Reason Morning Links: Air Drops in Haiti, Election in Massachusetts, More Illegal Spying by the FBI
- Massachusetts voters head to polls, GOP expected to pick up seat controlled by Kennedy family for nearly six decades.
- Washington Post reports the FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 phone calls between 2002 and 2006.
- US military air dropping food and water into Haiti.
- White House to take "combative turn" if Dems lose Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat today.
- Would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II released from prison.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
So how did Suderman do last week?
Took long enough...
Anyhow, a q for my fellow Reasonoids.
What say ye on the Mass. election?
I'm going to play the downer note and say Brown loses.
Nicer to be pleasantly surprised instead of bitterly disappointed.
My expectation is that Brown will receive the most votes and then be Frankened
I say it's really up in the air. Who could possibly predict which independants will show up at the polls?
If HC reform is the driving issue, I say Brown wins. Massachusetts has no need for it and they already pay more in taxes to uncle Sam than they get back. Why would they want to pay more for nothing?
I like that Scott Brown is popular in Massachusetts because he's against an unpopular health care bill that looks suspiciously like the unpopular health care bill he voted for.
But but, Romneycare is different.
Fucking hand wavers.
Vote Joe Kennedy (The new one, not the dead bootlegger)
Hell with that. Vote Joe P., Sr. He can't fuck up any worse than his kids, being dead and all.
It's Massachusetts. Nuff Said. Coakley wins by surprisingly large margin.
"Say, I was going to vote for that Brown fellow, but I don't see his name on the ballot."
Mr. Butts,
I reluctantly agree
If Coakley loses, it will be because Big Business corrupted the process.
Yeah... likie all the insurance companies contributing cash to coakley's campaign... Am I responding to a sock puppet, or a retard?
Both.
Oh crap...I hope that was a sockpuppet, because I thought that post was a joke until I saw Tony had written it.
The Art,
Sock puppet. The question, though, is who?
The Choeny Armada.
Offset of course by the XEpiFree Alliance.
Yeah, I'm replying to my own reply.
Nothing wrong with that, as long as you clean up afterward.
So who is the last Starfighter then?
Would it be too egotistical if I nominated myself?
Yes, it would be. I'd rather be the robo version. Then one that got to put the moves on the hot chick from Night of the Comet.
Not Me!
* Would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II released from prison.
He should have just been patient...
Obama has come out and said that if Brown wins, not only will he not moderate himself, he's going to become even MORE partisan and combative. Just incredible.
He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.
Obama might try to lead the charge with his sword waving around and shouting for blood, but I wonder if his horde of barbarians is going to follow.
Let's face it, there are a lot of Congress Critters who are going to see a liberal lose in MA and decide that it is time to shitcan Obamacare and get down to the important business of Congress (which is getting re-elected).
Funny how that works. If Brown wins, he could be saving Obama from the stigma of having that health care bill attached to his legacy for all time.
So doesn't that mean we should expect him to moderate himself?
Obama will huff and puff. The Dems in the 'gress will chillax. Possibly.
Or they'll go all kamikaze, salt and burn the earth as they go, and try to enact all of their wet dreams.
There are a lot of one-term democtratic congressmen sitting in traditionally republican seats.
I can't see thses people going all-in for the Obama agenda after watching the People's Republic of Massachusetts elect a republican senator.
Indeed. You have to believe that lots of them have been raging about Pelosi in private for months, and are looking for any excuse to not vote for this monstrosity. Remember that it just squeaked by the House the first time.
"A Massachusetts embarrassment would strongly increase the pressure Obama was already facing to retreat or slow down the "big bang" agenda he laid out a year ago."
I read that sentence and I though it said "gang bang agenda" the first time. Freudian slip I guess.
That article shows that Obama is no Bill Clinton. Clinton was smart and actually had some understanding of the the country. He was from nowhere Arkansas and had been a two term governor. McHopey is not as smart as Clinton and has no where near the experience with and understanding of the country at large that Clinton had. He is not going to tack to the center no matter what. This is going to be quite a train wreck.
Affirmative Action in action.
Shut up. The anti-Obama cause cannot afford to be sullied by such racial stereotypes.
The cause of liberty cannot afford those who are so quick to be offended by free expression.
There is no racial stereotype expressed in the Gobbler's post. You saw fit to read "racism" where it does not exist. Just like the democrats.
Just like using the term negro. It is not a slur just because you say so. Again, as I pointed out to you yesterday, Martin Luther King used the word negro (i) in his August 28, 1963 "I have a dream" speecha and (ii) on the last night of his life, April 3, 1968.
Smartass sob also corrected you yesterday as just being totally out of touch on this issue.
Furthermore, as I have pointed out, you are the one who has endorsed the projection of state power to acieve racial outcomes. If you do not, then I will be glad to be proven wrong with your acknowledgement that:
(1) The internment of the Japanese during WWII was an example of the use of state power by thousands of cops and soldiers to achieve a racil outcome.
(2) The practice of Sherman's soldiers to "thumb" blacks who did not cooperate with them.
(3) The practice of racial profiling performed by the "law and order" types, you know, the parasites who get their sense of identity by wearing the impramatur of Caesar on their chests.
(4) The Sand Creek Massacre.
(5) Wounded Knee.
(6) Affirmative Action.
(7) The census' questions regarding race.
(8) The fire bombing of Tokyo AFTER we dropped the nukes.
Nobody appointed you language commissar. The cause of liberty is better served when folks are free to speak unmuzzled by control freaks looking to be offended.
Tulpa expressed himself and so did you. The system works!
The Art-P.O.G.-
BTW, a recent example of which I remember of the use of the word negro.
On Best Damn Sports Show Period, John Sally asked Terrel Owens, "What were you thinking, Negro?"
I do not ascribe racism to Shannon Sharpe's obsevation of Jason Seahorn "that white boy can run."
I do not ascribe racism to Charles Barkley's assessment of the late Pistol Pete Maravich that "he played like a brotha."
Nor do I find anything racist about Majic Johnson's assertion that of all the players against whom he competed, "Larry Bird was the best below the rim and Michael Jordan was the best above the rim."
You may recall that during the presidential campaign that I defended Jerimiah Wright and that I did not ascribe racism to his rants, including his use of the term "The White Devil." In fact, some here, in an abaundance of creativity and originality, labeled me a "nut job" for defending Rev. Wright.
It's a rhetorical style preference, I suppose.
Well, yeah, I like Jerimaih's rhetorical style. Actually, I really enjoy it. It doesn't mean that I agree with all of the content of the rhetoric, but I am not offended nor am I threatend by it.
"Raaaaacist!!"
I just bet Hillary and Bill can't wait for 2012.
+1
FYI, Clinton was a three term governor. Plus two terms as AG.
Much more experienced than Obama. Obama has spent his entire adult life in Ivy League colleges and the Chicago political machine. Not exactly an eclectic background or one that is conducive to any real understanding of how the country thinks.
Yes, right on. I've been saying the same thing for nearly three years.
"President Obama plans combative turn"
Because nothing says leadership like pouting and name calling after being spanked...
"The White House rallying cry, according to one Obama confidant, will be, "Buckle up ? let's get some stuff done."
:sigh:
And all the Wall Street bashing on page 2 was just icing on the cake. Perhaps, The One could have reversed the shit the W put in to motion instead?
He has convinced himself that people are voting for Brown because Obama hasn't done enough liberal things. I always thought leftists were just spouting propaganda when they said shit like that. I didn't think they actually believed it.
At the rally for Coakley, he added: "Bankers don't need another vote in the United States Senate. They've got plenty."
What a masterly tactician. Or does OhBlowMe think only Republicans take campaign contributions from evil fat cat bankers?
And they've got one in the White House, too. Some of Odrama's top donors were Wall St. banks.
What say ye on the Mass. election?
Sounds like a scam to me.
The local press is pushing "dead heat" and talking about the weather too much, though the late polling averages about +6 (and peak at +15) for Brown, and the weather isn't shitty enough to stop any truck-driving hillbilly rapists from voting.
MA's dead voters are slow zombies. The election won't get called for weeks.
Bad weather favors Brown I would think -- it keeps the low-information habitual Dem voters away from the polls more than the energized anti-Obama hordes.
Apparently, UPS is contemplating legal action for trademark infringement because of Croakley's "What can Brown do for you?" campaign ads.
You can't sue the deceased.
"But the president's advisers plan to spin [Brown's win] as a validation of the underdog arguments that fueled Obama's insurgent candidacy.
"The painstaking campaign for change over two years in 2007 and 2008 has become a painstaking effort in the White House, too," the official said. "The old habits of Washington aren't going away easy."
Anyone have any idea what the hell those paragraphs mean? Are they saying a Brown win shows that people still want the change Obama is championing? Or are they saying that Obama, the President, considers himself the underdog to a first term Senator from Massachusetts? I honestly can't tell.
Last line from the article...
"You can say it's a rejection of the agenda," a top Democrat said. "But it's just as valid to say it's frustration with the way things are going in the country and that people still want change."
When you are the party in power, people "still wanting change" is not a good thing. It is astounding how stupid these people are.
No no no...
They haven't gotten the initial change because Wall Street and the Republicans are getting in the way! The sheep are just starting to panic and stampede (do sheep stampede?) because they're being deprived of their Hope and Change.
(do sheep stampede?)
Ummmm. They do when I'm around. Not sure yet why.
It might have something to do with the bottle of Astroglide, molasses, and straight razor you have when you approach the flock.
My flaming-liberal sister moved to Boston recently. No birthday present if she votes for Coakley...will be interesting. I'm with Kyle Jordan - assume it's Coakley and be surprised and delighted if it's not.
Don't count us out yet, you Wall Street TeaBaggers! Even as I type this I am registering to vote any mammal I can find, as well as any birds and reptiles that get caught up in the pro-Coakley / anti-Satanist hysteria that is sweeping across the Bay State under your right wing radar!
I'm waiting for the headline about Haitians being killed from turkeys being dropped from a helicopter on them.
Gibbs would give a statement where he would say As god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
That ties for the second funniest moment of that series, right up there with the whole phone cops episode.
Avatar 2D banned in China
AIR DROPS?! Of all the things these people need, air isn't even in the top six!
Gum drops, chocolate drops, cough drops... any of those would be better. What are we thinking?
This makes me so mad I might have to read past the headline.
The Art-P.O.G. likes this.
Looks like it's going to be lousy weather in Massachusetts all day, with a mixture of snow and rain. That's what the dems will blame it on if they lose.
IOW, an act of God.
Act of Bush AGW.
Do not make light of the unequal burdens the weather places on marginalized groups! Maybe you TeaBaggers with your Wall Street billions can afford umbrellas, galoshes and slickers, but far too many marginalized-Americans will be unable to vote today because they lack the expensive equipment you take for granted!
Weather: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit
What's the over/under on dead people voting for Coakley?
Well, none of them have souls . . . .
There is no such thing as an illegal vote; we call such votes "undocumented."
There is an article in National Review Online today about Obama's Justice Dept political appointees killing the investigation of the case of voter intimidation by the New Black Panther's Party.
It wasn't intimidation. It was encouragement.
Racist!
Yawn.
I've seen the tape. Anyone intimidated by it really needs to get a life.
Look, dipshit. I live in the motherfucking ghetto, so I don't intimidate easily.
But if I was one of the little old ladies they turned away, I guess I could say I was intimidated into disenfrancisement by the big man with the billyclub.
http://www.weaselzippers.net/......970c-800wi
This stopped being funny long ago.
Would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II released from prison.
Well, at least, the Pope and his wife and nubile daughter are on their houseboat trip down in the Florida swamps where he'll never find them. Oh, shit, I just told him where they are.
I can't read those words without hearing Sideshow Bob sing them.
"Massachusetts voters head to polls, GOP expected to pick up seat controlled by Kennedy family for nearly six decades"
You can bet the Democrats are engaging in as much vote fraud as they think they can get away with to keep that from happening.
It has been the Democrats stock in trade going all the way back to Boss Tweed.
"A few weeks ago, I found myself unintentionally out on a date with a man I'd assumed was gay - again."
"here will be a man I'm interested in being friends with and and I just want hang out and have fun, and maybe have someone to go to shows with."
I assume this person is a New Yorker and by "shows" she means Broadway. Just a tip honey, but when your man is excited to go to Broadway shows, it usually says something about his sexuality or his veracity.
When the youth use the term "shows", it means going to see bands, usually smaller venues featuring hip, indie bands.
....That still doesn't solve the is-he-gay? problem....*ba dum dum*
Whatever you say about the pathologies that made that article possible, that is one awesome accompanying picture. Almost Cavanaugh-esque even.
"That assumption drives me up a wall, because if a man is interested in me romantically, he has to be very clear, with absolutely no ambiguity, or I assume he wants to hang out because he enjoys my company, in a non-sexual, non-romantic way."
Bullshit.
If any man told her "I find you attractive. I would like to spend some time together with you in hopes wooing you in to sex with me." she'd be calling the cops.
Yes, usually you have to be totally dishonest with women while showing that you can be trustworthy. How does the human race survive?
Alcohol, apathy, loneliness, rape, and low self esteem.
Good point. I'm sure some sociologist has remarked on how older social norms and newer ones don't really seem to be jibing to well on the dating scene.
That's my excuse for my shyness.
I picture the author as a strategic photo-cropper.
I also like how the first commenter says that Italian men ask women on dates because they're hungry. Really? I lived in Italy for 3.5 years, and most Italian men (18-40 years old) still live with their mamas--sometimes they can be married and live with mama. They are well fed because mama takes care of that. If they ask a woman out on a date, it's probably because they're a) looking to set up an affair or b) cheat on their girlfriend of 9 years because in either case, they're bored of the girl they're with. My wife was pulled over on two separate occasions by the Polizia just so that sleaze cop could ask her out. "So, I can see you again?"
Is jezebel.com a site for delusional/crazy women?
Here's the thing she's not considering:
Why does she assume she's so interesting that lots of gay men want to hang out with her?
Doesn't she realize that the best sign available that the guy wasn't gay was that he wanted to spend time with her?
Gay guys have plenty of social opportunities and don't need pity attention from neurotic little Jezebel bloggers. Because gay guys like to get laid, too. So gay guys are out there hitting on other gay guys, not setting up platonic dates with dingbat chicks.
Just always remember, Sadie, that any man who wants to talk to you is in it for the nookie, and you will make fewer mistakes like this.
Holy shit. I read further down in the comments on that and found this absolutely sterling example of complete idiocy. This very nearly gave me a headache.
Presented without further comment, because...I mean, what can you even say about that?
For those who put women on a pedestal, it's almost a relief to see from reading the preceding passages, that these educated women are just as retarded as us educated goofball guys. Just as neurotic, too.
Congress Critters [will] decide that it is time to shitcan Obamacare and get down to the important business of Congress (which is getting re-elected).
Exactly; and being insulted by their "leader" is going to make the decision really easy.
What kind of woman assumes (nearly) every man she meets is gay? Is she a set designer?
Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.
The most pleasant woman on teevee.
Yeah I really like Ina. All the recipes of hers I've tried have been pretty damn good too.
And the biggest fag hag, judging from her guests.
And judging from her husband.
He's not gay, he's just old and Jewish.
If Woody Allen wasn't famous, many people who met him would assume he was gay, and he got more tail than many professional athletes.
"He's not gay, he's just old and Jewish."
:clapping: Bravo!
Considering that less than 10% of the male population is gay, assuming that every man you meet is gay seems like a pretty reasonable idea.
Sounds like passive-aggressive self-deprecation to me.
She's not terrible looking, but the glasses should be enough to keep most straight guys away.
I do admit to a pathological obsession to see a picture of these guys all the feminist bloggers claim to be dating. Can the image of men with that low of self-esteem even be captured by conventional CCDs?
Well, she didn't photo-crop, but that photo of her uses another fun and deceptive photography technique: soft focus blurring. And those glasses are a form of birth control. My imagination tells me that she dates guys who look ambiguously straight, like that sensitive dweebish guy in the Sarah Bareilles Love Song video. In fact, that song is probably the ring tone for her boyfriend's phone calls.
Looked up the video. That guy has been on many "I thought you were gay!" dates. Two or three more and it's suicide-by-cop.
She's neither attractive nor unattractive, but she is unique looking. SugarFree, I agree completely on your last point.
Cheap pop psychology: she doesn't like her face. The glass and fucked up hair are a (fairly successful) attempt to distract you from what she considers to be some horrible flaw. She may be cute underneath all that crap and the retarded clothes, but you'll never convince her of it.
Yeah, Velma is cute underneath all the accoutrement, and old girl looks straight up like Velma, G.
SugarFree, you oughta take a peek at this place .
Check out some of the questions they get. I think you'll find some entertainment in it.
NSFW NSFW NSFW
The links off the page are nice as well.
This should help our trolls out: Small Penis Sex Positions
Ah... the comments...
That's probably the first time I've seen an Eastern European accent in written English. Also: holy run-on sentence, Batman!
......
Jerk off, save it, and inject her womb with it.
You'll have another Little Dick on your hands in no time!
Making fun of micropenis? Not OK.
If we can't make fun of physical differences over which we have no control, then what point is there to life?
😀 Excellent rebuttal, SugarFree.
Dude, on a great day I'm 5". Little dicks are my forte.
Scratch that last part...
I don't know...your entire 12:41 post was hilarious. Even if true, you're like a porn star compared to a dude with micropenis.
Micropenis porn is the only porn my wife has ever seen. I ain't completely stupid ya know.
You're a gentleman and a scholar, brotherben.
Brown should win. Provided that the election is actually a fair one. Though I think the fact that it's close is already a death blow to the Democrats' hopes, they probably are under the delusion that winning will save everything. Which means this election could be viewed as a must-win. God knows what they'll do in that case to avoid defeat.
Is there such a thing as illegal spying anymore?
I think a better question is: Is any government activity illegal, if there are never any consequences for any government worker who engages in that activity?
That is a better question.
I can't expect consequences for government workers when the citizenry stops giving a shit about the issue.
You still can't spy on ACORN in CA.
In non-election news, global warming scamming decline hiders' claims about the melting Himalayan glaciers turn out to be a fabrication.
I'm shocked...
Between the good weather and the enormous number of absentee ballots, I'm in a pessimistic mood, and today I think that Brown won't be able to beat the ACORN/SEIU "turnout" and Coakley wins in a squeaker.
Even if Brown loses, the damage is done. It's better for the short-term that he wins, but I think the closeness of this election should send many Democratic Congresspeople into Defcon 3 mode.
inject her womb with it.
"Your father was a turkey baster!"
"I learned it from watching YOU, DAD!"
My favorite part of the linked "Obama being combative" article:
Seriously. "We controlled the House and Senate for two years under Bush, then had control of the presidency, House, and Senate for another year. But it's those evil Republicans blocking us! They wouldn't let us get anything done! They're the ones you should hate!" God. I hate Republicans, but the Democrats are just . . . pathetic.
Back when the republicans had control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, they cry was "those evil democrats are blocking us".
Two sides of the same coin.
The difference is that, as far as I know, the republicans have never had the presidency, the house, and a filibuster-proof caucus in the Senate all at the same time.
Not that they deserve to have that any more than the democrats. One party rule isn't a healthy thing for America, or any place else.
I don't think they had a filibuster-proof majority, but they were complaining about the dems being obstructionist very loudly.
But hey, I like a disfunctional government.
A bill banning the Republican Party is a bill for America. A bill against "No, we can't." A bill for "Yes. . .we. . .can."
I feel all tingly inside. What's liberty worth when many empty platitudes are at stake?
What's liberty worth when many empty platitudes are at stake?
As long as we give 110% we should be able to stay the course and double down in order to not get thrown under the bus.
I find your words of hope and promise inspiring, SugarFree.
Little People like you are why I got started in politics.
I relish the insignificance that basking in your all-knowing glow imparts to me.
Please, take away my vote. Sometimes, sometimes, I, I, I lose my faith and vote unwisely.
[radiating golden showers of bliss]
:::stands in SugarFree's warming waters of truth:::
Please help me, I'm feeling libertarian urges again. I feel so soiled.