Jay Carney, Communist Propaganda Connoisseur

White House press secretary and occasional beard grower Jay Carney likes political art. Particularly, he likes Soviet military propaganda.

This fact was accidentally revealed in, of all places, the latest issue of Washingtonian MOM magazine. The journal did a profile on Carney's wife, Claire Shipman. There's a lot of fun facts about Carney's preferred brand of $275 sneakers (Hugo Boss) and how the family's Portuguese water dog is related to Obama's (cousins!).

A few sources picked up on some non-sequiturs, though. Can you spot the strangest thing about this totally candid picture? Hint: It's not that each member of the Carney clan eats a pyramid's worth of food for breakfast.

Washingtonian Mom

Rather, it's the World War II-era Soviet poster pointing over Shipman's shoulder, which asks if you've enlisted in the Red Army yet (because you're going to get drafted anyway), and the other one beyond the sink, which asks if you've gotten a factory job to fill in for your husband (who has probably been shot on the front lines).

Washingtonian MOM, Twitter

In another picture, the family has what appears to be a bust of the U.S.S.R.'s last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. As a bonus, whoever poorly photoshopped the Carney library for added girth accidentally cloned his son's finger.

Why does Carney decorate with reminders of one of the most murderous governments in history? In case you've been slacking off on your White House personnel trivia, prior to dodging questions for the Obama administration, Carney worked as a journalist in Moscow. He and Shipman met there.

Comments

[Lady Bertrum]

Surprise, surprise. A propagandist who enjoys artistic propaganda. He appreciates the skill.

[JW]

The well-massaged Joseph Goebbels bust is cleverly locked away in the den.

[Kitty_T]

I got a kick out of this, because my husband has that WWII Russian poster hanging in his office. He's actually got a whole series of those "You!" posters with mustachioed pointing guys.

Of course, he's a military historian, so he has an excuse.

[Brandybuck]

Of course, he's a military historian, so he has an excuse.

Ordinary people don't need excuses. The White House Press Secretary is a different matter. One of the qualifications for the position is to not be so tone deaf that you leave these pictures up when the press comes to photograph your fake family making fake breakfast.

The breakfast was planend, the poses were planned, even the pajamas were planned, so don't tell me the Communist poster weren't planned. If the hagiographers could have replaced the Communist paraphernalia at the same time they were duplicating fingers in the library.

But this is D.C., they really are that tone deaf. Che Guevara is just a brand name to most of them.

[setTHEline]

Naw, he just has an ironic appreciation for art, man. Communism would've worked except it was just implemented wrong. Let's just chill out now and drink some kombucha or yerba mate.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

That's all mildly disturbing.

[John]

God he is a douche bag. I have always thought Shipman was kind of hot though.

These people can never be ridiculed and scorned enough. They are just loathsome yet thing they are worthy of ruling over everyone else. There is no point in arguing with them. Ridicule is the only thing that will ever effect them.

[JW]

Unless you're part of the inner DC political-class circle, John, even ridicule won't affect them. They exist only to protect and perpetuate the ruling class and riff-raff like you and I aren't welcome at the table, except to clear away the dirty dishes.

Eat or be eaten. It's the Washington way.

[John]

They live in a hive having no idea how they appear to the rest of the world.

[JW]

I can't tell in their case if it's a deluded and righteous view of correctness that drives them, or simple mercantile venality. I suspect it's a healthy portion of both.

[Lord Humungus]

damn, and all that sugary fruit.

[pan fried wylie]

to be fair, not all that fruit is necessarily for eating that moment. The sliced grapefruit, sure. And the berries spilled over the pancakes and counter...

I'm more concerned about the neatly arrayed loaf-full of toast and pile of muffins. And the OJ. Fresh fruit OR Juice, pick one, jeez.

[Sudden]

Truth be told, immediately after this photo shoot, they probably had a swanky DC crepe restaurant cater the affair.

[Loki]

I suspect that was all staged for the phote shoot. They either forgot to take down the creepy Soviet WW2 propaganda or they're tone deaf enough enough not to realize how it might look to some people.

[HazelMeade]

That's quite a stck of sticky buns for a family of four. And all those pancakes as well.

Is there a photo of the family purge session that takes place after this breakfast?

[Brett L]

"And the order went out that henceforth, all apples would be saved for the pigs..."

[paranoid android]

Jesus, Soviet propaganda thing aside, I really can't get over the creepy, narcissistic vanity expressed by every single aspect of those pictures.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Oh, you're just paranoid.

[Sudden]

This.

And to be honest, I'm not necessarily disturbed by the fascination with Soviet propaganda seeing as I've always been somewhat enamoured with it myself (and I'm obviously the furthest from a Soviet). Heck, one of my all time favorite purchases was a black dress-up shirt emblazoned with several Soviet patches (including Stalin and Lenin iconography) that I acquired from a Salvation Army store on (ironically enough) their memorial day sale.

[R C Dean]

The propganda posters don't really bother me. Hell, I've thought about picking up a few myself. Since he worked in Moscow, its even more understandable.

That said, I'm not above using this stick to beat these odious creatures.

Nope. Its the narcissism. These are foul creatures, but not because they have a small collection of Soviet propaganda.

[Almanian!]

What RC Dean said

[NoVAHockey]

The photoshop is way more creepy than the propaganda.

[JW]

Its the narcissism.

Exactly. Vile, tone-deaf and righteous narcissism.

There's a reason that Game of Thrones is so popular. Consider it a proxy of watching today's ruling class suffer.

[John]

That is a really great point. I think something similar is going on with Vikings being popular. It is a proxy for romantic barbarians showing up and destroying our ruling class.

[JW]

There's never a romantic barbarian horde around when you need one.

[gaoxiaen]

You just hang around with the wrong crowd.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I think you're over-analyzing. Vikings is just awesome because it's awesome.

[HazelMeade]

Vikings is getting really really good. I'm rather surprised. The last episode was fucking disturbing as shit, though.

I think it is mainly fascinating because it portrays this culture that is extremely violent and brutal in a sympathetic way. I thought it was going to be all about how the Vikings got converted to Christianisty (this being the history channel), but it's so much more complex than that.

Another show that is way better than it has any right to be is Black Sails.

[Restoras]

I think Vikings is going to get a lot more interesting given the presence of so many sons of Ragnar Hairy Pants.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they killed off Ragnar at some point (like, in season 3) and focused on one or more of his sons. I get the feeling they have plans for Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, story-wise.

[John]

Ragnall is a mythical character whose historicity has always been in great debate. His sons are all real and known to have existed. If they all shared the same father is unknown.

I won't spoil it, but Ragnal's life doesn't end well, though I think we are more than a few seasons from getting there.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I know about Ragnar's myth and his demise. Would be cool if they went that route. They are setting up a return to Northumbria in the TV show story, so who knows?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'm loving Athelstan's story - I never paid any attention to him until he started doing the berserker thing and then got captured. I want to know what's going to happen to him.

And Floki...he's suddenly gone from a court jester to a wild card.

[Restoras]

I like that the Athelstan arc too. I also like the Ragnar/Beorn arc now that he is back. And being a dude...well let's just say my next girlfriend might have to dress up like Lagertha 😉

[Restoras]

Don't Wikipedia Ragnar Lodbrok if you want to avoid spoilers...

[HazelMeade]

Might not want to Wikipedia 'Blood Eagle' either.

[HazelMeade]

Yeah, Lagertha is pretty awesome. The relationship between her and the other woman (can't remember the name) is interesting. Alternating between envy and admiration on both sides.

[John C. Randolph]

Speaking of which, episode two of this season had a truly satisfying ending.

-jcr

[JW]

Oh yes, yes it did. It was a glowing high point to an otherwise shitty day.

[Ivan Pike]

I like this Russian style of art better.

[Overt]

"The propganda posters don't really bother me. Hell, I've thought about picking up a few myself. Since he worked in Moscow, its even more understandable."

I think the point is this: If some public official had a bunch of Nazi propaganda in their house, people would be calling for their heads. So why is Soviet propaganda so much more acceptable? Hell, a lot of leftists get squeamish when they see someone romanticizing US propaganda from the same period.

You can't say it's because the Soviet stuff is better- the Nazis had some amazing art, and probably the best uniforms of the era. And you can't say it is because the Soviets were somehow more morally acceptable than the Nazis- because they weren't.

The love affair with Soviet propaganda has never been clear to me. They were a repugnant regime, and I think the fetishization of their art is as morally bankrupt as the Che T-Shirt.

[Zeb]

If some public official had a bunch of Nazi propaganda in their house, people would be calling for their heads.

That may be true, but I'd call that a stupid criticism as well. There are plenty of reasons for interest in anything like that besides being a secret Nazi or Communist. Lemmy collects Nazi stuff and you can't say anything bad about him.

It is true, though, that people bizarrely give commies a pass where any sympathy to Nazis is (rightly) condemned. Maybe mass-murdering your own people is OK.

[Overt]

I would consider a person fetishizing Nazi art to be as creepy, personally. There is a difference between having a bunch art as a historical collection, and displaying it in your living room.

Nazi/Commie propaganda art may look cool, but it should also conjure up what it meant (essentially, "Please join us in this effort to murder the others!"). Now why would you put that in your living/dining area? Either you don't realize what the art is for (historically ignorant) or you don't care that this is the mood you are affecting for your room. Either says much about you.

[Zeb]

I wouldn't read that much into it myself. It's just a thing on the wall. I have some USSR shit that I picked up in Russia on the wall. But I will agree that for someone whose job it is to create an image and a narrative in the press, it is pretty tone deaf.

[PM]

But I will agree that for someone whose job it is to create an image and a narrative in the press, it is pretty tone deaf.

That's kinda the big point for me. If some no name paper shuffler at the commerce department had a gallery of Soviet war time propaganda, nobody would probably read much into it. It's more than a little ironic for the administration's mouth piece to fetishize it though. Saying nothing of his time spent as the chief of a major media outlet shaping public opinion.

[HazelMeade]

Agreed. The whole photoshoot was obviously manicured to make them look like the Perfect American Family.

[Zeb]

I would have thought that less obviously staged and manipulated pictures would do a better job than that. These make them look like actors in a TV commercial.

[OldMexican]

The Science is Settled? ! Jay Carney and his brood are all commies!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Normally I would dismiss this as him being post-modernly ironical, but then I thought, "what if they profiled a conservative leader who had Confederate battle flags on his wall?" Would (s)he be able to get away with the "irony" excuse?

[John]

No it would not. And the better analogy is what if some puff piece on Dana Patrino showed that she and her husband had a couple of Waffen SS or Leni Rehfenstahl posters on their wall. Would that be dismissed as "ironic fashion"?

Both of these people are journalists. In fairness, it is likely they are both profoundly ignorant. If they both were to come out and say "we always knew communism got a little out of hand but it is not like millions died or something", I would believe they were just that ignorant. You have to judge Washington journalists on the curve and a pretty steep one at that.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Sure, the National Socialist thing would be a closer analogy. But (unlike progs, apparently), conservatives don't use totalitarian iconography. The Confederate thing is more realistic, and it would certainly generate a whole lot of controversy.

[John]

The Paleos like Pat Buchanan and such seem to be a little too fond of the Nazi aesthetic. Among the rest of the GOP, yeah, it would be some painting of RE Lee or something.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Pat Buchanan is as close as they get, but even he, I suspect, wouldn't have National Socialist posters in his home. We don't know for sure, because Washington Mom didn't do a puff piece on his wife.

[HazelMeade]

Well, if you avoided confederate flag itself, you could probably get away with having a bunch of confederate civil war memorabilia in your house. No problem.

I don't see Carney having a Soviet flag either.

Flags are different. You have to compare something more analgous to a poster. Like having a bust of Stonewall Jackson and some confederate currency.

[John]

Except that the Confederacy, as loathsome as it was, wasn't even close to the same level of evil as Nazi Germany or the USSR.

The analogy is having a Waffen SS recruiting poster on your wall. That poster is recruiting for the Red Guards to fight the Whites in the civil war.

[The Original Jason]

And against US forces.

[JW]

I am truly savoring the Podesta divorce drama. I sincerely hope they're discovered one morning, like the Douglas and Turner in War of the Roses.

[John]

You and me both. I also hope Shipman is out banging some hockey player or something because she can't stand the lack of testosterone in her own home.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Uh, don't these wishes of yours savor of the "personal is political" dynamic you deplore when progs do it?

[John]

For sure. It is a terrible thing for me to wish on them. We all have our worse angels.

[sarcasmic]

Of course not. But you're looking at it as a matter of principle. Look at the principals. Progressive gets a pass because he's progressive, and the conservative is already guilty simply by being a conservative.

[Brett L]

Eh, I own a propaganda print from the Spanish Civil War, doesn't make me a fascist or a communist. (Of course, the propaganda in question is a soldier holding a wine bottle who is so drunk he is leaned up against a wall with the message "Soldier, don't let it come to this." [Soldado, no des lugar a esto] So it is much easier to see that I like the style of the art, not the message it contains.)

[Sudden]

So you're just a teetotaler?

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

WAR ON WINE!!!

[Brett L]

If you're so drunk you can't stand up, you shouldn't be holding a rifle.

[Sudden]

If you're so drunk you can't stand up, you shouldn't be holding a rifle.

I believe the rifle serves the function of assisting in standing up at that moment.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Yeah, you might kill someone!

[gaoxiaen]

Wishin and Hopin.

[Zeb]

I don't think it has to be ironic to be not-bad. Even if the message is evil, the art, design and historical interest still can give it value.
People generally give the Nazi propagandists credit for being really good at it and often as good artists in their own right. I think that the fact that having some Nazi thing on your wall would automatically get you condemned is more of a problem than than that USSR propaganda is OK.

[Andrew S.]

I'm willing to give him the propaganda posters. I've always found those kinds of things interesting.

But damn, every picture in that article is incredibly creepy. Floating book finger notwithstanding.

[Sudden]

It would be a bit more comforting if I could locate a copy of Solzhenitzen work somewhere in his photoshopped library.

[John]

I give ten to one neither of them have never read a single word of Solzhenitsyn. Maybe they once heard about the evil SOCON speech he gave at Harvard in 1978.

[NoVAHockey]

Didn't he play for the Red Wings?

[Almanian!]

+Russian Five

[Almanian!]

Let's see if I can do this from memory:

Fetisov, Larionov, Konstantinov, Federov, Kozlov.

As my buddy from Windsor, ON (Canada) used to carry on, "Fuckov, Suckmeov...."

Not a fan of the Russians, was he...

[NoVAHockey]

I got to see Fedorov live just once. He was with the Caps at the time, but when we took our seats, i said to my wife "I just want to see Federov score in person before he retires." and he did. probably played about 5-7 mins.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

"Red Army North"

[Ted S.]

Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Borodin, Cui.

[Andrew S.]

I'm not sure you're giving itlong enough odds.

(I read Gulag Archipelago right around the time I was transitioning from young, idealistic liberal to bitter libertarian. I've read it a few times since. To me it's probably one of the most important pieces of 20th century literature, if not the most important)

[John]

I don't know a single person other than my father, who told me to read it, who has read it. In fairness it is a tough read. I would be shocked if either of these two clowns have read it. I mean it is a big book and its really old and it was written in Czech or something.

It not so much that I disagree with these people that bugs me. It is that they are so poorly educated and ignorant and think of themselves as being anything but that drives me up the wall. I guarantee you Carney and Shipman think of themselves as being members of the intellectual elite, and yet couldn't carry on an intelligent conversation with most of the people who post on this board.

[UCrawford]

And of course it's not just their delusion that they're brilliant that's infuriating...it's their condescension and dismissiveness towards those who are clearly more intelligent than them that makes them disgusting. It's just sad when people aren't as smart as they think, it's when they're frauds who treat other people like shit that you just want to slap them silly.

My friends who don't follow politics as closely as me can't understand my rationale when I tell them that Barack Obama and Harry Reid and Jay Carney are actually unintelligent people with below average critical thinking skills...until I point out just how badly their ideas turn out when they get them implemented and how few tangible accomplishments most of them have outside of politics.

[Rich]

The book is kind of a slog to get through, but I agree it's very important. A shame more people are not aware of it.

[Sudden]

One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich is the only Solzhenitsyn I ever got through. Haven't tried Gulag Archipelago but tried The First Circle when I was younger and couldn't make it through.

[John]

I think the First Circle is a great book. Try Cancer Ward. It is a bit more readable.

[synyx]

Sure, the posters are interesting. So maybe you have them in a den or office where you might display them as artifacts. But to have them prominently on display in your living/dining area where you and your kids dine (lavishly) on abundant food under the symbols of a regime that used forced famine as a tool of genocide... That's a level of irony that takes incredible amounts of obtuseness to overlook. I wonder what he's told his kids about them.

[SML]

Isn't that adorable - they have their own family press conferences!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Sir, what's the latest on the birthday present situation? People are saying I should finally get a motorcycle instead of a lame-ass sweater? Do you have any comment?"

[John]

Maybe times have changed, but I don't think I could have attended middle school again if such a picture of me and my parents had appeared in public back in the day. Those pictures really are "yeah mom and dad thanks for ensuring I get beat up after home room every day until I graduate high school" kind of things.

[tarran]

Just as Charlie don't surf, kid's don't want lamestream news.

[tarran]

s/don't want/don't watch/g

[tarran]

s/kid\'s/kids/g

Dammit!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Are you having a stroke?

[Sudden]

Maybe the Tourret's is acting up?

[Rich]

Stress-induced Tourette's! Motherfucker!

[BakedPenguin]

I think most of us attended very different schools than these kids.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yeah, these kids are not in the DCPS. My guess would be St. Albans/Cathedral, Sidwell, or Georgetown Prep. Pics and articles like this are par for the course in those schools!

[paranoid android]

Would you beat up the kid who could turn the Secret Service on you with a call to daddy?

[paranoid android]

Plus I'm pretty sure these days the moment a boy in grade school curls his hand into a fist he's arrested and put into some kind of Burgess-esque electroshock therapy.

[gimmeasammich]

Burgess-esque electroshock therapy

+1 old in-out in-out

[John]

They may not beat each other up, but I have absolute faith in the ability of kids to victimize and torture one another. It is what kids do. They just must do it more subtly now.

[gaoxiaen]

Progressives have to ruin everything. Can't even extort a kid's lunch money anymore.

[Pro Libertate]

It's more telling that he thinks it's no big deal and that he's right as far as the world at large is concerned. Soviets kitschy fun; Nazis total evil. I agree with the last part, but I think the sentence could be simplified.

[JW]

The commies totally meant well! I mean, it's not like they marched the Ukrainians into gas chambers or anything.

[Pro Libertate]

Right. Voluntary death by starvation, not mandatory gassing.

[JW]

The slow, miserable and painful genocide is the most humane.

[Pro Libertate]

The revolution is successful, but survival depends on drastic measures. Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society.

Your lives means slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered.

Signed, Kodos, governor of Tarsus Four.

[JW]

It's too bad that was buried in such a leaden and boring episode.

[Pro Libertate]

I kind of liked that episode. And I like that speech--very disturbing.

[entropy]

This is the asshole who's still not in jail for breaking the assault weapons law on national TV right? Who's wife is friends with the prosecutor? While a bunch of other people who's wives aren't friends with prosecutors rot in jail?

[entropy]

Oh sorry, I think that was David Gregory.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

Different side of the same coin.

[Snark Plissken]

Why does Carney decorate with reminders of one of the most murderous governments in history? In case you've been slacking off on your White House personnel trivia, prior to dodging questions for the Obama administration, Carney worked as a journalist in Moscow. He and Shipman met there.

I've been living in a post-communist country for 20 years and I don't own a single communist propaganda poster, much less have them hanging in our living room. My wife wouldn't find it amusingly ironic. But then she actually grew up under communism.

[Warty]

To be fair to him, I also like totalitarian propaganda quite a bit. I like it in the same way that I like John Gacy's clown paintings, though. I wouldn't hang them up in my house.

[Pro Libertate]

Jay Carney: Worse than Warty. Wow.

[JW]

Wait, is that a new species?

[Pro Libertate]

Only if they mate.

[T]

Well, that's because your collection of clown photos takes up all the wall space.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I was with you until the Gacy clown thing. That's just not right.

[Sudden]

The funny part is that wasn't Warty being WARTY HUGEMAN: DOOMCOCK OF DOOM. That was Warty just being what he thought a normal human being is.

And that is frankly scary.

[pan fried wylie]

Good luck not-breaking the yolk with that flip, btw.

[NoVAHockey]

Obama said it wouldn't break. So it didn't.

[Andrew S.]

If you like your yolk, you can eat it.

(Until Michelle Obama gets through with you, at least. They're high in cholestorol you know.)

[Zeb]

I thought eggs were good for you now.

[Christophe]

That depends on the precise instant at which the question is asked: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson's_lamp

[Tim]

It's a plastic prop.

[Andrew S.]

youdontsay.jpg

[db]

Trying to send tax returns in a day early. Some old dude was trying to insure a package for $15,000. The counter lady spent about 15 min trying to do so as they conversed in hushed tones about how he didn't think it should be so expensive....

[JW]

E-file.

[db]

Heartbleed much?

[PM]

Protip: OpenSSL isn't the only implementation.

[PRX]

good to see it reported that ABC News doesn't keep the administration at arms length. does joe hammer them for a lack of disclosure?

[Juice]

Why the hell does it look like they live in a catalog? Are they real or just cgi?

[Loki]

^This^

More creepy than the Soviet propaganda is the fact they look like they look like an Old Navy ad come to life. That and the obviously staged nature of everything. It's like they're trying to guess how "normal" people live and look based solely on what they've seen in magazines.

[John]

What Juice and Loki said.

These people are so plastic that actual candid shots were not possible. The photographer must have said "fuck it, even a bad Old Navy ad is better than reality" and just did that.

[The Tone Police]

I love that the magazine still hasn't fixed the bookcase. It's so, so bad.

[John]

I swear you could have sent a photographer in with the mission "make these people look as ridiculous and fake as possible" and the photos wouldn't have come out any different.

The really sad thing is that Carney and Shipman actually think this photos make them look good.

[The Tone Police]

Right? Like the first thing I noticed was apparently they eat enough to feed the 1st Cav.

[John]

Just a guess, but I bet Shipman has never set foot in her kitchen for anything other than to get a glass of organic juice. No way do they not have a nanny and full time help. Cooking is for the little people.

[JW]

They might as well have been juggling cats.

[Warty]

What kind of asshole flips an egg? Fry it in bacon grease and spoon a little of the hot grease on top, you stupid morons. Fucking philistines.

And why the fuck is that poor kid only eating one egg? Do they want him to be a skinny pussy like his dad or something?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

This comment made me laugh out loud. Thanks Warty!

[Tim]

Ein yolk, ein fryer.

[Brett L]

Listen, some of us like totally firm whites, which requires a flip. REQUIRES! I swear to Christ I will burn this place DOWN over this!

[Warty]

SPOON THE GREASE, YOU IDIOT

Actually, why are you frying eggs at all? Eggs scrambled up with a bunch of sausage and ham and onions and shit are objectively better. How the fuck can you mix whipping cream with a fried egg?

[BakedPenguin]

THIS. Fried eggs suck.

[Clich? Bandit]

You two are dead to me. DEAD!

Over easy...in so much bacon fat that they are practically deep fried.

Yolks runny. Swimming in hot sauce. Coated in cayenne. And served with bacon and sausage.

[Old Man With Candy]

Nope. Olive oil and sliced garlic, barely browned. Yolk barely set, but with the edges of the white turning brown, crispy, and lacy. A pinch of sea salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Slid on top of a bowl of pasta precoated in the garlic-infused oil, then sprinkled with Parmesan. Caffe corretto on the side.

Christ, you people are Philistines.

[The Tone Police]

you guys should just be eating raw egg mixed with steak tartare. Christ on a pogo stick, is there nothing you pro "heat" people can't ruin?!

[sasob]

Try some medium or hot salsa or picante sauce, preferably that made by Pace.

[Brandon]

Fried egg on top of a cheeseburger. Breakfast of champions.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

No. The Breakfast of Champions is actually little chocolate donuts.

[Brett L]

Because on the days when I want to eat without guilt, fried eggs in refried or ranch-style beans is the best stuff on earth. But I still want 100% firm whites and 97% firm yolks. But I think we can both agree that animal grease is definitely the right medium.

[WTF]

But I still want ... 97% firm yolks.

You monster.

[Brett L]

Its a typo, I swear! I want 97% runny yolks!

[sasob]

As a former professional cook I can tell you that there is absolutely nothing better to fry eggs in than rendered bacon fat. Or old-fashioned hog lard, if you can find it.

[Zeb]

Yeah, but you cant dip your bacon in the yolk if you scramble the eggs, you stupid motherfucker.

There is a place in the world for all of these things. Except for fried eggs with firm yolks.

[Zeb]

Yes. Perfectly firm white and liquid yolk is the perfect fried egg.

[Suthenboy]

It disturbs me that the first thing that popped in my head when I saw the photo is identical to what Warty said.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

This is what recovering alcoholics refer to as, "hitting rock bottom."

[Toasted Spam]

I'm more concerned about the freshly pressed pajamas.

[NoVAHockey]

Fair to assume they don't do their own ironing. So the only reasonable explanation is they have a live-in nanny who presses them. Or they send it out with Jay's suits.

[NoVAHockey]

Fair to assume they don't do their own ironing. So the only reasonable explanation is they have a live-in nanny who presses them. Or they send it out with Jay's suits.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Actually, I think including your younger kids in a what is obviously a political puff piece is disgusting. I've never liked pols who parade their children around as trophies.

[Brandon]

They are praying to God that someone will mention the kids in a comment about this. That would give Jay something to be indignant about for the next scandal-denying press conference.

[Brandon]

They are praying to God that someone will mention the kids in a comment about this. That would give Jay something to be indignant about for the next scandal-denying press conference.

[Old Man With Candy]

Nice tits on the little girl. I'd like to ice her uvula like a Bundt cake.

There, that should give him something to work with.

[Christophe]

The username makes this perfect.

[The Other Kevin]

The most disturbing part of the article is when they are in the basement/rec room and there is a Warty Hugeman poster in the background.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

I might actually give them a little respect for that...or a WANTED: STEVE SMITH poster.

[Mr. Gondo]

Wow--I have Nazi and Commie propaganda art (USSR, China and Cuba). I also have a Rhodesian Army recruiting poster. What does that make me?

This is the stupidest post by Reason in some time.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Lighten up, Francis.

[OldMexican]

Re: Mr. Gondo,

What does that make me?

A mailman?

[Andrew S.]

--------- The point of this article

--------- Your head

[Lord Humungus]

woosh.

[JW]

What does that make me?

Never ask a question which you don't want to know the answer.

[Mr. Gondo]

Given the quality of replies I've received so far, I am not going to be losing any sleep over that prospect.

[Snark Plissken]

This Reason post was stupid. Wow. Just wow.

[JW]

Awwww...leaving? So soon?

[Snark Plissken]

There's a lot of fun facts about Carney's preferred brand of $275 sneakers (Hugo Boss)

You know who else liked Hugo Boss clothes?

[OldMexican]

Idi Amin?

[gaoxiaen]

Golda Meir?

[John]

It sure as hell wasn't Hitler. The Nazis had better tastes than that. Say what you want about National Socialism. But at least is an ethos and they didn't dress like douche bags.

[Heroic Mulatto]

*squints*

Not sure if John is serious.

[John]

Half serious. The Nazis were evil and deserve nothing but scorn. They did, however, have snazzy uniforms.

What can I say, the Devil can be an interesting guy sometimes.

[Snark Plissken]

You realize that Hugo Boss actually did supply Nazi uniforms, right?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

There's my tidbit of trivia for today.

[John]

I had no idea. I didn't even know it was German. That is a great bit of trivia. They may have supplied them, but I don't think they designed them.

[radar]

No, the real live Hugo Boss, being a loyal Nazi party member, supplied the SA, SS and HJ with uniforms and personally designed the black SS uniform.

[John]

Thanks Radar. Thus comes another layer of irony to this.

[radar]

Indeed. On the other hand, they WERE awesome uniforms, arguably the sharpest military uniforms ever assembled. In WWII re-enacting, there are always a surplus of SS units, and I don't think it's because there are that many Nazi true believers out there. People just want to wear the cool-looking shit.

[Lord Humungus]

The Allied uniforms - British, American, Russian, other - look downright slobby in comparison.

[gaoxiaen]

It's better to have cool tanks and planes in that kind of situation.

[Kaptious Kristen]

The article would be complete, then, if they mentioned the Carneys drive a Volkswagen.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I thought that said everything that needed to be said.

Fucking Hugo Boss sneakers. That's a hell of a signal.

[Rich]

Hugo Boss?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They scream douche.

[Juice]

Who the fuck pays $185 for shoes that look like they're $25 and already used?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Half of those are Converse ripoffs.

[Bam!]

Hipster Hitler.

[freebooter]

photoshopped the Carney library for added girth

Was it to make the bookshelf less barren, or to replace the books that were originally sitting there?

Related, does anyone notice that when photos of pols are used in news articles that the perspective chosen is often from that of someone looking up to said politician?

[paranoid android]

Was it to make the bookshelf less barren, or to replace the books that were originally sitting there?

I imagine in the original picture the shelf is adorned with 50 signed copies of The Audacity of Hope.

[John]

As if. It would be 25 of that and 25 of Dreams of my Father.

[freebooter]

I only really say that half jokingly. These people don't really care.

It is a staged photo yet they could not bring in some books to fill out the shelf?
They went through the effort to photoshop the books but did not ensure that there was no duplication of other things and did not care if the lightning is consistent?

They knew that their audience would not notice.

[John]

It means that there are no book shelves in their house. If there were, they just would have taken a picture of Carney's own shelves and then photo shopped them in to another picture where you had proper lighting and such.

Goes back to my point above about the profound ignorance of these people. I bet they don't own many books if any at all.

[freebooter]

Books On My Nightstand The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt; A Wrinkle in Time, because I love children's books; This is How You Lose Her by Junot D?az; Peter and the Shadow Thieves; and Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. I always have a pile. I hate to be without books. Knowing I have a bunch makes me happy. A good book and a good chocolate bar!

and a sample from beneath the many photos:

Jay Suit, $895, glen plaid dress shirt, $195, foulard print tie, $135, and polka-dot pocket square, $55, all at Hugo Boss (Tysons Galleria). Claire Cotton jacquard shift dress, $299 at Karen Millen (Tysons Galleria); knotted rope crystal necklace, $98 at Ann Taylor (multiple area locations); and jeweled bracelet by Loren Hope, similar styles at Bishop Boutique (Alexandria).

It's an advertorial/puff piece.

[John]

Who loves childrens' books? Sure, you might love reading them to your children because you enjoy the experience, but love the books yourself such that you read them on your own?

The only serious book in that list the Catherine the Great one and I bet he never finished it.

[Clich? Bandit]

A wrinkle in time is an exemplary piece of literature. And I am being dead serious. If you have not read it as an adult you should do so.

[John]

Thanks Bandit. I will do that.

[The Tone Police]

honestly, I couldn't grasp it as a kid and found it much more enjoyable as a teenager.

[Overt]

I rank Wrinkle in Time (and the rest of the L'engel books) right up there with the Percy Jacksons, Starship Troopers, Moon is a Hard Mistress, and Harry Potter books. They are great stretch reads for kids and a good relaxing read for adults. Other than the Heinlein books, I read the others as an adult on road trips, and don't feel at all ashamed about it. It was better than watching some Michael Bay flick or other brain-dead relaxation.

[UCrawford]

Yup...Wrinkle In Time is great stuff. Although he'd do better reading Watership Down.

[Real American]

He enjoys Soviet-style propaganda at work, too.

[OldMexican]

Zing!

[Real American]

"have you gotten a factory job, yet?" has been replaced by "have you signed up for Obamacare, yet?"

[PapayaSF]

the World War II-era Soviet poster

No, it dates from Russian Civil War, about 20 years before that.

[StephenW]

This people's cube post says it all.

http://thepeoplescube.com/peop.....13838.html

[John]

The fact that they have a Portuguese Water Dog is just vomit inducing. Buying the same kind of dog as your boss is really brings putting your nose up his ass to a new level.

Do you think Carney at some deep level understands how pathetic he is? Does losing all of your dignity pride also mean losing your awareness of ever having it?

[Warty]

Portuguese water dogs are really nice dogs, but yeah. What a clown. And I think it must be like the retarded guy in Flowers for Algernon, who didn't realize he was retarded until he became smart and then retarded again. Carney could only realize he lost his dignity if he ever had any in the first place.

[John]

Nothing wrong with the dog. Indeed, if he had one before Obama, it wouldn't matter. I suspect that is not the case.

You are probably right, the moment he realizes he has lost all his dignity, he will gain some of it back if no other reason than recoiling in horror over having lost it all. So, he probably has no idea how pathetic he actually is.

[Ayn Random Variation]

Damn you for mentioning that book. Now I have a sad.

[Loki]

Buying the same kind of dog as your boss is really brings putting your nose up his ass to a new level.

If I was a manager and I had an underling go out and deliberately buy the same kind of dog as mine, I'd pretty much move that person to the top of the "lay off at next opportunity" list. But then, I hate ass kissers and suck ups. Obama is the type who practically requires it of his minions.

[The Late P Brooks]

Learn from the masters, I like to say.

[The Late P Brooks]

Oh, Parody, where is thy sting?

[The Late P Brooks]

The only thing I saw when I looked at that photo was me, slipping those pajama bottoms down to Claire Shipman's ankles.

I'm a baaaaad man.

*hangs head*

[gaoxiaen]

She's just covering those cottage cheese sausages.

[Voros McCracken]

As far as I'm concerned the Soviet propaganda posters are the least offensive thing in that entire article.

I don't actually read magazines anymore, even the ones I get for free, but do they all still do this vapid "look at how wonderful my home life is" stuff on 'celebrities?'

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'd imagine a magazine called Washingtonian MOM is made up entirely of these types of articles.

[gaoxiaen]

It's looks like a real finger from Che Guevara, but maybe it's a Boris Yeltsin momento.

[Ayn Random Variation]

What's with those giant Fred Flinstone like eggs on the counter?

[Loki]

Why does Carney decorate with reminders of one of the most murderous governments in history?

Because it's what he thinks our government should aspire to?

[Kaptious Kristen]

One of my favorite Claire Shipman moments is from 9/11 when she was about to break the news of the Pentagon attack, when Peter Jennings interrupted and scooped her. You could hear her say something under her breath. Classic.

[John]

I don't know why, but I always found her hot. She never impressed me in any other way. And she is not even that hot for a newsbabe. But I couldn't help but find her hot.

[JW]

She's hot, in that preppy, Bryn Mawr good-girl type of way. You want to be the savage that corrupts her.

[John]

I think that is it JW.

[synyx]

I do wonder if the Consumer Products Safety Commission might have something to say about the dangers of Oversized Jenga. Maybe Child Protective Services as well.

[SugarFree]

A local bar has one of those. It's good drunken fun until it all falls on your toes.

[The Late P Brooks]

Maybe Child Protective Services as well.

CPS should definitely look in on that household. That boy is not even using a pot holder or wearing eye protection!

[John]

A friend of mine was ripping on a particularly horrible cover of one of the local social magazines that showed this attractive well dressed middle aged woman with a headline something to the effect of "how hard life is to be a working mother" as if some rich Washington wife has it so hard. I made the comment, "of course the woman is thin and hot because fat or homely moms don't exist in Washington." My friend without missing a beat responded "yes John that is because we stone them."

Pretty much summed up the culture of greater Washington.

[JW]

I used to like checking out Washingtonian for the dirt on the local personalities, but it's also the perfect window into the corrupt soul of DC. Any houses for sale in there for under $800K? The best private schools and leadership summer camps? ISO of other shriveled, middle-aged power drones?

I think that if any of the outside-the-Beltway rubes ever really got a true picture of how awful the people are that make up the ruling class, they way those of us in the DC area know it, we'd get a genuine revolt, just based on patent disgust alone.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I've tried to tell people how shallow and corrupt it is here, but despite my 24 years' experience, nobody believes me. I may be bitter and cynical, but that's because DC made me that way!

[jmomls]

Wow, scratch a Dem, find a commie. Who'd'a thunk it?

[Erik Jay]

"Portuegese "

Really? This is the level of editing here now? You need to step up your game, a lot, Reasonoids. Your standards have really slipped. I've subscribed FOR 30 YEARS NOW, and it's gone downhill, seriously downhill.

[PM]

This would never have happened when Postrel was in charge...

[David Lango]

Birds of a feather flock together. While Carney indulges in his communism, we have the "commander in chief" waiting with bated breath, for his consoling by Valerie Jarrett.

[Butler T. Reynolds]

Speaking of central planning... Would Michelle Obama approve of that breakfast. High carb, low fat. Why yes, I think she would! They might have to answer for those few eggs, though.

[frankania]

To be fair, I have a Che Guevara t-shirt, I bought on a visit to Cuba. I am a libertarian, but like to shock people sometimes just for fun!