While we were, um, contemplating the Circle of Life at the Stinque Remote Office yesterday, we noticed an unusual gift that the Plumbing Gods had bestowed on our meditations.

Read more »

“While launching into an attack on the right and the conservative funders/progressive bogeymen known as the Koch Brothers, [Howard] Dean first pronounced their name more like a famous part of ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s anatomy than the classic cola.” [TPM]

• PajamasMedia: “Hey Reuters, Anthony Weiner is a Democrat”
• Big Journalism: “Correction Request: Reuters IDs Weiner as ‘Republican'”
• Weasel Zippers: “Reuters Labels Weiner A ‘Republican’ After He Resigns”
• Reuters: “Amid scandal, U.S. Rep. Weiner set to resign”

Wait, what?

Read more »

WaPo wizwonk Ezra Klein, Thursday:

I wish we could all agree to stop jumping on things like Mitt Romney saying “I’m also unemployed.” It’s pretty clear from the context that he was making a joke. Jokes sometimes misfire, or read strangely when pulled out of context and printed in the paper. In the interest of having our candidates speak like something other than robots, we should cut them some slack.

Well, um, no.

We actually try to be somewhat fair in our mocking, so when we took up Mitt’s remark yesterday, we made sure to note that — as reported — his audience appreciated his joke as given.

And then we proceeded to provide Mitt a new orifice.

Read more »

We’re not sure we’ve heard something like this since Bush I:

Mitt Romney sat at the head of the table at a coffee shop here on Thursday, listening to a group of unemployed Floridians explain the challenges of looking for work. When they finished, he weighed in with a predicament of his own.

“I should tell my story,” Mr. Romney said. “I’m also unemployed.”

The folks around the table joined Mitt in a hearty round of laughter, and then Mitt left to resume his life as a wealthy former leveraged-buyout mogul, while everyone else stayed behind and realized they were still screwed.

Romney: ‘I’m Also Unemployed’ [NYT]

“Representative Anthony D. Weiner has told House leaders that he plans to resign his seat after coming under growing pressure from his Democratic colleagues to leave the House, said a top Democratic official and two people told of Mr. Weiner’s plans.” [NYT]

After Michele Bachmann won Monday night’s debate by not seeming as batshit crazy as we’ve come to expect, political journalists have been churning out instant backgrounders. The best so far, by general acclaim, was published yesterday by BeastWeek’s Michelle Goldberg, who provides some details that may not be familiar to those of us who only started paying attention after Bachmann managed to out-crazy Tweety.

Take, for example, the celebrated Bathroom Hostage Crisis, which deserves pride of place in any Bachmann bio:

A few dozen people showed up at the town hall for the April 9 [2005] event, and Bachmann greeted them warmly. But when, during the question and answer session, the topic turned to same-sex marriage, Bachmann ended the meeting 20 minutes early and rushed to the bathroom. Hoping to speak to her, Arnold and another middle-aged woman, a former nun, followed her. As Bachmann washed her hands and Arnold looked on, the ex-nun tried to talk to her about theology. Suddenly, after less than a minute, Bachmann let out a shriek. “Help!” she screamed. “Help! I’m being held against my will!”

Bachmann was serious. She called the police. And the police investigated. Finally, the DA blew it off. Seems her captors were just a couple of nice ladies who wanted to ask questions. Just like they said.

Read more »