I have a system whereby I gather links for this space. Early in the day, I open a “new post” window on WordPress and copy/paste things I find in my perambulations, and then sort ’em out when I write the day’s post, usually in the morning. Some days I’m busier than others, and find less of note. Today there was only one waiting for me, a YouTube link; I can’t remember what it was and the link gives no clue. So let’s just embed it and be surprised, shall we?
Oh, right. That one.
I love high-def video; it’s fun to pause it randomly and see where I can capture the most unflattering facial expression. And that’s pretty much all I have to say about Rick Perry 2012 and his Carhartt jacket.
Something else I learned and can’t post a link to: Michigan congressman John Dingell was a page on the floor of the U.S. House when President Roosevelt asked them to declare war on Japan. Yes, we have a YouTube of that, too:
A number of immediate observations we can draw:
1) Those Carhartt jackets just don’t look right unless they’re a little dirty. Squeaky-clean like that, they resemble a Lincoln pickup truck. Twee.
2) Still, Perry could step in for one of the Village People in a pinch. The construction worker.
3) John Dingell will outlive us all.
(Pause.)
As you can probably tell, my morning has not exactly been a-brim with inspiration. In fact, I was just sitting here thinking it might feel good to do some yoga. I never do yoga. But I need a lot of stretching today, and maybe some lean, protein-rich foods. Yesterday I took myself out to lunch at a little middle eastern joint in Midtown, and got the grilled falafel sandwich. (Yes, it exists.) The proprietor was yakking it up with some of his regulars in guttural Arabic, or at least I assume it was; what other language sounds so much like extended throat-clearing? Hebrew does, a little, which suggests a connection between their delicious food, with its various nutty pastes, and those hacking consonant blends. Like most bilingual people, they scattered their conversation with English words, and the most common one in this chat was “chicken.” Puzzling, because surely there’s an Arabic word for that. (There is: dajaj. Thank you, internet.) I ate most of the falafel and got a go-box for the rest. As I rose to go, the proprietor asked, in perfect un-accented English, “Did we give you enough of a headache yet?” Ha ha, don’t be silly, I said, and as I left, the usual l’esprit de l’escalier flooded in:
You should have a doctor look at that throat.
As you can see, I wasn’t at my best yesterday, but I’m glad I had enough presence of mind not to say anything that witless. And that was one tasty sammich.
I love eavesdropping on people speaking Spanglish, or Arablish, or whatever. The last time was in one of my fave Mexican places, and the woman talking on her phone looked a wee bit street. Blah blah blah in Español and then, And I’m like, gurl, you don’t need to put UP with that shit blah blah blah. It suggests there is no satisfying translation for that concept, which makes me proud to be a native English speaker.
Good lord, it’s time to pull the plug on this mudbath, isn’t it? On to the bloggage:
I have much love for my Wisconsin friends and readers, and I say this with great affection: Wisconsin, you are NOT a mitten. Michigan is a mitten. Stop trying to be something you’re not.
Newt Gingrich has only 106,055 Twitter followers. The rest of the 1.3 million his site claims are fakes. Well, who understands the internet, anyway?
Obviously I don’t, or I wouldn’t be about to hit “publish.” Have a great Thursday.
Dexter said on December 8, 2011 at 10:09 am
“…Carhartt jackets just don’t look right unless they’re a little dirty.”
You got that right, Margie!
It’s like when I worked in the factory, perched up on my fork lift, where everybody could see my brand new steel-toed work boots…nearly everyone made some attempt at humor, telling me I had new boots and “they ain’t a-gonna be all purty like that for very long in this fuckin’ shit hole ha ha.” Let alone the time I had a doctor keep me waiting and I had to go to work at 3:00 PM in my “good clothes”, to run a greasy oily filthy punch press. I got razzed real-good for that one.
Carhartts are best-looking when really super extra grimy…they are made to covet that look, and are so much more impressive when caked in fithy dirt-soaked axle grease. Thanks for the memories.
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Bitter Scribe said on December 8, 2011 at 10:47 am
My parents and relatives would use Greek strategically, which means when there was something they didn’t want the kids to understand. I remember, when I was little, listening to my parents start to argue; their voices in English would get louder and higher until, boom, the Greek eruption. No wonder I resisted learning the language.
Mavros means “black” in Greek, so if you hear a bunch of old Greeks complaining about how the mavri have ruined the old neighborhood, you’ll understand. (Although the context would have made it clear anyway.)
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Sue said on December 8, 2011 at 10:48 am
Tell you what, you can have your mitten back when you give us back da U.P., eh.
Right now the big symbol in WI isn’t a green and gold mitten, it’s a blue fist.
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nancy said on December 8, 2011 at 10:49 am
We stole the U.P. fair and square. Besides, then we’d have to dynamite the bridge, and that would suck.
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Julie Robinson said on December 8, 2011 at 10:52 am
Perry’s definitely going for the Reagan look there, isn’t he? Too bad his brain power is also the rough equivalent.
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brian stouder said on December 8, 2011 at 11:06 am
Well, if the NN.c women ever pull off the summit meeting* in Fort Wayne that was under discussion toward the end of the last thread, I’ll be the odd man at the next table who you suspect is listening in on the proceedings, because he keeps doing the restrained-chuckling thing, while (seemingly) reading the same page of the newspaper.
And, Perry is so “two bandwagons ago”, y’know?
Jeff – you had an interesting take on our somewhat edgy political climate. Check out the link Alex posted a few days ago about “the paranoid style politics” game that the right plays, as exemplified by Barry Goldwater in 1964. The article starts out snarky, but becomes more engaging as you proceed.
*inside joke for northeast Indiana people
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LAMary said on December 8, 2011 at 11:07 am
The woman who sits behind me has long phone conversations in Armenian/English. She can also do Farsi/English.
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Kim said on December 8, 2011 at 11:10 am
Only Bobblehead Perry would say civil rights and the separation of church and state are at odds with the American Way.
This ad would be perfect if he tossed a shovel of dirt (to make his worker wear look meaningful) or threw a football through a hanging tire (to remind us we’ll be screwed if he becomes president).
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alex said on December 8, 2011 at 11:48 am
Jeff (tmmo)–
In the last thread you ripped on Richard Cordray. I was sorry to see that the obstructionists have again blocked his appointment as consumer protection czar. What exactly did he do to earn your ire?
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Jeff Borden said on December 8, 2011 at 11:49 am
I’m not ashamed to admit I’m tired of hearing about everyone’s Christianity, whether it is a shameless tool rooting around for votes like Rick Perry, or the luckiest quarterback in the NFL, Tim Tebow. I don’t attend the One True anymore, but Lord, whatever the many flaws of Catholicism, proclaiming your devotion in public was not one of them.
My community college speech classes are wrapping up with their final presentation being “If I Could Change One Thing. . .” One of my students last week did hers on religion, which she fervently wished could be used to bring people together rather than drive us apart, rather than as a tool to beat others over the head. She’s 20, but already considerably smarter than Rick Perry or most of the GOP presidential candidates. Of course, a field that includes Perry, Rick Santorum (described by a fellow Republican as quite possibly the stupidest man in the Senate) and Michele Bachmann is not exactly difficult a monument to intellect and erudition.
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Dorothy said on December 8, 2011 at 12:09 pm
I think we need to pick a date on the calendar for this Fort Wayne meetup. How about April 21st?! You’re a welcome participant, brian stouder. And Jeff TMMO you and I could share the car. You’re less than an hour away from me. Any other takers???
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Scout said on December 8, 2011 at 12:15 pm
And with this, Rick Perry proves once again why he is not presidential. Is he hoping for the VP nod, a la She-Who to invigorate the fundie base, or what?
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Kath said on December 8, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Unlike Ron, Rick Perry does not have a Nancy standing in the background to whisper his lines to him. If he had, he would have known what that third agency was.
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Jeff Borden said on December 8, 2011 at 12:33 pm
I have no idea of Rick Perry’s thinking these days. I don’t know that being veep is equal to being the big cheese governor of Texas and anyone who suggested Perry would open themselves up to the same complaints leveled at McCain when he tabbed Madame Malaprop for his ticket. Perry is dumber than a box of rocks, inarticulate, represents a reliably red state that will go for the GOP candidate regardless and, most tellingly, would have everyone praying for the health and longevity of the president lest he ever get into the Oval Office by succession.
Like a lot of these fools surrounded by sycophants, Perry must’ve given into the siren song his ego longed to hear that he was presidential timber. Now, I’d say he is terribly damaged goods without much of a future in national politics.
Meanwhile, I cannot believe the strength Gingrich is showing. The Republicans truly have gone mad.
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Judybusy said on December 8, 2011 at 12:38 pm
I follow George Takei on FB, and he had this today.
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susan said on December 8, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Well, here is at least one good reply to Rick Perry’s ad. There is no higher form of humour. Note the ratio of likes to dislikes is the opposite of Perry’s yootoob.
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Kirk said on December 8, 2011 at 12:40 pm
There was a kid from Greece in my high-school class who taught us Greek expletives, which we freely threw around as if they were in some sort of secret code.
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beb said on December 8, 2011 at 12:53 pm
So Perry is going for the ‘all Carhart, no cattle’ look?
And I’m like, gurl, you don’t need to put UP with that shit is so ghetto that it has to be said in American. The Queen’s english will not do.
Strictly speaking, you can’t steal something from something that doesn’t exist, as Wisconsin didn’t exist at the time. I do have to wonder if the UP wouldn’t be happier being a part of Wisconsin, maybe wMichigan can do a trade right after Noorth and South Dakota merge into one vast (yet empty state)
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Julie Robinson said on December 8, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Perfect, judybusy!
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Connie said on December 8, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Michigan did not steal the UP. Ohio stole the Toledo strip and Michigan got the UP to make up for the loss.
I also had a grilled falafel sandwich for lunch yesterday, most delicious.
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Peter said on December 8, 2011 at 1:14 pm
My parents do the German/English thing all the time.
When my sister and I were small, my parents would speak German to each other when they had something to say that they didn’t want us to hear – mostly juicy gossip and entendres. One time my sister and I started laughing at what we thought was the punch line – my parents stared at us for a while then switched to Hungarian. Which wasn’t all bad – it was like having Miklos Molnar ( aka Ernie Kovacs) live in your kitchen.
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Jolene said on December 8, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Have just finished reading a long New Yorker article by Connie Bruck on Newt Gingrich published in 1995. Was as fascinating and horrifying then as he is now. Very interesting to read about how some of the political dynamics we are living with now were set in motion. Of all the conclusions one might draw from this piece, the clearest is that Gingrich is a truly horrible person who will say or do anything to gain power.
The last sentence is:
That license [to say and do what he pleases] goes unchecked, in large part, because what he is doing defies our most fundamental assumptions: one simply does not expect to find so consummate a con artist serving as Speaker of the House.
Pretty amazing. Definitely recommend the article.
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Bitter Scribe said on December 8, 2011 at 1:41 pm
There’s a novel whose name I’ve long forgotten, about a U of Michigan football player, by a former U of Michigan football player. He meets a girl and starts to tell her where he’s from, and she interrupts him with, “If you do that thing with your hand, I’ll chop it off.”
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Jolene said on December 8, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Rick Perry is so embarrassing. I mean, we have some embarrassing politicians in Virginia, but the worst rarely take to the national stage. Bad enough they display their inadequacies locally.
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Dorothy said on December 8, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Dang Jolene I’m getting blocked from that article since I don’t have a subscription to The New Yorker.
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Jeff Borden said on December 8, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Hey Jolene,
Who would win the obnoxious goober award between Rick Perry and George Allen?? I sure hope that race-baiting dickhead is not reelected to the Senate. I understand Tim Kaine did pretty well against him in a recent debate, but still. . .
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Jolene said on December 8, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Hmmm, I thought I was giving you a link that would work w/o a subscription. If you are a Facebook user, you should be able to get to it from The New Yorker’s FB page. The link is two or three posts down from the top, and the archive is supposedly unlocked.
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Jolene said on December 8, 2011 at 2:12 pm
I missed that debate, Jeff, but I share the hope that Allen is not re- elected. It’s likely to be a close race, with presidential coattails coming into play.
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brian stouder said on December 8, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Dorothy, if the plan takes off, I’d love to be there. One possible bump in the road, though, is that April 21 is Pam’s and my anniversary. Come to think of it, that might be a pretty big bump!
edit – NOT our anniversary…her birthday (gimme half-credit, eh? I knew it was an important day)
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Jakash said on December 8, 2011 at 2:43 pm
For the Laura Lippman fans — it says in the paper that she’s going to be on Craig Ferguson’s show tonight.
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brian stouder said on December 8, 2011 at 2:47 pm
I shall DVR her
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Dorothy said on December 8, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Brian I was thinking a lunch get together might be fun. I’d prefer to drive in and out in one day. We have some trips coming up where we are staying overnight for several nights in April, May and July, so I’m just watching expenses. It’s about a 3.5 hour drive so I think a lunch date would be perfect. Maybe you can recommend a place. And we’ll have cake for your bride!
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 8, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Alex –
First, let me note I don’t object to the idea of a consumer protection for fiscal issues “czar” per se, but I really haven’t read much about the so-called “sweeping powers” claimed by the GOP for the proposed office. And I’m sorry it wasn’t Elizabeth Warren, but that’s now up to Massachusetts for her future federal service.
The main question, and my answer: four years ago, right about this month give or take a week or two, as the foreclosure crisis was boiling the lid off the kettle, little orgs like the Licking County Coalition for Housing were trying to increase our proactive stance on financial literacy, in our case as a part of an already-existing board long-range plan. We were, in Ohio, a little faster out of the blocks than most in putting together a county-wide financial literacy effort, using some national materials under the logo “Positive Balance,” and we applied for a couple of AmeriCorps members (they’re neither employees or volunteers, you call each one a “member” in AmeriCorps).
Staff from Cordray’s office suddenly descended on our office, pelting me and our executive director with requests to think big, really big. There were plans for a county-wide “all hands” meeting, bank folk and civic leaders and us agency folk, and the meetings before the meeting, the request was presented as from Mr. Cordray himself, so that at the “official meeting” he could ask and we could respond “yes” to vast applause for us all: would we please not just do a bigger Positive Balance program in our county, but go regional? We mulled this over, and asked for what kind of support we could get — we do transitional housing primarily, and our funding/base/name is “Licking County” — to go wider. We were promised many things, but the specifics were that the State Treasurer’s office would hire a significant number of the AmeriCorps members themselves, and Cordray would directly aid in raising funds on our behalf, since you have to get a minimum of $5,000 cash per member from local sources (and other side notes, but that’s the biggie). As we started to say a nervous “yes,” thinking times were tough, we needed a broader base ourselves, and this was simply the right thing to do, the pressure went up another ratchet to do all 88 counties. I said “no,” and had to repeat myself. The hints of further aid and vast largesse were self-evidently vague enough to confirm to me that this would be a potential over-extension of our 13-15 person staff & $1.2M budget to manage the AmeriCorps end, and I said “If a step we take endangers our core mission, it’s the wrong step.”
The public meeting day arrived, as did Mr. Cordray. We had face-to-face meetings with a dozen of us in a room before the big event, and even at that last moment, Cordray asked LCCH to please help him bring financial literacy to all 88 counties of Ohio (insert fulsome praise of our modest efforts to date here), and that his office and he personally would do whatever it took to make this work. I made my “core mission” speech, to him directly, and he assured me they would never let that happen, that our transitional housing work was too important, but we really needed to do this.
We agreed, grudgingly, to attempt a 30 county region, but not the state. Cordray and his team gave us a grudging assent, and we went to the big room.
In the scheduled Q&A, I got up and asked, Cordray’s PR person looking at me with marked displeasure, “One thing about politics — things change. It’s well known you are interested in running for governor. If we get into this project, and you move on, we could be stretched thin and no one to help heave on a rope. What can we do to ensure sustainability?”
Cordray’s answer was unambiguous, and said in front of 40 community leaders here and an unsmiling PR aide. “I am personally committed to this project, I will commit the full support and assistance of my office to this project, and if I should continue to another office, I will continue as a vocal & active supporter of Positive Balance, ideally statewide as soon as possible.” [Applause. Exeunt.]
You all know how this ends, of course. The next four weeks saw three major press release packet go out, talking about how “State Treasurer Richard Cordray, and local partners in Licking County and the surrounding region are . . . Treasurer Cordray has led . . . etc.” A few months later, a feckless attorney general went down in flames, and Cordray leapt for the spot. In the intervening weeks, the Treasurer’s office agreed to pick up the minimum number of members, with promises of more “in the next fiscal year.” Fundraising support was non-existent. After Cordray became attorney general, we had precisely one successful contact with him, then asked him to come to the induction of our first class of AmeriCorps members — it’s a swearing-in ceremony. He bailed thirty minutes before it began; the mayor of Newark and I stepped in and did just fine.
The next year, the Treasurer’s office cut from five to two their number of members, no fundraising assistance, in-kind or otherwsie, though I’m sure they claimed hours of “technical assistance” for every five minute phone call we had with them. Never heard word one from now Attorney General Cordray again, nor did he issue any press statement about financial literacy, having found attacking foreclosing banks a better campaign strategy. He stepped out of the Governor’s race slipstream for Ted Strickland, having decided to gun for US Senate, and lost, then lost re-election to our former Senator, Mike DeWine.
We hung on for three more years; in the second year, our organization managed more AmeriCorps members than the state of Kentucky (28 to 26). But the need to pry the $5K from cash strapped non-profits in southeastern Ohio to host a member, and time it takes to recruit, train, and retain members across a third of the state did nearly break our organization, and it was a relief when we heard the otherwise infuriating news that the state and federal entities behind AmeriCorps (I did four induction ceremonies, and got pretty good at it, using all my best FDR riffs, echoing the CCC on which they’re based oddly enough) all had decided that they wanted private, for-profit firms to make proposals for hundreds, not dozens of members. We’d never had more than 28 in 18 counties across a 30 county swath of Ohio, so we chose to wrap the program last year.
If we had done what Cordray had literally begged me to do, and trusted that SOB, we would have closed our doors, broke and dispersed, two years ago, leaving hundreds of homeless each year in Licking County unserved, unhoused. So yes, I despise the man. He is not to be trusted. You can say “hey, it’s politics,” and indeed it is. That’s why I held back, and I will forever be glad I did — and we don’t regret giving our region a shot. One county solutions don’t make sense. But Cordray deserves any abuse the House & Senate can throw at him, but I’m sure he will continue to fall upwards: people like him always do.
You can find a precis of the program here – http://www.lcchousing.org/programs.cfm (scroll down to Positive Balance – and yes, our website sucks and needs updating. It doesn’t get us much contact with people needing services, so it’s not a priority, and it should be retooled as more of a development vehicle, which is on the running “when we get to that” list.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 8, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Geez. Well, someone did ask.
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alex said on December 8, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Jeff, thanks for the reply. Based on what you just said, I don’t think he has the leadership qualifications for the consumer protection job, or for that matter much of anything. I want to see someone strongly committed to consumer advocacy in that position, and I hope Obama will find such a person and do a recess appointment.
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LAMary said on December 8, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Off topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEBLt6Kd9EY&feature=fvwrel
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Deborah said on December 8, 2011 at 4:32 pm
LA Mary, the ducks in the wind video is one of my favorites. It’s so cute the way they just roll with it and then keep right on going. I felt like that last week when we had 60 mph gusts while I was walking to work.
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Julie Robinson said on December 8, 2011 at 4:45 pm
That was painful for me to watch since I was worried that their little bones were getting crushed. Misplaced empathy, no doubt, given the surfeit of ducks and their droppings around here.
Anyway, I wrote a long post to Jeff but the server ate it and now I’m short on time to finish baking my goodies for tonight. I love Dorothy’s idea but will probably be out of town that date. We’re supposed to visit Sarah during their tulip time.
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Sue said on December 8, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Deborah, and the mama duck is going “Well I guess we’re going this way then” after all the poor babies are blown off course.
My kind of mom, the one I always aspired to be and never was.
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Dexter said on December 8, 2011 at 5:59 pm
nance…Frank Beckmann (Radio 760, WJR-AM) called a lady who was from some agency/commission in Wisconsin to inquire about the hot issue of mittens. This woman was laughing like a social drinker on her fifth cocktail at a party, cackling at every word Beckmann uttered. Later Frank let a Michigan spokesman into the conversation and the laughter became so intense I nearly shut off the radio.
What I got out of it is this: Wisconsin changes their promotions with the seasons, always something new. The mitten campaign was meant to be spread just until spring.
A half hour after the postings online, the Wisconsin tourism bureau was flooded with irate Wolverine callers and posters.
Frank was clearly irritated at the ridiculous notion of Wisconsin looking anything like a mitten.
The Wisconsin lady offered a compromise in between giggles: “give us the U.P. and we’ll give your mitten back to you.” Then Frank went on to describe the scenario that Connie laid out in comment # 20.
My grandson is kind of hogging the computer so I was in the kitchen cooking roast beef, potatoes and green beans almondine for dinner (Carla Lee is in Columbus baby-sitting so my daughter and her husband can do an intense shopping session).
I turned WJR on and Mitch Albom’s show was on…he had Dave Bing, Mayor of Detroit, as a guest. Bing is rallying the pastors and community leaders to keep the state of Michigan out of this “emergency management” situation. Bing was adamant: Detroit’s leaders want the state to stay out of Detroit’s affairs.
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JayZ(the original) said on December 8, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Judybusy,
I wish whoever posts those “Who wore it best?” fashion photos on the internet would put Perry and Heath Ledger up on the site, side by side, and ask us to vote.
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Dorothy said on December 8, 2011 at 7:18 pm
I’m not coming unless you can make it, Julie. That was just the first date I threw out there. We’ll come up with a better date!
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Judybusy said on December 8, 2011 at 7:20 pm
I like it, JayZ!
Well, here’s another disappointing decision by Obama. It seems sometimes he just can’t take a stand. Of course, I’ll still vote for him, but I’m getting so tired of so many issues just getting thrown under the bus.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 8, 2011 at 10:15 pm
Wow. I finally “got” to hear the entire Perry ad. Aside from being repellent to me from pretty much first to last, that’s more red meat than Dr. Adkins would recommend. Even in a primary fight, even in the reddest parts of Iowa, who on earth told him that would play in late 2011? It’s not only a morally offensive pitch, all given in his own voice, looking right at the camera, unavoidably words he will have to own, it’s DATED kulturkampfkrappe. That might have flown in ’84, for pity’s sake, but today? He’s pouring money into Des Moines media like a chocolate fountain at a wedding reception, and he would have been better off installing free chocolate fountains in every county of Iowa than running these ads.
Does this manure fly in Texas? Honestly, I don’t think most Christian evangelical voters in Iowa are going to have their heads turned by that language, let alone by a haircut in freshly purchased Carhartts.
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Kaye said on December 8, 2011 at 11:20 pm
Initally I thought the original Perry ad was a parody; b/c how could it be real?!?!?!
LOVE the Brokeback Mountain version 🙂
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Crazycatlady said on December 9, 2011 at 12:00 am
My sister married a 2nd generation Greek man. His folks came from the ‘old country’. I learned the most select Greek curse words from him. Also learned a lot of really delicious Greek dishes his Mom taught my sister to make.
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moe99 said on December 9, 2011 at 12:34 am
Saw “Straight No Chaser” last night in Seattle. Love those IU acapella singers. Quite a wonderful night. If you ever get the chance to see them, I highly recommend it.
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alex said on December 9, 2011 at 12:48 am
Peter @ 21—
Knew a girl who’d been adopted by Jewish WWII refugee parents who lived in Hyde Park, father a cancer researcher at University of Chicago. She grew up learning English and Hungarian simultaneously and attended U of C Lab School.
Hungarian, complicated as it is, is evidently the language of choice when people want to talk trash surreptitiously because of its complexity and rarity.
One day my friend happened upon two gentlemen (perhaps it’s a stretch to describe them thusly) on a park bench who were having a raunchy conversation in Hungarian about female joggers’ boobs and asses and graphic masturbatory seduction fantasies. So she chimed in using perfect Hungarian and told them what filthy sexist pigs they were and elicited quite some shock.
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Dexter said on December 9, 2011 at 1:55 am
Well well well…Baltimore’s Leading Lady, Laura Lippman, was cutting up with Craig Ferguson tonight. Good show, Laura.
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beb said on December 9, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Jeff@44: I loved your comment that’s more red meat than Dr. Adkins would recommend. As to whether it will play in Iowa, my impression is that there are enough rabidly anti-gay people out there that yes, yes it would (sadly). But I think it will be the freshly-bought Carhart jacket that will doom him. It’s unmistakable newness labels him as inauthentic. Much like getting Al Gore to take off his tie and wear blue denim shirts.
I sometimes wish there was something like a “three strikes” law for political candidates. As in say something outrageously stupid, like Perry getting both the date of the next election wrong and the legal voting age in one sentence , or Bachman thinking we have an embassy in Iran, or patently false, like Romney’s TV ad that edited Pres. Obama’s words to sound the opposite of what he said and you get a strike. Get three strikes and you’re thrown out of the election. I realize there is no non-partisan way to call balls and strike or to enforce an ejection from the game. But considering how mind boggling dumb the Republican line-up has been this year I wish there were.
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