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"My Message to the Governor Is 'Stick It Up Your Ass!'"
This is my second post in a row about Western Republican politicians. There's a reason for that: They are better than other politicians.
The House Republican majority leader, Michael Lange, unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at Gov. Brian Schweitzer Wednesday, saying the Democratic governor "can go straight to hell."
... Lange's blow-up came about 90 minutes after he had met with Schweitzer to talk about an offer that Democrats considered a tax and budget compromise to end the session.
He told House Republicans he considered the offer a "bribe" and that he was standing up for his caucus and what it believes in.
"So my message to the governor is to stick it up your ass," Lange shouted angrily. "That's my message to him. Stick it up your ass."
The story has a video, thank the Lords of Kobol, and it makes Lange look like a cross between Teddy Roosevelt and foul-mouthed punk poet John Cooper Clarke. Crossed fingers that those other Westerners Harry Reid (Nevada) and Dick Cheney (Wyoming) drop their Surreal Life slapfight and start tossing some f-, a-, and h-bombs.
Guy Montag|4.26.07 @ 11:09AM|#
Did you distract both Radley and Ted Kennedy with milkshakes to post this? :)
|4.26.07 @ 11:14AM|#
At one point, Lange accused Democrats of negotiating like
"radical socialists" like those in the Soviet Union, North Korea
and "Red China." They won't compromise or capitulate, he
said.
Sounds like a real winner there, David.
|4.26.07 @ 11:16AM|#
The West is great--at least, if you take out the more populated portions of it. Maybe we should all live on giant ranches, à la Asimov's Solaria.
|4.26.07 @ 11:18AM|#
Best line,
"Communists?" Wilson said. "My father landed in Normandy. To group
me in with a group like that is about as offensive as anything I
can imagine."
They were on our side when your dad landed on Normandy. Right?
|4.26.07 @ 11:23AM|#
It's a step in the right direction, I guess. But I won't be happy until they start dueling again.
Guy Montag|4.26.07 @ 11:23AM|#
Best line,
"Communists?" Wilson said. "My father landed in Normandy. To group
me in with a group like that is about as offensive as anything I
can imagine."
They were on our side when your dad landed on Normandy.
Right?
Maybe he will back up and use Gore Vidal as an example next. Maybe
even Alger Hiss.
|4.26.07 @ 11:23AM|#
Queen's Gambit Declined = HoI?
Dan T?
Jesse Walker's nemesis? (I forget which names that guy went by -
Gun Widow, ed maybe?)
|4.26.07 @ 11:24AM|#
JParker,
Communists, fascists, French people--what's the difference?
independent worm,
With swords?
Guy Montag|4.26.07 @ 11:40AM|#
Communists, fascists, French people the french
--what's the difference?
There, fixed that one ;)
ed|4.26.07 @ 11:48AM|#
I forget which names that guy went by - Gun Widow, ed
maybe?
Not ed. Not that it isn't a lovely name.
|4.26.07 @ 11:55AM|#
Did you just write a blog post with the thesis, "Heh heh, he
said 'ass?'"
Really?
Heh heh. Heh. Ass.
|4.26.07 @ 12:22PM|#
I believe it was Edward. I don't think our favorite Dan T. is Edward or Gun Widow. I do however think that Queens Gambit Declined is HOI is Dan T.
cgee|4.26.07 @ 12:27PM|#
Was it merely coincidence that you posted a link to "Evidently
Chickentown," or did you watch the recent episode of The Sopranos
where a reading of the poem with musical accompaniment was used
over the final credits?
I thought it was a good choice by the PTB at The Sopranos - JCC's
staccato delivery, plus the menacing tones of the music, provided
just the right hint of foreboding.
|4.26.07 @ 12:27PM|#
ed,
I've cleared both our names
Jesse Walker | April 19, 2007, 1:49pm | #
"Sherman" and "Edward" are the same person. He posts under other names, too -- earlier this week he was calling himself "Brady" and (showing his feminine side) "Gun Widow."
|4.26.07 @ 12:28PM|#
Crossed fingers that those other Westerners Harry Reid
(Nevada) and Dick Cheney (Wyoming) drop their Surreal Life
slapfight and start tossing some f-, a-, and h-bombs.
I wouldn't be surprised; Republicans are the uncivilized ones of
the politicos. Democrats are much more civilized.
John D|4.26.07 @ 12:44PM|#
"Republicans are the uncivilized ones of the politicos.
Democrats are much more civilized."
Oh? You mean like when Murtha accused the US military of murdering
civilians, or Ted Kennedy calling Bush "Hitler"? Or Clinton
trashing the reputations of the women he raped?
You are pathetic
|4.26.07 @ 12:47PM|#
Or Clinton trashing the reputations of the women he
raped?
You are pathetic
Pot -- Kettle.
Miggs|4.26.07 @ 12:48PM|#
"I wouldn't be surprised; Republicans are the uncivilized ones
of the politicos. Democrats are much more civilized."
Queen, being a good troll involves never actually admitting you're
a troll. Now please retire this screen name and try a little harder
with "HOI."
|4.26.07 @ 12:50PM|#
Listen, regardless of your political views there is simply no
reason to defend an elected representative who uses coarse or foul
language against another legislator.
It's uncouth and classless. Mr. Lange has embarrassed this great
nation with his vulgar tongue.
I. Self. Divine.|4.26.07 @ 12:53PM|#
Mr. Lange has embarrassed this great nation with his vulgar
tongue.
I've been sitting here trying to figure out is this is
sarcasm...please tell me it is. Seriously. Please.
|4.26.07 @ 12:56PM|#
Haywood's Proxy | April 26, 2007, 12:50pm | #
Listen, regardless of your political views there is simply no
reason to defend an elected representative who uses coarse or foul
language against another legislator.
It's uncouth and classless. Mr. Lange has embarrassed this great
nation with his vulgar tongue.
Horseshit. I too wish these guys would start dueling again. I want
to see them say that another legislator is of low breed, or in
today's parlance - A son of a bitch.
|4.26.07 @ 12:59PM|#
I wouldn't mind if every now and then they resorted to calling each other "dumb fucks"... I mean, really, that's all most of them are.
D.A. Ridgely|4.26.07 @ 1:17PM|#
Mere profanity becomes tiresome too quickly. What American
politicians need to increase their entertainment value (their
political value being a lost cause) is more of the witty political
invective more often found among British politicians. As when, for
example, Churchill described Clement Atlee as "a modest man, who
has much to be modest about."
Alas, this would require a more literate and articulate class of
politicians than seems possible here. But to paraphrase Browning, a
man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a taxpayer's pocket
for?
Easy Meat|4.26.07 @ 1:19PM|#
remember the list that the simp contingent of the Republican
party faithful was passing around back in the day? The one pitching
bubba Clinton as a murderin' gangster type or summat?
(google "Clinton Body Count" for a refresher)
that was funny
and a little sad
those wacky Republicans
|4.26.07 @ 1:24PM|#
What DA Ridgely said.
D.A., have you ever had the fortune to see Barney Frank at the
podium, or on a cable nooz show? That's some good stuff right
there.
The rest of you can go Cheney yourselves.
|4.26.07 @ 1:51PM|#
I wish there was a check-off on the 1040 form to pay for politicians' dueling pistols...
|4.26.07 @ 2:05PM|#
Shove it up your Obama, joe.
that doesn't make any sense.
i also agree with DA Ridgely. Watching the PM face off with the
parliament is pretty entertaining.
|4.26.07 @ 2:16PM|#
downstater,
Maybe he was referring to the Obama/butt-plug opinion of the US
Patent Office that was blogged here a few weeks ago.
|4.26.07 @ 2:21PM|#
perhaps.
i may need to spend even MORE time reading hit and run just to make
sense of the references.
VM|4.26.07 @ 2:28PM|#
Downstater - yeah - and you'll rip cubbies fans and lord over
the superiority of your team.
(At the game last sun, I asked a Cards fan what it was like wearing
a cap that read "WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS". He assured me, "It's
great. Too bad you'll not know that joy." very fun!)
:)
|4.26.07 @ 2:40PM|#
I fairly recently saw Parliament debating the public nuisance of discarded chewing gum stuck to the sidewalk, the expence of removing it, etc. They even made that sound classy.
|4.26.07 @ 2:42PM|#
"Watching the PM face off with the parliament is pretty
entertaining."
I love Prime Minister's Questions.
We could use more "Harrumph Harrumph Harrumph!" in our public
discourse.
|4.26.07 @ 3:27PM|#
"My Message to the Governor Is 'Stick It Up Your Ass!'"
by David Weigel (Tim Cavanaugh in heavy syrup)
|4.26.07 @ 3:35PM|#
VM
sort of sorry for ruining your sunday. ;) what a bomb in the 10th!
awesome that you were at that game!
we can share some common ground in that your scrubs and my cards
both suck right now.
|4.26.07 @ 3:44PM|#
VM,
I'm a Braves' fan. I want to thank you for giving us Greg
Maddox.
Fools!
By the way, Wrigley is a GREAT park. It and Fenway should be moved
to the Moon to be preserved in a vacuum and protected from the
developers for all time.
|4.26.07 @ 3:47PM|#
I love this episode so much I'm considering sending Lange a
cane.
Cheers,
RK Jones
|4.26.07 @ 3:53PM|#
Mark my words: whole new construction and preservation technologies are going to be developed to save Fenway and Wrigley over the next few decades.
VM|4.26.07 @ 3:57PM|#
joe - you mean! you mean! THE MARKET??? golly [grins]
ProL:
oh yeah. well. um. Dale Murphy. so there.
yeah.
[looks around. backs away]
|4.26.07 @ 4:05PM|#
joe,
As a fan of your park, if not your team (my second favorite team is
the poor Devil Rays, so die, die, die), I implore you to prevent
its destruction. The last attempt to make it into a mall/park (à la
Comiskey) came dangerously close to success. I've only been there
once, but that one time involved watching Clemens dominate the Jays
and seeing Sam Horn (DH) hit a grand slam over the Monster. It was
obviously a perfect baseball day. My other perfect baseball day was
watching a Cubs-Braves game at Wrigley with Bill Cosby throwing the
first pitch, and Greg Maddox pwning the Cubs. As he always
did.
VM,
Yeah, he was great, too. Almost won us the division
singlehandedly.
|4.26.07 @ 4:10PM|#
joe,
I hope Fenway is bulldozed*. Boston deserves it after the way they
desecrated the old Busch Stadium in aught four. Fever Pitch -
honestly - do you Red Sox people have no sense of decorum?
*not seriously - but you still deserve it!
|4.26.07 @ 4:13PM|#
whoa whoa whoa.
excuse me people.
i will define who is a troll around here and who isn't.
|4.26.07 @ 4:15PM|#
PL,
What's the atmosphere like at Tropicana? My wife has family in
Tampa and we've always thought about staying with them for a cheap
get-away. I thought it would be cool to see a D-Rays game for the
hell of it.
I don't get to watch the junior circuit much unless I make the hike
to KC (which is an awesome park in a stupid location if you've ever
been there) or Chicago.
|4.26.07 @ 4:23PM|#
downstater,
Well, the stadium has no soul, though it's supposedly better since
the recent refit. I haven't sat in the stands in quite some time.
When I was with WaMu, we had a box, which I took advantage of from
time to time. That was nice :) The Rays are playing quite a bit
better this season, so I expect that there will be more excitement,
too.
If you plan to see the sights in Pinellas County (the beaches, the
Dalí Museum, etc.), it's not hard to get to.
|4.26.07 @ 4:24PM|#
"M(y second favorite team is the poor Devil Rays, so die, die,
die)"
Hey, Pro Libertate: *PLUNK*
Seriously, I don't even worry about Fenway anymore. The owners
realize - hell, the entire world realizes - that the "Boston Red
Sox" is one of the most valuable brand names in the world, and that
it is Fenway Park that produces most of that value. People who
don't even like the Red Sox go there, just because they want to
watch a ballgame there. When they held a double header last year
with the Single A Lowell Spinners and the Triple A Pawtucket Red
Sox, they sold something like 29,000 tickets.
You know what the Red Sox would be without Fenway? Do you?
The Mets, that what. *spit*
We don't have to try to save Fenway anymore - that problem has
taken care of itself.
VM|4.26.07 @ 4:25PM|#
ProL:
hrumph.
Mr. Crane! ooh! ooh! ooh! can I be a troll?? Pretty please??? I
have a troll outfit and everything! ooh ooh ooh!!!!!!!
downstater - that was one of the saddest days. At least the Cards
got to win it in the following year. But how the Eastern Seaboard
Programming Network still trumpets that out is nauseating.
(Tampa Bay Deviled Eggs, tho?)
|4.26.07 @ 4:36PM|#
VM,
The Rays have won exactly as many World Series titles as the Cubs
in the last 99 years.
joe,
I hope that you are right. One of my Boston friends was convinced
that the last effort would succeed, so it must've been close. Do
you think finally winning it all--something that could never happen
to a certain Chicago team--changed the dynamic?
You have good dogs, too, though Wrigley's are better. And their
drunks, surprisingly, are drunker.
For the record, I've been a Braves fan since 1974 or so. I'm a
Tampa fan in everything else that we have, so I certainly don't
plan to throw the Rays under the bus just because they've been
Zeus-awful to date. I endured the Bucs for a long time, too. It
helps that the Rays are in the AL, of course. In any event, I do
have at least token dislike for all of the other teams in the
division, with the usual hatred of the Yankees shared by all true
Americans.
|4.26.07 @ 4:50PM|#
VM,
By the way, when the public was asked to suggest a name for the new
team, I voted for "Rough Riders", because (1) the Rough Riders
stayed in Tampa prior to heading to Cuba, (2) it's a tougher name
than Fictional Fish, (3) I'd get to say "Bully" when good things
happened.
If we'd been called the Rough Riders, we'd have won two World
Series championships by now. Quite the bully team, wouldn't you
say?
VM|4.26.07 @ 5:08PM|#
Bully! Bully!
True dat about the last 99 years.
The food at Comisky is much better than at Wrigley, btw.
And it's an entirely different dynamic with the Cubbies. Being in
the world series or contending would change the expectations of
everybody. 2003 was very meaningful for that reason.
But languishing in futility, with only 2003-2004 being back-to-back
winning seasons in at least 35 years is different from contending,
being there, making the world series, and fighting for the division
title until the last week of the season. sigh.
However, being a Cubbies fan from 1970-1990 was better than being
an Indians fan in that same time (no trips to the playoffs
whatsoever).
Completely
Useless
By
September
No world series heartbreak in the 60s, 70s, 80s, contention in the
90s, 00s.
Cubbies fandom is a lot closer to (non 90s) Indians fandom.
VM (sorry for double)|4.26.07 @ 5:14PM|#
BTW: that sucks monkey spunk. It is frustrating and annoying (in
the trivial, sports sense) to be out of it by the all star break.
It isn't fun or neat to have the affected Charlie Brown attitude.
It sucks.
White Sox fans were just as bad off - but you never heard a peep
from them about "lovable loser" or anything like that. They just
blew up disco.
(which is why it was awesome that the ChiSox won the title in this
town first. bravo!)
|4.26.07 @ 5:18PM|#
I thought the Sox would do it in the good Frank Thomas
years.
I believe that the Cubs will never play in the World Series
again.
|4.26.07 @ 5:32PM|#
really, i wish the cubs WERE still lovable losers instead of the
high-priced, unlovable losers of today.
remember when bleacher tix were only sold day-of-game?
there was a time when seeing a cubs game, unless they were playing
the cardinals, was a hell of a bargain. not no more.
|4.26.07 @ 6:28PM|#
Whatever criticisms I might level at the Cubs or, more
importantly, at their fans, I must say that I was quite impressed
when I asked a brass band outside of Wrigley to play
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". . .and they complied. Wow.
There's also the immortal moment when 1060 West Addison was given
as a certain bluesman's address. Classic.
|4.26.07 @ 6:35PM|#
Pro Libertate,
We came within a hair of losing Fenway last time, in the late 90s.
The then-owners stated that Fenway could not be saved and
renovated, and the City Council voted to authorize money for a new
park in Southie. They were going to demolish Fenway, and replace it
with a paved - paved! - space shaped like park, painted green, with
the Monster.
Then this group of activists formed a group called Save Fenway
Park, and said that the owners weren't being truthful. The
ownership paid for an engineering report, which stated that the
park had to come down. SFP reviewed the plan - they had some
architects, engineers, and planners, including a guy who would
later become my boss - and issued a critique. The ownership
rejected it out of hand, and challenged them to produce their own
architectural and engineering study showing how to preserve the
ballpark and expand it to add seating and increase revenues.
So they did, and released it to the public. Of course the owners
stated that it was bogus and amateurish, but it wasn't. They put it
online, and it quickly became apparent that this was a realistic,
feasible proposal.
When public opinion turned against them, the owners sold the team,
declaring that there was no way for them to stay in business in
Fenway.
Everything the Sox have succeeded at since then - the World Series,
the Monster seats, the closing of Landsdowne Street to make a
pedestrian mall on gamedays - happened under the new, enlightened
ownership. They're really committed to preserving the park - the GM
was GM in Balitmore when Camden Yards was built, and he had the
designers study Fenway as their model.
It's a great story; it's going to make a terrifer bestseller
someday.
But yeah, they were THAT CLOSE to tearing it down. It would have
been Penn Station all over again.
|4.26.07 @ 6:45PM|#
joe,
Now that you mention it, I did hear something about the dueling
engineering reports. No one in their right mind believed the
Sky-Box-Obsessed ownership, and for good reason, I'm sure.
I wonder if that whole mess didn't contribute to the Sox ultimately
overcoming their own back-entrenched monkey?
Anyway, I hope that Fenway's still there when we have flying cars
and de facto control of the Alpha quadrant :)
|4.26.07 @ 8:01PM|#
I should be at the White Sox game right now.
Inclement weather, ha! It's gorgeous at this very moment. ;(
|4.27.07 @ 3:37AM|#
I guess you don't remember that stirring "go fuck
yourself" from Darth Cheney. Now that was
political discourse at its best!
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