 8/9/11, 3:00 PM
Carol_Herman said...: This is a question.

Soon we will know the answer to it.

But what if a "large turnout" means people stream in from both sides ...

And, the best seats in the house remain on the 50-yard line.; 8/9/11, 3:03 PM
Carol_Herman said...: "Exit Polling" ... doesn't that fly in the face of "your ballot choice is a secret?"

I hate it when we can get people to say out loud for whom they voted.

And, I also remember ... back to when I was a kid. (Born in 1939). Politicians gave out buttons!

So, there, too, people were willing to share a secret.

Our Founding Fathers did give us the privilege though ... to keep a secret.

Meanwhile, I don't think I'd respond to a pollster with the truth.

And, I even believe that by slipping my absentee ballot into an envelope ... it goes secure. through the post office. And, if you tried to figure out how I voted, you'd go to jail. To a Federal prison.

Yet people tell strangers whom they cast their ballots for?

I've sinned. Because looking back ... my choices rarely won the race.

It's like going to the track, though. I wouldn't bet $2 to bet on a horse! Some horses rise in stature, though. And, their wins become something for the history books.

Coming in by a nose? Perhaps, not so much.; 8/9/11, 3:08 PM
Scott M said...: Yesterday...DOW drops 600 points. President Obama spoke to the nation.

Today, he cancelled the daily briefing, didn't address the nation, and the DOW is up over 400.

Surely that's not related. But it IS funny.; 8/9/11, 3:13 PM
garage mahal said...: Gravedigger getting in on some recall action.; 8/9/11, 3:14 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Where's the flickr button? How do some people see more photos?; 8/9/11, 3:15 PM
Carol_Herman said...: You can't fool me. Obama is running, again, to win.

He'll be like Danny Kaye. Comes on stage. And, it's hard to see him a star. His "schtick" was to be loser-man. Where losers win. (They win the girl at the end.)

Obama doesn't have to look aggressive. He's Don Quixote already.

What's bad is that the GOP got suckered into giving Boehner the keys to the car.

Shows ya that Thomas E Dewey couldn't produce the wardrobe that won an election ... where Truman was supposed to be trounced.

What did Harry do? He went onto a rail car. The car moved down the tracks for 33,000 miles. Making plenty of local stops. Unbeknownst to Dewey or those elites in the stupid party ... "Give 'Em Hell, Harry" was born.

Did you know that at every whistle stop there were crowds of people? (Before it got called "fly over country" ... and got ignored.)

I'm not betting against obama.

Surely, my wishing an outcome ... can't change the way the ocean flows.

But if I had to bet? I'd bet on the phrase that "people don't change horses midstream."; 8/9/11, 3:22 PM
Hagar said...: Click on the photo and Flickr appears.; 8/9/11, 3:27 PM
Scott M said...: Let Him Watch And Learn

Toddlers learn by imitation, and watching you use the bathroom is a natural first step. He may notice that Daddy uses the potty differently from Mommy,

...Daddy is only in there for a few minutes, regardless of what's required going into or out of his body. Mommy...not so much.

which opens up a great opportunity for you to explain the basic mechanics of how boys use the bathroom.

...see above. Brevity is a virtue.

When talking about body parts, it's important to be anatomically precise.

...grab HERE, not THERE.

Teaching him to call his penis a "pee-pee" when every other body part has a more adult-sounding name may imply that his genitals are embarrassing.

Depends on the kid and the junk in question, really. My son's meat and two bits have zero to be ashamed of.; 8/9/11, 3:44 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Nice photo.; 8/9/11, 3:45 PM
traditionalguy said...: Lyssa the lovely...Perry is a cheerleader that senses the emotions of the crowd and can stir them up.

That is a real talent. But he cannot yet target his audience very well outside of Texas.

Texas/Oklahoma is just a whole other culture.

Can Perry learn new cheers that are acceptable to voters outside of Texas?

Perry is a changeable fellow , but his only known anchor seems to be loyalty to the wealthy Texans who support him.

I don't see his skills beating the rest of the country's prejudice against southerners anytime soon.

Maybe he can run and learn from losing how to better target the national crowd he must cheerlead for to win.; 8/9/11, 3:52 PM
Scott M said...: Not to mention the easily contrived Bush II moniker.; 8/9/11, 3:54 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Hagar, thanks!

Oh, wow. Not only does flickr appear ... the photo there even looks bigger and better.

But I can't figure out the buttons to push. I didn't think I saw the photo before this one. And, Older goes to the right. Weird.

Nice lesson, though!; 8/9/11, 4:00 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Tradition Guy @ 1:52 PM

Maybe, you have a better gypsy? But nobody knows ahead who is gonna win.

I said "Danny Kaye" ... as my example. Where a man who was definitely a "nebish" ... became a star!

I'm not writing off obama.

However, I am writing off Boehner!

Too bad the stupid party advocates get fooled by a nice tie.; 8/9/11, 4:02 PM
chickelit said...: However, I am writing off Boehner!

Boehner gets off when you get on...

...his case; 8/9/11, 4:06 PM
Scott M said...: My Boehners tend to work that way too.; 8/9/11, 4:07 PM
pm317 said...: Perry was awful on Jon Stewart..his prayer/religious schtick scares me.; 8/9/11, 4:08 PM
chickelit said...: pm317 said...
Perry was awful on Jon Stewart..his prayer/religious schtick scares me.

Shucks! I missed that. Should I be scared too?; 8/9/11, 4:13 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Scott M, and Bruce. When you get erections you call them "bayners?" Like in some sort of mistake?

You know the internet is so vast it really doesn't care. You just can't make an impression waving your cock around.

On the other hand? I'm in love with Titus. And, where he signs off "clouds," I tought he got there ... to me ... before this picture.

Now, what boehner did is a menace not to Obama ... but to his hapless opponent ... who hasn't been picked out of the crowd, yet.

Ya know? McCain didn't fly, either. (First, not in 1988.) But then, again, just recently.

I also know Harry S. Truman traded horses. Cows. And, pigs. He learned early in life, and on his dad's farm, how you really pick out the prize from the stock.

Meanwhile. Keep Boehner. I don't care. Did he kick the ZOMBIE alive? I don't think so.

And, I don't think wearing gorgeous ties ... and having blue eyes ... gets you into a winning position.

No lawyer should depend on his suit. Nice tailoring, and all that.; 8/9/11, 4:17 PM
Scott M said...: I'll admit you got me as far as the fourth bullet statement that time. Besides, the internet is not vast enough for me to be waving my bayner around.; 8/9/11, 4:19 PM
chickelit said...: @Carol Link

Sometimes pedantry can be funny! Lighten up a little! :); 8/9/11, 4:27 PM
ricpic said...: "You can't fool me," brays Carol Herman. About what, you insane yenta from hell, about what? "I'm in love with Titus" coos the pathetic creature who Titus, the quintessential homo, doesn't even see as human being as how she's old, fat and a she.; 8/9/11, 4:35 PM
Rialby said...: "Perry was awful on Jon Stewart..his prayer/religious schtick scares me."

Why is religion only scary when it's practiced by conservatives?

Was anyone "scared" when Obama ran around trumpeting the fact that one of his closest advisers was his pastor?

Was anyone "scared" when Bill Clinton walked around with a bible and having prayer breakfasts after he got caught with Monica?

Was anyone "scared" when Jimmy Carter repeatedly talked about prayer and Christianity while in office?; 8/9/11, 4:40 PM
traditionalguy said...: Carol...I see Boehner as the experienced hand with the instincts that the GOP needs to set up Obama from its only base of power.

Boehner is not running for anything else that I can see.

Why do you despise Boehner? Is it his mid-western good old boy politics? I really want to know.; 8/9/11, 4:40 PM
ricpic said...: Once around the block was enough with that horrible LBJ and his beagles that he pulled by the ears and showing off his operation scars on that horrible hanging gut that he insisted on shoving in our faces good ol' Texas boy ho ho ho. Jackie that elegant bitch was probably right that he had a hand in JFK's assassination.; 8/9/11, 4:43 PM
ricpic said...: Carol has no memory of what she said 15, no make that 5, no make that 1 minute ago.; 8/9/11, 4:45 PM
chickelit said...: @ricpic: re LBJ, you forgot this!; 8/9/11, 4:46 PM
KCFleming said...: "Was anyone "scared" when..."

Nah, the leftist intelligentsia knows they're just pandering to the flyover rubes, pablum for the masses.

Except Carter, 'cause he seemed to actually believe all that stuff. That's why the intellectuals hated him.

Until, post-presidency, when he went mental Marxist.
Then they loved him long time.; 8/9/11, 4:47 PM
chickelit said...: You're a genius, Pogo!; 8/9/11, 4:54 PM
chickelit said...: Pogo: (that last line, mostly); 8/9/11, 4:58 PM
Titus said...: Have you been to Steenbocks Althouse?

Is it fab?

We are going tonight.

Clouds and Tits and HOgs.; 8/9/11, 5:00 PM
Irene said...: LBJ's scar and beagle made it into two threads today!; 8/9/11, 5:07 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Make it move!; 8/9/11, 5:08 PM
chickelit said...: Have you been to Steenbocks Althouse?

Harry Steenbock made a small fortune for the University of Wisconsin. He discovered the link between Vitamin D and sunlight--this was bad news for rickets at the time.

Another professor named Henry DeLuca invented warfarin (as rat poison) but which found greater use as a blood anti-coagulant.

I used to bicycle by DeLuca's mansion in the Highland's neighborhood once and while.

Swanky digs.; 8/9/11, 5:10 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Boehner's from a safe district in Ohio.

Since when is that Midwestern?

All obama has to add is poetry ... and he'll be like Muhammed Ali. "Dances like a butterfly. Punches like a bee."; 8/9/11, 5:13 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Nope. Clouds belongs to Titus.

Aa to the future, it remains unknown.

Or as Donald Rumsfeld said: Unknown unknown.

What jobs did Don Quixote bring?

I'd say ahead the possibilities are endless.

But obama still can win.

Even if people walk into their voting places holding their noses.

We Americans who have voted, have been there, before.

Carter pwned himself. Nobody to blame.

Nixon? He should'a gone and blamed the FBI.

Where here? Keeping your eyes closed sure ain't a good way to drive.

But why worry? Boehner has the car keys.; 8/9/11, 5:19 PM
traditionalguy said...: Carol ... Ohio is Mid-western.

Every state north and west of the mountains is mid-western.

Maybe you can exclude southern Indiana and southern Illinois on cultural terms, but Ohio is the original Mid-west.

The original settlers in Ohio came east across from New England roots.; 8/9/11, 5:22 PM
Carol_Herman said...: There's so much bloat in our Federal government there's gonna be plenty on the plate for obama to cut.

He's gonna start with the rich white meat.

And, when he cuts loose ... it one affect a single person who votes for the democraps, as a general rule.

That's how I see the future. From my own front porch. Haven't switched my opinion, either. Though yes. Politics makes lots of people (who don't even have their own horse in the rice), so hot under the collar.

Maybe, it's like blowing on a crystal ball ... thinking you can heat things up ... where you can guess the unknowns with accuracy.

Or else you've stuck your palm out to a gypsy who can take your money.; 8/9/11, 5:24 PM
David said...: Every "public" job is paid for by someone else who already has a job. (Or by your grandkid when the $1.5 trillion per year of deficit spending comes due.)

This simple fact is why there is a limit to job creating by government subsidy or employment. Eventually you come to the place where you are taking so much, in the aggregate, from those with jobs that they produce less. The reduced production either comes from a sensible choice not to work half their life for the government, or from a lack of capital to invest.

Obama has said he was focused--like a laser--on jobs ever since he took office. What he favors is not working. Time for something else.; 8/9/11, 5:27 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Well, Traditional Guy, I was sitting in the audience. In San Diego. When Lewis Black came out and said San Diego, and all of southern California didn't need a weatherman.

He said. Since he's on the road a lot. That he gets up in a motel ... in Minnesota ... And, that's when you need a weatherman!

He added, he was sure that Norwegians got on wooden boats. Traveled across the Atantic. And, arrived in New York. When they looked at each other and said "Nah. Not cold enough."

They didn't stop looking until they reached Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Boehner's safe seat is in a place nobody, today, would venture to go to invest a dollar.

What was once in Ohio ... ain't no more. People kept moving on.; 8/9/11, 5:29 PM
living1nbf3 said...: OK, who has polling data??? I am dying here!!; 8/9/11, 5:34 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Here is a site that is posting numbers, when polls close.

I don't know if they'll be the most up to date.; 8/9/11, 5:39 PM
living1nbf3 said...: pbAndj:

Thanks. Still zeros across the board. But I am jumpy that way.

Called my buddy who's father lives in WI and asked him to send updates.

Weird thing? I live in OK. But I understand the consequences will be felt nation wide.

Just thought Althouse would have a post up about the recalls. Thought wrong I guess.; 8/9/11, 5:51 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "Just thought Althouse would have a post up about the recalls."

Maybe they're doing the Althouse plant thing.; 8/9/11, 6:00 PM
Alex said...: Althouse hillbillies feeling the recall-dread. Garage is popping the champagne already.; 8/9/11, 6:05 PM
David said...: PB&J:

TPM would think that Wisconsin polls close at 9 PM, since they undoubtedly are in the much more sophisticated Eastern time zone.

Here in flyover land we keep a different time, and the polls will close at 8 PM.; 8/9/11, 6:19 PM
MadisonMan said...: There is no coverage of the Wisconsin Recall elections here in PA. At least not in the little town I'm in. Tomorrow I drive Dad to his Doctor's appt. We went to one today too. Dad has a lot of doctors.; 8/9/11, 6:24 PM
David said...: Perhaps Alpha is just giddy from the gift the Federal Reserve gave to the Obama reelection campaign today. They have pledged to keep the discount rate at near zero until well into 2013.

By this time Obama may have proposed a budget for governing the country. He should be thinking about doing so. The Fed just increased his reelection prospects and just one budget during his likely 8 year term would be nice.

It would be churlish to say that a major reason why the Fed must continue this Japanese style zero interest thingy is that Obama's policies have not done what he promised for the economy, and the federal government can not afford higher interest rates at this time.

I do not suggest that the Fed governors favor Obama's reelection. Fact is, they have little choice since our elected representatives are incompetent at everything but blame shifting and avoidance of difficult choices.; 8/9/11, 6:27 PM
Sprezzatura said...: David,

They do reference 8 local time.

But, I--as a left coaster (most of the time)--did notice the right coastness of TPM's headline.; 8/9/11, 6:40 PM
garage mahal said...: Althouse hillbillies feeling the recall-dread. Garage is popping the champagne already.

I predicted at least one recount, but I did just crack a New Glarus. Then I'm going to go dodge some bullets and molotovs down at the Capitol!; 8/9/11, 6:49 PM
Anonymous said...: thanks for the link pb&J. was just about to ask if anyone knew of such a site.; 8/9/11, 7:13 PM
Jason said...: Its amazing how the left has thrown EVERYTHING into these recall elections.

I mean, think about it: in just a few short years, Dems in this state have lost the governorship, two US House seats, a US Senate seat, the state assembly, the state senate, and a state supreme court election. Not regaining the state senate tonight would be a crushing blow to the left in this state, and to the left nationally...Ive read that outside interests have poured about $10 million into these races.

Ive predicted that Kapanke is the only recalled senator that loses on the GOP side tonight. And if that happens, the amount of money pissed away to win one state senate seat...amazing.

And even if the Dems win the senate back tonight, what is going to change? Walker still has gotten everything he wanted, passed his budget...its utter foolishness.

Its entertaining political theater that probably comes to a crashing halt tonight. If/when Darling and Hopper are declared winners, I would like to see the reaction at the big party the Dems and union bosses are having in Madison tonight.; 8/9/11, 7:28 PM
chickelit said...: @sonicfrog:

To summarize:

-You incorrectly insisted that metallic copper has electron valence shells like atoms do instead of a delocalized band structure characteristic of conductive metals.

-You incorrectly asserted that Cu(II) salts are not molecules, willfully trying to obfuscate, by calling them ores.

It's all there in the thread.; 8/9/11, 7:34 PM
chickelit said...: Ooops! sorry, wrong thread!; 8/9/11, 7:46 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Chicken,

Are the nerd awards being handed out today?

P.S. Not that there's anything wrong w/ that. Especially from my ChemE POV.; 8/9/11, 7:47 PM
The Dude said...: Chick, ya think?; 8/9/11, 7:54 PM
chickelit said...: What did I mention Hitler or something?; 8/9/11, 8:15 PM
Scott M said...: Maybe you can exclude southern Indiana and southern Illinois

How is southern Illinois, home of the Salukis, Diamond's, and Rock 105 WTAO not "culturally" Midwest?; 8/9/11, 8:18 PM
Pastafarian said...: Carol Herman said: "Boehner's from a safe district in Ohio. Since when is that Midwestern?"

Where do you suppose Ohio is, Carol?

"Meanwhile, Boehner's safe seat is in a place nobody, today, would venture to go to invest a dollar."

Oh, I see. You have Ohio confused with California. Ohio's economy is picking up steam under Gov. Kasich (R).

You keep impugning Boehner as a sell-out, Boehner, who's rated something like 96% conservative since he's been in the House (a rarity for Ohio, where many establishment Rs are rinos). He's done more in the last month to prevent Obama's re-election than anyone else has yet.

chickenlittle's comments about copper make more sense than this stuff you spit up over Ohio.

Up your game, Carol Herman!; 8/9/11, 8:24 PM
MamaM said...: This one reminds me of pictures taken from outer space that show the earth as a blue marble covered in clouds, against a dark black back drop of space. Only instead of a smoothly curved surface, lumps!; 8/9/11, 9:07 PM
traditionalguy said...: Scott M...well maybe not, since I am familiar with southern Indiana but i was taking some ones story as to southern Illinois. He was a Hospital Administrator at Urbana /Champaign, and that was his opinion.

My apologies.; 8/9/11, 10:54 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Pastafarian @8:24 PM

I, too, can put a colander on my head, as headgear.

Boehner's "popularity" has fallen off a cliff.

He got into the Speaker's Seat same way Nancy Pelosi did. Every two years the seat opens. The people who keep their seats the longest ... by some imaginary inside rule gets to UMPIRE the game.

The newcomers? They only get to a good committee IF the "ruling class" deems to give them some feathers.

That shit house isn't called a sausage factory for nothing!

You want to believe Boehner's doing a great job? Who am I to complain? He's got the job. AND, you can't blame Californians! This state votes BLUE.

Oh, yeah. Obama wants to win in 2012. Up ahead? All he has to do is remove about a trillion in cuts ... which cuts the overhead. He won't touch anything that has a (D) label on it.

Sure. He could cut the saddle off Hillary's ass ... And, we'd all say that's good. State's not only useless ... it gets involved with the graft of giving aid to foreigners.

And, if I can figure this out from my living room perch ... why assume that the battled hardened White House wouldn't be looking to bedevil the likes of Boehner?

Nope. I can't see the future. And, I think Donald Rumsfeld was right: There are unknown unknowns.

This includes why some of the nicest people marry others who aren't nice at all.

And, why politicians, working for government, aren't in business to help you one iota.

Does Boehner wear nice ties! Drool-able they are so gorgeous.

His blue eyes? Very attractive.; 8/10/11, 12:51 AM
Scott M said...: He was a Hospital Administrator at Urbana /Champaign, and that was his opinion.

If you talk to someone from Chicago, yeah, Urbana/Champaign is "southern" Illinois. If you look at a map, it's pretty clearly not. I would count southern Illinois as anything south of I-64, but that's just me maybe, with Carbondale at the epicenter.

Champaign/Urbana, as it's called by the locals, is home to the very large University Of Illinois. That has a significant effect on the local populace in terms of demographics and, most definitely, political landscape. Carbondale's Southern Illinois University has a similar effect on its area, but to a lesser extent, mainly due to the size.; 8/10/11, 7:38 AM