Friday, November 20, 200920 Nov 2009 09:04 pm Palin's Brain Speaks, Ctd
Is Kristol worrying that Steve Schmidt may be right about her? 20 Nov 2009 08:02 pm Email Of The DayA reader writes:
Well: 75 is a lot. But I'm glad the reader sees just how beautiful the book turned out. Some might fear that print-on-demand makes for a cheaper cheesier book. But if that was true in the past, it isn't now. This book is as good a quality as any you'll find in any store. The low price reflects the power of outsourcing and also the Dish's decision to make no profit on this. I have a feeling we are going to have do another mass order given the strength of the demand so far. We'll report back on Monday. But if you want the $16.25 price in time for Christmas, supplies are fast running out ... 20 Nov 2009 06:45 pm Face Of The DayHaydar Khalil, a Praham market trader spits a cherry pip out of his mouth as he takes part in a cherry pip spitting competition at the launch of the 2009 Victorian Cherry Season at Prahran Market on November 20, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. The competition was won by Khalil who spat his cherry pip 15.97 metres. By Scott Barbour/Getty. 20 Nov 2009 06:21 pm Out Of Touch, CtdJohn Sides throws a few handfuls of salt at that PPP poll. Sager tries to understand what the poll means:
20 Nov 2009 05:43 pm Is Crist Toast?A new poll shows a 43 percent swing against him in ten months. Why? Among other things, he believes Obama is a legitimate president. Moulitsas suggests:
It's hard to see how today's religious and angry Republican base can tolerate people like Snowe or Colins or Specter or Crist or Huntsman for much longer. 20 Nov 2009 05:13 pm Subsidizing DebtSurowiecki wants to reform the tax system:
Continue reading "Subsidizing Debt" » 20 Nov 2009 04:45 pm The Price Of Trying KSM
Continue reading "The Price Of Trying KSM" » 20 Nov 2009 04:20 pm Mental Health BreakA reader writes:
20 Nov 2009 04:12 pm Cal Thomas On PalinA judicious take from a position of support. 20 Nov 2009 04:07 pm How Quickly They TurnThat's the trouble with populism: the populace can get mad if they don't get all their books signed. My favorite insult yelled at Palin in Indiana: "Quitting on the job right there!": 20 Nov 2009 03:59 pm The Fundamentalist Era, CtdA reader writes:
Continue reading "The Fundamentalist Era, Ctd" » 20 Nov 2009 03:46 pm If Roe Were Overturned, CtdA reader writes: Yes, I have heard the whole "laboratories of democracy" spiel, but can you please explain why you and (other?) conservatives in this country are so enamoured with states' rights? Why is the "state" the political subdivision you think should be able to decide such things as gay marriage, abortion, segregation, etc., etc., etc.? Frankly, I have never understood why states rights have anything to do with complex political issues - particularly when it comes to issues, like civil rights, where there is a clear wrong answer and a clear right answer). Continue reading "If Roe Were Overturned, Ctd" » 20 Nov 2009 03:16 pm Denying Her The SpotlightFriedersdorf counters Linker and wishes the Dish hadn't gone silent for a day:
Continue reading "Denying Her The Spotlight" » 20 Nov 2009 03:14 pm Pray For ObamaThe coded Christianist messages on various bumper stickers and t-shirts call for Obama's wife to be a widow. 20 Nov 2009 03:05 pm Reagan and ObamaUSA Today's interactive graph of presidential approval ratings over the decades is great fun. What you see is that the president whose early ratings most closely match Obama's is Reagan. Within a few months, Reagan was at 35 percent approval and 59 percent disapproval. (Hat tip: Taegan.) 20 Nov 2009 02:45 pm Talking About Healthcare, ForevermoreSuderman worries:
Ross adds:
I agree.
Continue reading "Talking About Healthcare, Forevermore" » 20 Nov 2009 02:37 pm Yglesias Award Nominee"[T]here is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder’s critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including “shoe bomber” Richard Reid; al-Qaeda agent Jose Padilla; “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh; the Lackawanna Six; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a supermax prison in Colorado, never to be seen again," - Jim Comey and Jack Goldsmith, deputy attorney general and assistant attorney general under George W. Bush, respectively. 20 Nov 2009 02:33 pm Chart Of The Day IISilver analyzes. 20 Nov 2009 02:32 pm The View From Your WindowMedford, Massachusetts, 2.20 pm 20 Nov 2009 02:22 pm Fox News' Internal Names For Obama JpegsThe fair and balanced outfit gets busted yet again:
UPDATE: There is, it turns out, a much more innocent explanation for this, as a reader explains:
Continue reading "Fox News' Internal Names For Obama Jpegs" » 20 Nov 2009 02:04 pm Go Big Or Pull Out?Tom Ricks reviews David Kilcullen's speech from earlier in the week:
I just don't believe this is doable without a flawless decades-long occupation. And the odds of that are tiny and the cost beyond any rational measurement of costs and benefits. I believe Obama knows this because he is not crazy, but he also knows that withdrawal would be used by the GOP to flay him alive for a war they botched but they insist he must now somehow save. I'm glad I'm not the president, aren't you? (Hat tip: Ordinary Gentlemen). 20 Nov 2009 01:46 pm Nelson Will Vote YesOn the vote to get the health insurance bill on the floor of the Senate. 20 Nov 2009 01:39 pm A Ballad For The GOP BaseCartman's lament - as poignant as Lou Dobbs' hair: 20 Nov 2009 01:37 pm The Apple Drops Far From The TreeRand Paul betrays his father's principles. 20 Nov 2009 01:22 pm Quote For The Day III"I meet with the gays here and there. They were in my house two weeks ago. I don’t mind gays. But I don’t want ‘em stuffing it down my throat all the time," - Utah Senator Chris Buttars, explaining his opposition to allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. 20 Nov 2009 12:46 pm Palin's Brain SpeaksKristol thinks McCain will win re-election:
Predict? This is obviously a way to prevent the McCain-Palin camps' civil war from escalating so that the full details of the chaotic 2008 campaign remain under wraps. 20 Nov 2009 12:41 pm The Fundamentalist Era"So what if Sarah Palin didn't write this book? Even God used early scribes to write the Bible," - Moe Hong, a commenter on Amazon.com. 20 Nov 2009 12:07 pm The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin XXXV: Ambushing PiperA key part of Sarah Palin's work of magical realism is her victimization at the hands of the evil librul media. So this part of "Going Rogue" is par for the course. Peter Hamby:
Both the reporters (one of whom worked for Fox News in the campaign) and Wallace deny the story outright.
Continue reading "The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin XXXV: Ambushing Piper" » 20 Nov 2009 11:35 am Palin Witness Fact Check IVIn one part of her work of magical realism, Palin goes off on the press's alleged recklessness and bias in wondering whether her extraordinary stories about her fifth pregnancy were, er, accurate. Here's the passage from Going Rogue:
I'm not going to go over all this again, but suffice it to say that Palin is right that I certainly thought that the stories in the public record were fantastic and merited probing further and asked the campaign itself to issue some medical records to nip the crazy - but not quite impossible - rumor in the bud. They reacted with outrage that the question was even askable. Alas, the only objective evidence we ever got in the end was a one-page, general statement from her doctor, issued a few hours before polling opened last November. So I'm guilty for treating this as a genuine factual question - rather than as a self-evident absurdity to be dismissed. I'll take my lumps for that (and have). But I haven't "run with" any alternative to the most likely fact that Trig is indeed Sarah's biological child. I just refuse to lie about my own skepticism of everything Palin says without proof. As for Willow being Trig's mother, I have to say that has never occurred to me for an instant and the Dish has no such reference. Maybe Palin is thinking of some other outlet. But the attack on the Anchorage Daily News is much more unfair.
Continue reading "Palin Witness Fact Check IV" » 20 Nov 2009 11:28 am The MSM's Latest Bid For RelevanceThe Onion has the scoop. 20 Nov 2009 11:15 am Just One RepublicanThe GOP is trying to get voters to forget their fiscal recklessness over the last eight years. And the conservative media - which is sadly far too often just a partisan mouthpiece - is helping the amnesia along. One of the few principled fiscal conservatives in the Bush-Cheney years. Bruce Bartlett, is refusing to forget. He tells a classic tale of one Republican, Trent Franks of Arizona. Here is what Franks is now saying about the health insurance reform in the Congress:
So what was Franks' position on Medicare D? He voted for it, after some of the most egregious Congressional arm-twisting in memory (so egregious Rove et al extended debate for three hours and turned off the C-Span cameras). What is the difference between Medicare D and the current health insurance proposal? You guessed it:
Continue reading "Just One Republican" » 20 Nov 2009 10:32 am Heads I Lose, Tails You WinA few days ago, many Republican bloggers thought KSM didn't deserve a trial. Now they are calling the civilian trial a "show trial" because it is possible that the government could continue to detain KSM in the unlikely instance he gets off. Allahpundit:
Drum makes an obvious counter-point: Continue reading "Heads I Lose, Tails You Win" » 20 Nov 2009 10:06 am Hockey Mom With A Glass JawJessica Valenti describes how Palin is trying to have it both ways when it comes to gender:
If one started a list of things that Palin wants both ways, it would exceed the list of her 34 documented odd lies. 20 Nov 2009 10:02 am Quote For The Day II"It's definitely a HarperCollins tour. Not a Sarah Palin campaign," - Tina Andreadis, HarperCollins publicity director for the "Going Rogue" book tour.20 Nov 2009 09:53 am Netanyahu's Gilo ProvocationA reader writes:
Continue reading "Netanyahu's Gilo Provocation" » 20 Nov 2009 09:40 am Will HarperCollins Make A Profit On Palin's Book?20 Nov 2009 09:32 am Palin Witness Fact Check IIIDavid Corn makes a cameo in the book. Palin distorts the story to make it fit better with her self-serving story. It's not that big a deal - more selective unfairness than a lie of any sort. Corn's explanation here. 20 Nov 2009 09:21 am Jobs And The StimulusA new poll finds that 51 percent of Americans think canceling the rest of the stimulus would create more jobs. Derek Thompson is slack-jawed:
They're watching Fox. Facts don't matter. 20 Nov 2009 09:08 am Quote For The Day“Former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, welcomed their seventh grandchild, Sarah Lynne Cheney, Wednesday, November 18, 2009. She weighed 6 lbs., 14 oz and was born at 8:17 A.M. at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C. Her parents are the Cheney's daughter Mary and her partner, Heather Poe.” Many congratulations to the Cheney family. And congratulations on the word "parents." 20 Nov 2009 09:03 am Palin Witness Fact Check II“It is pure fiction. No such discussion took place,” - Nicolle Wallace, disputing yet another passage in Palin's book. 20 Nov 2009 08:45 am Palin Witness Fact Check I“That is the most cockamamie bullshit. She didn’t have a damn thing to do with it, and she didn’t know what it was about," - Dave Oesting of Anchorage, lead plaintiff attorney in the private litigants’ civil case against Exxon and its successor, Exxon Mobil Corp. He was referring to governor Palin's boast in her book that she played a role in "achieving victory" for the victims of the Exxon-Valdez disaster, even when she is on record at the time of the final court decision saying she was "very, very disappointed" and heart-broken with the decision to reduce damages for the victims that she called "not right". In "Going Rogue," she calls it a "victory". 20 Nov 2009 08:25 am The Gateway DrugAnother pot-smoker, another loser:
20 Nov 2009 08:04 am Chart Of The DayDrezner flags a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace study:
20 Nov 2009 07:33 am Two Seats?Silver does some Senate handicapping:
20 Nov 2009 07:06 am So You Don't Have ToMudflats is blogging the book page by page. Thursday, November 19, 200919 Nov 2009 11:52 pm The Daily WrapIt feels like the campaign again on the Dish. Over the past three days, we tried to wrap our heads around the latest media blitz of Sarah Palin. Andrew ultimately blamed McCain. Greg Sargent parsed her polling, TNR and Slate indexed her book, Cottle called out her victimization, a reader deconstructed her psyche, Steve Chapman contrasted her with Reagan, Andrew shuddered at her settlement statements (and attracted dissents), Damon Linker chastised her critics, Allahpundit sized up 2012, Nate Silver predicted she'll run, he explained how she could win the nomination, and the Dish tallied another odd lie. Palin blinked when Barbara Walters asked her about Levi. Meanwhile, he held his fire and released some starbursts. In the other big story of the week - terrorist trials in NYC - Ackerman told us to bring em' on, Josh Marshall calmed fears, Eric Posner cut through the spin, and Andrew praised the president. In home news, the Daily Dish released its very first print publication, "The View From Your Window." To secure a copy of the book at the 50% discounted price of $16.25, click here. They're going fast. -- C.B. 19 Nov 2009 11:43 pm Iraq. Iran. Whatever.Palin strikes again. Hannity cannot correct her. It would be like correcting the Pope - too confusing for the viewers. 19 Nov 2009 10:48 pm Fox Rigs The Video AgainAfter running video of crowds from a September Tea Party rally to make it seem the recent health insurance reform protest was bigger than it was, Fox News has done it again: this time to make Sarah Palin's crowds look bigger, using old footage from the campaign. It's funny, isn't it, that these "errors" never happen to make Democratic crowds look bigger. 19 Nov 2009 10:17 pm Palin vs ReaganSteve Chapman notices the stark difference:
Continue reading "Palin vs Reagan" » 19 Nov 2009 10:01 pm Deconstructing Sarah, CtdA reader writes:
All of which makes her the natural leader of the fundamentalist religious movement currently known as the Republican party. That she and they have no grip on objective reality makes them ideal for government, if you just loved the last eight years in which deficits didn't matter, there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the Iraq war would cost $50 billion, Afghanistan was a success, Republicans balanced the budget, and waterboarding someone 183 times wasn't torture. You betcha. |

