I was sporadically watching the Republican debate yesterday, when I heard Mitt Romney say this:
We’re not going to get the White House nor strengthen America unless we can pull together the coalition of conservatives and conservative thought that has made us successful as a party. And that’s social conservatives, it’s also economic conservatives, and foreign policy and defense conservatives. Those three together form the three legs of the Republican stool that allowed Ronald Reagan to get elected and allowed our party to have strength over the last several decades.
“‘The Republican stool’? Did he really just say that?”
Granted, I haven’t paid a hell of a lot of attention to Romney, so I wasn’t aware, until I Googled it, that he’s been using this horrible, laughable phrase regularly. Hasn’t anyone in his camp pointed out to him how ridiculous and snark-worthy that phrase is?
“Hey, ummmm, Mitt, ya know, ya might want to go with the Republican tripod instead. Or come up with another leg and call it the Republican chair, ya, know, but ... you do know that a stool is a, ummm, bowel movement, don’t ya, Mitt?”
I can’t wait to face this guy in the general election (I still think he’s going to be their nom). He’s like John Kerry minus the purple heart and plus the grandmother’s shawl.
I was going to write about the Little Green Footfungi’s reaction to the Omaha shopping mall murders, but Lawyers, Guns and Money beat me to it. I know nutters have come up with a lot of ridiculous ideas in recent years, but Sudden Jihad Syndrome just may be the absolute dumbest. It lays bear their intense paranoia, full-throttle Islamophobia, and knuckle-dragging numbskullery all in one simple little phrase.
UPDATE: Since I suffer from Giuliani Derangement Syndrome, I should note that Daniel Pipes, who coined the term Sudden Jihad Syndrome, was signed on as an adviser to the Giuliani team.
UPDATE: Figured I’d check into YouTube to see how the dreadful pro-Rudy “President” “parody” has been doing since we snickered at it back in mid-November. Only a little over 6000 views on YouTube is pretty dismal for a video someone obviously dumped a lot of money into, including advance promotion and building a whole web site for it. I guarantee the video embedded above, which was probably just crapped out on a home computer, will have at least that many views in a couple of days. But remember, Republicans are much better with money.
I want to get out and enjoy what remains of this crisp fall day, so I’m going to keep this Selector short n’ (except for the FReeper link) sweet…
THE LOST SOWETO COMP: The always terrific Matsuli Music is featuring a wonderful out-of-print find of South African music released in ‘83 called Soweto. It’s a stellar comp, lovingly converted to MP3 from vinyl, and the instrumental “Here We Come” that they spotlight in their post is one of the best (and most original) African instrumentals I’ve ever heard. Highly recommended!
ELISA FLYNN’S TWO-MAN BAND: My talented pal Elisa Flynn is unveiling her new live set-up with an accompanying drummer this Tuesday at Union Hall in Park Slope. Lurid Culture recently gave her a great endorsement (scroll down) in a blurb about this show. As they say, “Catch her on the way up.” [UPDATE: Sadly, Elisa’s performance has been cancelled due to illness.]
AND SPEAKING OF WINGNUTS: Someone at Free Republic posts a story about celebrities in California having to flee their homes due to wildfires, a few FReepers launch into predictable thick-headed rants about Hollyweirdos and environuts (“I say let the whole state burn! Get rid of the nut jobs, I do not even like to admit California is one of the states.”), and all hell breaks loose (“I am beginning to wonder if ‘conservative’ is such a good thing if it means heartless.”). Hilarious. But remember, liberals are the crazy and angry ones…
Jesus’ General: “I admit I was a bit reluctant to accept CNN Headline News’s invitation to serve as Glenn Beck’s viewer last night.”
Wonkette: “The Shiite-dominated government is the biggest problem in Iraq these days, just edging out Sunnis, Iran, Syria, Al Qaeda, the Turkish military, American incompetence, the invention of gunpowder, Blackwater, general poverty, the dry season, the fact that it’s the asshole of the world, and the liberal media.”
Sadly, No!: “Ever since Skyy Vodka introduced their new line of ‘Smartinis’, Crazy Pammy has gotten extra-cunning. Luring us in with a picture of breasts other than her own, she pulls a quick switcheroo for anyone who, for a brief wonderful second, was enjoying being on her website by engaging in a fantasy genital mutilation of a beautiful lady who has had the poor taste to purchase property in an area adjacent to ragheads.”
alicublog: “Like for instance, did you know that Dennis Miller is a Republican? Wow, I bet when the liberals find out about that, they’ll make him stop being funny ten years ago.”
The nutters sure do love their images. And, I’m sorry, but it’s just not a very good photograph (the composition sucks).
Expect a few days of eye-popping howls of “why are the leftards and the MSM ignoring this!?!?” into the echo chamber until the mongerloids stumble upon some other quaint justification for this horribly mismanaged, $800 billion War in Error. My taxpayers’ chicken chili will have a longer shelf life than this photo. Enjoy it while it lasts, warhumpers.
alicublog: “Giuliani is leading among Republican nominees based not upon the relevance of his experience—does America really need someone who can jail squeegee men or crack down on dancing in bars?—but on his reputation as an unrelenting prick.”
Fables of the Reconstruction: “...Chavez may become as bad as those Western Hemisphere dictators that the Right used to root for, like that guy Pinochet who used to have his military give the opposition free flying lessons by throwing them out of helicopters over rivers with their hands tied behind their backs.”
Tom Tomorrow: “Regnery gave them an inch and now they’re suing because they think they’re entitled to be rulers.”
Lawyers, Guns and Money: “In the midst of defending once again the single worst argument in the pro-torture arsenal, Alan Dershowitz has finally been reduced to a sad parody of himself by claiming that torture—if good enough for the Nazis—is good enough for us.”
Jesus’ General: “You need another funding source. That’s why I’m asking you to consider marching into the Sudetenland and invading Poland.”
i am bossy: “Do you know what gets rid of toenail fungus? Dying.”
I took a long breather from looking at rightwing blogs (and comments) for a while there, but now that I’ve surveyed the current landscape, I’ve come to the conclusion that the dead-enders’ whole pitch seems to amount to:
We’re no longer going to pretend that we aren’t loathsome douchebags, but we’re not as bad as Islamofascist terrorists and we’re the only ones who can save you from them. Vote GOP in ‘08.
Good christ (excuse the pun), even I’m shocked at how many wingnuts in the blogosphere, in posts and comments, are dismissing the outrage over Coulter’s antisemitic spew or even defending her. There used to be a time when conservatives/Repubs knew chatter like this was political poison and, at the very least, looked the other way, but now the dead-enders have become so deranged that they’ve completely forgotten how to be politically savvy—one of the few things they were good at. This doesn’t bode well for them in the future.
Alicublog: “Wearing a flag pin isn’t like telling your spouse that you love him or her. Unless you are a U.S. servicemember, or Captain America, or attending a naturalization ceremony, wearing a flag pin means you are a dick.”
Jesus’ General: “I like Ron Paul but I’m a little wary of trusting Stormfront Radio. I mean, after all, it has the word ‘radio’ in it, and we all know radio is controlled by the Episcopalians.”
Sadly, No!: “I’ve become convinced that Michelle Malkin is capable of feeling precisely two emotions: blood lust and self-pity. And the self-pity only comes around when people point out how bloodthirsty she really is.”
TBogg: “...the thought of actually having to publicly debate Ezra about S-CHIP probably made [Michelle Malkin’s] sphincter clench so tightly that, if you stuck a lump of coal in it, you’d have a diamond by Friday.”
