A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Tag Archives: politics

Jan 05 2013
Mark Twain, probably

Firestorm of Criticism for Cabinet Nominee Front-Runner Chuck Hagel

Firestorm of Criticism for Cabinet Nominee Front-Runner Chuck Hagel

PBS Newshour report:

A number of news organizations reported today that President Obama will nominate former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense next week. But there was no official confirmation from the White House.

Well okey doke, not sure what the big deal is he—

Former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel has not, so far, been nominated for the top Pentagon job, but attacks like this TV ad began shortly after news accounts named Hagel the front-runner. They focus mostly on whether he’s sufficiently pro-Israel.

So, to lay this one out:

  1. We’re running television ads to influence not an election, but a Cabinet appointment.
  2. We’re running television ads to influence a Cabinet appointment nominee who hasn’t even been nominated yet.

Oy vey.

~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s a joke snippet from a conversation I had with Colin about that New York Times piece he posted yesterday:

‘Ili:
“They called this phenomenon the ‘end of history illusion,’ in which people tend to ‘underestimate how much they will change in the future.’”
‘Ili:
Good, I was worried I’d hit a plateau of grumpiness.

Little did I know that it would only take a day for me to get even grumpier.

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Dec 20 2012
Mark Twain, probably

This is a promo for Ron Paul, “The High Tide,” from 2008 that I only just found now. According to the copy, it was created by a “small group of dedicated grassroots artists,” so it was apparently not an official campaign ad.

It features CG Ron Paul.

Look at that shit. That is some fucking CG Ron Paul.

My favorite part is at 0:41 when doves fly underwater past CG Ron Paul.

I don’t have a punchline or bit of snark to end this post. There is nothing I can do that can top simply repeating that doves fly underwater past CG Ron Paul.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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Nov 28 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Filibuster Reform: On Like Donkey Kong

Filibuster Reform: On Like Donkey Kong

Greg Sargent says it’s happening. Good news, I say. Jonathan Bernstein however says Reid’s proposal specifically is a bad idea.

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Nov 24 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Could Texas Become A Blue State?

Could Texas Become A Blue State?

Fantastic feature in the New Yorker by Ryan Lizza. The overal thrust of the piece is thusly. Texas has 38 electoral votes — if Texas flips blue it will be nearly impossible for a Republican to make it to the White House. The Hispanic population of Texas is increasing rapidly and there will come a point in the near future where Texas won’t be winnable for Republicans unless they can win a significant share of the Hispanic vote.

A simple observation but Lizza does a lot of really great reporting to underscore this and also to map out what various Republican factions, both in Texas and nationally, are trying to do about it. Set some time aside and read this, for real.

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Nov 23 2012
Mark Twain, probably

How Republicans Carried Maryland’s Same-Sex Marriage Referendum to Victory

How Republicans Carried Maryland’s Same-Sex Marriage Referendum to Victory

Walter Olson, Cato Institute:

Last week I observed that Question 6, the same-sex marriage law, had racked up strong vote totals in many Republican areas of Maryland and even carried two big GOP-leaning counties. When I wrote that piece I was working from broad county-level election returns. Now that I’ve had a chance to dig into the precinct-level returns, I can report that the story is bigger than I had realized. From the county numbers we knew that many Romney voters in Maryland must have crossed over to support same-sex marriage; now it turns out that Question 6 actually carried many of the state’s best-known GOP strongholds. Republicans voted for Question 6 in serious numbers around all the state’s major centers of population: in the Baltimore and Annapolis areas, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and in Frederick. And while the trend showed itself everywhere from small farm towns to blue-collar suburbs, it appears to have been strongest in the best-educated and most economically successful Republican communities.

The country is changing. If the Republican Party doesn’t change as well, it risks its very existence.

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Nov 07 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Puerto Rico takes big step towards US statehood

Puerto Rico takes big step towards US statehood

The two-part referendum first asked voters if they wanted to change Puerto Rico’s 114-year relationship with the United States. A second question gave voters three alternatives if they wanted a change: become a U.S. state, gain independence, or have a “sovereign free association,” a designation that would give more autonomy for the territory of 4 million people.

With 243 of 1,643 precincts reporting late Tuesday, 75,188 voters, or 53 percent, said they did not want to continue under the current political status. Forty-seven percent, or 67,304 voters, supported the status quo.

On the second question, 65 percent favored statehood, followed by 31 percent for sovereign free association and 4 percent for independence.

This isn’t a done deal yet. The next steps are approval by the US Congress and then Puerto Rico would need to adopt a state constitution. But this is a big, big step forward for Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state in the union.

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Nov 04 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Wikipedia: Alfred Chicken

Wikipedia: Alfred Chicken

Alfred Chicken is an old platformer for a few systems: Game Boy, NES, etc. It apparently had an unusual advertising campaign in the United Kingdom, according to Wikipedia:

Karl Fitzhugh, the Product Manager of the Amiga version of the Alfred Chicken video game, ran as the Alfred Chicken Party candidate in the 1993 by-election in the Christchurch, Dorset constituency. The exercise was done to promote the original game’s release. Fitzhugh finished second last with 18 votes, two votes ahead of the Rainbow Party candidate.

He also finished five votes behind the “Ian is King” party candidate.

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Oct 12 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Could pepperoni spoil presidential debate?

Could pepperoni spoil presidential debate?

Candice Choi, AP:

During the next presidential debate, the candidates will be pondering the important questions of our time. But the most controversial may be “Sausage or pepperoni?”

Pizza Hut is offering a lifetime of free pizza — one large pie a week for 30 years — or a check for $15,600 to anyone who poses the question to either President Barack Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the live Town Hall-style debate next Tuesday.

Capitalism failed. We gave it a good run, but if this is what we have to show for it, we might as well just pack it all up.

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Sep 05 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Anonymous claims to have stolen Mitt Romney’s tax returns, demands $1,000,000 in Bitcoins for ransom

Anonymous claims to have stolen Mitt Romney’s tax returns, demands $1,000,000 in Bitcoins for ransom

There’s no way this is real, right? They even have a counter-ransom going — pay $1,000,000 and they’ll release the files immediately instead of on September 28th.

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Aug 25 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Poll: 0 percent of blacks for Romney

Poll: 0 percent of blacks for Romney

Headline says it all. I’m cracking up here.

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