Tonight on The Independents: Red Meat Wednesday, With Ron Paul, Nick Gillespie, Dave Barry, Andy Levy, and…John Bolton!
The Welch reign of error in the hosting chair ends on tonight's The Independents (9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT, on Fox Business Network, with repeats three hours later). But that's not why you want to watch this program. You want to watch this program because it's Red Meat Wednesday, and that means hulking slabs of libertariany goodness, quivering and bleeding right there on the plate.
Like…Ron Paul! The gentleman obstetrician from Texas gives us his take on the Bundy conflict in Nevada, talks about his threat to defy the Internal Revenue Service's orders that his 501(c)4 Campaign For Liberty disclose the names of all its donors, and defends publishing at the Ron Paul Institute website a Paul Craig Roberts essay with this sentence:
The conclusion is increasingly difficult to avoid that elements of the US government blew up three New York skyscrapers in order to destroy Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah and to launch the US on the neoconservatives agenda of US world hegemony.
Reason heartthrob Nick Gillespie will be on to slag Enemy of Freedom Michael Bloomberg, who's making news this week by A) announcing a $50 million spend to defeat pro-gun control politicians, and B) giving this quote to The New York Times:
Pointing to his work on gun safety, obesity and smoking cessation, he said with a grin: "I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I'm not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It's not even close."
Best-selling funnyman Dave Barry has given two of the most memorable interviews in Reason history: One to Glenn Garvin in 1994 (sample quote: "I don't have any insight or understanding on anything about the government. All I think is that it's stupid—which is the one perspective that's almost completely lacking in Washington"), and one that was memorable mostly to me because it involved gashing my finger on a Budweiser can and actively sucking up blood while he answered questions. Barry's on to talk about his new book, You Can Date Boys When You're Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows Very Little About.
The Party Panel tonight is the odd couple of TV's Andy Levy (Red Eye, super-libertarian) and…former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton! The two will talk (natch) about smoking weed, the New York Police Department's termination of its Muslim-surveillance unit, Rand Paul's foreign policy beliefs, and the big new Al Qaeda party video.
And finally, the lovely and super-chill independent Jedediah Bila—who, it was announced today, will be a regular co-host on a new four-ladies-against-one-dude Fox show called Outnumbered—will share with the class what she's learned this week while subbing in for Kennedy. Who will be back Friday, the end.
Check out The Independents Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, and click here for video of past segments.
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John Bolton has never met a brown person he didn't want to kill.
AAAANNNDD First!
I should say "he didn't want someone else to kill".
I'm calling bullshit.
There are plenty of tin pot dictators and aspiring juntas he would much rather install as leaders of a country due to cozy relationships for western interests.
Adopting the "Dat's RACISSSS!!1!1!!" meme of the left does libertarians no service.
I'll admit I have not studied Bolton's entire career, but there seems to be no opportunity for violent conflict with non-whites that he opposed. Maybe he's not a racist. Maybe he's willing to "kill em all and let God sort it out", but he has no compunction against the mass slaughter of poor brown people under the flimsiest of excuses.
I doubt the color matters at all to him. It's always seemed to me that his warboner throbs so badly all the time he doesn't care what he sticks it in it's just got to go in somewhere.
Ya. I think he's pretty intent on mobilizing NATO toward the Ukranian front and going full WARBONER on the Ruskies.
Russians were still considered white last I checked.
Dude. Right now he's advocating for war against Russia, which is a country dominated by an ethnicity largely composed of various white peoples. Likewise, he has no problem with African and Asian countries which are our regional partners in the GWoT. Bolton is not a racist -- he's an idiot.
^ Yes.
Sure he has -- the brown people fighting in our ranks, and the brown people living in client nations.
For that matter, he hasn't met a white person he didn't want to kill either, provided that white person lives somewhere other than the safe quasi-protectorates we established in Western Europe.
Like...Ron Paul! The gentleman obstetrician from Texas gives us his take on the Bundy conflict in Nevada, talks about his threat to defy the Internal Revenue Service's orders that his 501(c)4 Campaign For Liberty disclose the names of all its donors
Does the honorable gentleman live on a property that could be called a "compound" by the media when it falls under siege by the Feds?
I just finished a bottle of Lancaster Brewing's Hop Hog. Who's drinking what?
Scotch
Can you be more specific?
Glenlivet 12 year. Because I'm a student and can't afford anything more expensive.
Fuck you, I don't get to have anything for 3.5-4 more hours.
That's not my problem.
Clearly I need to find a way to make it your problem.
You silly west coast non-day-drinkers
I have to say that I miss my old East Coast Privilege(TM).
Hey, I'm from LA, and I'm drinking. And about to leave to get ingredients for dinner. Clam and white wine linguini.
And I'm still at work until 6 or later, then I drive home, then I go lift, and then I finally come home and get to have a drink. Here in Seattle we actually work, unlike you drunk Los Angelinos.
(Man, I wish I could be already drinking.)
Ha. Working in Seattle? Please. I wake up early, lift, then go to either school or work. And I am drinking the entire time. Everyone knows that the "workers" in Seattle are either in coffee shops or in seafood markets, tossing around their fish.
Good luck
I'm reporting you to the webmaster right now.
OK
Homemade wine
Cheap gin and Polar diet orange dry. Seriously. It's not bad.
I seem to remember Polar grapefruit being delicious. It's been a long time though.
When my time comes to drink (in a few hours), I'm looking at The Bruery's Trippel Tonnelleire. I'll be pairing it with a pasta carbonara probably.
If I could find their stuff up here in New England or in Pennsylvania, I'd pick it up. What I've read about them sounds good.
I'd be happy to do a beer trade package at some point. I can send you a few different California craft brewers in exchange for some of the northeastern stuff I can't find.
That said, my Bruery preservation society bottles are the ones I cannot part with.
I'm game. Selection in NH isn't as good as in Massachusetts, but between the two I have pretty good coverage for New England.
This e-mail address is sort-of a throw-away account. I do check it, just not very often. dgroves140 at gmail dot com.
You guys ever shipped beer before?
Besides being illegal, it can get shaken up enough during transit for crimp caps to leak if not shipped vertical. I learned the latter bit the hard way. (Sent a bagged bomber stored sideways in a package to my dad, and it had leaked enough for the box to smell like beer when he got it. Didn't know at the time that it was illegal (not that that would have stopped me), and thankfully no one that cared noticed.)
If I had shipped beer through the postal service (which is illegal as you say), I would have heavily wrapped the bottles in bubble wrap and shipped them not during the really cold or really hot weather. If I had done so, I would not have been caught and not had anything leak or break.
All hypothetically speaking of course because it is illegal.
If you ever hypothetically do it again, I recommend you keep the hypothetical bottles vertical with a THIS SIDE UP sticker on the box.
I haven't hypothetically done that... but... it is a good idea for any hypothetical future endeavors. Thanks!
I'll touch base with you in a couple weeks when I have time for such endeavors. In the meantime, make note of anything you don't get out that way that is distributed in California and I'll make an effort to acquire such.
Will do, thanks!
Bombay Sapphire and grape Gatorade. Refreshing.
That's a very interesting flavor combination.
I discovered it as a bartender while working a very busy outside bar during the summer.
That's a waste of expensive gin.
Baker's, when the time comes. (After the gym, in time for the repeat)
Whatever I can find at the gas station up the road.
Dogfish Head.
Is this episode pre-taped or live? If live, my hat is off to you.
You are all very close to figuring it out on your own!
I have to up early tomorrow, so I'm going to be able to stay up and watch the show. I'll read the thread tomorrow and find out.
erg... "so I'm not going to be able"
We are all still waiting for the show to go retro and allow the hosts and guests to drink and chain smoke on camera.
Christopher Hitchens and William Buckley approve.
Is that even legal these days?
That's why I was surprised by that picture of Sebelius with a cigarette in her hand in a closed area.
4/25
Arbor Day Song.
Do it.
It will definitely be suggested!
Your devotion to giving us fan service is appreciated.
Meh, the dogfish head 90 IPA is okay. I prefer the stellar stone IPA to dogfish. Or Pliny the elder.
Sometimes you are in a circumstance with limited selections.
So they were out of Miller Lite?
Nonsense, I thought all libertarians ran huge underground breweries and distilleries, all without permits. Least that's what teh universities taught me.
I thought they just stole it from poorer, weaker people.
Uh, which Dogfish Head, Matt? IT MATTERS.
(Not really, all their stuff is good. Have you had the Raison d'Etra?)
I'd be impressed if Matt drank a bottle of Immort Ale on air.
The aforementioned 90 Minute Imperial.
Four Roses
Smuttynose Robust Porter
MD 20/20. Shut up!
Meanwhile, Paul the Younger weighs in on the Bundy Ranch situation
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized the federal response to rancher Cliven Bundy, becoming the first GOP 2016 presidential hopeful to weigh in on the issue.
Paul slammed the federal government's show of force in the dispute, which culminated in a standoff at Bundy's ranch between police and his supporters, including armed members of militia groups.
Paul responded directly to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who accused Bundy of violating the law by allowing his cattle to graze without paying fees.
"I think there's an opposite thing to what Harry Reid said, and that's the federal government shouldn't violate the law, nor should we have 48 federal agencies carrying weapons and having SWAT teams," Paul said Tuesday in a radio interview with WHAS in Louisville, Ky.
Paul said Bundy's family had leased the land from the county government for generations until the federal government took control of it, and federal officials ought to return the land to local control...
At the same time, Paul said Bundy and his supporters should settle their dispute in court.
"Can everybody decide what the law is on their own? No, there has to be a legal process," he said. "But I think there is definitely a philosophic debate over who should own the land.
Amazing to see a politician whose first response isn't a veiled (or not so veiled) threat to someone defying the government in any way.
It is unusual, and in my darker moods I think that will prevent him from going anywhere beyond the Senate.
Only time will tell.
I asked in PM links, and got one (1!) taker. Offering one last time.
One-year paid subscriptions to Jeffrey Tucker's Liberty.me. I bought one at an early date, and it came with extras. It's a social network with forums/ebooks/chat/etc.
I'll need a real name/email. Send it to: SweatingGin@pobox.com
Two left, send a quick message with name/email and I'll get set.
One claimed! Last one!
Closed it out, emails sent to liberty.me folks, no clue how quick they'll be on that.
Princeton conducts scientific examination of US democracy, concludes we are really an oligarchy
For their study, Gilens and Page compiled data from roughly 1,800 different policy initiatives in the years between 1981 and 2002. They then compared those policy changes with the expressed opinion of the United State public. Comparing the preferences of the average American at the 50th percentile of income to what those Americans at the 90th percentile preferred, as well as the opinions of major lobbying or business groups, the researchers found out that the government followed the directives set forth by the latter two much more often.
It's beyond alarming. As Gilens and Page write, "the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy." In other words, their statistics say your opinion literally does not matter.
That might explain why mandatory background checks on gun sales supported by 83% to 91% of Americans aren't in place, or why Congress has taken no action on greenhouse gas emissions even when such legislation is supported by the vast majority of citizens.
At least things aren't completely awful.
Amazing how they completely fail to understand the difference between politicians being stopped from enacting something because of Constitutional restrictions ("mandatory background checks on gun sales"), and politicians enacting something even though the public supposedly doesn't want it (Obamacare, regulations, etc.).
Of course, that's because they don't even seem to realize the US is supposed to be a federal republic and not a democracy, but expecting them to not be morons is asking a lot.
Of course, in the case of the two examples given it is fairly obvious why there has been no action taken:
In the case of mandatory gun sales, it is because most people don't give a shit, and among the group that cares about the issue enough to vote on it, the gun-banners have far, far less support than the RKBA crowd does. IOW, the current state is a perfect expression of the public will insofar as 'the public' in ambivalent enough that it is fine with letting the people who care about the issue have their way on public policy.
In the case of greenhouse gas emissions, it is that 'action on greenhouse gas emissions' bumps up against things that the public actually cares about -- taxes, transportation, and the price of consumer and household goods. So yeah, no shit 'action' hasn't been taken -- the people have decided that they prefer their money and cars, just like a dieter might make the choice that they prefer losing weight over eating chocolate cake (even though they like both). Again, not an example of democracy failing -- an example of democracy making a mature choice based on the options available.
Ugh, I hate defending democracy.
The machinery of a representative republic protecting against the inherent irrationality of mob rule would be called an "oligarchy" by the idiots at Princeton.
Granted, I'm not really a fan of democracy in its universalist, messianic form -- but this is a fucking retarded study, given that all preferences are not equal. The preferences in question should be weighted in some manner before blithely asserting what the study wishes to state -- if there are 6 issues being considered, and the general public has strong preferences on 3 of them but cares very little about the other three, it makes more sense to evaluate the former issues and whether they are reflected in public policy than to take an unweighted average of all three and make some determination.
(That is one among many problems with the study.)
Yes, totally scientific and unbiased:
Yes, I should totally trust and rely on the people surrounding me in this library I am sitting in to dictate what freedoms I may enjoy and what kind of regulatory bullshit I must contend with on a daily basis.
Is it bad if I say that rich people tend to be smarter and more enthusiastic about freedom and capitalism?
The 90th percentile for income in the US is about $143,000.
As far as I have been able to ascertain, the super-rich have been a very weak sister when it comes to defending classical liberty -- both at home and abroad. The upper middle class (and the middle class more generally) has been more capable at such than those at the tails of wealth distribution, generally speaking.
The super-rich have very little direct or utilitarian motivation to defend classical liberty, because the super-rich will usually be completely insulated from restricted liberty. That's one of the perks of being filthy stinking rich. Unless they have a moral motivation (and let's face it, many people don't feel a moral motivation to defend liberty), why would they bother?
Precisely. In Nicaragua many of the super-rich supported Ortega and the Contras when my dad was doing business there; they all lived in gated communities with private guards and literally no interaction with the outside world. The police never patrolled there, and their interaction with the government amounted to paying off/toying with the regime in power. There wasn't a chance in hell that they would ever be affected by anything short of full-scale communism and nationalization of those communities.
Oh, I think they're being affected now....
Well, let's be fair. I don't think the researchers claimed it was "scientific". The journalists reporting it confused, as they always do, "empirical research" with "science/scientific research," which is a type of empirical research.
Oh no! The rich and the corporations control the government! But the government is us! We the people! Except we don't control it (us, we the people), because it's been hijacked by the rich and the corporations! I know! Lets give government (us, since we are government) more power so it can control the rich and the corporations that control it, us, whatever. Power to the people!
What could possibly go wrong?
We need to put that in a bot that seeks out articles with the key words "oligarchy" "corporations are people" and "libertards".
Except that you can't reason someone out of a conclusion they arrived at by emotion.
True. I received an excellent example that today.
That is a huge pile of steaming mendacity right there.
John Bolton and Ron Paul in the same show. Fuck, that's a recipe for some fine trolling of both sides, or foreign policy idiocy the likes of which has never before been seen by the likes of us.
Also, the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity continues to be the gift that keeps on giving, generously obliging the left's need for quotes damaging to libertarianism by variously getting its dictator apologia on or (in this case) stroking the conspiracists' boners. So far, the one thing it seems to be guaranteeing is a lack of Peace and Prosperity for Rand Paul in the primary season.
The left or the neocon right? Or both, I guess. But I figure that the people most likely to agree with the Paul Institute's take on foreign policy, aside from that brand of libertarian, are far-left conspiracy theorists and paleocons. A lot of the Putin apologists on the web are left-leaning.
Tbh, Paul and Bolton represent the paleo and neo rightists moreso than any particular element on the left... and they represent their respective camps quite poorly. Should be a fun night *rolls eyes*
I think the Putin-worship is more likely among paleo-cons than leftists, at least outside of the hard-left variety. Pretty much everyone who supports Putin outside of Russia is either a) some sort of Eurotrash white supremacist Nazi, b) Soviet romanticists, or c) Russian/Orthodox unionists. Chavez and other declared leftists are more to leftists' liking.
"Tbh, Paul and Bolton represent the paleo and neo rightists moreso than any particular element on the left"
I know. My line was in response to your part about giving the left quote material. I think the neocon right would probably use it even more so.
Paleocons may be more likely to support Putin, but they're also a much smaller group than leftists are. A lot of far leftists defend him out of an instinctive sense of anti-Americanism
Neocons would use it big time in the primary; leftists would use it in the general.
'Look at those craaaaaaazy conservatives, now they're nominating 9/11 troofers!'
Paleocons may be more likely to support Putin, but they're also a much smaller group than leftists are. A lot of far leftists defend him out of an instinctive sense of anti-Americanism
Less and less support on the Left for Putin. He lost a big chunk of support when he dared cross TEH GHEYZ!
To be fair, I'm talking more on the fringes of the left. And the people may not be pro-Putin as much as defensive of Russian foreign policy out of a reflexive opposition to America or at least the US government's foreign policy
Ron Paul: neocons best weapon against his son and his politics.
Behold the new low the Simpsons have sunk too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkPcbvX5Fvo
I kinda saw that as a swipe at the idiots yelling "wreckers". But perhaps I'm being too charitable.
I guess the joke is Team Red is evil but Team Blue is inept?
Weak.
Yeah, given the leanings of the show, that's more likely than "they are all always lying" meaning I would have assigned to it.
Here is the most long-winded version I have ever seen of the 2-part consensus/deniers-are-oil-company shills argument:
Cont'd
Are you sure this wasn't written by The Onion?
Oh, how I wish it was...
That is a bold claim. Where'd the quote come from?
A Derpbook prog.
I tried to talk to him about Roy Spencer and Michael Crichton to no avail.
There's also Dr. Murray Salby
Hello.
Just in from my run.
I listen on XM radio and I have to say that Matt hosting is WAY GODDAMNED BETTER than Kennedy- at least when it comes to listening and not looking...
She's too kinetic and talks over the guests too much.
I see American showed up and went psycho in the thread last night. For a while, I was starting to think he might actually be Frazier Glenn Miller.
I was in a wifi dead-ish zone, so I didn't stick around for the show, but he really didn't take kindly to my observation that he was a likely candidate to shoot up Jewish community centers.
I believe you say "lulz" in today's vernacular.
I posted in a thread on Sunday that the wikipedia description of Miller's views was a dead-on description of American's craziness.
"He is an advocate of white nationalism, white separatism, and anti-Semitic theories; and a critic of homosexuality and Third World immigration into historically White nations."
The description has now been edited and has removed the last part, and inserted something about him being a neo-pagan Odinist.
Motherfucker isn't even smart enough to be original.
Point in davor of the unified troll theory?
Favor, even
Perhaps. More testing needs to be done. Though, I think the Calabi-Yau manifold at the heart of the whole damn thing is LoneWacko.
Not Mary? Although I could see LoneWacko being behind American. White Indian as Mary or LoneWacko? Not so sure.
They could be working together.
No the funniest part was when you were telling how you fucked white women. God he went nuts.
Oh, and the Jews have apparently run the country since 1970. He told us so.
I really wonder how someone like that manages to operate a computer.
Really? That's hilarious.
Apparently, since I am married to an Asian woman now, at no time in the past could I have slept with a woman of a different ethnicity.
Well, obviously not. You know how those Orientals can be.
I think he then tried to insinuate that you must have married her out of some fetish for submissive Asian women IIRC
The preview photo is convenient.
INDEPENDENTS ASSEMBLE!
Independents assembling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgmFycuRwAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWuaSww3JnA
So where do y'all go to watch TI on the internets?
http://www.baqiworld.com/2011/.....ness-live/
Courtesy of Notorious.
Very good, thanks.
With the clips I've seen of Kennedy's shrilling, I have to wonder what fresh hell I'm subjecting my wife to by forcing her to endure an hour of it.
Kennedy's not here, man.
My computer?
Angel of Death is the most apt description of Nick I've ever heard.
Well, it is Passover. I hope you smeared lamb's blood on your door frame.
I could possibly get some bird blood if I let my cats out on the balcony. Is that sufficient?
I dunno, Ol' el-Shaddai is a stickler for regulations. Look what he did to Cain.
Red meat Wednesday
I have bacon-wrapped steak. That is all.
Angel of Death. I LOL'd
Why is The Independents' intro filmed in the same pitch-black room terrorists use to force hostages to read their demands?
This is going into my Independents headcanon.
One million dollars...
Yeah, this isn't over.
The Ron Paul hue looms large
That's Cherenkov radiation.
Are you calling Ron Paul a beta male?
He's certainly past his half-life.
No. Just noting that Jon Osterman hasn't aged well.
Thanks for just sending the top half of that image.
Privatize?! Welch, you Neo-confederate Separatist!
I would like to see it managed by the states. Not privatized.
Why exactly does the govt need to manage grazing land? The grass grows for free.
Carnies, because of god damn carnies.
Not if the government has anything to say about it!
Jeez, you want just anyone to gambol across the plains?
I hear it rains.
DO NOT INVOKE THAT EVIL!
In Espa?a.
The stream keeps cutting. Damn.
That sounds like a personal problem, man.
(It seems to be working fine for me, hmmm.)
Nothing the refresh button can't fix turns out.
That entire thread still works if you think of the "refresh button" as the prostate gland.
Well there goes my appetite.
Mine is working like magic.
http://www.baqiworld.com/2011/.....ness-live/
The stream keeps cutting.
That happens with age.
Wait until the Ron Paul Militia gets involved.
WHAT DO WE WANT? RON PAUL! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? RON PAUL!
Ron Paul campaigns in whimsical jalopy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auZCn13tgfs
Ron Paul elected president of planet filled with tiny Ron Pauls:
http://www.theonion.com/articl.....-bi,30286/
Uh oh, prepare yourselves for a fresh batch of Ron Paul crazy.
I take it you're not a fan...
Eh, Ron's strong on the Ross Perot Effect, defined thusly:
For every three things you agree with Ross Perot about, there exists a fourth thing he will blurt out so batshit insane that it erases all goodwill built from agreeing with the prior triad.
Yes, obviously Ron Paul does not endorse the position stated on the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. Jesus Christ.
I didn't write those newsletters I just have my name on them!
Matt is learning the Kennedy cut off ways. Feel the Kennedy flow through you Matt.
Did Paul manage to get through the whole interview without saying anything crazy? I had to step out.
I didn't notice anything, but I'm answering emails at the same time I'm watching.
Hell no. Really fucking stupid answer on the 9/11 Truther nonsense published on his own site.
Oh good, John Bolton's next. I'm sure he'll be an oasis of reasonable and measured foreign policy insights.
You are so correct!
Moar Drones in the first few seconds. Way to not waste a moment.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm afraid.
Fighting war for over decade without winning is a good thing?
They should bring in Stossel to debate Bolton. And when I say "debate", I mean a battle royale of the 'Staches.
Burning Man?
More drones -- because obviously, we don't have enough aimless aerial missions in the ME going on simultaneously.
Vladimir Putin obviously has the same incentives in play wrt action as Al Qaeda. Good one, Johnnie boy.
Fuck you Bolton.
Yes, Putin is in the Ukraine because the US is weak.
Wait, I thought Ukraine was weak...
Russia conquered a territory and gets a card. Mr. Bolton, we cannot allow a bonus card gap!
Russia conquered a territory and gets a card. Mr. Bolton, we cannot allow a bonus card gap!
RISK and Empire: Total War are cool.
Bila for the win!
Bolton: "Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt"
Truer words were never spoken. Now please shut the hell up, John.
Shorter Bolton: Do what we say to do or die.
Man, Bolton really has it in for Paul.
I didn't think Rand's OpEd was that hard to understand.
Oh and fuck off, Bolton.
Tonight on the Independents, John Bolton in a very special performance of Weekend At Reagan's!
Sounds like some pretty serious business to me dude.
http://www.GotsDatAnon.tk
The Independents Attire Review, 16 April 2014
Grandcamp Go Boom-Edition
- Matt: Ugh. Effort?: Zero. People who wear a tie to work are all mildly insulted. You're the host Welch. Look like you're *trying* at least. Grade: Incomplete
- Kmele: A nice return to the Klassic-Kmele= Sportcoat-Master of the Universe. We continue to observe that the Matt/Kmele dynamic provides a virtual "Don't/Do" lesson every night. Kmele here auditions a classic Glen-Plaid patterned jacket in a utilitarian Tan/Khaki complimented with a brown knit tie. Brooks Brothers should be paying Kmele royalties: he's got the style, and they just *bite it*. Rating: Triumph of the Will
- Jedidiah(?)= First off, I want to meet your parents, because apparently they're hillbillies who thought you were a boy. That aside: Whoa momma. Someone's come to the bar alone and is looking to leave...otherwise. Rating: Can I buy you a drink?
- Andy Levy: Disclosure = I'm a 2-button light-grey suit guy, and I like pretty much any variation within reason. Looks great. More people should own one (sharkskin if poss), because they do 'casualish' better than any other shade of suit. Rating: Dry Martini
- John Bolton: He gets these getups in the mail from the RNC. Rating: Weekly Standard
Thank You
- Jedidiah...
This. All of it.
"Perhaps we didn't appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle."
"The irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there ? If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position ... those 241 marines would be alive today."
-Reagan
And may Bloomberg reach the afterlife as soon as possible, yimakh shemo ve zikhro.
I think someone should drive a stake through his heart after he croaks just to be sure.
Also cut off his head and put it between his legs.
The "between his legs" part has already been covered, BuSab.
Bolton misrepresented Reagan as well. Reagan clearly enunciated our moral position, our principles, but did not draw red lines. And he didn't disclose plans. Perhaps, with the exception of 'tear down this wall.'
Yay, Stossel.
Bunch of backbone-less isolationist LIBERALtarians here!
/bolton
Spinnin' the MC5. Does Matt pick the music?
He's gone drunk with power since been giving the Host chair.
Anyone who thinks smoking marijuana is political is really, really overthinking it.
Anyone who uses this as an excuse for why they didn't do it in College is not remotely human.
It was a bit different back in the 60's since MJ was mostly available through the anti-war crowd. So there was some connection.
That's something I've heard from people on both sides in the '60s.
They were ant-war in the 1960s because they were subject to the draft.
I was subject to the draft, but kind of ambivalent about the war. I was worried about all the deaths, but believed the domino effect since it seemed to have occurred in the 40's. What can I say, youthful experimentation!
What an asshole.
John "Bomb the World" Bolton believes marijauna should stay illegal. Jeez, at least let me sit down before dropping a game-changer like that.
? We bomb the world!
? We drone the children!
? We are the ones who say bombs away!
Jedediah - I don't know if I'm for freedom until I see how it plays out. Dumbass.
Tobacco is a plant. Marijuana is plant. If one is OK, the other should be OK. Anything else is bullshit.
The End
I'm not OK with poison ivy.
I am.
Or Manchineel if I ever run into it.
A cross between Senator Manchin and an eel?
You disappoint me Ted S.
"It's listed as an endangered species in Florida."
It fucking NEEDS to be an endangered species, if not already extinct.
Let me guess where Bolton stands on this.
SURPRISE!
He's very dynamic Francisco.
Bolton wants a police state.
Mass surveilling? We mass uprooted and placed people in camps within living memory!
Bolton, YOU ARE A PIG!
Why not just have every Muslim in America wear a yellow crescent on their clothing, John?
What a fucking evil prick.
That would be 'labelizing'?
Someone needs to get John a bowl.
Kate Upton is talking about her boobs.
Well, there IS a lot to talk about.
She just wants to get it off her chest
Was that Matt giving Bolton a subtle 'STFU, you're wrong' across the table at the end?
A bravura shutdown, not only worthy of Kennedy, but also enhanced by the complete absence of a snark bomb based on his 'stache.
Holy shit, that was straight out of southpark.
More than a mouthful is a waste.
Utter horse-shit.
The only wasted boobie is an unloved boobie.
How about the one's on Chuck Schumer?
Well....do you love 'em?
Proggies with ban boners do.
Why is someone without hips down on her boobs?
Train selfies- South Park did it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaKo3g19E9Y
I feel your pain, Kate Upton.
Is it in the lower back, or the shoulders?
Little of this, little of that.
Should squat more.
I want to feel your pain, Kate Upton.
I want to feel what causes your pain, Kate Upton.
*does the dog listening to something head tilt*
I should know better than to make these sorts of comments by now.
Yes, you should.
Ticket tearer at the Cinema that's where I saw Matt!
Now it all makes sense.
Dad: Son, he should have kicked you a lot harder, Dumb-Ass!
I'd choose titties over confidence, Jedi.
Jus' sayin'
I want to mute John Bolton.
Why are you emulating Kennedy, Matt?? You were doing just fine!
Ps.
Market solutions, FTW.
"The sexiest trait in a woman to a man is confidence."
True, if by 'confidence' you mean 'fat', and by 'a man' you mean 'John'.
"The sexiest trait in a woman to a man is confidence low self-esteem."
FTFY
"I find the most erotic part of a woman is the boobies."
Is "confidence" French for 'Tits'?
Yes. Just the other day, I complimented my wife on her heaving, voluptuous reserves of confidence.
Did you guys know Barack Obama got a Nobel Prize?
Nuff said.
Did you guys know Barack Obama got a Nobel Prize?
Wasn't it also a PEACE prize?
Was it in social sciences for finding new and innovative ways to continuously disappointing your supporters without losing them?
I don't know if this is real or not but it is AWESOME
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LudJ.....rugman.jpg
Don't sell the Fax short. It's coming back!
It's HIPAA compliant.
I would spend the rest of my life smashing fax machines Office Space style and die happy.
I think this pic clearly shows Paul Krugman's next career move:
http://www.therazor.org/images/krugman_blofeld.jpg
So Paul Craig Roberts is a 9/11 Truther? Jeebus.
So is Van Jones, yet Kmele is not asking CNN's president Jeff Zucker if he agrees with Van Jones or if by having him work there represents a tacit agreement with his views about 9/11.
Right?
I've never read anything by Dave Barry in my entire life.
Which I think is like, a record or something.
I also don't have cable. which freaks people out.
How do you know when someone doesn't have cable?
Don't worry, he'll tell you.
Thank you for noticing.
Honestly, it usually doesn't happen that way. Its when the "Game of Thrones"/"sopranos"/"Breaking Bad" convo starts rolling and someone looks at you and you have to shrug, and go, "I have no fucking clue".
its not like fucking vegan or something.
He used to have a article in the paper that was pretty hilarious... a long time ago.
That's a shame, because he is frequently LOL funny. When I was a kid my dad would read his sunday column to me and my sisters. I think that was helpful in developing an understanding of how absurd the world often is.
I don't either. It's satellite.
I TOLD YOU MATT WAS IN A BAND
He's been hiding it.
Yes, Michael Jackson sucked just as much as the Biebs.
Has Barry got parkinsons?
Nick was raped by priests? Did I hear that correctly?
No, he was raped by beasts. You need your ears checked.
STEVE SMITH to be exact.
Father STEVE SMITH, so priest/beast.
STEVE SMITH: Beast Priest would make an excellent HBO biopic.
Or a CBS Crime Drama... Sort of like 'Touched Inappropriately By an Angel'
What the fuck was that?
"5 mins of 'talking to someone about some random shit'"
new segment on the show.
Admittedly, an improvement on "5mins of Kennedy talking Girl Talk with a quasi-celeb"
Kennedy talks to Suzi Quattro about things 'n stuff.
I didn't miss Suzi Quattro did I?
They're foolishly laying their hearts on the table and stumbling in?
You're not on my good side tonight, Mr. S.
Can the Can
I'm jealous of anyone who hasn't read Dave Barry, because you have a treat ahead of you! Just go to your local library and help yourself to his Oevre.
He's much funnier on the page than live. He's even funnier than I am.
My Protestant Pentecostal cousin (may he rest in peace) once told me it doesn't matter what you do in this life no matter how good in order to get into Heaven. The only way you can do that is to 'accept Jesus in your heart.' Never quite latched on to that notion.
Do you accept Jesus, Bloomberg your narcissistic billionaire blowhard?
If by 'accept', you mean 'believe you are'.
A Frisbeetarian would say that Bloomberg's soul will try to get to heaven, but is doomed get stuck on roof somewhere.
Down here is Dixieland that is the prevailing standard to get to Heaven.
OT: Anybody cross stitch?
Apparently there are Tom of Finland cross stitch patterns. I bring this up because of the stamps yesterday or monday.
Crap, that was meant to be it's own thing, Tom of Finland and Pentecostalism shouldn't be left that close together. The snakes get feisty.
This means two things...
/ifyouknowwhatimean
Yes, that was the joke.
/andido
Thanks Jesse! I know what I'm getting myself for mother's day :))
I figured someone would enjoy that. I absolutely should've guessed it'd be you.
The best part will be working on it in places sure to cause awkward conversations about gay porn...like family dinners and school board meetings.
I would love to be a fly on the wall for those conversations.
"Sitting in, Welch? This is YOUR show.
All he needs to do is reach out and take it.
Bring us Kennedy's head, and claim your right, Welch!
*"Sitting in"*...
Kennedy should do the intro and the setup for each section and then shut up. She is good at the hype, not so much as the discussion.
And finally, the lovely and super-chill independent Jedediah Bila?who, it was announced today, will be a regular co-host on a new four-ladies-against-one-dude Fox show called Outnumbered
Same title and format as a porn series.
Nick has some set of hair. Like my brother.
Hey, I quoted from 'Paradiso' in the PM links about Bloomberg.
/narrows eyes.
If there is a God. Thus, Bloomberg has committed the sin of question God's existence, and by his religious beliefs, shall have his neshma condemned to oblivion.
Good God, this show sucks. The host is boring, the interviews are unfocused, and there's zero interest to come back after the commercials (which, as it so happens, are marginally more tolerable than the actual show). What kind of Faustian bargain will I have to make with Satan to get that hour of my life back?
Leave Welchois alone!
As somebody says nearly every night, "Firing Line, for the ADHD Crowd".
"What is the political category he (Bloomberg) falls into?"
Fascist?
Nanny.
The Jacket has had its annual Waxing.
That's shoe polish, the same thing he uses in his hair.
I thought the hair was titanium-laced Carbon Fiber.
Learn something new every day.
That's what he uses FOR hair.
His hair is perfect.
Ah---ooooo!
Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor.
Do you know what would help more?..Teaching that "aggression" is, inherently, wrong.
Anyone notice that Fist is never around when Nick does live teevee?
...Oh my gosh.
Plus the whole GoT spoilers rant...
Damn, read that wrong. Derp.
That's because Fist is... the goddamn Batman! Obviously.
I'm the hero Hit and Run needs, not the one it wants.
did you survive the Penguins game!
Barely. Just like the Pens.
NYC politicians fatal flaw is thinking they might possibly understand anything outside NYC. The only upside of this is knowing he will be $50million poorer as a result.
Ah. Elastica.
Booooo! Cultural Appropriation
Cool.
Elastica could have done much worse than plagiarizing Wire.
Wire sucked back then, and I don't miss them now. That riff might be the only decent thing they ever did for music, if only because Elastica stole it and amped it up.
lol!11!
12XU
Yeah, that's just a Black Flag song missing Greg Ginn's guitar solo. Not a fan.
It's weird to hear someone say Torrance on TV. Unless we're talking about Torrance PD shooting Asian women who may be Chris Dorner.
He really did look like a petite Asian woman, though.
Not really, but he did look like TWO petite Asian women moving independently in a blue truck of a different make and model.
Well you can't ask people to verify information before blindly shooting! What are you, some kind of crazy person?
It was a little awkward that it happened a few blocks from my bicycle route to work. I mean if two Asian women could be Christopher Dorner, why couldn't a stocky bearded white dude on a bike?
Well steer clear should such a situation arise again. Serious Man & I will be very upset if you don't attend our eventual wedding.
I spend a week away and you go from blaming me for a hopeless romance to inviting me to a possible wedding?
Clearly I should spend more time sleeping my way across Europe and less time here.
Clearly, but you needed this to convince you?
Of course not. I'm just stacking up justifications for splurging on the next trip.
Splurging? Yeah you were.
What can I say, he's very charming.
Yep.
I mourn Dorner just from the fact of his kickass manifesto that included a massive page and a half-long paragraph of single-space 10 point font shout-out to his favorite porn stars. Apparently, he was really into Gianna Michaels. I think Lisa Ann made the list too.
I get the first one, but the second example confuses me.
I thought they were Hispanic? There names were, although they still could have been Filipinas
'There's no culture there' is the drivel of a dumbass who knows nothing about culture.
Montrealers are notorious for saying that about Toronto.
And/or the drivel of a petty insecure person who feels better looking down on others.
Because Bill Nye is a partisan?
GET THE FUCK OUT!
Ugh, Lou Dobbs fatigued
Jededia will soon be replaced by her cousins Jethro, Cletus, and Rose of Sharon
Dakota?
Ellie Mae?
Gentlemen,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxVlN-LzIks
Hm. I think I'll dedicate the song to Bloomberg.
Dear Mr. Fantasy, make us all happy.
ahh, dobbs.
First one I've watched. that was a bit of a disjointed mess.
For TI that show was a model of decorum and structure.
It really was. Are we just so used to trainwrecks that we hold nights like tonight up as shining examples?
Well, yes, actually. Matt's really killed it this week, though I enjoy Kennedy's edge-of-madness style, in moderation.
If only we could create a hybrid, combining Kennedy's edgy snark, rapid-fire cultural references, and vocal intonation skills (Australian accents aside), with Welch's sober analysis, cerebral, open-ended interviewing skills, and the so-subtle-you-might-miss-it non-personal fuck yous delivered to the truly deserving.
Obviously you've taken too much ritalin. Or not enough. Whichever.
Someone needs Ritalout.
crap, how'd I miss that? Ritalin/Phil Collins was a hilarous South Park, and I must have never watched it all?
It's all that gin, man.
Dextroamphetamin, actually.
Ah, delicious, dissociative cough syrup!
No, that's Dextromethorphan.
the joke went whoosh, but it wasn't very good.
DAAAAHHBSSS!!!
INDEPENDENTS DISASSEMBLE!
Aftershow tonight?
Nope.
No Kennedy, no sexy aftershow.
Hard to get interested in a gal with raccoon glasses. Not as bad as tats, but certainly a 'statement'.
I propose that the current composition of the show stands, and Kennedy provides street/outside interviews as a correspondent/contributor. (Kennedy will also, head the segments with the returning commie, providing she saves her "attack dog" instincts for him.)
Has she dumped the 'raccoon' specs?
No love for Myerson here. I think he's a great guest. He's the guy that will take the opposite stand from yours, just for the sake of the conversation.
So did Nick fly from Oxford, OH to NY to tape the show?
He was on by video.
Q to all of you who liveblog this show regularly:
Did Matt take your family hostage, and threaten to subject them to his fashion sense unless you watch every night?
Did Matt bind Reason subscribers (DRINK!) to forever spend their days as loyal TI viewers using a blood hex?
Are you one of the 144,000 Elders of Zion who receive their orders through coded messages being transmitted via The Independents?
Is it slightly more tolerable when Kennedy is monologuing, John Galt-style?
Why the hell do you watch this every night?
Oh come on, it's not that bad.
It's the most libertarian show on TV. It's pretty ADHD, but by this time of night, I for one don't need deep thoughts.
The thread is excellent, snarking and all.
The fast pace grows on you as your attention span disappears.
The thread is great, I'll agree with that.
As for the show...
The thread is great, don't you think?
It's objectively good. You just have broken tastes.
Watch what?
The live-blogging is it's own form of entertainment?
Better than watching a lot of stuff and plus the thread.
If I could split-screen a live update of this blog and the show at the same time, I totally would. Though I'd probably go blind. By choice.
I was doing that on one of my monitors. Answering emails on another and running RDP on a third. I don't think I've commented on here without multitasking in years.
Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.
Wait, what were you talking about?
Surely, you must have meant Run Run Shaw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAGaYi2Kem8
Hypnotism
The Internet hates Hawkgirl
The Immaculate Trouser|4.16.14 @ 10:08PM|#
"Q to all of you who liveblog this show regularly:
Did Matt take your family hostage, and threaten to subject them to his fashion sense unless you watch every night?"
I don't watch, but I don't watch anything on TV that doesn't keep score or lap times.
But I don't think it's a bad idea. Most people seeing it (all 5?) prolly never had any idea that there are political opinions that don't support the free shit or the stupid party.
And AFAIK, you have to make a TV presentation aimed pretty low to get an audience. Look at the Daily Show.
Watching the NHL playoffs?
My team isn't in the playoffs. Why should I give a shit?
"Watching the NHL playoffs?"
The "scoring" is required but not sufficient.
Well, I just feel the show should take some cues from popular entertainment -- Game of Thrones, to pick a name out of a hat. Kill some of the main hosts, some tasteful Kennedy full-frontal nudity/lesbian debauchery with Mary Katherine Ham, and end the season with the gruesome double execution of special guests Jesse Myerson and Michael Bloomberg.
And a better theme song.
I wish my ex hadn't ruined saxophones entirely for me.
All saxophones? Or a certain type? Don't tell me he was one of those soprano sax douchebags.
He played them all (depending on the band that night), but I only ever encountered the soprano once when he was trying to get a certain sound in a recording.
A pansaxual? It was doomed from the start, honey.
If only I'd known you back then! You could have warned me!
Don't feel too bad. Bill Clinton has broken a lot of hearts.
& ew.
Goddamn you, Coeus. How am I supposed to ignore that image?
You could always go the Family Guy route and sleep with Bill to even the score.
kibby|4.16.14 @ 10:56PM|#
"I wish my ex hadn't ruined saxophones entirely for me."
I had an ex who looked really good in red undies, and ya know, I've learned to like 'em again.
Maybe someday. The sound just grates on me now after having to listen to them so much!
kibby|4.17.14 @ 12:07AM|#
"Maybe someday...."
It's your life, not that of your ex. Take control or yield it.
I know people in their 50s who blame their parents. Tough; no one gets perfect parents. Time to live your life.
I thought the ratings were alright?
Ah, non-"brutalist" libertarians cavorting with neo-cons! Will wonders never cease.
What do you mean by "brutalist"?
He's talking about libertarians who were made of concrete in the '60s in overtly ugly forms. Clearly.
Are you talking about the ones often mistaken for post offices?
Exactly. Or Boston City Hall.
It's hard to do a simple high rise urban parking garage without the brutalism.
Weirdly Gizmodo had a thing on non-boring parking structures two days ago.
http://gizmodo.com/three-of-th.....1563088194
This is one of those brutalist libertarians near me. And for added shits and giggles this is a photo of it new. It has not improved with age.
Why not put a facade that looks like buildings on them?
This abomination is a residential college at my alma mater.
The science building at my college.
I can't find pictures of the old library but it had that concrete cheese-grater thing over the windows on two sides.
Oooh and there are references to Whittiergate, the Whittier College scandal website which references me in a footnote:
Heart. warmed.
These Ducks sure can fly.
So I did a GIS for sunburnt tits and got some fun images.
.....Why? (Do I even want to know?)
No. But it really doesn't matter. Tits are their own reward.
I give a gift and get questioned?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaSRYecKaqc
Well some of us can just look in the mirror & satisfy that need. So...
I think the degree of need is somewhat different. They're your tits so I can't imagine they do anything special for you.
True. But I still like them. =D
The thread's dead baby. Thread's dead.
Last man standing!
Recent DNA testing suggests that Hitler's mistress, Eva Braun, may have been part Jewish.
http://www.inquisitr.com/12121.....-ancestry/
No thread really dies, even when invoking Hitler.
word
I wonder if DNA testing will someday reveal my Methodist/Presbyterian roots on a blog somewhere.