Like a rug…

Facts schmacts. I think the run up to the 2003 Iraqi Conquest pretty much said it all.

The US Amercia MSM loves a spectacle not reality.

There’s a story from the 80s where a network reporter (can’t remember which one) ran a story very critical of Reagan, pointing out all his lies. But Reagan’s people were happy with it because the pictures in the story all showed him happy and smiling and looking presidential. The GOP has known for a long time that the American people prefer style over substance.

Unemployment is below eight percent for the first time since Obama took office. Naturally, Republicans smell a conspiracy.

@mellbell:

They’re so desperate to prove that government doesn’t work that they couldn’t even properly use it to blow up the economy. ;)

@al2o3cr:

Imagine how fucked the Romney campaign would be right now if Obama had done well… oh, well. Guess I’ll have to stock up on Pepto-bismol for Nov. 6.

@Serolf Divad: I think they’re just as fucked as they ever were.

More bread! More circuses!

Can you even imagine how severely the GOPtards are gonna crack-out in November, win or lose?

They’re gonna put a shotgun to the head of the American People and throw their heads back while laughing maniacally as they pull the trigger on the most explosive murder-suicide in world history.

Happy Friday, everyone!!1!

@Benedick: I agree. I suspect Romney’s big “VICTORY” may have cost Obama at most a handful of votes. The people who already supported the president aren’t going to be swayed by any of the crap Mitt spewed the other evening.
Honestly, I watched the whole debate and at the end I felt a sense of disappointment like so many others. Then I realized what I had wanted was for the president to verbally punch Mitt’s lights out like Lewis Black or Jon Stewart or Chris Rock might have done. As a friend pointed out yesterday, that’s not the president’s style now and it wasn’t four years ago either.
I think these debates have turned into such a travesty that they should evolve in one of two ways. Either make it a true debate requiring things like strict time limits and, I don’t know, let’s call them FACTS; or else skip the primaries and put all candidates into full “Hunger Games” mode and the survivor becomes president.
Jim Lehrer showed us precisely why the media stars do such a lousy job of reporting actual news. They’re scared to death of offending someone who provides a continuous flow of press releases, freeing them from the endless drudgery of researching real news.

OT:
Overheard: Romney’s plan to win the Latino vote is to roll up in El Paso wearing a sombrero and singing “El Rey” by Vicente Fernandez.

Probably.

@Dave H: I thought the event was mostly boring. I was reminded of a fencing match at school. After much practice our coach (Hungarian Olympic team) thought I could maybe go out to fight against another school. We’re talking foils here, high-speed chess. So I go up against a yahoo with no form, no technique, using his foil like a cudgel, and I literally could not defend myself. I thought Obama was in a similar situation: he can either laugh, walk off, accuse Romney of lying, or try to treat him as if he makes sense. Also, remember when those of us who wanted him to win the primary kept wailing about how he wouldn’t whup Hill’s ass?

@Benedick: The joke’s on the yokel. Foils may sting if you slap someone with them, but they don’t deliver a killing stroke. (I did a bit of fencing in HS, enjoyed the history of it, but wasn’t very good. Plus, tight white clothing and mesh masks put me in mind of padded rooms a bit too much.)

Saint Ronnie lied throughout the 1980 debate. What was so gut-wrenching for me that night was realizing that his lies were what Americans wanted to hear.

And Wednesday? Yes, Mitt won by default. But it really was boring, and Mitt made a huge mistake by bringing up Dodd-Frank and Simpson-Bowles without explaining them — as if anybody but politics geeks knows what the hell they are. Everything he said required footnotes that he wasn’t supplying.

Mitt offered no more clarity than Obama. Even his lies were muddled. Obama lost because his presentation was even worse than Mitt’s.

@Serolf Divad: Guess I’ll have to stock up on Pepto-bismol for Nov. 6.

Not yet. Obama has held commanding electoral leads all year — even with Rasmussen, and even excluding statistical ties.

The basic math is that Obama starts with a solid 250, and Mitt has a dependable 200 or so — and Obama keeps polling ahead in nearly all those ties. Two swing states, and we’re done. Or just Florida.

@¡Andrew!: And if that prognostication is simply too Pollyanna-ish for you, then there’s the upcoming Iran War that everyone’s apparently craving.

@Benedick: I think the last thing he wanted to give the other side was a clip they use for their “Angry Black Man” spots. Romney put on a better performance, but he also gave the Dems a slew of clips of him lying that they can use in campaign ads.

I just asked to donate $169. Which seems awfully specific.

Is it safe to come out yet?

Here’s my question: what’s Romney got for the next debate? Obama knows his tactics now- Rmoney pretty much shot his wad.

Not that I think he threw it on purpose. I do think, however, that the electorate has both classic and anteriograde amnesia. They’ll be another shiny thing along soon.

@¡Andrew!: Honey, you need a cocktail. Or something along those lines.

@Benedick: They keep on hitting me up for $188.

Just out of curiosity… Does anyone really pay any attention to the “Your guy lies more than my guy.” line of argument? It all sounds rather Bob Doleish “Where’s the outrage?” to me.

I can’t recall if I read this article via Stinque or somewhere else, but it was an interesting take:

Last Night, Mitt Romney Lost.

@Tommmcatt : Last Friday, I went for my usual five-mile run after work, came home, had a beer and a nerve pill and woke up four hours later on the dog beds in the living room with my two Dalmatians pressed up close against me. I then slept for another ten hours. Would go for a repeat, but I have class tonight ’til 8 pm.

After class, it’s MJ time ; )-

@IanJ: Much as it pains me to agree with anything in the Telegraph that might just be the most intelligent account of the debate I’ve yet read.

Watching as much of it as I could I was struck by how over-rehearsed and fabricated Romney looked. In acting terms he was ‘playing his character’, which means that he was demonstrating to the audience what he would be like if he were likable, warm, caring. A feeling of rather stale performance hung over it all, like the vicar’s old yellowing jockey shorts desperately in need of a shot of bleach. I also have been thinking for a while that he has taken on the sound of Reagan. Clearly that’s the model for Romney IVV. So I was amused to read that that’s what’s been going on. I’d add a link but I can’t now find it. No doubt you bunch of losers you dear sweet funny people have already seen it.

But if you’re going to be coaching behaviors (don’t smirk, don’t walk like a girl, don’t talk about money) why not go all the way? Walk like John Wayne.

And don’t forget: Fuck Yeah Craig Romney.

@¡Andrew!: Why don’t they sleep with you in your bed like normal people?

@Benedick: Glad I can push some pain buttons for you (in public).

Romey will get my vote when he lights his hair on fire and fucks Anne’s horse in the ass on ESPN. I’m a reasonable voter.

@Benedick: One of my Dalmatians is 100 lbs and the other is 80 lbs. They would love to sleep in a big dog-pile on our bed, but there would only be about a one-inch wide space left for me. Plus they like to sleep with their legs either stretched all the way out to the side, or straight up in the air, which looks hilarious.

Several years ago, we bought them matching dog beds for the bedroom and living room so that we can always be together as a pack, but they can have their own sleeping space. They’ve begrudgingly accepted this arrangement, though occasionally I wake up to a surprise cuddle buddy, especially during cooler fall and winter evenings.

@FlyingChainSaw:

I am forwarding to his campaign manager.

If you are in a swing state, he’ll do it.

Do you need to see video or will stills be adequate?

@IanJ: This is similar and really resonates with me.

In addition to totally insulting our intelligence with preposterous lies, Romney is a bully and an asshole. These traits personality disorders are perceived as “strong leadership skills” by a large number of men in this KKKuntree, which is how we ended up with eight years of Dumbya.

Romney’s fervent goal of seizing the presidency was evident in his body language, his snobbish smirks, his false sympathy for those of us “crushed” in the middle class — those 47 percent he so contemptuously dismissed when he was among his rich cronies. Romney’s combative dogfight stance may impress men or those who have held power so long they assume it belongs to them. But women, or anyone who has been in an underclass or faced racism, read this behavior as arrogant and overly aggressive — the language and habit of dominance.

We’ve had bosses, fathers, boyfriends and co-workers like Romney who invade our space, try to dominate every discussion and see every encounter as a chance to “win,” rather than dialogue. It’s the old patriarchal model that women have endured for way too long. And we can end its reign. How many women would choose to go to a prizefight over a community meeting to solve real, difficult issues that affect our lives? How many women prefer a president who is considerate, calm and thoughtful as opposed to an aggressor who is intent on seizing the prize– whether that’s a person or a country?

You know the fun part about emergency client server migrations? Hourly rates! But that’s about it.

@mellbell: They at least have my financial status pegged. I get asked for $3 (DNC) or $19 (Obama).

@nojo:

Tomorrow night from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM I’ve gt to be onsite for a new application go-live. For some unfathomable reason they wanted an AD guy on site. Of course, it means 8 hours of overtime, so I practically begged them to let me be the guy. :-)

@libertarian tool: Video is preferable, with a soundtrack of Blue Oyster Cult wailing on Fire of Unknown Origin while Anne dances like a demon in a cage and Willard, hair afire, savages the horse’s asshole while shrieking, “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy” over and over again. Does this asshole want my vote or not? I am trying to be reasonable.

So I’ve been importuned for days to donate to the Dems. And I was gonna. But I just bought the Met Ring Cycle on Blu ray instead. What’s left over can go for vodka. Wagner should not be witnessed sober. Neither should the Election Cycle.

After that it’s Hello Bollywood!

@Benedick: Oh, Good Lord, not the ring cycle. Anything but opera. There are two kinds of culture, culture that is studied and discussed and written about and culture that is amusing and gets you laid. The ring cycle is assuredly the former.

I want to get my dick wet. I am not going to pay $300.00 to squint at a lady who, despite her morbid obesity, is impossible to see. Give me garbage! Give me Miss Marple and Bugs Bunny! Give me a two-second glimpse of James Bond’s ass. Give me Queen and early Stephen King.

You can keep the ring cycle. I could never pronounce Neebleeunggh anyway.

@Tommmcatt May Just Have Some MJ In His System As Well, So What?: I so don’t agree. I think it’s thrilling. And this is a particularly good version. I’ve always been a pagan and the idea of the gods knowing that they will die, that nothing is permanent, that Valhalla will be stormed and the rainbow bridge destroyed makes me weak with awe. That’s the chief reason I’ve been to Iceland and was not disappointed. I totally understand the Norse pantheon. I read The Ring of the Nibelungs years ago in a fine translation by William Morris (on a break from wallpaper) and find, as I get older, that Wagner’s music gets more appealing. The Met had a terrific cast and the stage machinery is pretty amazing. And I love the opera. Not so much places like the Met. It’s too insanely expensive. But when I was in Prague I got on a tram, went to the theatre, bought a ticket, the theatre itself wasn’t too big, it was just right, and I saw a stunning production of Jenufa. So, no. I think there are few experiences as exciting as the opera. Of course it can be boring – but when it’s right… !

So anyhow, I expect to be weeping through much of the Ring when it gets here. The hubby will refuse to watch it. It’ll just be me and the dogs. And when that final love motif breaks out in the orchestra as the heavens are stormed… ! Well, there are few things as good. Maybe Levin mowing the field, Jean Valjean carrying Marius through the sewers, Humbert looking for a way out, Natasha caring for Andrei, Nicholas meeting Marya… and so on.

@Benedick: Dude, there isn’t a zombie in the entire four days!

@Serolf Divad: Don’t post a new story until I’m done, I tell the client. Okay, I’m done, I tell the client. Don’t post a new story until you see a Special Message that indicates you’re on the new server.

So, of course, I get a handful of messages this morning: “Oh, hey, we posted a story when you specifically told us not to, and now it’s not showing up!”

Result: Another hour on the clock.

@Tommmcatt May Just Have Some MJ In His System As Well, So What?: There’s like dwarves and giants, my man. And girl on girl action. And hot Asian boys.