Monday, February 06, 2012

This is Daisy, who always rides INSIDE the vehicle at all times. Open thread.

Posted by Betty Cracker on 02/06/12 at 05:50 PM
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Saturday, February 04, 2012

As a lead-in to this weekend’s major sporting fixture, the GOP have laid on a little entertainment in Nevada.

Who will win the thing isn’t an issue, the main interest of the evening lying in seeing whether Ron Paul can upset Newt even more than normal by pipping him for second place, and how far down the can Santorum will go.

One minor cliffhanger that might have enlivened proceedings was headed off earlier in the day when it was revealed that Newt was not going to repeat his self-parodic bravura performance from January 31 in Florida by going postal at his concession speech, but would instead hold a press conference to enable him to berate and insult the media to their yellow faces. A ripple ran round various outlets that he might be going to announce the suspension of his campaign. Alas—or YAY!—depending on your perspective, that prospect now seems a non-starter.

In other news, the dubious value of the Endorsement of The Donald, plus vast amounts of billionaire funding, apparently can’t secure Mitt a campaign team that can avoid handing a cheap shot to crappy photoshoppers everywhere, and who am I to balk at such an invitation?

If you’re on tenterhooks, HuffPo has a results roundup here that lets you see the county-by-county play and compare the tally to the 2008 caucus.

And no GOP debacle would be complete without able updates from Talking Points Memo.

Call this an open thread, call it a popcorn jamboree, call it what you will.

Posted by YAFB on 02/04/12 at 10:05 PM
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Friday, February 03, 2012

Tee-hee:

My laptop is experiencing hot flashes and wheezing piteously, which means I’ll have to hitch up the wagon for a trip into town to see if I can find a Super Bowl sale this weekend. Any laptop recommendations?

[H/T: Buzzfeed]

Posted by Betty Cracker on 02/03/12 at 08:51 AM
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Thursday, February 02, 2012

“There are some things that you just can’t imagine happening in your life. This is one of them.”—Willard Mitt Romney

Here’s something Mitt may wish he left in Vegas: the clammy handshake and smoked-brass endorsement of a Quality Birtherloon Fiberglass Fun Figure who’s famous for the phrase “YOU’RE FIRED.” 

The S.S. Grandiose, having sprung a leak too soon this morning, had little to say about the desertion of this particular rat.

UPDATE: The DNC press release about the Trump endorsement was simply the original Romney email, which, the DNC felt, spoke volumes just by itself.

But I thought it needed just one little detail adjusted:

Posted by Mrs. Polly on 02/02/12 at 05:21 PM
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The reaction to the Marquis de Mitten’s* line about the very poor provides interesting insights into the difference in how Republicans and Democrats process information:

“I’m not concerned with the very poor. We have a safety net there,” Romney told CNN. “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90 percent, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Zandar (and many others) said that this makes Romney sound out of touch with the suffering of millions of Americans and noted that Romney’s alleged indifference to the fate of his fellow plutocrats is unconvincing. I agree.

But that quote was received very differently on the right, who accused Mittens of wanting to patch the hammock containing shiftless, t-bone-buying young bucks and Cadillac-driving welfare queens. Charles Krauthammer:

The idea that somehow we can sign [consign, stupid Daily Caller!—ed.] the poor to the safety net and we patch it and dependency is a liberal idea. Romney is a guy who came late to his new ideology and still can’t speak it very well.”

Even the wingnuttiest of Mittens’ detractors noted that the “I’m not concerned about the very poor” line made Mittens sound like a clueless fat cat. It’s obvious that Mittens was trying to appeal to “Real Americans” with that argument. He just really, really sucks at it.

*H/T: Zandar

[X-POSTED at Balloon Juice]

Posted by Betty Cracker on 02/02/12 at 07:32 AM
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Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Go ahead and do a little victory dance, ROMNI, you’ve earned it.

Three things I learned from YouTube this morning:

1) The more elaborate a dancer’s robot costume, the less impressive their poppin’ and/or lockin’ skills

2) The closer a dancer physically resembles Mitt Romney, the more likely it is that their video’s had embedding disabled

3) There was a third Step Up movie and it was in 3D and I didn’t see it—HOW DID THIS HAPPEN

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/01/12 at 10:25 AM
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Well, it wasn’t failure to launch, because Newt’s launched everything he can. Watch and wait with us, if you can bear the suspense. As usual, TPM has the goods, with their delightful interactive map.

Ooooh, I’m just on tenterhooks, aren’t you?

Update: Know what’s fun? Comparing the results with Betty’s map. So far, two might-as-well-be-Alabama counties are going for Newt, as per her prediction.

Posted by Mrs. Polly on 01/31/12 at 06:50 PM
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Well played, Mr. Axelrod.

Posted by Betty Cracker on 01/31/12 at 06:53 AM
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Friday, January 27, 2012

Willard Romney (seen here in his triumphant Florida face-off with Newt Gingrich) came up the hard way~~Papacito was born in Mexico, for Moroni’s sake, and left young Willard nothing, nothing save his good name. Well, the given name Willard lies about, anyway. But let’s not scoff at the scope of Willard’s achievement: his propensity for lying was something Willard had to develop all on his own. Jobs, ads,healthcare, there is no lie too big~~grandiose, if you will~~nor too small for Willard.

But we dast not judge this child of La Raza too harshly; after all, he is probably a little light-headed, paying 50% taxes as he does.

Posted by Mrs. Polly on 01/27/12 at 09:54 PM
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Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Fabulous Four go at it again, and this time there’ll be none of that “silent room” nonsense that revealed that Newt likes a screamer.

CNN live stream here.

Incomparable Guardian live blog here.

Posted by YAFB on 01/26/12 at 08:05 PM
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Another day, another unexpected point of agreement with otherwise reprehensible Republican carbuncle Newt Gingrich, now cheerfully bloodying the putative GOP nominee at a Univision-sponsored round table:  what a weird, relaxing world Willard Romney inhabits. An Obama-level fantastical world, according to “Moon Miner” Newt (President Obama’s “fantasy” is evidently one Latino voters prefer, incidentally).

Did you hop the roof of a freight train, place your life in the hands of brutal coyotes, or otherwise risk your all and everything to cross the border illegally, only to find you can’t get employment and provide for your family? Just self-deport (which I imagine would go something like this) and reverse the process! You can take a job back home to while away the time while you wait your turn to enter this most greatest nation of all with our collective blessing. Still unsure about whether or how to do it? Here’s a site (H/T Dave Weigel) that can help you take that giant backward step proudly!

Meanwhile, a portion of Mittens’ money somehow has deported itself to pleasant havens like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, though it was all duly declared——-in the years he let us see, anyway. ; - >

Posted by Mrs. Polly on 01/25/12 at 02:09 PM
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Monday, January 23, 2012

Watch the whole spectacle streaming here. The little lumpy avaricious “historian” against the hiccuping Animatronic, dogwhistles at fifteen paces, plus extra-Birther-friendly Ricky Santorum and the little doctor as Inspector Javert.

May Dog have mercy on us all.

Posted by Mrs. Polly on 01/23/12 at 08:57 PM
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The Romney PACs bought up scads of TV time here in Florida during the playoff games yesterday to let GOP primary voters know what a scuzzbucket Gingrich is. They had an interesting spin: that the president is behind the Gingrich surge and that Newt is pals with Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore and Freddie Mac.

Will it work? I have no idea. A year ago, I would have said Gingrich had a lock on it since it’s a closed primary and the state’s GOP voters were dumb and crazy enough to nominate and elect obvious crook Rick Scott on a “reform” ticket. But with Scott’s approval ratings now in chlamydia territory, maybe they’ve learned their lesson? Hahahaha, of course not! Anyway, here’s an electoral map:

I’m thinking Gingrich will take the “MIGHT AS WELL BE ALABAMA” territory. It looks big, but much of it is sparsely populated. Romney will likely take “WINTER HOME OF THE 1%” territory, because the folks there identify with the paltry $375K speaking fees and believe a 15% tax rate on hardworking investments is just.

The “PURPLE RAIN” territory is up for grabs. It comprises Midwestern and Northeastern retirees (Villages of the Darned) who seem susceptible to Romney’s comforting Daddy Warbucks mien, but that is balanced by hardcore Teahadists who might break for Gingrich and working folks who think all the choices suck. I’m giving a slight edge to Romney here. 

As for the “FUCK FIDEL” territory, if I were an advisor to Gingrich or Romney, I’d tell them to focus their efforts in Miami Dade, making the rounds of Cuban exile-oriented talk radio shows to blast the frail, retired octogenarian Fidel Castro and suck up to Marco Rubio. My feeling is that’s their best bet to move the needle here.

[X-POSTED at Balloon Juice]

Posted by Betty Cracker on 01/23/12 at 08:01 AM
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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Did the earth move for you last night? To read the pundits this morning, when our bleary eyes crested the pillow we’d been biting through the dark hours before dawn, a new era greeted them, the like of which has never before been witnessed.

The base is revolting because they swept the GOP back into relevance in Washington just under two years ago and they have been thanked with contempt ever since.
(Asshole Assholeson)

The unstoppable force that is Newt Gingrich and the immovable object that is Mitt Romney are headed for a collision in Florida.
(Politico)

A more sober observer, the Atlantic’s Robert Wright, asks:

How did Newt do it? How did a candidate who seemed near death only a week ago rise up to win in South Carolina? He did it the way he always does it: By playing the hate card.

read the whole post »

Posted by YAFB on 01/22/12 at 11:58 AM
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Saturday, January 21, 2012

At a minute past the closing of the South Carolina polls, your ace Rumproast Primary coverage team, consisting of Mrs. Polly, her modem, and a 1998 Panasonic (19”, don’t envy!) entirely are certain that MSNBC has forecast the winner: NOT MITT!

The dropsical Speaker is experiencing a surge that may last more than four hours. So much for solid family values in the Palm State~~oh, it’s Palmetto? Dear dear! My mistake.

Posted by Mrs. Polly on 01/21/12 at 07:15 PM
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