The GOP Establishment Is So Screwed: Watch Matt Welch on All in with Chris Hayes Tonight

Tune in after 8:10 p.m. ET to hear discussion about the GOP race and the eternal War on Christmas

The New Yorker

So one of the fun things to do if you're of a certain mindset is to open up the RealClearPolitics history of GOP 2016 presidential polling and just start geeking out on the numbers. With the one mild complaint that the nice folks over there end up dropping the once-noteworthy poll results of guys like Scott Walker, there are oodles of insights to be had by grouping various pols together and watching trends.

For instance: After Donald Trump escalatored down into the Republican race this June his numbers shot up in the very next national poll from 1 percent to 11. So who lost that support? The establishment-friendly troika of Jeb Bush (22% to 15%), Marco Rubio (14% to 8%) and Chris Christie (4% to 2%). (Mike Huckabee lost some too, but that complicates my narrative, so I'm ignoring it.) Overnight, the establishment went from 40%, where it had been surfing for months, to 25%, from which it never came back.

Really. Jeb! never again reached 22%, and would be in single digits within six weeks. Rubio didn't see 14% again until November, by which time Bush's support was in free-fall. When you add up the total-outsider threesome of Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, and compare them to our Establishment Three (plus Lindsey Graham, because why not), here are the numbers from July on:

Os Es

27 22 July

The New Yorker

39 18 August

51 18 September

53 20 October

51 21 November

47 20 December

The establishment needle just isn't moving, no matter how hard the anti-Trump GOP freaks out over the latest schlonging. Meanwhile, the slight recent dipping of Team Outsider is only a swapping out of enthusiasm from Carson/Fiorina to Ted Cruz:

C/F TC

27   8 September

23 12 October

13 18 December

Anyway, I'm talking about stuff like this tonight on MSNBC's All in with Chris Hayes at 8:10ish p.m., with guest host Steve Kornacki and co-panelist Robert Costa. Later in the show, we'll be talking about the War on Christmas, because YOLO.

Speaking of All In, I was on Monday night talking about Lindsey Graham and such; you can read a transcript here (scroll to the end). 

Comments

[Crusty Juggler]

The GOP is getting schlonged.

[AlmightyJB]

They're going to be come November by a giant strap on. Prolly not the first time she's worn it.

[fish]

You know they want it!

[Hyperion]

If she can find it and remember how it's worn. I doubt it. By November the way it's looking, the only things Hillary will be wearing is another set of her Chairman Mao pajama/pantsuit along with a bib and drool cup.

[SIV]

The straps aren't long enough to fasten around her Depends.

[Hyperion]

Cankle strapon?

[Microaggressor]

"Let me know when you're Ready for Hillary"

[guitargeek]

I've wanted to make a Ready for Hillary bumper sticker with a picture of a stick figure bending over to take it. I think it would sell.

[Suthenboy]

"The GOP is getting schlonged."

That is what happens when you drop your pants and bend over.

[AlmightyJB]

I'll just record it and watch it Christmas morning.

[Zunalter]

Good luck tonight Matt...I would watch, but can't abide doubling MSNBC's audience with my viewership.

[Pope Jimbo]

I don't think you've mastered the times table for 0. You might want to go back and review it. You wouldn't double their viewership, you'd raise it by infinity.

[Zunalter]

Aww, come on, give MSNBC some credit. I am sure Matt's mom will be watching.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Prediction: Festive Holiday Tie

[GILMORE?]

Candy-canes of some kind are probably a safe bet.

[SIV]

I'm offended by the lack of Stars of Bethlehem,mangers, haloed-babies, wise men bearing gifts and sheep.

[GILMORE?]

i sat through 20 minutes of MSNBC a few days ago simply to spend 4 minutes trying to decide the suitability of Matt's "Blue with little colored cars"-tie

I've used up my MSNBC-limit for the year. Someone post a screenshot

[Matt Welch]

But we agree that it was marginally suitable?

[AlmightyJB]

Bolo Tie or just don't bother.

[GILMORE?]

He'd need a handlebar mustache and a Colt Python to go with it. Not an option at short notice, or for MSNBC

[GILMORE?]

Handlebar? I meant Horseshoe

I am not 'stache-literate, to my great shame.

[AlmightyJB]

No stache. But if you have to then Imperial or Walrus I say.

[GILMORE?]

Alright, but at the very minimum he'd need a .357 with a 4" barrel or better.

[AlmightyJB]

I've actually have my eye on this. Prolly going to be my Christmas present to myself.

http://www.vanceoutdoors.com/p.....o-revolver

[AlmightyJB]

Of course I have no stache nor do I wear things on my neck.

[GILMORE?]

686 is the newish model i like the best.

this is also appealing (8 shot) but pricey

[AlmightyJB]

Ouch. That is pretty bad ass though. If I'm going to shell out the cash, this is the S&W on my list.

http://www.vanceoutdoors.com/p...../ID/136427

[SIV]

$1500? Ain't no prancin' pony on that piece. Get a Colt.

[AlmightyJB]

I have a stainless Officers Special. And a Colt AR.

[fish]

Crap.....a $1400 revolver? I never would have imagined.

[d3x / dt3]

$800 for a wheel gun?

[Sudden]

Andy Reid agrees

[GILMORE?]

Oh, well into the suitable-range. The navy-base-color can hardly ever go wrong.

I was 'undecided' on whether it was 100% apropos talk-show-guest stuff.

*as noted by "How to dress for TV" = "a gentleman should not think about dressing for an audience but rather dressing for the camera. I cannot stress this enough and that is why I tell you first. Think "camera" not "person"."

They don't seem to have a hard-rule on patterned ties either, but we seem to agree that they verge on "danger zone"

If there is a pattern at all, i generally look for something that offers a little subliminal political angle. Like this, Pro-Hamilton-$$ protest-tie, which makes for a lovely limited-edition gift for any member of the patriarchy.

[John]

The joys of Muslim immigration. Aren't Muslims groovy?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/wo.....ns-n272866

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

That article is one year old.

[PapayaSF]

There's a nearly endless stream of newer and similar stories, too.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Oops, should have refreshed.

[paranoid android]

He doesn't have time to read dates on the articles, he's got collectivizing to do!

[Chip Chipperson]

And they've improved since then?

[Mint Berry Crunch]

That's dated Dec 22 2014.

I'm no Muslim apologist and don't often rant about the need for unlimited immigration, but randomly posting something from a year ago seems odd.

[Rhywun]

That's the second time someone posted this today. I think other sites were posting it as "new".

[SIV]

If you scroll waaay down on that RCP poll aggregator you can see the good ol' days when Rand Paul was riding high as something of a frontrunner. I hope he wised up and shit-canned whoever persuaded him into running as a center-right RINO-tarian. That was supposed to be his move post-nomination but he fucked it all up.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Immigrant-baiting aside, Rand has been more libertarian-ish recently and his poll numbers have inched up as a result. Hope he takes away the correct lesson from that as he struggles to make the next debate.

[BakedPenguin]

Yeah, he was good in the last debate. They probably regret letting him in.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Well he's already told Fox News to fuck off with the undercard debate, so I don't really know what his strategy is if he doesn't make the next cut.

Although he's ahead of JEB! in the latest CNN national poll at position 6, which would, I think, get him in.

[SIV]

If Jeb! is ahead in New Hampshire he'll make the cut.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Can someone please explain this to me?

Germany charges people for being Catholic?

http://www.worldfootball.net/n.....gious-tax/

[Mickey Rat]

That is one of the quirks of having partially established religions (not everyone has to pay but members do).

[Zeb]

I don't get it. Both because church and state aren't a good mix, and I wouldn't think that the religions funded that way would like it much since it incentivizes people to stop formally associating with religious institutions.

[Agammamon]

There's a *reason* Western Europe is far more secular than the US - strangely enough, state religions are only able to remain funded by coercion while in the US a billion different religions and sects have flourished.

In England people in some parishes (not all, its some weird leftover from ye olden days) can be forced to tithe to support their local vicar - even if they're not Anglican.

[RAHeinlein]

It's an old law, but related to nationalization of religious property. Link below regarding recent challenges.

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/.....ules-court

[Notorious UGCC]

Interesting article (from 2013).

"The German church levy was introduced in 1803 in compensation for the nationalization of religious property."

Apparently Napoleon stole - or "nationalized" a bunch of Church property, and then agreed to pay the Church back by taxing Catholics for the support of the Church.

This happened depressingly often in European history - the Church deriving revenue from its own lands until the state stole those lands and then professed to compensate for it by putting the Church and her officials on the public dole.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I blame the Illuminati.

[Trouser-Pod (The blowhard)]

Is that confirmed?

[Notorious UGCC]

Well, obviously Opus Dei was out on their bathroom break, otherwise they wouldn't have allowed these things to happen.

[Rhywun]

Doesn't Ontario have public religious schools?

[Limpee Wiltstock]

I think its a sort of bond, for possible damages. After what happened with Hitler.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Heads up everybody, if this hasn't already posted in an earlier thread (and I guess this will serve as a reminder if they have):

Popehat has opened voting on the Censorious Asshat of the Year Award. Our favorite US Attorneys, Preet "Wood" Bharara and Niketh "Chipper" Velamoor are on the list of nominees, but are currently in second place. I think you know what to do.

[SIV]

Mob the vote! Is that damn Ohio judge winning now?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

They all seem to be legit candidates but what Preet did was especially troublesome.

[The Hyperbole]

c'mon people I already predicted Preet by a landslide (avalanche of woodchips), don't make me 'look' like an asshole now.

[AlmightyJB]

What do mean look like? I thought you were a proud asshole like the rest of us?

[Zeb]

I think the quotes on "look" are probably a nod in that direction.

[Zunalter]

Are you questioning his right to self-identification?

[AlmightyJB]

Sort of?

[The Hyperbole]

a proud asshole like the rest of us

Oh I am, It's just that I find tricking folks for a while with the nice guy routine then sucker punching them with full-on asshole is a whole-lotta fun. thus I try and keep a wraps on my true nature as long as i can.

[AlmightyJB]

Good show! Carry on:)

[SIV]

I know you cosmos score really low on the moral foundation "group loyalty" what with being closet commies or hangin' waaay out on the assburger spectrum, but c'mon, SHOW SOME GROUP LOYALTY. Velemar and Bharara went after Reason commenters...for commenting! I wouldn't care if it was Tulpa, Shreek, Slappy, SugarFree or any of those other assholes. Thugs fuck with one of us they fuck with us all. Now head on over to Popehat and vote for our common enemy.

[Libertymike]

Just did.

You're right....it doesn't matter if it was Tulpa or shriek or Joe from Lowell or Woodrow Woodchipper.

[AlmightyJB]

OK ALREADY!

[Rockabilly]

I voted for the evil asshat twins Velemar and Bharara, members of the Ministry of Truth.

They don't even sound like Americans and so are unfamiliar with the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

[DblEagle]

I have just voted for the evil asshats. May their next trip around be hideous for them.

[cavalier973]

I was going to vote, but then I thought to myself: "Would my one vote really matter?"

So I ate a bowl of Bluebell ice cream, instead.

[GILMORE?]

That is a hard vote. So many asshats, and only one choice. I mean, Eric Posner should be in the Hall of Fame already.

[Zunalter]

I heard Eric Posner ices his sidewalk on Christmas to cause carolers to slip and fall.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

True, but the bullshit Preet and Niketh pulled affected us directly, which I think puts them up over the top.

[Hyperion]

Just voted. Looks like we're barely trailing Ohio Judge Tim Grendell.

[SIV]

Clear your cache and cookies, change your IP and vote again!

Do it for cloudbuster...and the other commenters targeted by fed thugs for exercising their 1st Amendment rights.

[SIV]

Don't think of it as a meaningless vote on an obscure internet poll. Think of it as flicking the "on" switch on the worlds largest woodchipper.

[Limpee Wiltstock]

Yeah, but watch out for Grendell's mother.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Hmmmm! Apparently, the site will let you vote more than once.

Not that I would ever condone such behavior.

[Rhywun]

I've already voted twice. Granted, it was on two different computers but still... I do have some residual respect for the internet polling process.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

I think it's set up so that you have something like three or four votes. After you've reached the limit it won't let you vote anymore...unless you delete your cookies (or use a private window).

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Yeah, I only got 3 or 4 too.

[commodious spittoon]

As much as I wanted to vote for Preet, I ended up giving obnoxious college kids the nod not only for being aggravating censorious asshats but also for having invented an entire new language and mode of behavior with which to be aggravating censorious asshats. Abuses of power are kinda predictable and attributable as much to bad institutional arrangements as they are to bad actors, but the asshatedness coming off of college campuses is migraine inducingly illiberal.

[PapayaSF]

Gosh, it's almost as if the GOP base (and quite a few Democrats and independents and even libertarians) aren't happy with an endless flood of illegal immigrants, want something done about it, and are flocking to the one candidate who wants to enforce the law.

Meanwhile, the GOP's big donors and establishment consultants are puzzled: How can our candidates somehow get support like Trump has? It's a mystery.

[MetalBard]

One the best things about the possibility of a Trump victory will be the look on these people's faces. A man who does everything the PC brigade and the establishment politicians say you can't do, and he ends up winning anyways.

[AlmightyJB]

Even though I've disliked the man long before he ran for prez, I have to admit some sick, twisted part of me wouldn't mind seeing the shit show and heads exploding from that. Maybe the the progs really will move to France this time:)

[SIV]

...and get raped by Muslims!

[Libertymike]

The NYT would report it as follows:

A prominent progressive social justice warrior, Mattress Girl, was allegedly raped by a man from Marseille.

[Robert]

That reads like the beginning of a limerick.

[Robert]

A prominent prog SJW (Mattress Girl)
Was allegedly raped by a man (from Marseilles).
When asked if he was Mohammedan,
The editor said, "Cram it, and
See what Bill Marrs says."

[AlmightyJB]

There once was a woman from Little Rock...

[Copernicus would chip]

Who was shocked to be shown the governor's cock...

[cavalier973]

She said it was wrong....

[Notorious UGCC]

Let's see, what's dirty and rhymes with "wrong"?

[Notorious UGCC]

Anyway, the last line should be "And she had a three-way with Mr. Spock."

[Notorious UGCC]

And I'm posting this on Christmas Eve, no less.

[Zunalter]

Hopefully the GOP base decides not to eat the shit sandwich that is the Trump platform in order to get at the small peanutty center of unrealistic immigration policy that helps them sleep at night safe from the brown man.

[PapayaSF]

Enforcing immigration law is "unrealistic"?

[Zunalter]

I was adding into it the "ban Muslim immigration", "make Mexico pay for the wall", "deport all illegals" portions of the platform.

[AlmightyJB]

Trump don't want no M&M's in his stocking.

[AlmightyJB]

Trump don't want no M&M's in his stocking.

[Robert]

What shit sandwich? http://votesmart.org/voteeasy & compare your opinions w those of the candidates. Or 0 in on Trump via http://votesmart.org/voteeasy/#/candidate=15723

[Lee G]

A flash website? Is this 2005?

[Robert]

Why, was Flash a fad? Are custom javascripts better?

[Rhywun]

was Flash a fad?

Yes.

[Robert]

This time I came out 75% similar to Trump. The one most similar to my spectrum of opinions was, surprisingly, Jeb Bush at 87%; the one least similar to mine was, unsurprisingly, Martin O'Malley at 30%.

And Project Vote Smart isn't the only place you can make such comparisons. I forgot the names or URLs of the other voter matchmakers, but they're out there.

[HazelMeade]

That website lies about Trumps positions on the budget and the economy. Trump has repeatedly indicated he favors spending loads of money on new infrastructure projects. he's totally a fiscal stimulus kind of guy.
He also said he would raise taxes on the highest tax brackets.

[Hyperion]

As long as we don't let anymore Canadians in, it's all good.

[AlmightyJB]

"the eternal War on Christmas"

#BurlivesMatters

[Zunalter]

#BurlivesMatters

[AlmightyJB]

Nice:)

[Monty Crisco]

+! TURKEY IN THE STRAW!!!!

[Zeb]

Is that a real New Yorker cover?? What the hell?

And where is that store?

[AlmightyJB]

That's every street corner black market after guns are banned. Grenades are a nice touch.

[Lee G]

Virginia, according to Bloomberg

[gaoxiaen]

Shitty selection. How can you have a Happy Festivus without RPGs and claymores?

[UnCivilServant]

You're only seeing one aisle. RPGs are Aisle 3, Claymores are in the land mine section near the back.

[Sevo]

Duck released from fed custody:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/.....718468.php

The backstory has the duck taking up residence in the pond at the home quite a while back; feds say no-no when the duck wandered off. Red tape ensues.

[Zunalter]

Tax dollars well spent.

[Notorious UGCC]

"Stop resisting!

"Oops - shots fired - quick, bring the orange sauce."

[Notorious UGCC]

Alternate joke: "It looked like a duck and it quacked like a duck."

Alternate alternate joke: "I missed! I shouldn't have yelled "duck!" before shooting at it."

[Notorious UGCC]

Alternate alternate alternate joke: "We're detaining the duck in a special prison, but we'll release it before the end of the day."

[Hyperion]

Most murderous dictators of all time.

The most murderous dictators of all time

Check number 1 and 2. What do they have in common? They share the exact same views of progressives today and are in fact the biggest heroes of the left. Nothing to do with them being aetheists, they're fucking commies, this is what commies do.

[AlmightyJB]

Amazing what Genghis did with recurved composite bows and horses.

[Sevo]

Pol Pot woulda' made 'em all look like pikers if he had more material to work with.

[gaoxiaen]

Mitigations: If it went by percentages of populations, Mao would be last, and just think of the American lives saved by Stalin in WWII at the expense of horrendous Soviet casualties.

[Monty Crisco]

Not buying this. First off , China was such a closed society that there is no way of telling how many people's deaths were caused by Mao, but NO WAY was it less than Stalin's. NO fucking way. The great leap famine alone would have been more than what Stalin "achieved", and then throw in the senseless waste of life in WW2 and the Chinese Civil War AND the Cultural Revolution and you have the #1 monster of the 20th century.

[BakedPenguin]

True. He only had 12 million or so people at the time. It's not his fault 1/4 of them was only 3 million.

[Lee G]

I'm surprised Khan killed so few

[Heroic Mulatto]

Well, if he killed everyone, who would attend his academy?

[Lee G]

Took me a sec. ....

*tapers stare*

[AlmightyJB]

He raped all the women.

[Lee G]

I didn't know he went to college

[AlmightyJB]

Florida Woman

http://nbc4i.com/2015/12/22/re.....as-in-bed/

[Hyperion]

The beating was nothing in comparison with the suffering that poor guy must have endured after waking up with a hangover and seeing that face.

At least she didn't bite his ear off.

[Lee G]

More room on the outside.

[Lord at War]

#ICan'tBreathe

[Sevo]

"A Richmond plumber accused of plotting an attack on Muslims in America has been charged with a hate crime, city officials said Wednesday."
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/ar.....718362.php

From the article, it looks like his 'crime' was supporting Trump and saying nasty things about Muslims, "Clearly this threat had been influenced by the hateful and divisive rhetoric that is being used on a national level by presidential candidates," says the cop.
He also seemed to have some pipe in his house.
This is beginning to look like 'where's Waldo' to find the crime.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Mayor Tom Butt

Tom Butt

Mayor Butt

Butt

[Sevo]

To be honest, I missed that entirely.
It's also somewhat surprising that the comments are making pretty strong A-1 arguments.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'll just post this here as it kinda fits.

[gaoxiaen]

Would.

[Quincy.]

On Dec. 17, Celli posted a pipe bomb on Facebook

Farm Heroes just got hardcore, bitches.

[Heroic Mulatto]

So, I got a card from Donald Trump in the mail today. It wished me and my family a "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays". WTF? The Donald is going soft in the counterinsurgency against the War on Christmas? I am shocked and appalled.

The card also mentioned that he loves me.

[Lee G]

An official Trump card.

I'm jealous

[Heroic Mulatto]

The cover is a photo of him wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat while giving a thumbs up.

I'm going to frame it.

[Lee G]

There's something about trucker caps and business suits that's so compelling

[lap83]

The Donald is going soft in the counterinsurgency against the War on Christmas?

The hillbilly households get a different message on their card

[lap83]

....or so I hear

[Limpee Wiltstock]

Well, there are the twelve days of Christmas, which includes two add holidays in their own right, Circumcision Day and Holythreekingsday (I forget how they call it normally in English), so "Happy Holidays" could easily refer to these other Christian feasts of the Advent of the King. Myself generally goes ahead and foregoes the Xmas card thing for all those complications (Too many fucking Deists and jerkoff Unitarians in the cocksucking family these day) and just goes ahead and sends out Circumcision Day cards right afterwards. Though it's if anything an even more Xtian holiday than Xmas, nobody ever gets weird about it the same way they do about "Happy Xmas".

Traditionally, in the family was major gifts exchanged on Christmas Eve, Eve of the Circumcision, and Helligtrekongersaften, wi minorer gifts dicked about the in between days, except for the actual feasts of Xmas and Circumcision, days on which everyone was just very serious and upstanding, and generally a series of lectures from Father. Then on Helligtrekongersdag a big return to gravity and seriousness and unconscionable spiritual morbor.

[GILMORE?]

"Then on Helligtrekongersdag a big return to gravity and seriousness and unconscionable spiritual morbor"

.... but then Gandalf comes and saves the day, right? I read the book but it was a while ago.

[HazelMeade]

The card also mentioned that he loves me.

Welcome to Costco, I love you!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, I watched half an hour and apparently I missed it. I didn't actually watch but I checked it in picture-in-picture and Welch was nowhere to be found. What was he wearing? Whatever it was I bet it was enveloping a shirt with a button-down collar.

[creech]

OT: At the risk of incurring your wrath as hopelessly sentimental, I piled the orphans into the "Dr. Monocle" (tm) box truck and took them over to the firehouse to see Santa and get a free candy cane. So I'm wondering how you all handled Christmas for your orphans?

[Lee G]

They're still stringing popcorn using cat gut threaded with their pinky bones.

[Fist of Etiquette]

OH. MY. GOD. This may be the worst thing I've ever seen.

[Lee G]

The Sugarfree Nativity Scene?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ah, no. I thought for a second Welch's herringbone blazer was double breasted.

[Lee G]

Wow, that would be horrid.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, maybe that's not so bad. Lavender shirt with a robin egg blue tie with a light grey suit coat and black slacks. I even think those shoes are black.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A Christmas movie set in California? I don't think so. But Die Hard is great.

[AlmightyJB]

Were they talking about this movie?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997209/

[Fist of Etiquette]

Why do they have to point out his skin color? That's racist.

[Fist of Etiquette]

My grievance is that host wearing jeans. If you're going to do that, keep it behind the desk.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ugh. Maddow.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Everyone knows how awful the Divergent movie series is, right? How terribly miscast with a ludicrous premise? Because the second one is on right now and it's horrid.

[Quincy.]

You are our bad movie Jesus. Seasons Greetings.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

I actually find those movies perfectly watchable.

In the second one, though, either Naomi Watts looks way too young or "Four" looks way too old for them to be a convincing mother and son.

[SIV]

^SPOILER^

[SIV]

I loved the first one. I caught the second half of the second one and it sucked. I was hoping maybe watching it from the beginning would help. Too bad

[Francisco d'Anconia]

YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!

Tris is a babe!

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Should have mentioned this the first time, but even people who defend the movies will appreciate the Divergent "Honest Trailer."

[BakedPenguin]

It may have a ludicrous premise, but no movie could possibly be more poorly cast than The Grifters.

[GILMORE?]

The Grifters...? angelica huston vs. cusack, in an alluded-incestuous mom/son criminal relationship?

...BADLY CAST?

I can't think of any movie that had such a rare and-specific type of character dynamic.... which was *better cast*. I mean seriously. Its like one of the more ingenious couplings in cinema.

And while I think annette bennings character was more 'replaceable' and could have been done by many... she was ruthless and amazing as well. and the whole movie simply revolves around those three... so its really *all about* the casting, 100%

Steven Frears other 'best' film - Dangerous Liasons - has a similar setup, and is similarly a casting work of art.

i'm honestly flabbergasted. I cant imagine anyone would possibly make that claim.

[HazelMeade]

Someone needs to tell the children, that it's OKAY to be a jock, AND a prep, AND a nerd, AND a goth, at the same time, FoE.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Have I told you all how pleased I am that Prison Architect now allows you to build women's prisons?

[straffinrun]

Needs a school pipeline.

[Heroic Mulatto]

That's the prequel game.

[straffinrun]

Overflow releases a game about pubescent girls dealing with their newfound sexuality. Nice.

[SIV]

YES!

[straffinrun]

The Bern is going for the Hey, Look! The Fed!. The problem is the Fed is giving money to the Banks whereas they should be giving it to the people.

[Heroic Mulatto]

"Board positions should instead include representatives from all walks of life ? including labor, consumers, homeowners, urban residents, farmers and small businesses."

Holy fuck! He really is playing this whole "national socialist" thing to the hilt, isn't he?

[straffinrun]

TOP MEN didn't work. Let's try central planning with BOTTOM MEN.

[commodious spittoon]

Can't tell if transgressive or progressive.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Too bad most of those people are too busy actually making a living, Bernie. You'd know that if you hadn't been fucking around in politics for the last 40 years.

[Sevo]

Red Rocks Rockin|12.24.15 @ 12:13AM|#
"...You'd know that if you hadn't been fucking around in politics for the last 40 years."

Moonbeam beats him all hollow, and moonbeam is adamant about 'using the coercive power of the state' to fix 'climate change'.

[Sevo]

"The sad reality is that the Federal Reserve doesn't regulate Wall Street; Wall Street regulates the Fed," he wrote. "It's time to make banking work for the productive economy and for all Americans, not just a handful of wealthy speculators. And it begins by making the Federal Reserve a more democratic institution, one that is responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans rather than the billionaires on Wall Street."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/.....z3vCiGBW5c

He gets close-to-right, and then you get the 'wha'd-he-say?!' line.
Maybe the Fed oughta go, but making it 'more democratic' isn't gonna help that, and trusting The Bern to figure out who is productive is a fool's errand.

[straffinrun]

He's not my Abuela.

[commodious spittoon]

I'm not exactly sure what he thinks the Fed can do beyond what they're already scarcely doing. Assuming he knows what the Fed does in the first place.

[Sanjuro Tsubaki]

Yup, they are. And the libertarian establishment is twice as irrelevant.

[Sevo]

"What the TSA found in your bags in 2015"
http://www.sfgate.com/news/nat.....to-9151210
Yep, some knives, but mostly 'replica' this, fake that, disassembled guns, stuff that would take half an hour of work to make dangerous.
Are you feeling safer now? Wanna institute another gov't agency to protect us from those brown people?

[commodious spittoon]

Since I'm single and childless I've been drafted to housesit for a gay couple whom I know, but just barely, through an acquaintance. They're really lovely people, but they live in a sort of 50s-style domesticity: one works as a well-paid professional, and the other takes care of their home. They've furnished the place immaculately in northeastern colonial style (I guess), antiques and throw pillows and small stacks of gardening books on chairs and an overriding accent of red and white and blue. No Christian iconography, but they went to the trouble of decorating a tree which only I, on the day in question, will be around to enjoy. If I didn't know better I would think the house belongs to a straight professional couple in their mid thirties who subscribe to the entire home and gardening genre of periodicals and want to recreate their idea of rustic traditionalism.

[Sevo]

As an atheist who thoroughly enjoys the holidays, I have no problem at all with those who wish to co-opt the season for their religious purposes, regardless of a pine tree.
When I was single, it was enjoyable to cook a festive meal even if there was no company; the Nutcracker always got me in the mood.
Have a glass of good wine and toast the beginning of longer days.

[commodious spittoon]

Thank Christ for that, figuratively. I really hate this time of year: not merely colder and darker but having an hour robbed from my evenings.

[commodious spittoon]

What makes it all the more odd, at least for me, is that I used to live in this house. That's how I know the landlord and how I got the gig. And it's nearly unrecognizable. The place always had an outdated look, mostly because a lot of the fixtures are legitimately and property-value-besmirchingly outdated, but there's also arches and rounded corners all over the place. Part of the external structure is in fact listed in some way or another as historically significant (although what that actually means I have no idea). But these two moved in and turned what had always been to me a bit of a depressing dump into a lovingly furnished home.

[Sevo]

"Part of the external structure is in fact listed in some way or another as historically significant (although what that actually means I have no idea)."

Oops.
In SF, that means you're screwed if you'd like to move the water heater. You are going to get VERY familiar with the building permit agency.

[commodious spittoon]

Yeah, I kinda figured it's not the selling point the owner seems to think it is. But it's one of the poorest states in the country. SF probably feels at liberty to screw over homeowners for something as insouciant as wanting to move a water heater, but I imagine the county here feels obliged if they get the property tax without a lien.

[Tony]

It's what gay men do. Oh, lots of us try to pass as sports-loving dudes no different from your average beer-swilling heterosexual male, but you will always find that at least an attempt has been made to tastefully beautify the surroundings. We're largely secular, but Christmas is a special challenge we can't resist--decorate festively while avoiding kitsch. I once had a roommate who had 10 times the ornaments necessary to decorate the tree--the better to choose a color scheme that matched a particular year's fashion.

[commodious spittoon]

It seems exhausting. Honestly. Gilmore used to do his couture recaps for every episode of The Independents (though I don't think he's gay) and that alone seems exhausting.

If I have matching socks, I'm content. But then again, I am single.

[Sevo]

Tony|12.24.15 @ 1:01AM|#
"...Oh, lots of us try to pass as sports-loving dudes no different from your average beer-swilling heterosexual male,.."

You, OTOH, pass as a slimy piece of lefty shit. May you choke on a cookie.

[cavalier973]

A Christmas cookie?

[HazelMeade]

Tony is so infinitely preferable to the invasion of Trump yokels we've had lately.

[Sevo]

Well, it seems that those solar panels need more than just a taxpayer-funded install; your house is now 'registered' (bet you didn't know that):

"2 firefighters battling Bayview blaze shocked by solar panels"
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/.....718832.php

From the comments:
"Most addresses in the City with this equipment are flagged in the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system so that dispatchers and first responders are aware before anybody even arrives on scene. Maybe somebody screwed up and failed to enter the information about this address into the database, or if it's private property maybe the owner or property manager failed to report it as required."

[Suthenboy]

Yep. The GOP is screwed but it has nothing to do with any single pol or candidate. It has to do with the very real difference in philosophy with their base.

Here are some nice tidbits:

"Well, if you would've told me this year that we'd be standing here celebrating the passage of an omnibus bill, with no poison pill riders, at higher [spending] levels above sequesters than even the president requested, I wouldn't have believed it, but here we are," Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer told reporters shortly after the $1.1 trillion omnibus bill was passed."

In 2015, "we wanted to get rid of sequestration, we were able to do that," gloated the Democrats' leader in the Senate, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)2%
. "We wanted to make sure there is parity between defense and the middle class, we wanted to make sure that we kept these poison pills off the legislation? All three goals we had, we accomplished," he said. Ryan's omnibus deal "caps off a successful year for Senate Democrats," he added.

[Suthenboy]

Over in the House, the Democrats' upbeat press conference began with laughter, according to the transcript."

""I said I would not accept a lot of [conservative] ideological riders that were attached to a big budget deal," President Barack Obama said Friday, at his end-of-year press conference. "And because of some terrific negotiations by the Democrats up on Capitol Hill and I think some pretty good work by our legislative staff here? it was a good win," he said. "We met our goals," he said."

I can see a massacre in the next elections for the R's over this similar to the one for D's after Obumblecare and it will be well deserved.