Patterico's Pontifications

Thank God, huh?

Patterico (bf4d30) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:21 pm

It was predictable.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:24 pm

Stranger, go tell the Spartans that Mitch McConnell got $2.1 billion in pork for Kentucky.

nk (dbc370) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:48 pm

When democrats run both parties, we are so screwed.
Lazy, lying republicans will again be satisfied having their asses handed to them. Again and again and again.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:57 pm

And Ted Cruz is an evil imp. Maybe I am a victim of epistemic closure, but at some point people are going to have to pay for all this.

I don’t want it to be my kids or my future grandkids, but there is no way around it. My ancestors will pay and there is not a damn thing I can do about it.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:59 pm

Ted should announce he is running for president in 2016.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:05 pm

Ag80, remember how, when Phil Gramm was castigated as a hypocrite for getting funding for his district (or maybe the state) after leading the charge for less government spending? His explanation was that the size of the pie had already been decided upon; it was only a decision as to how it was to e divided up, and at that point he had an obligation to get as much for his constituents.

In a similar vein, we might as well grab as much as we can while there’s still some to grab. Maybe we can pass some along to our kids to help them deal with the results of our profligacy.

I started a pay cycle today that will probably result in my having worked for free when payroll is due in two weeks. At that point, I’m heading out for EBT cards, Obamaphones, Medicard, Pigford payments, and anything else I can get my hands on. My physical is next week: Maybe I can get the doctor to certify my disability. I have seven days to come up with one.

Diffus (4a5ca6) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:06 pm

I would not waste my spit on the g.o.p.
The fact that Boehner was reelected as speaker is all you need to know about the republican’s.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:13 pm

Diffus: I certainly do. Phil Gramm was the most hated man in the United States for a while. But he was right and we’re seeing the results today.

I think you represent an excellent conservative example of doing what is best for your family. You do what you can using available resources and live to fight the policies that caused the problem.

That is a basic context that liberals simply do not understand. Their argument always comes down to “because hypocrisy.” They never understand what their policies do to people.

A huge government benefits its masters and its bureaucrats. It only encumbers people making a living.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:21 pm

shameless chinless kentuckyslut is shameless

and also chinless

three billion dollars?

I’m tellin you this pitiful lil country is a goddamn nasty piece of work

like mama pikachu said this one time

she said baby pikachu hear my truth

I says I’m listenin mama

she says an exceptional whore? still just a goddamn whore

and I said yes mama you right I feel your truth

she says I know you do baby

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:23 pm

Oops, I forgot how much happy hates Gramm.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:26 pm

I know there are glass half-full diehards that really believe this ‘fight’ was good for Boehner and good for the GOP.

All so we can have a ledger full of show votes.

Senate Republican candidates are going to hear nothing but “Let Obamacare destruct under its own weight”. Bet they lose seats.

Buh bye.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:27 pm

So the EBT cards will work?

That’s a shame, I was kinda looking forward to the sport when the urban rioting began…

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:28 pm

I like Mr. Senator Gramm and Wendy too

but they’re of a different time

a different era

a different America

not our busted broken left in the ditch to bleed out obamaraped one

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:33 pm

5. They’ll pay all right, but it won’t be the Debt. It will be a crushing dearth of gainful employment, hunger and want.

Our foreign creditors today are paying 50% more than yesterday for a CDS on US debt of any kind in their portfolio.

Sad to say that ‘guarantee’ is backed by no collateral whatever.

Almost any local disaster–financial or natural, in scores of countries can tip the scales in coming months to RESET.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:35 pm

I would love to see whitey riot. Too bad they have no balls.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:35 pm

I think both diffus and I know that, happy. It was a kind of “good times” thing with a you-gotta-do-what-you-gotta-do twist.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:38 pm

I’m a drink a brandy for you Mr. 80

and I’m a listen to Kimberly Perry

and tonight I will not despair

plenty time for that laters

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:43 pm

Thanks, happy. I will drink a beer for you.

Regardless, we better start thinking about some way for common sense to lead. Right now, I don’t see any adults leading except one.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:51 pm

… Republicans Predictably Cave

So why support an obviously doomed strategy?

James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:59 pm

thank you for drinking the beer for me I’m not all that partial

common sense is fine I just pray the good lord spare me the consumption spare me toads and soggy sprockets and spare me the republican party

i’m a give it up to you lord I’m a magnify your name

but you best hold up your end of this deal and that’s all I got to say about that

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:05 pm

“Non essential government services restored”?

To my mind that means about all of them, but then your mileage may very.

But ask yourself after the last two weeks or so? Didn’t life go on as usual, other than the petulant puissant of a President shutting down the National Parks?

Non essential services restored? Why bother?

Comanche Voter (c39ceb) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:06 pm

Because it was the correct strategy. Why in the world would the right follow a strategy that the left keeps telling the right to follow? That is nonsense.

I mean, I understand the left is giving and kind and all, but why in the world the right listen to the left about how to get elected?

Thanks for the advice, though.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:06 pm

Happy:

“but you best hold up your end of this deal and that’s all I got to say about that.”

That’s the whole problem, isn’t it? We know the left will not.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:10 pm

I was pretty comfortable learning that there were at least 800,000 nonessential government employees. That makes a good starting point for budget cuts.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:13 pm

National Review

Representative Peter King of New York urged more Republican officials to speak up about Senator Ted Cruz and “condemn him for what he did.”

Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois said the lesson of the episode was that Boehner should cut out the far-right flank and work with centrist Democrats.

Woo is primarying these guys and where do I donate?

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:14 pm

I think team R should turn to Obama sycophants for electoral and policy advise, Ag.

JD (62c1eb) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:14 pm

don’t vote/2014

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:21 pm

JD:

Who can argue with that?

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:22 pm

I think you represent an excellent conservative example of doing what is best for your family.

In all of this, I hope that more and more people start to express disgust and total cynicism towards entities like the IRS. Or the opposite of results tallied by a major poll taken not too long ago where a surprisingly high number of respondents frowned about the idea of people cheating on their taxes.

If many Americans choose to be prim and proper towards disreputable aspects of their society, in these times, with such a piece of crud in the White House — with the various scandals of this nation moving it closer to being the world’s biggest banana republic — then when someone looks up the definition of “sucker,” pictures of those Americans should be right next to that word.

Mark (58ea35) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:25 pm

I could never figure out why Republicans talk a good conservative game, but never seemed to seal a conservative deal. Are they the stupid party? Or the corrupt party? Or the spineless party? And who, exactly, was pulling the strings that led to deals that yielded nothing of conservative consequence? Now I know.

It was Ted Cruz who, to use Erick Erickson’s analogy, flicked on the lights giving anyone paying attention a really good view of who the cockroaches are in the GOP. I prefer the “genie in the bottle” analogy because nobody is putting this genie back in the bottle.

This wasn’t just a step in the right direction. It was a huge leap. And not just because the party rank and file now know who is with them and who is against them, but also because young voters – who I believe are also paying attention – got a first hand view of the principled and unprincipled players on the national scene. The latter will be the gift that keeps on giving.

Yes, we lost, but the world has changed and changed for the better. Today we know how and where to direct our energy and resources. Now we can get to work putting our own house in order.

I want to thank you, Patterico, for your blogging on this topic. It has been first rate.

ThOR (130453) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:29 pm

The republican house and senate members should kill themselves.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:33 pm

I recall a time around 12 years ago when my car was damaged in a minor accident in a parking lot and some guys who were near the scene at the time told me about the repair work they’d do on my vehicle. Their prices were reasonable and I took them up on the offer. The only condition was that their invoice had to be paid with cash, or, in effect, a job done under the table.

I remember being low key about the situation, a bit uneasy, neither approving nor necessarily disapproving of their tactics. If the same thing happened today? I’d be smiling and giving them high fives, envying them for pursuing a strategy that fits the US in the 21st century. IOW, if it’s good enough for Greece and the Greeks, it’s good enough for banana republics worldwide.

Mark (58ea35) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:38 pm

Mr. 80

when Team R stoops to using this farce to diddle 3 billion dollars out of broke-ass america’s coin purse…

ain’t nobody keeping up no end of no deal

and, sure, life is a mystery and everyone must stand alone but

but this is rape

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:40 pm

if I play the chords to ” Michael rode the boat ashore’ backwards..it kinda sounds like Smoke on the water[fire in the sky]

pdbuttons (335acf) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:44 pm

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/10/87474-yale-professors-surprising-discovery-tea-party-supporters-scientifically-literate/

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:00 pm

Damn surrender monkeys. Primary challengers for all the RINO’s who voted for this abomination.

The House is supposed to control the money. There is no logical reason to bow down and kiss the feet of those @$$hats in the Senate who simply refused to acknowledge more than forty spending bills from the House. When the government REALLY shuts down, the Senate would have had to negotiate.

But, no. The lilly livered, weak kneed, pansies couldn’t even rent enough spine to stand up for what they all supposedly believe in.

What a bunch of worthless, self ambulatory, defective genetic material. I wish we had a time machine so I could go back in time and show their mothers what they all turned out like. I imagine that most of those mothers would have become big supporters of abortion on demand.

Easy Target (804124) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:04 pm

POM Wonderful, LLC is a private company which sells an eponymous brand of beverages and fruit extracts. It was founded in 2002 by the billionaire industrial agriculture couple Stewart and Lynda Rae Resnick.

it’s still possible to glimpse wee lil patches of america what’re still every bit as loveable as beans and spaceships

me I’d greenlight a pilot with these characters in a heartbeat

even an HBO one where they get to say nono words

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:35 pm

I wonder maybe if I save all my lunch monies next year if maybe I could afford Stewart’s Shirt

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:36 pm

a pikachu gotta have his dreams

and his choices

what’s a lil pickachu what don’t have dreams or choices?

yeah I know

an american haha very funny

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:38 pm

My [descendants] will pay and there is not a damn thing I can do about it.

@5 Comment by Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:59 pm

A little early for that, isn’t Ag80?

Either Obamacare is as horrible as we believe it to be, or it is not. If the former, then we tried to stop it and that will be remembered come election time because the Democrats/MSM are plastering Tea/Conservatives with that fact. If the latter, then we do not deserve to get elected.

The thing is, Obamacare is already ripping people off and there is not a thing the MSM can do about it.

Meanwhile, at the Batcave, Republicans and Tea Conservatives are about to have a come-to-Jesus moment. Anger (from losing) and more anger (from gloating, it’s coming) makes for tougher steel.

Watch.

Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:48 pm

I wonder how much all those drinking water handles and whatnot are going to cost to replace.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:55 pm

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/328979-graham-polls-factored-into-gop-folding

It is not so much that the GOP is caving in to the Democrats; they are caving in to the polls.

One Gallup survey showed that only 28 percent has a favorable view of the GOP, the worst rating Gallup has ever registered for a political party. That’s also a 10-point plunge from Gallup’s previous poll in September, when 38 percent had a favorable view of Republicans.

“By the time we made the deal, we were at 75 percent disapproval,” Graham said of the agreement to resume funding the federal government, “not a whole lot of leverage when 75 percent of the people don’t like what you’re doing.”

How do you stand up against 75% of the electorate?

Michael Ejercito (b371e1) — 10/16/2013 @ 11:00 pm

I am upset too. Having chosen this path, they should have kept the government shut down as long as it took. Oh, pass the debt thingie so nobody has vapors, but keep the damn thing shut down until you get some meaningful cuts.

OTOH, they should not have chosen this path. Obamacare was standing on the ledge and threatening to jump and WE yelled “SQUIRREL.” And then we grabbed the spotlight and nobody saw Humpty hit the pavement.

When your enemy is committing suicide do not interfere.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 11:01 pm

How do you stand up against 75% of the electorate?

Well, you can start by using the press better. Republicans seem to view PR the way Nixon viewed makeup, and to much the same effect. They should have had ads running day in and day out, explaining what they were doing and why, and why their opponents were telling so many lies.

I had people come up to me and ask why Republicans wanted to default on our bonds. Where they heard that I have no idea, but they heard it and believed it and thought it was crazy. Since it IS crazy that’s hard to refute.

Where were the party’s Deep Thought people? On Fox preaching to the choir, or damning the TEA Party and contributing to that 75%.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 11:08 pm

When your enemy is committing suicide do not interfere.

@44 Comment by Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 11:01 pm

True, but being the party of “I told ya so” is not as forceful as “We fight.” People are being ripped off and MSM will not highlight that fact regardless of whether or not there was a shutdown.

We are a year out from 2014, which is equivalent to forever and a day.

We burned our ships and cannot return to safe-land (it was a useless base anyway). Now we are committed and it is do or die.

Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/16/2013 @ 11:19 pm

How do you stand up against 75% of the electorate?

And that’s on top of polls that show a large percentage of the wonderful people of this nation — even in 2013 — blame not Barry O. but George W Bush for today’s economic listlessness and mediocrity.

All of us who are furious (and rightly so) towards the squishy and tepid nature of various Republicans should think of all those people around us — members of our family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, co-workers, bosses, acquaintances, etc — who lean left, who are namby-pamby about the Argentina-ization of this society — and point the finger of blame at them.

The arrogance and extremism of Obama (who certainly keeps an eye on the temperature of the public by noticing their reaction to pollsters) are merely an off-shoot of the populace, of we the people.

Mark (58ea35) — 10/16/2013 @ 11:34 pm

Well, you can start by using the press better. Republicans seem to view PR the way Nixon viewed makeup, and to much the same effect.

That’s a good suggestion and observation.

Closely related to that — or why it’s a problem — was illustrated to me by a forumer here who I respect and always like seeing posts from. But that person recently expressed discomfort about or even disapproval for my merely trying to detect and identify the leftist tilt of another forumer. IOW, I think people of the right tend to have a greater sense of propriety, etiquette (if you will), shame and self-awareness, while, by contrast, far more folks on the left tend to be brazen, shameless and happily nonchalant about their phony or disingenuous qualities. That makes for a strong bulwark against the right.

Mark (58ea35) — 10/16/2013 @ 11:44 pm

Is it really that hard? Do you want a party that’s the other party times 80% or a party with different ideas? Time tested ideas based on common sense and actual human behavior, not physco-babble aspirational human behavior.

If not now, when?

That’s not really me, that’s more analysis. I’m a RINO at heart. But my instincts are wrong. There is no plan, by either party (not counting the Tea Party), to pay back the debt. Therefore, the dollar is dead man walking. And yet the Tea Party is vilified by the media, the Democrats and the Republicans. The only ‘party’ that even recognizes the need to save the dollar. Vilified. Screw the Republican Party. They are worse than the Democrats. They are Principled by day and Enablers by night. They aren’t just wrong, they are deceitful. It’s time for a new party.

East Bay Jay (a5dac7) — 10/17/2013 @ 12:13 am

Team R has worked very hard to relieve us all of any duty to “rock the vote,” Mr. Jay, as the kids like to say

happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/17/2013 @ 1:09 am

Because it was the correct strategy. Why in the world would the right follow a strategy that the left keeps telling the right to follow?

Two reasons:
1) your track record is pretty awful of late. If you can’t figure out what to do to actually succeed on your own what harm is there to listening to suggestions no matter the source?

2) if you simply reflexively reject whatever the left says, it makes it trivial to maneuver you into a bad position with a double bluff.

Tlaloc (d061fc) — 10/17/2013 @ 1:46 am

So Cruz’s re-enactment of pickett’s charge ends just the same way as the original- a total disaster for the led even as the leader himself slinks away.

Tlaloc (d061fc) — 10/17/2013 @ 1:55 am

However it turns out, songs for the apocalypse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8–9-LCJ14

Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen

A remake of the old Andrews Sisters hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnpQZ_gGY68

Wynton Marsalis – Jazz in Marciac 2009

Speaks for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_gJJ3aDif5A

Jake Shimabukuro, showing what’s possible. Ukelele wise.

Tonight’s message brought to you by horsepower. Thousands and thousands of pounds of shaft horsepower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzveUz-WRGQ

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 3:49 am

I think everyone complaining here about the GOP should quit their jobs in protest

That’s right, resign immediately, after all, how far can you go down the wrong road. By working and paying into a corrupt system, you are enabling Obama by filling his coffers with your willing tax dollars

So everyone, resign, quit, sit on the curb – after all – all you are doing here is 100% supporting the democrats

All of you in your silly silly silliness thinking that another bloviating personality “flicked” the lights on?

Oh my what democrats you are
…..

EPWJ (256d83) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:06 am

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=mark+v+special+operations+craft+turns+in+own+length&vid=831588982183d45966656bc091d7b984&l=2%3A02&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.5052416015991926%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fblip.tv%2Feyehandy%2Fhow-to-replace-a-kitchen-faucet-with-mandi-5300705&tit=How-To+Replace+a+Kitchen+Faucet+With+Mandi&c=10&sigr=12a66gvpa&ct=p&age=0&fr=moz35&tt=b

I did quit my job. I decided to learn a trade. Plumbing.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:18 am

Today is the part of Braveheart where Wallace discovers the Bruce is the King’s man.

felipe (70ff7e) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:40 am

Didn’t we always know the Bruce was the king’s man, felipe?

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:52 am

Yes, dammit!

felipe (70ff7e) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:54 am

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5f8_1373787625

I was never a SEAL. I was never a Special Warfare Combatant Crewman.

But I was the Safety Officer. See how nicely the fire extinguisher is displayed at several moments in the video?

My contribution to national defense.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:59 am

Speaking of Braveheart.

http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/haggis2.htm

Haggis is a braw dish, so long as ye dinnae look at the ingredients! The dish was traditionally made out of cheap or left over ingredients to make a tasty filling meal. We eat it at least once a week and on St Andrew’s Day and Burn’s Night. This haggis recipe isn’t for the faint-hearted!

Sing it, sister.

Personally I prefer to buy mine from the local butcher. So much easier and I doubt anyone can cook it as delicious as Hall’s and Macsween of Scotland. The first below is a traditional method and underneath that is the easier way:

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:09 am

Haggis ingestion and BSE strongly correlated one would imagine.

Well at least someone isn’t cowed:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-17/chinas-dagong-downgrades-us

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:36 am

1. Clean the stomach bag thoroughly and soak overnight. In the morning turn it inside out.

2. Wash the pluck and boil for 1.5 hours, ensuring the windpipe hangs over the pot allowing drainage of the impurities.

Anybody else getting hungry? I know I am.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:38 am

54. Please note that Scumbags Coburn, Cornyn, Enzi took cover at the end.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:44 am

52. Broken analogy alert.

Pickett’s charge left tens of thousands dead in a 18th century-style unbroken march into artillery.

Dhimmi constituents in union memberships and recent college grads are as revulsed as TEAs as Amerikkka is sodomized with the working end of Obamaneycare.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:50 am

gary,

when were you going to tell us you are a democrat

did you quit your job yet, DEMORCRAT!

moby, just a bunch of whining moby’s

EPWJ (256d83) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:57 am

did you quit your job yet, DEMORCRAT!

Was that intentional?

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:23 am

No, it was Helm’s Deep or the Fiery Gates, but in this one, the Peraians got to Athens,

narciso (3fec35) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:27 am

The Persians did get to Athens, if that’s what you meant.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:30 am

What was that line in Serenity. ‘we were on the losing side, didn’t mean it was the wrong one’

narciso (3fec35) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:31 am

Themistocles was one ole wiley sum’bitch, eh?

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:33 am

He was, and you know the citizens of Athens, in gratitude, later exiled him,

narciso (3fec35) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:40 am

The citizens of Athens gave democracy a bad name for centuries.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:43 am

Thucydides lost one battle through no fault of his own to Brasidas. Exiled.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:45 am

f***un’ Athenians.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:46 am

Yes, but like Machiavelli, he ‘contextualized’ his loss.

narciso (3fec35) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:46 am

And they forced Socrates, to take the hemlock, good times ahead.

narciso (3fec35) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:47 am

Music is what we need.

Good news.

Thunder Road on the ukelele has been done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5pe0aEyzJdA#t=12

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:50 am

Because it was all about the children!

felipe (70ff7e) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:50 am

I don’t know what the kids needed more than Thunder Road on the ukelele.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:55 am

The loser of every election was exiled. The guy Themistocles defeated in his election, Aristides the Just, had also been exiled. The Athenians did not want the losers around stirring trouble. There was a vote, called ostracization (yes, that’s where the word comes from) where the voters chose whom they wanted exiled on a clay shard (ostrakon). Themistocles was of the Popular Party (merchants and sailors), and Aristides was of the Aristocratic Party (farmers and mine owners) which composed the Hoplite (heavy infantry). Themistocles needed the heavy infantry (duh) so he essentially formed a coalition with general Xanthippos, Aristides’s No. 2 and coincidentally the father of Pericles. If you look at this closely, Themistocles was a self-serving, rabble-rousing populist and Aristides was rightfully known as the Just. For his exile, Themistocles defected to the Persians but came to regret it and committed suicide before the Persian king could use him against the Greeks (admittedly a very noble thing). He was a very wily in other respects — he gave tiitular command of the navy to a Spartan, because he wanted the Spartan heavy infantry after he saw what they could do at Thermopylae, even though no Spartan could tell a bowsprit from his dick.

Get this stuff right, will you?

P.S. As for giving democracy a bad name, that was Pericles and then the Peloponessian Wars. A lot of bad s*** went down when the Greeks did not have a foreign enemy and turned against themselves. But we also got the Parthenon built!

nk (dbc370) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:01 am

Yes, but Thucydides whitewashed Pericles part in the war, much like Schlesinger did with Kennedy,

narciso (3fec35) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:04 am

Furloughed federal workers I think are supposed to report back to work today – and earlier they they might report back to work as early as Friday.

Sammy Finkelman (982d84) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:04 am

Falalala and EPWJ are in rare form.

JD (62c1eb) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:14 am

Dems fought for ObamaCare for around 50 years, losing repeatedly along the way. Once they have a unique composition of Congress, they pass it using legislative trickery. Upon doing so, with the MFM help, declare it settled law, never to be amended. However, should the other side attempt and fail modest common sense reforms, they should be punished. Funny, that.

JD (62c1eb) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:17 am

The NY Times wrote 80 plus stories trotting out victims of the so called shutdown. It reported zero stories on the failures of ObamaCare in the same period. Thanks The Answer.

AZ Bob (c99389) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:21 am

See the latest post. That is all ABOUT TO CHANGE, AZ Bob!

Patterico (9c670f) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:27 am

23.Because it was the correct strategy …

Doesn’t look like it to me. Do you also think Akin and Mourdock were the correct Senate candidates?

… but why in the world the right listen to the left …

I am hardly of the left if that is what you are implying. Unless in your view everyone who disagrees with you about anything is a leftist.

James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:54 am

Another skeptic about the strategy.

James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/17/2013 @ 9:36 am

Your “concern” is noted, James. Akin was not the Tea Party nominee.

JD (62c1eb) — 10/17/2013 @ 10:16 am

Actually, Akin was Claire McCaskill’s hand-picked opponent as she funded a significant portion of his campaign IIR –
just business-as-usual in the Democrat Dirty Tricks Department.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/17/2013 @ 10:22 am

89.Actually, Akin was Claire McCaskill’s hand-picked opponent …

It was no secret at the time that Akin was McCaskill’s preferred opponent but the Republicans chose him anyway (or at least 36% of them did in the primary). Which didn’t work out well.

James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/17/2013 @ 10:42 am

Mr. Shearer,

Perhaps you’re glossing over askeptic’s key point that McCaskill’s flunkies were out there stuffing the ballot box in the GOP primary so Akin would emerge as the nominee.

In other words, not as many Republicans voted for Akin in the primary as you think.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/17/2013 @ 10:50 am

Shearer”s “concern” is genuine.

JD (62c1eb) — 10/17/2013 @ 11:08 am

So Cruz’s re-enactment of pickett’s charge ends just the same way as the original- a total disaster for the led even as the leader himself slinks away.

Comment by Tlaloc (d061fc) — 10/17/2013 @ 1:55 am

Pickett worked for the Democrats, Tlaloc.

Granted Mr. Cruz’s stand was more like the First Battle of Bull Run (feds on the run, in chaos and quite scared), but it all worked out in the end.

Pons Asinorum (de04a4) — 10/17/2013 @ 2:41 pm

91

In other words, not as many Republicans voted for Akin in the primary as you think.

It appears Missouri has an open primary system so this is theoretically possible. However this is the first time I have heard it claimed that this occurred. You have some sort of reference? That McCaskill was running commercials that seemed aimed at pushing Republican primary voters towards Akin was widely noted at the time.

James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/17/2013 @ 3:55 pm

Granted Mr. Cruz’s stand was more like the First Battle of Bull Run (feds on the run, in chaos and quite scared), but it all worked out in the end.

Wow.

In what way did Cruz’s utter failure have the feds on the run? The dems were 100% united and got everything they wanted. The reps were hugely divided and got nothing. Cruz forced them to fight a battle they didn’t want and they fought it half heartedly and badly. There’s nothing in this that went well for the right.

They’ve lost ground in polling, lost financiers as the chamber of commerce has been disgusted by the attempts to default. They’ve lost news cycles/time. Obamacare is polling better. Holding the house is now a question and taking the senate a pipe dream. Incidental elections such as VA gov have also been hurt (from the GOP perspective). It’s been a giant clusterfark and it was entirely Cruz’s fault, and the rest of the republican caucus is no so quietly talking abut payback.

Tlaloc (d061fc) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:20 pm

How about that,

http://twitchy.com/2013/10/17/red-flag-msnbcs-krystal-ball-used-to-work-for-healthcare-gov-it-contractor/

narciso (3fec35) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:21 pm

Tlaloc, Democrats did not get everything they wanted. The sequester limits are still law.

Sheesh. You keep claiming how smart you are, but you don’t actually seem to pay any attention to events.

SPQR (768505) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:25 pm

Comment by nk (dbc370) — 10/17/2013 @ 7:01 am

P.S. As for giving democracy a bad name, that was Pericles and then the Peloponessian Wars. A lot of bad s*** went down when the Greeks did not have a foreign enemy and turned against themselves. But we also got the Parthenon built

This was how Persia bought peace with Greece. There was a secret deal. Mordechai the Jew was “Prime Minister” – he gave the money on the condition it would not be used for idol worship – and it wasn’t. It was not a pagan temple.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:43 pm

95

… it was entirely Cruz’s fault, …

It wasn’t all his fault, he had plenty of allies.

James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:53 pm

My ancestors will pay and there is not a damn thing I can do about it.

Comment by Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:59 pm

“Descendants”, I think you meant to say! How can dead ancestors pay? 😆

Yoda (ee1de0) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:31 pm

Oops, I forgot how much happy hates Gramm.

Comment by Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:26 pm

Pssst! Whispering, “Mention Sarah Palin, DO NOT!”

Yoda (ee1de0) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:35 pm

Woo is primarying these guys and where do I donate?

Comment by Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:14 pm

Who is Woo? Support him myself if American citizen he is!

Yoda (ee1de0) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:39 pm

I am frankly shocked that it took them nearly 16 days to surrender. That has to be some kind of pathetic record.

But we are talking about the crown princes of pathetic here…

WarEagle82 (b18ccf) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:43 pm

94- Akin was the only Republican candidate that groups associated with McCaskill ran ads supporting.
This was a deliberate attempt to induce the Republican Primary Electorate to select the candidate that McCaskill had determined would be the easiest for her to defeat – he wasn’t even the most favored going in.
Then, he did a classical “engage mouth prior to putting brain in gear”, refused to drop out, and got what he deserved.

askeptic (2bb434) — 10/17/2013 @ 5:59 pm

103.94- Akin was the only Republican candidate that groups associated with McCaskill ran ads supporting.

Sure this was widely noted at the time (where supporting means running ads saying Akin was too conservative for Missouri). But I took 91 to be claiming lots of Democrats actually voted for Akin in the Republican primary which I had not heard before.

James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/17/2013 @ 6:20 pm

Wow.

In what way did Cruz’s utter failure have the feds on the run?

@95 Comment by Tlaloc (d061fc) — 10/17/2013 @ 4:20 pm

LOL, the feds were in disarray just like the Republicans are, ergo: Mr Cruz’s stand is similar to Bull Run (First). The reason you did not understand is because you do not know your history.

Your analogy comparing Cruz’s Stand to Pickett’s charge is in error because Pickett was of the Confederacy, which championed slavery and was supported by the Democrats. Cruz’s Stand is more like the first Bull Run battle where the feds, which championed freedom and were led by the Republicans — were soundly defeated, in disarray, and running scared.

The funny thing is Tlaloc, these patterns are as old as history, especially anti-liberty forces against pro-liberty forces. Without delivering a knock-out blow, you left a wounded animal standing and cornered — just like the first Bull Run battle.

Pons asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/17/2013 @ 8:46 pm

What also haoppened was that, very simply, groups supporting McCaskill or maybe even the McCaskill campaign ran ads before the primary attacking Akin as conservative. This had the effect of increasing the number of votes for him in the Republican primary, where there was no runoff.

Sammy Finkelman (982d84) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:10 am

When people use the word “cave,” it sort of implies that they thought this tantrum would work. Which is quite appalling. Then again “predictably.” So maybe it was known all along, but in a sort of denial. Like with the skewed polls.

Alt (b8ba7b) — 10/19/2013 @ 5:41 am

the ‘economy’ might as well have been on milk cartons, for the last four years, apparently people don’t miss it.

narciso (3fec35) — 10/19/2013 @ 6:04 am

Ladies and gentlemen, serial troll nickc aka alt aka countless others.

JD (5c1832) — 10/19/2013 @ 6:29 am

And if I had walked past a barrycade and pushed a jelly stone ranger near LA what prosecutor might have taken my gun rights away for me? Yeah, you P.

You are either with them or against them.

Iconoclast (35f681) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:53 pm

Iconoclast, that’s a pretty stupid thing to write.

SPQR (768505) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:56 pm

I think Patterico is a Los Angeles County assistant district attorney, not a U.S. Attorney General prosecutor.

Otherwise, great post iconoclast.

Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:01 pm

10/16/2013

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