August 12, 2010

Ben Smith at Politico stoops to using his blog to promote a "new, progressive group" that's hawking T-shirts and coffee mugs.

So embarrassing. Even if his dearest dream in life is to fuck the Tea Party, wouldn't he want to go about it in a slightly sophisticated way?

177 comments:

XWL said...

Have you seen some of the women who show up at Tea Party events?

I'm shallow enough to be on board the 'fuck tea partiers' bandwagon.

(oh, wait, I don't think that's what they mean)

traditionalguy said...

The lynch mob for tea party activists is being formed. Both political parties are threatened by the grass roots rebellion against a 535 member ruling cadre that uses the screen of earmarks to fake us out for the benefit of their friend's wealth. They are all Blagovitch-like operatives selling Federal grants to the highest bidders. The Tea Party ethic threatens to stop them.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Remind me again who it is that's the tolerant, respectful and classy side?

garage mahal said...

touchy touchy.

Fen said...

Ben Smith = LoneWackoSorosTroll?

Shouldn't he be gossiping with teenage boys on the newest incarnation of JournoList?

Salamandyr said...

Remind me again who it is that's the tolerant, respectful and classy side?

Not me, I'm the one running around wearing the slogan "Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency!"

WV=comam, this would be Conan's mom.

garage mahal said...

I haven't received a Soros transmission in 3 days now. Or my compensation check :( Or my fresh set of talking points or sockpuppet aliases.

Help me

I'm Full of Soup said...

I have seen the Agenda Group's Erica Payne, on Fox News. She has to be in it for the money because no one could be as dumb as she sounds when she defends liberal talking points.

Lincolntf said...

Ben is a living monument to the impossibility of being both an honest man and a Democrat in the United States today.
His profession is secondary, his intellect tertiary, but his eagerness to be led by the nose is of the first order.
And Politico is to the Internet what oatmeal is to the breakfast buffet. I have a feeling that getting passed over for the yummy waffles and bacon at the other sites has driven them to desperation/distraction.

Bruce Hayden said...

Frankly, I suspect that every one of those T-shirts, if seen outside of the coasts and liberal enclaves like Madison, will generate at least one vote for the Republicans, or at least for tea party candidates. They just reinforce the impression that the country is now being run by a bunch of juvenile delinquents.

AlphaLiberal said...

So, you guys think there should be a news blackout on any criticism of the Tea Party?

Why, exactly?

Especially when the Tea Party is such a hilarious circus of extremists and crackpots, why should the only TP news be positive and glowing?

Meanwhile, Ben Smith continues to be criticized for his flacking for the right wing.

AlphaLiberal said...

The only news headlines Ann Althouse and other TPers will consider non-biased:

"Tea Party leads American People to Great Paradise"

"Tea Party Only True American Organization Left"

"Tea Party Glorious Battle for Motherhood and Apple Pie Opposed by Vicious Leftists"

"Tea Party Fights For All That is Good and Decent and Right"

I think there are some PRAVDA writers out of work who you could hire.

AlphaLiberal said...

Ha ha!

http://fucktea.com/

Excellent!

Hoosier Daddy said...

I think there are some PRAVDA writers out of work who you could hire.

As the Journolist probably wrecked a few careers, I suspect you're correct ;-)

TWM said...

"So, you guys think there should be a news blackout on any criticism of the Tea Party?"

How is spreading the word (and laughing while you do it) about these continuing pathetic attempts to slam the Tea Party movement a news blackout?

Lincolntf said...

No Alpha, we want people to stop their exploitative, hateful and bottom-feeding insertion of "racist" into every discussion of the TP's. But since without a way to distract from the real issues, the Libs are stuck with just their backward-ass ideology (the fruits of which are being harvested all over the country) and their willingness to lie.
Not much room for legit criticism from people who serially trade in the historic misery of racism to score political points. Such people are the worst society has to offer, and should be shunned by all decent people.

garage mahal said...

No Alpha, we want people to stop their exploitative, hateful and bottom-feeding insertion of "racist" into every discussion of the TP's.

Lord knows the Right would never call someone a racist.

Joe said...

I heard an interview on NPR (I think) with some main guy at Politco; he came off as a totally self-righteous prick. He kept maintaining that Politco was "objective".

A.W. said...

I posted this over at legal insurrection:

> This is idiotic on so many levels. First off, you know who might have liked a T-shirt putting down tea? Um, the people who carried out the original Boston Tea Party. In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked if one of them said, “bugger to tea” as they tossed it over board. Not that they hated tea, but they hated the tea tax, and not even taxes per se, but the fact it was being imposed on them by a government that was far away, out of touch with them, and didn’t even include them in representation. Still they might have said reasonably, “bugger to tea, I will drink beer instead!”

> I mean the tea party is not a group of people who sip tea, are united in their love of tea. They are just people intentionally invoking that famous act of disobedience. Which is ironic given that they are in fact far less violent than our revolutionary fathers. Believe you me, if the modern Tea Party tarred and feathered one person, obama would probably declare them a national threat on par with al Qaeda.

> Second, guess what? Most people don’t follow politics nearly closely enough to know what the hell they are talking about. So they will interpret this as some kind of anger at... tea.

> So yeah its idiotic and possibly off putting and… crap Bill, you should take this post down. You know what they say. Never interfere with an opponent who is destroying himself.

AlphaLiberal said...

Fen:

How is spreading the word (and laughing while you do it) about these continuing pathetic attempts to slam the Tea Party movement a news blackout?

Ben Smith is being slammed simply for reporting news that is not flattering to the Tea Party.

All of a sudden he is a terrible rotten person because he covered a political news story.

I guess the only good and decent reporters are those who write stories extolling the Godly virtues of the Tea Party.

Ridiculous!

TWM said...

"Lord knows the Right would never call someone a racist."

Is this the newest retort . . . the left only does it cause the right does it?

If so, I'm pretty sure it's not going to help recharge the maxed-out race card so you might want to re-think it a bit.

Freeman Hunt said...

f*ck tea.

Not clever, but definitely interesting. It has the Emerson-ish lack of capitalization hipness craving. It lacks the cojones to actually have "fuck" in it. It lacks the class to not have any semblance of "fuck" in it. And it has a period as though to inject forcefulness after all that floppiness and say, "Word! That's it!"

w*ak tea.

A.W. said...

Alpha

> So, you guys think there should be a news blackout on any criticism of the Tea Party?

No more than you are advocating a news blackout of any criticism of criticism of the Tea Party. *rolls eyes* criticizing a comment or T-shirt as stupid is not a call for censorship. Duh.

Of course let me be the first to invite them to do this en masse. I think nothing could help the right more than lefties going around proclaiming their hatred of tea.

Garage

> Lord knows the Right would never call someone a racist.

Yeah, the left doesn’t cry racism and bigotry ON EVERY F---ING SUBJECT. *rolls eyes

TWM said...

"Ben Smith is being slammed simply for reporting news that is not flattering to the Tea Party.

All of a sudden he is a terrible rotten person because he covered a political news story.

I guess the only good and decent reporters are those who write stories extolling the Godly virtues of the Tea Party.

Ridiculous!"

Yep, ridiculous is the word. None of that resulted in a news blackout. In fact, it spread the word about those moronic t-shirts by a factor of, what, a thousand?

Hey, the Coffee Party wasn't working so I guess you guys have to do what you got to do.

AlphaLiberal said...

Ha ha!!

"57% [of Tea Party] think George W. Bush was a good President."

Yeah, right. Progressives are exactly the same as Tories of the 18th century. You guys are geniuses!

A.W. said...

Alpha

> Ben Smith is being slammed simply for reporting news that is not flattering to the Tea Party.

According to who? and if you say mediamutters, i will laugh at you. ditto with thinkprogress.

AlphaLiberal said...

Hey, TRO, you need more work on Reading Comprehension. Perhaps English is not your first language.

What I said:
So, you guys think there should be a news blackout on any criticism of the Tea Party?

you see, in English, that doesn't mean there IS a news blackout. It means that the TPers would like a news blackout.

Then I proceed to lay out some Soviet-style headlines that you guys seem to demand.

You could grow up and accept that entering politics, especially by bashing people, brings criticism.

Toughen up.

AlphaLiberal said...

AW,

Ben Smith is being slammed by

- Ann Althouse (did you read the post? He STOOPS!)
- Fen
- etc....

AlphaLiberal said...

garage mahal:

I haven't received a Soros transmission in 3 days now. Or my compensation check :( Or my fresh set of talking points or sockpuppet aliases.

You, too? The Worldwide Soros Conspiracy seems to be falling down on the job. How could I ever post comments to an obscure internet blog without my script and my bundles of cash!

Jim said...

Here's the problem with Smith "reporting on this."

IT'S NOT NEWS.

Has this group done ANYTHING besides sell t-shirts?

NO

Have they held a rally? Sent a letter to a congressman? Done ANYTHING newsworthy at all?

NO

So, this is advertising. When Smith starts flacking for conservative t-shirt sellers that haven't done anything newsworthy either then we can talk about his objectivity.

Until, f*ck Ben Smith and Politico for hosting it.

traditionalguy said...

What rule for radicals is Alpha demonstrating here? Something about personalizing and targeting an opponent with the strongest of weapons called Ridicule. Alpha is doing a great job like he always does. Congratulations to Alpha for his skills. He should re-negotiate his contract like the super NFL players do.

I'm Full of Soup said...

In Alpha's world, "reporting news" is when some liberal group sends a press release to a liberal "reporter" who quickly and dutifully cuts and pastes the press release into a "news" story.

Do I have that right?

AC245 said...

I guess there's no "fuck coffee!" t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. because no one bothers making fun of astroturf groups. Or maybe the Tea Party crowd just isn't as obnoxious and vulgar as the civilized, thoughtful coffee party alternative.

Say, whatever happened to all of those astroturf liberal versions of the tea party? It's been a few months since I've seen a media blitz (including puff pieces by reliable stenographer Ben Smith) promoting a new front group. Isn't it about time for Soros, the unions, or the DNC to fund another one?

Perhaps the new Democrat strategy is just a combination of a "fuck the voters" attitude (a la these tee shirts and web site) and hijacking the "Tea Party" name to run Democrat machine candidates under it on ballots, hoping they can trick people into voting for them.

Anger and Deception - those seem to make up the core of modern leftism.

DADvocate said...

I doubt Ben Smith has the insight and self-awareness to be embarrassed or he wouldn't have published this to start with. Just shows the childishness of much of the left. They're sure to win a bunch of swing voters with this PR push.

AlphaLiberal said...

It's hilarious that you guys hate on the Coffee Party. I checked it out when it got started and then blew it off because:

a) They don't allow you to use "Teabagger" in posts.

b) They are too worried about taking the "Kumbayah" approach.

c) They operate under the delusion that modern conservatives are subject to dialog and reason, despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary. (They are, but just to the extent that a post is).

So they have adopted some issues to work on and they are doing that. Finance reform and campaign finance reform, last I heard.

This group is a different group. I know you guys think there are monolithic leftist conspiracies behind every bush, but there are really different people doing things.

TWM said...

"Hey, TRO, you need more work on Reading Comprehension. Perhaps English is not your first language."

Wow, a personal insult from a liberal - how unexpected!

And an Alpha one at that . . . no Phil Donahue you that's for sure. I'm hurting from that punch - bruised even from the exercise of your steroid enhanced wit.

Anyway . . .

"you see, in English, that doesn't mean there IS a news blackout. It means that the TPers would like a news blackout.

Then I proceed to lay out some Soviet-style headlines that you guys seem to demand.

You could grow up and accept that entering politics, especially by bashing people, brings criticism.

Toughen up."


There is nothing that anyone has posted or said that is calling for a news blackout. Sarcasm, snark, and pointing out the ridiculous antics of desperate liberals who have no arguments save Fuck Tea is not calling for a blackout.

Calls like that are made by liberals - you know, the ones who want to shut down Fox News and talk radio.

Yeah, those guys.

But you keep trying to change the subject if it makes you feel better.

And keep those great insults coming. I'm putting on pads to make sure I don't have any permanent damage.

Aidan said...

So when Ben Smith reported on the New Hampshire Democrat who joked about wishing that Sarah Palin was in the plane crash that killed Ted Stevens, was he advocating for the death of Sarah Palin?

Please tell us more about what is acceptable and unacceptable in covering American politics and political movements, Ann.

E Buzz said...

Lefties remain spastic, frazzled children an awfully long time.

LOL

garage mahal said...

it hasn't dawned on anyone that maybe, perhaps, the f*ck tea shirts makes progressives look bad instead of good. Everyone just assumes that f*ck tea is a catchy deal and people will buy.

AlphaLiberal said...

Jim, the Tea Party has gotten loads of coverage for far less. They can turn out a couple hundred people in DC for a rally and get national news coverage.

They get s a few old cranks to show up at Town Halls, following the script from DC consultants, and shout everybody else down and they all kinds of coverage as "ordinary citizens mad at Town Hall."

Meanwhile thousands of people turn up at rallies for other issues and are ignored.

Cry me a river, baby.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Lord knows the Right would never call someone a racist.

garage you never did answer my question from way back about what you thought of Ferraro and Bill Clinton being accused of racism by the Obama campaign?

Any thoughts on that? I'll understand if you want to take a pass.

TosaGuy said...

I did get a kick out of the comments by someone who said "F*ck Recovery Summer"

AlphaLiberal said...

So when Ben Smith reported on the New Hampshire Democrat who joked about wishing that Sarah Palin was in the plane crash that killed Ted Stevens, was he advocating for the death of Sarah Palin?

No.

"this has been another edition of simple answers to stupid questions."

BTW, the legislator in question has resigned as a result.

you were saying?

bearzero said...

"History" in the link's comment section gets it right when he/she explains that the original and the new Tea Party would completely agree with this T-shirt sentiment.

"F*ck Tea, throw it in the River and don't tax us!".

The Progressives can't even get the historical references right.

Hoosier Daddy said...

They get s a few old cranks to show up at Town Halls...

Ah yes...the liberal term for senior citizens who question the Liberal agenda is 'old cranks'.

Perfect. Simply perfect.

Hoosier Daddy said...

BTW, the legislator in question has resigned as a result.

you were saying?


I think he was saying that your side has some real scumbags who wish for his death soley due to differences in policy.

Hoosier Daddy said...

should say her death

GMay said...

Did NBC ever stop hawking Obama gear?

Aidan said...

No, I'm saying that Ben Smith is a reporter who reports on things he finds notable in American politics, and that it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Ben Smith reporting on something does not mean that Ben Smith is promoting or advocating for it, which still seems to escape quite a few people.

AllenS said...

f*ck tea

That's really fucking lame.

X said...

fuck tea not teabaggers. cuz tea can't kick your ass.

Big Mike said...

Does anybody know where I can get a "Don't blame me I voted for McCain/Palin" T-shirt? Size 2XL.

I'll settle for a "Don't blame me I voted for McCain" T-shirt, but I like the way liberals go all hyper when you bring in Sarah Palin's name.

Caroline said...

'F*ck Tea'? Why be so coy, and come up with a lame slogan that doesn't make any sense?

Why not "F*ck Teabaggers"( or F*ck Teab*ggers, if you are trying to be demure)? My guess is the "cool kids" don't have the balls to be so explicit. Buncha pussies.

Bruce Hayden said...

Especially when the Tea Party is such a hilarious circus of extremists and crackpots, why should the only TP news be positive and glowing?

What is hilarious here is that the tea partiers are far more mainstream these days than far left wackos like AL. Poll after poll have shown that a large chunk of the American public, while maybe not yet ready to join the Tea Party movement, are in sympathy with what they are trying to do. Support for what the Administration and Democratic Congress have done is now the minority, extremist position.

Big Mike said...

They get s [sic] a few old cranks to show up at Town Halls

This old crank will kick you butt, sonny.

Andrea said...

"it hasn't dawned on anyone that maybe, perhaps, the f*ck tea shirts makes progressives look bad instead of good. Everyone just assumes that f*ck tea is a catchy deal and people will buy."

Wow. I just agreed with Garage on something. What. The. Hell. Hey, are those four horsemen I hear outside my window?

Caroline said...

fuck tea not teabaggers. cuz tea can't kick your ass.

I see Comrade X beat me to the punch. And more succinctly too.

garage mahal said...

Wow. I just agreed with Garage on something. What. The. Hell. Hey, are those four horsemen I hear outside my window?

Been happening with frightening regularity around here lately. LOL

Chris said...

"All of a sudden he is a terrible rotten person because he covered a political news story."

I must've missed the political news story. What I read was that someone is selling novelty t-shirts and coffee mugs.

Is the political news story at another link?

Big Mike said...

I haven't received a Soros transmission in 3 days now. Or my compensation check.

Well, it's pretty well known that after Obama's election George Soros bet against the dollar. Maybe the failure of this country to go sliding down the tubes despite the best efforts of Obama, Reid, and, especially, Pelosi means that he's lost some money and has to cut some dead wood.

Don't worry, he'll scrape up a few nickels and get back to you, and you can be just as devastatingly witty as you've always been.

Which is to say, not at all.

AlphaLiberal said...

Bruce Hayden sees reality poorly:

Poll after poll have shown that a large chunk of the American public, while maybe not yet ready to join the Tea Party movement, are in sympathy with what they are trying to do.

News story:

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 30 percent view the grassroots conservative groups very or somewhat positively

30% is a "large chunk?" do you understand math?

Ronnie Schreiber said...

What's most striking to me is how lame "f*ck tea" is. There's nothing clever or funny about it. No alliteration, irony or word play.

I run a small embroidery shop, www.autothreads.com, I've made a few shirts with slogans on them and I'd be embarrassed to make something as lame as "f*ck tea".

Eran metal är mjäkig!
"your metal is weak"

Bruce Hayden said...

it hasn't dawned on anyone that maybe, perhaps, the f*ck tea shirts makes progressives look bad instead of good. Everyone just assumes that f*ck tea is a catchy deal and people will buy.

See my 12:57 PM post above.

I may not have been as artful as I might have been, but my point was that this sort of T-shirt is going to make anyone wearing it look like a college student, or someone who hasn't progressed beyond that. That was the time when every third word was a swear word (often the F word, as here). It was also a time when feelings were much more important than were actual thought and reasoning.

And, yes, it leaves the impression that the reason that the Democrats have so screwed up the economy over the last year and a half is that they were elected by a bunch of college students whose idea of debate is to wear such a T-shirt. And if only we could raise the voting age to 30 or so, they would just go away until they had had a job for awhile, and, horror upon horror, maybe were even trying to raise a family.

Aidan said...

I realize that Republicans are running out of things to manufacture outrage and scandal from, but if this is the best you can come up with, it's a sign of true desperation.

Synova said...

I thought the tone was more mocking than promoting, actually.

And F*ck Tea is not presented as any sort of thoughtful response, simply that calling the Tea Party astroturf didn't work and the Tea Party has grown huge and influential so now they're just the enemy.

Of course, being anti-Tea Party with anything dialog related ends you up in a place where it's going to sound like, "We're not them! We're for fiscal irresponsibility and government spending!"

Not a winning proposition. Not even for progressives.

Scott M said...

Lord knows the Right would never call someone a racist.

We weren't allowed to before few months ago when the race card got maxed out (thanks John Stewart...hysterical).

All of this hand-wringing means not a whip to what the vote tallies are going to read on Nov 5th. You can keep talking trash all you want, but you would have to be monumentally blind to think the DNC isn't going to suffer serious losses. Forget the spin on what that means. Just slowly stew in the juices of impending doom.

I heard quite a lot of liberals and progressives after the 2008 election saying, "We won. Get used to it."

Indeed.

kathleen said...

"I realize that Republicans are running out of things to manufacture outrage and scandal from"

um, no we're not, really.

John said...

You beat these clowns with mockery. As the t-shirt illustrates, the left has no irony and no sense of humor. The tea parties need to take ownership of the slurs and make fun of the left with how lame they are.

For example, I think a shirt that said "Ratbagging Tea Fucker" on it would be quite funny. And when worn by a tea party totally disarming of losers who wear the politico shirt.

AllenS said...

What the hell happened to the Coffee Party? Didn't that work out?

Jim said...

alpha -

when the f*ck tea people have managed to turn out EVEN ONE person at a rally, then MAYBE it's news.

As it stands, they are simply hawking merchandise aimed those who already hate TEA Partiers.

So where's the news value in this? What's next? A political blog post that the nearest Sunglass Hut is having a sale?

You're being seriously LOL-worthy in your defense. Keep it up because I'm really enjoying watching you embarrass yourself on this one.

Bruce Hayden said...

30% is a "large chunk?" do you understand math?

I suspect better than you do. But your survey wasn't asking was whether they agreed with specific positions of the tea party movement, and not necessarily with the tea party movement itself.

Let's instead look at polls about ObamaCare, the "stimulus", ethics in this Congress, self-identification as liberal, moderate, or conservative, etc.

Finally, we shall see who is right, you or me, come November. If the Democrats retain the House, I will admit that you were more likely right, and I was more likely wrong. But if they don't, then I will expect you to concede that there are more people opposing the Democrats' agenda since Obama took office than who support it.

X said...

makes progressives look bad instead of good.

yes garage, some people are too dem to possess self awareness. cough.

but yeah, most of the wingnuts here thought it made progs look clever and were jealous.

Lance said...

You could grow up and accept that entering politics, especially by bashing people, brings criticism.

Wow, you think a t-shirt that reads "f*ck tea" is criticism? Real criticism starts from the position that the subject can be improved, that there's a solution to the problem being identified. "F*ck tea" is not a criticism, it's an epithet. It's an attempt to denigrate and dismiss. So yeah, I criticize Ben Smith's blog post for the same reasons I criticize the Weekly Standard's squeezy-head Obama doll.

garage mahal said...

You can keep talking trash all you want, but you would have to be monumentally blind to think the DNC isn't going to suffer serious losses. Forget the spin on what that means. Just slowly stew in the juices of impending doom.

So what's your prediction? Anything less than a takeover of one or both chambers of congress would be an utter disaster for conservatives, wouldn't it? If they can't win now, when?

Lincolntf said...

Scumbags, one and all. From the "new media" to the White House, the Professional Left has been exposed as the brainless crew following a brainless creed that it's always been.
Ben Smith, and all the other race-baiting Journolist skidbags that he counts as colleagues, have made the world a worse place with their presence in it. They should all bury their heads in shame or spend the rest of their lives making up for the ignorance and hatred they sowed.

richard mcenroe said...

There ARE no honest Democrats. Never have been. They all stick their noses up in the air and righteously evoke Thomas Jefferson but then they go home at night and pleasure themselves to pictures of Aaron Burr dedicating Tamany Hall.

Prove me wrong next November. If you have the decency left.

Scott said...

It's great to see DNC operatives come out of the closet, and openly embrace the crude and the stupid.

Roddy Boyd said...

I think you're off on this one.

Ben did everything an "Inside Baseball" daily politics reporter should do. This group, as desperate for attention as they are, is indeed newsworthy after a fashion. Moreover, he framed the fact they have given up trying to portray Tea Parties as wrong or out of touch. Now they just use the words FUCK and hope to generate "outrage" (or donations) that way. They are, the reasonable reader concludes, totally frigging desperate.

A few disclosures. I worked with Ben at the NY Sun and found him to be a good, serious reporter, and, like all reporters, a Dem. I, on the other hand, am a creature of the Right and am a big fan of your blog.

Like I said, and with respect, the tone on this one is all wrong.

Scott M said...

So what's your prediction? Anything less than a takeover of one or both chambers of congress would be an utter disaster for conservatives, wouldn't it? If they can't win now, when?

The house goes GOP. The senate is still in play, though it's more likely than even a month ago that the GOP might have a shot at it. Two months ago it was considered a long shot that they would gain either house, so, no, your straw man of "utter disaster" is incorrect.

Common opinion even right after the health care debacle (and we're learning more and more about just what a debacle it actually is, almost daily) was that the GOP would see significant gains in both houses, but not control.

Bruce Hayden said...

Rereading one of my previous posts, I should clarify that I don't think that anyone buying such a T-shirt is a college student, or that all college students argue emotionally instead of intellectually, but rather, that this sort of thing just leads to such stereotypes and such stereotypes are not going to help the Democrats retain power in Congress.

AC245 said...

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 30 percent view the grassroots conservative groups very or somewhat positively

AlphaLiberal didn't provide a link for this claim, but it is accurate.

Maybe he got that tidbit from this L.A. Times story:
Tea Party More Popular Than Republicans or Democrats

Or from this HotAir blog post:
NBC/WSJ poll shows Americans rejecting “Recovery Summer” meme

Or straight from the original WSJ story:
Democrats' Blues Grow Deeper in New Poll

I think I see why he omitted those links.

FormerTucsonan said...

f*ck tea? That's about all the Left can do at this point.

At least they're being honest for once.

richard mcenroe said...

AlphaLiberal -- He resigned? Damn that's gonna piss off the Democratic base...

BTW, how many hands do you have to have shoving between your shoulder blades before it no longer counts as a resignation?

Synova said...

Okay, so I read the post again. Sure it's got all of the links but other than saying that there are *big donors* behind this, there isn't a whole lot of added content. I still think that the opening paragraph is biased *toward* the Tea Party, or should I say... factual. According to the post...

Democrats *tried* to call the Tea Party astroturfing with corporate donors.

The Tea Party *is* a grass-roots conservative resurgence.

And the "low profile mega donors" have included push polls "aimed" to paint Tea Partiers as ignorant. Big money with an agenda.

So if Ben Smith was *promoting* this group he really, really "s*cks" at promotion.

Hoosier Daddy said...

30% is a "large chunk?" do you understand math?

Compared to the favorable rating of the majority Democrat Congress?

Yes.

Jim said...

garage -

So what's your prediction? Anything less than a takeover of one or both chambers of congress would be an utter disaster for conservatives, wouldn't it? If they can't win now, when?

Nice try at moving the goalposts to a whole different playing field.

Tell you what: let's use the standard that Democrats set for themselves, shall we?

Daily Kos said: "The Democrats will lose 5 Senate seats leaving them with a still majority 54 to 46."

"The Democrats will lose 20 seats and maintain with a with a 237 - 198 majority(and Madame Speaker Pelosi!)."

Nancy Pelosi:

"Let me just say it this way, the Democrats will retain the majority in the House of Representatives."

So let's judge Democrats by the standards they set for themselves:

Democrats retain control of the House and hold 54 seats in the Senate.

Anything less than that and Democrats are failures by their own standards.

Care to take that bet? I would.
\

Hoosier Daddy said...

I realize that Republicans are running out of things to manufacture outrage and scandal from, but if this is the best you can come up with, it's a sign of true desperation.

I wasn't aware that the current polls are indicating a possible switch over from a Dem Congress to a GOP one. Quick, someone tell Gibbs.

Ronnie Schreiber said...


30% is a "large chunk?" do you understand math?


In the real world, where people actually make things, 30%, almost a third, is considered a large chunk. He didn't say a majority. Most reasonable people would consider 30% to be a relatively large fraction of the whole.

Since we're on the topic of math, what's the highest level math course you've taken? Do you know differential calculus? Ever solve a quadratic equation? Did you take any math or science classes at the collegiate level (and no, "physics for liberal arts majors" doesn't count as a science class)?

My experience with those on the political left is that they like to think that they're smarter than others but they're usually the types who avoided math and science.

GMay said...

"I realize that Republicans are running out of things to manufacture outrage and scandal from, but if this is the best you can come up with, it's a sign of true desperation."

I realize lefty trolls are running out of defenses for the leftist clowns in charge, but if that was the only response you have, it's a sign you're a fucking idiot.

Hoosier Daddy said...

So what's your prediction? Anything less than a takeover of one or both chambers of congress would be an utter disaster for conservatives, wouldn't it?

No. It would be an utter disaster for the country. It is possible that the nation isn't ready to believe that the light at the end of the tunnel really is a train but I'm hoping saner and sober people turn out in November 2010 than they did in 2008.

Jim said...

BTW, my current prediction (subject to change as things develop closer to the election:

Republicans pick up a net of 58 seat in the House and 8 in the Senate.

They take back the House and come awfully close in the Senate.

(And keep in mind that in 2012 Democrats will be defending 20 seats to Republicans 10, and in 2014 they'll be defending 19 to Republicans 13 so it's not like there's a bright future ahead for Democrats in the Senate until AT LEAST 2016.)

A.W. said...

Alpha

> Ben Smith is being slammed by Ann Althouse

Yeah, for covering a complete non-story. Its like the coffee party, where the media plainly was giving away free publicity for a group that had pretty much no followers. I don’t want a media blackout necessarily, but are they covering every childish t-shirt by conservatives. Have they published breathelessly about the bumper sticker that says “Opps” with an obama symbol for the O? Or the one that says, “Tell the President, we live within our means.” I am guessing no. in fact no one does, you just notice them one day on the street.

And as for fen, I have not seen him slam ben smith at all. You did quote TRO, and incorrectly attribute it to fen. And TRO’s comment was in no way calling for a news blackout or even addressed his comments on the idiocy of the t-shirt designers. Which I completely agree with.

And hilariously you criticize TRO for failure of reading comprehension.

> They can turn out a couple hundred people in DC for a rally and get national news coverage.

Good, then I am sure you can prove it with citations. So let’s nail this down. Cite, with links, to national news covered where less than 1,000 showed up.

And it doesn’t count if there are multiple protests in many cities and it is being covered as one of many.

> following the script from DC consultants

And I am sure you can prove that slanderous allegation, right?

By the way, if the scripts are written in Washington, D.C. why are the dems so clueless when confronted with them. seriously did you see the stark videos?

> Meanwhile thousands of people turn up at rallies for other issues and are ignored.

Yeah, liberals have so much trouble getting attention. Care to prove that assertion?

Garage

> it hasn't dawned on anyone that maybe, perhaps, the f*ck tea shirts makes progressives look bad instead of good.

It dawned on me.

Scott M said...

@Ronnie

Since we're on the topic of math, what's the highest level math course you've taken? Do you know differential calculus? Ever solve a quadratic equation? Did you take any math or science classes at the collegiate level (and no, "physics for liberal arts majors" doesn't count as a science class)?

Don't bother. AL won't even tell us what he does for a living...assuming, of course, he's a he and actually has a job.

Jim said...

Scott M -

Don't bother. AL won't even tell us what he does for a living...assuming, of course, he's a he and actually has a job.

David Axelrod has a confidentiality agreement for his AstroTurfers. Alpha would LOVE to tell you, but he's contractually obligated not to reveal his employer.

Synova said...

Maybe Althouse is doing a "do my readers click through" test.

Because it's summer, and she's testy. ;-)

Bruce Hayden said...

Since we're on the topic of math, what's the highest level math course you've taken?

Since the original comment by AL was directed at me, I will respond. My undergraduate degree was in mathematics, with some graduate work there, in physics, and in electrical engineering. But, while having taken a lot of math and math related classes over the years, I have had the privilege of working as a patent attorney with a number of very bright PhDs in these fields whose understanding of mathematics make mine look elementary.

As a note, my favorite math class was non-Euclidean geometries, where we spent the class working in spaces where parallel lines meet and the sum of the angles of triangles do not equal 180 degrees. It turns out though that there is some practicality there because light can be bent by gravity, with just such a result. Yes, you typically need a galaxy or two to implement this, but it has been shown to exist.

AllenS said...

Alpha tried to get a job writing cool t-shirt messages, but wasn't hired when Bob Stumblebum came up with f*ck tea.

AlphaLiberal said...

Ronnie Schreiber:

Since we're on the topic of math, what's the highest level math course you've taken? Do you know differential calculus? Ever solve a quadratic equation? Did you take any math or science classes at the collegiate level (and no, "physics for liberal arts majors" doesn't count as a science class)?

Calculus in 4, 5 dimensions, Yes, I did several decades ago anyway and placed top in my Diffy Q class. And... several.

I love math. It's really beautiful and behind so much of life, the universe and everything.

So you are the smarmy math genius, eh? And you think that 30% support if worth bragging about. O--kay.

AlphaLiberal said...

Jim:

David Axelrod has a confidentiality agreement for his AstroTurfers. Alpha would LOVE to tell you, but he's contractually obligated not to reveal his employer.

That's pretty dumb.

And i didn't mean very top of my Diffy Q class, but among the top. I was not Number One.

AlphaLiberal said...

This continuing suspicion that I am paid to post comments on obscure internet blogs is pretty weird. do you guys really think that way?

The stereotype of the paranoid right winger imagining conspiracies everywhere holds up pretty well in reality.

Anonymous said...

"Even if his dearest dream in life is to fuck the Tea Party, wouldn't he want to go about it in a slightly sophisticated way? "

Why yes,he could have been a member of JournoList or something and then...

Oh Wait!

Triangle Man said...

Have they published breathelessly about the bumper sticker that says “Opps” with an obama symbol for the O?

@AW

Does it say "Opps", or "Oops"? I haven't seen it myself, but thought that "Oops" would be funnier.

Scott M said...

This continuing suspicion that I am paid to post comments on obscure internet blogs is pretty weird.

So is your tonal deafness regarding obvious sarcasm.



So, as we continue to see every day now, does the stereotype of the tax and spend liberal. More's the pity...

DADvocate said...

Especially when the Tea Party is such a hilarious circus of extremists and crackpots, why should the only TP news be positive and glowing?

More straw man attacks.

The Tea Party is a group of diverse people who disagree with liberal/leftist politics. Therefore, the left deems them not part of our country, extremists, racists, worthy of hatred, to be spat upon, lied about and whatever else the left deems necessary to crush them into submission. Free thinking, freedom people not allowed.

howzerdo said...

Last year a store near campus was selling F*CK [college name] T shirts. (The "*" was a U in this case.) I would occasionally see a student wearing one in the union or library, and then a student who always sat in the front row wore it to one of my classes. During class, I said that I understood some students feel negatively about the university for one reason or another, and I asked her why she would buy the shirt and wear that message? I can't remember the reason (it wasn't anything earth shattering), but she never wore it to class again.

Revenant said...

This continuing suspicion that I am paid to post comments on obscure internet blogs is pretty weird. do you guys really think that way?

I have occasionally entertained the thought that you're paid by the *Republican* Party...

garage mahal said...


Nice try at moving the goalposts to a whole different playing field.


Actually it was ScottM that changed the subject to electoral prospects.


Care to take that bet? I would.


I say the GOP won't regain anything. I don't see any GOP resurgence, and once they have to actually run on something as opposed to against everything, and people see their truly nutty policy proposals [like raising the retirement to age 70 to pay for extending Bush tax cuts, or abolishing Social Security, or voting for tax breaks for offshoring American jobs, etc] they will think twice in these economic times.

Revenant said...

once they have to actually run on something as opposed to against everything

Who says they'll have to? The Democrats didn't in '06 or '08.

AllenS said...

Why would the GOP even run? Everything is going so great now, I don't see how they could win anything.

Lincolntf said...

At least we know that the biggest, baddest opponents of the Tea Party are all liver-lipped weasels and otherwise ineffectual scrunts.
When you own virtually all of the media, and still can't get people to buy your garbage, then you are truly engaged in a lost cause.
Smith and the rest of the Obama defense squad are worms who must inevitably be ground up to fertilize the next crop of media figures. Hope they don't stink too much.

Scott M said...

Garage, Barbara Boxer (one of the least intelligent members of Congress, imho), from one of the most liberal districts in the country, is currently behind her GOP opponent in the polls.

Barbara Boxer...liberal district...behind in the polls...

Think on that for bit. Try it...it's fun.

A.W. said...

triangle

its oops, i just got smacked on the head by the typo fairy.

Trooper York said...

AlphaLiberal is the more erudite persona of the same person or group of people who post as Luckyoldson/michael/Jeremy.

The use of the same recondite turn of phrase and recurring speech patterns which are a dead give away.

The jury is still out regarding their true purpose. Moby or pysh class project?

It doesn't matter because AlphaLiberal could not possible be a real person.

Synova said...

Would that be Barbara "Don't call me Ma'am" Boxer? Or have I confused the least intelligent liberal female Senator with someone else.

Fen said...

I worked with Ben at the NY Sun and found him to be a good, serious reporter

So how do you explain this piece? Or is it your measure of "good serious reporting"

Also, how do you sqaure the fact that Ben Smith was part of a conspiracy to censor and shape the news in favor of Obama?

And why doesn't Ben come over here himself to explain away his hucksterism? Why is he hiding out?

Scott M said...

Would that be Barbara "Don't call me Ma'am" Boxer? Or have I confused the least intelligent liberal female Senator with someone else.

Yes. It's the Barbara "Alito is a dangerous right-wing conservative, but I'm neither liberal or conservative...I'm Barbarba" Boxer. She uses the playing field to lambaste someone, then elevates herself above it in true elitist form.

garage mahal said...

Barbara Boxer...liberal district...behind in the polls...

Be curious to see the cites to these polls.

Fen said...

AlphaLibtard: This continuing suspicion that I am paid to post comments on obscure internet blogs is pretty weird.

...says the guy who spends every waking hour on Althouse with his 6 sox puppets...

former law student said...

If only Politico had ads for moms making $7K a month working at home while they whitened their teeth, removed wrinkles, and discovered the truth of acai berry, like Ed Morrisey's Hot Air blog does.

setnaffa said...

Ben Smith is the best example ever of why children shouldn't do drugs...

Freeman Hunt said...

I'm with Synova on Smith's seeming orientation toward this material. I'm no at all convinced that he's trying to promote it.

AllenS said...

Smith doesn't seem to be promoting the effort, only reporting it.

Peano said...

They tried planting racist stooges at Tea Party events, and now this. How formidable is an opposition whose best strategy is to create mistaken identity?

This will fail just as their planted stooges failed.

holdfast said...

Better to be a teabaggER than a TeabaggEE I always say.

Anderson Cooper and AlphaLiberal disagree, however.

reader_iam said...

Will it play in Peoria?

AlphaLiberal said...

this just in from the Tea Party Circus. Tea Party candidate:

We can follow what happened back in the 40s or 50s. I was just a little girl in Miami, and they built camps for the people that snuck into the country, because they were illegal. They put them in the camps, and they shipped them back. We can do that.

Ah yes. Internment camps for illegal immigrants. How very mainstream! Shall we poll it?

Oh, look. Video of the fringe Tea Party circus!

I like the people wearing the American flag as clothing, an act of disrespect, as any former Boy Scout would know.

Gabriel Hanna said...

Not that I'm accusing Alpha Liberal of being one, but when I was in Berkeley earlier this year I saw flyers posted everywhere downtown by an outfit called Grassroot Campaigns hiring people for left-wing activism.

Here's their website:

http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com/articles/000029.php

with the positions they're hiring for

http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com/jobs.php

with a description of what they do:

http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com/jobdescription.php

A lot of activists are professionals.

Gabriel Hanna said...

@Alpha Liberal:


I like the people wearing the American flag as clothing, an act of disrespect, as any former Boy Scout would know.


Of course a former Boy Scout also knows that Boy Scouts wear the American flag ON their clothing.

http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?cat=01RTL&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=UNIFORMS&C3=USHIRTS&C4=&LV=3&item=CSLSS&prodid=CSLSS^8^01RTL&

Gabriel Hanna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
reader_iam said...

I'm not entirely convinced that Smith's intent is to **promote** this effort, per se. However, nothing forces him to publish a press release, which is what this post reads like (and I've read thousands of press releases and written quite a number too, in my time).

As for the video and the movement: classless and clueless, and, specifically in the case of the song chosen for the video, astonishingly lacking in a sense of irony, it seems.

DADvocate said...

it hasn't dawned on anyone that maybe, perhaps, the f*ck tea shirts makes progressives look bad instead of good.

One of the first things that struck me. But, progressives have been making themselves look bad for quite a while with their hate speech and lies. The seem to think there's something good about it.

But, you're right. It betrays the lefts strong connection with hatred and totalitarianism.

Gabriel Hanna said...

More about Grassroots:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassroots_Campaigns,_Inc.

"California

In 2006, GCI was sued for overtime wage violations for allegedly working its staff 14-hours a day. The suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco in 2006, accused Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. of overworking mostly college students long hours, seven days a week gathering petition signatures and donations for Democratic candidates and groups like Moveon.org. "It's ironic that a company that bills itself as a champion of the progressive movement would treat its own employees so badly," said Robert S. Nelson, of the Nelson Law Group, a San Bruno, California firm that filed the class action on behalf of at least six (of thousands) of former employees.

Oregon

Fourteen students sued Grassroots Campaigns Inc. for wages they claim the nationwide contractor for the Democratic National Committee owed them for their local work as canvassers in 2004 for the failed John Kerry campaign. According to the complaint filed in August 2006 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Grassroots paid the students the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, instead of Oregon's then-minimum wage of $7.05 an hour. The suit seeks the wages each student is owed, plus a $1,692 penalty per student. Grassroots claimed the students were paid properly and legally. (Willamette Week, 9/20/06) After a settlement was reached by both parties, the case was dismissed on August 2, 2007.


Illinois

Near the end of 2008 Grassroots campaigns was involved in a lawsuit for firing 3 employees from their Chicago office after attempting to form a union. Originally the employees sought the aid of the ACLU as one of the clients of Grassroots, but were told by the national office it would be a "conflict of interest" since Grassroots ran the ACLU's canvassing operation. The employees took their case to the NLRB who agreed to take the case as they felt they had sufficient evidence that a violation of the National Labor Relations Act had occurred. Grassroots ultimately agreed to settle the case and agreed to pay backpay for all 3 employees nearing $18,000."

Next time you see a big protest, remember how many of them are getting paid to be there and look outraged.

Beth said...

Vortex fail.

Trooper York said...

Ben Smith is a journalist which by definition means he is a worthless whore and an big bag of shit. He just makes stuff up and will tell any lie and advance any meme that is the current marching orders for the lemmings from journolist.

The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.

sane_voter said...

@garage "Be curious to see the cites to these polls."

Well just today Survey USA has Fiorina 47
Box-o-Rox 42

AC245 said...

If only Politico had ads for moms making $7K a month working at home while they whitened their teeth, removed wrinkles, and discovered the truth of acai berry, like Ed Morrisey's Hot Air blog does.

That's a brilliant comparison of some questionable content from paid advertisements on one site and the "political news stories" presented on another site.

It's a pretty damning indictment of Ben Smith and Politico as being no better than any other hucksters selling a dishonest narrative to the general public.

Well done, FLS.

Gabriel Hanna said...

"f*ck tea" is just more /b/tard nonsense, like when they say "warblegarlbe" and "hurr durr durr"; rather than engage an idea they prefer flinging feces at outsiders.

If I ever had any notions that man is not a primate, I'd get frequent reminders that man is.

Trooper York said...

There is a reason why journalist ranks in the esteem of the American people below used car salesman and crack whores.

A.W. said...

FLS

was that meant to be a comparison that made hot air look bad.

i mean you might question the integrity of the site allowing dubious products to be sold, but its worse when the informercial is being given by the people running the site itself.

i am honestly not sure if you disagree with me on that point or not.

btw, when i was running an everyone draw mohammed website, google kept putting up ads for muslim dating services. Ha!

John Stodder said...

Does anyone read comments on blogs? (Oh, wait, who am I talking to...) If they read the comments on Smith's post about these moronic T-shirts, they'll question whether he's really "promoting" them or holding them up for nonstop derision and mockery.

Bad political tactics come equipped with their own petard up which they will be hoisted. This seems like one of those.

John Stodder said...

Correction, "up with which they will be hoisted."

I'm Full of Soup said...

"Journalists" like Ben Smith are far more interested in the horse race tactics than in the issues because, I suspect, they tend to be lazy, incurious, gossipy little dweebs.

John Stodder said...

Anything less than a takeover of one or both chambers of congress would be an utter disaster for conservatives, wouldn't it? If they can't win now, when?

Not really. The Dems have way more money, advantages of incumbency (which should never be dismissed even at a moment like this), the media firmly on their side, and the ability to tap organized labor for ground troops. Labor has a lot on the line this year. This is the reapportionment election for many statehouses. They need Dem govs and Dem state legislators to make sure the district lines are drawn to continue the racket of the past 20 years -- a majority of very safe Democratic seats where the only competition is in the primary, and the other thing being competed for in the primary is the support of public employee unions. Fairly-drawn districts are, in their words, "bad for working families." If there are too many Republicans around, they can gum up the works.

It's pretty clear that overseas military will be shut out from voting this year. And, as lots of Dem-friendly commenters have pointed out accurately, the Reeps/tea party have managed to nominate a few rather unelectable candidates even in a Republican wave.

So I think the appropriate expectation should be, Dems keep both houses. The GOP will severely cut into the Dem majorities, and Pelosi's reign will be threatened, but she'll prevail by a hair. The odds are very much against a GOP takeover of the Senate, especially because of Angle and Paul, but mostly because it's just a bridge too far. Everything has to break the Reeps' way, and I don't see that happening.

2010 will leave both sides frustrated, angry and paranoid, setting the stage for two lovely years of demagoguery and economic stagnation leading into the 2012 election.

I think garage's comment represents the hidden wish of Democrats. They want to make 2012 a referendum on the GOP, not Obama. And/or they want Obama to be able to triangulate. But those who know Obama know that he's nothing like BC. He will stick to his program come what may. He thinks the public is still excited about all that free health care he's giving them.

Matt said...

I'll agree with Synova on this.

And note that tasteless Anti-Obama shirts are plentiful so let's not pretend like only the liberals make such noise.

Trooper York said...

The final two years of the Obama presidency will be much like the final months of Governor David Patterson's stewardship of New York State. A rudderless ship foundering on the sandbar of reality.

It will not be pretty.

Big Mike said...

So what's your prediction? Anything less than a takeover of one or both chambers of congress would be an utter disaster for conservatives, wouldn't it? If they can't win now, when?

As a matter of fact it would be. But my feeling is that if Democrats still hold both chambers of Congress, with Obama in the Presidency, then I think the result would be an economic calamity so extreme, that it 2012 would be like 1932, except with Democrats being cast into the wilderness for a generation.

Big Mike said...

@John Stodder, you make some excellent points. But I am developing the growing suspicion that that things will mostly break the GOP's way.

Big Mike said...

@Beth, if the reports in the papers are accurate (and that's always a question anymore) it looks as though Nawleens dodged a bullet in the oil spill. Glad for you.

q12345q6789 said...

This is not "criticism" of the "Tea Party" as such. It is a fund-raising method. It is a political enterprise. I don't think I've seen Ben Smith hock "Tea Party" merchandise in his column before. Face it, under any sensible conditions this would not be considered *News*.

Beth said...

Big Mike,

In some aspects, definitely. I give a lot of credit to the engineers that worked on shutting down the well.

But I think we're in for a long haul and that's boring to the press, and something BP and the Feds would rather be off the front page. The figures the feds released, saying 75 percent of the oil is contained, I don't believe. Not at all. There's oil out there, and in the marshes, and on the coast. It's also dispersed and sitting on the seafloor. The Corexit, also, along with the "mud" that was spewing for days, is going to be in the food chain, and we have to see what's happening with that. Will our seafood be safe after a season of predators eating crabs and feeder fish that have ingested oil and Corexit and drilling mud? Let's see what happens with between now and the end of hurricane season, too; any major tropical weather will stir up stuff the Corexit has pushed below the surface.

I'm really worried about the oysters. The main cause of their deaths was the diversion of fresh water to push the oil away from the coast. Oysters can't live through too much fresh water. We won't really know about that until next year.

We're not dead, so that counts as dodging a bullet. But we're still dodging.

former law student said...

It's a pretty damning indictment of Ben Smith and Politico as being no better than any other hucksters selling a dishonest narrative to the general public.

Odds of a person who responds to the ad of getting a t-shirt or coffee mug -- 100%

Odds of a person who responds to the ad of earning $7K a month -- let's just say less than 100%.

Calypso Facto said...

I think the appropriate response t-shirt to f*ck T would say: f*ck Q

Revenant said...

If only Politico had ads for moms making $7K a month working at home

They do. If you click on the Politco link that Althouse provided, you'll see there are two "make thousands/month working from home" ads on the page.

former law student said...

two "make thousands/month working from home" ads

Ah, I didn't notice the Politico ads because they were text only. I still see only one mom ad, though. Hot air had three smiling moms making $7K a month, btw.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

former law student said...

Odds of a person who responds to the ad of getting a t-shirt or coffee mug -- 100%

So you concede that the Smith piece is an ad, not reporting.

Point, set, match: Althouse.

AC245 said...

Ah, I didn't notice the Politico ads because they were text only.

This just isn't true. Stenographer Ben Smith clearly includes a picture with his ad copy.

Franco said...

Nothing new here, this is just how Democrats argue.

cookasia said...

Once again, it's Bush's fault.

cookasia said...

Alpha, you are a liberal quoting a liberal/biased media. So this makes no sense: An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 30 percent view the grassroots conservative groups very or somewhat positively

Actually, in DC when the Tea Party came, contrary to your version, tens and tens of thousands showed up. I know, because I live here. Get your facts straight...

blake said...

[pedant]

Ben is "hawking" not "hocking".

[/pedant]

LoafingOaf said...

Althouse and InstaPundit had a vision of seeing Americans embracing that "Miss Me Yet?" (in reference to Bush) catch-phrase they were pushing. Two tenured profs sheltered from the impact of Bush's disasterous 8 years.

That's why InstaPundit was promoting "Miss Me Yet?" t-shirts on his blog (linking to Amazon, so he gets money from the sales).

But I wouldn't wear a t-shirt with the F word on it. And I wouldn't wear a t-shirt associated with a political group, as I don't belong to a political group. And, in any case, it's not cool to wear t- shirts from a political group that is trying too hard to make their shirts seem "hip". You're asking people to label you as a conformist to this political group.

But I do share the feeling of wanting to say that F word to the Tea Partiers. They've been loud bullies spraying spittle in people's faces for awhile now and it's tiring.

Fen said...

Odds of a person who responds to the ad of earning $7K a month -- let's just say less than 100%.

Odds that the "sophisticated" and "smart" crowd would fall for the Obama Hopey Changey con?

blake said...

lol

Yeah, LO, that sounds just like Althouse. Hawking someone else's wares to advance a political cause.

blake said...

Odds that the "sophisticated" and "smart" crowd would fall for the Obama Hopey Changey con?

About 100%.

former law student said...

Althouse's blog ads are unobjectionable, IMHO, except for the PETA video.

Phil 314 said...

When I first read the Professor post I thought "Hmm, Ben Smith regularly posts briefly on items that catch his eye, if only because they can spark controversy". I haven't read him as being particularly partisan but he does seem to enjoy watching the partisan battles.

then after reading the short piece and then then re-reading the Professor post it feels like the Professor is playing us. This feels like a very obtuse satire.

But it sure did bring out the "usual suspects" and the usual comments.

What next:

Keith Olberman calls Tea Partiers dangerous and crazy

or

Glenn Beck predicts the downfall of America at the hands of socialist Obama

Would those be more "newsworthy"? Do we really expect a left wing advocacy group to speak sweet nothings to the Tea Party?

WV: wingonic. Adjective describing this ongoing process

knox said...

Well, I have to admit I'm not sure why this was newsworthy. But at least he led with this:

Last summer, Democrats argued that the tea party movement was the AstroTurf creation of corporate groups. Now that the grass-roots conservative resurgence has emerged as a clear force on the right, the left is making a different case: that tea parties are simply the enemy.

That's tacitly acknowledging that the initial strategy was ineffective, and, essentially, dishonest. Is it not?

###

I hate Politico. Many of their writers used to be on the Dennis Miller radio show frequently. They were consistently, to a one, the embodiment of journalists who are embarrassingly, obviously, NOT objective... yet desperately pretend to be. Gag.

Phil 314 said...

The whole drive home I perseverated on this idea of "wingonic" or better put "wingironic"

wingironic- an ironic statement meant to, intentionally or otherwise, instigated a food fight between the wings

(In distinction from trolling which an obvious statement against beliefs meant to impugn the motives and character of supposedly like-minded commenters)

So I considered some wingironic statements.

By his decision, Judge Walker vigorously upheld the core democratic principle of fairness

OR

After a year of congressional wrangling, President Obama acted rapidly to implement comprehensive health care reform by 2014

OR

In opposition to governmental over-reach, the Republican-lead congress passes the federal Defense of Marriage Act

OR

In a rare display of bipartisanship, congressional Republicans support President Obama's increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan

OR (the ultimate in brevity and irony)

Sarah Palin, the new voice of feminism

DADvocate said...

Speaking of Glenn Beck, he's not opposed to gay marriage. What are you liberal hate mongers going to do now?

Don M said...

The Coffee Party USA was started because the Communist Party USA had some left over T-shirts.

Will said...

Ellie Light told him to sell them and as we know Ben Smith does what she asks

Fen said...

I haven't read him as being particularly partisan -

Ben Smith forfeited any benefit of doubt by participating in the JournoList cabal.

Revenant said...

Speaking of Glenn Beck, he's not opposed to gay marriage. What are you liberal hate mongers going to do now?

Celebrate legal gay marriage? :)

Phil 314 said...

Ben Smith forfeited any benefit of doubt by participating in the JournoList cabal.

I did not know that!

SDN said...

Alpha, I don't compare your side to the Tories of the 18th century; the Copperheads of 1864 are a far better fit.

From the plantation to the collective, Leftards like you have always been slavery's best friends.

Largo said...

Calculus in 4, 5 dimensions, Yes, I did several decades ago anyway and placed top in my Diffy Q class. And... several.

Not bad Alpha, but I did a class where we did Calculus in 6 dimensions. Beat that!

Largo said...

If Alpha said he had done multivariate calculus, he may have left me with a different impression.

To speak of having done calculus in not just four, but in five dimensions, sounds like a grade-school student speaking of learning how to add pairs of four and five digit numbers this year, whereas last year they had learned to do this with with three digit numbers only.

(And, sad to say, I see curricula where the targets for later stages are set this way.)

Of course, if you can add a pair of four digit numbers, you can add a pair of forty digit numbers.

There is a parallel with multivariate calculus. The method of calculation does not change with dimension. And even if it takes a step to imagine a vector in 4-space, there is no special imagination needed to imagine a vector in 5-space or beyond. (Calculus can be done in infinite-dimensional space takes another imaginative step.)

My point is this: notwithstanding Alpha's claim to have done well in mathematics (which may well be true), Alpha has backed up that claim in a very odd sounding way.

What say you, Alpha?