March 4, 2014 - Pensito

No Victimless Crimea

March 4, 2014 Buck Banks

Ukrainian rioters woke up the sleeping bear, it’s true,
So Putin invades Crimea and whatever else he wants to do.
But Obama’s moving slow,
Taught by “The Big Lebowski,” he knows:
“Some days you et the bar and some days the bar ets you.”

Rush Limbaugh Proves He’s the Racist’s Roger Ebert

March 4, 2014 Buck Banks

If it was the only thing that movie won, it was gonna win Best Picture. There was no way. It didn’t matter if it was good or bad. I haven’t seen it. It was going to win. It had the magic word in the title, ‘slave.’

— Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show, on why “12 Years a Slave” won an Academy Award.

Too Much Talk of a ‘Frontrunner’ When There’s Not Even a Race Yet

March 4, 2014 Buck Banks

Look, y’all. I ain’t even trying to put the kibosh on discussing the relative strengths and weaknesses of potential 2016 candidates. I’m even OK with making comparisons. But we have to stop abusing this poor word, ‘frontrunner,’ before the English-language’s version of Sarah MacLachlan starts making sad teevee commercials about it. There is no ‘frontrunner’ at this point. There isn’t even a race.

— Jason Linkins, in Huffington Post.

America’s Experience In Iraq Made Putin’s Crimea Putsch Possible

March 4, 2014 Buck Banks

One undeniable truth: Iraq weakened the U.S. more than anything done since. Maybe Obama overlearned its lessons; maybe we all have. But nothing empowered Vladimir Putin more than America’s squandering of moral standing in the early part of this century.

— Marc Ambinder, writing in The Week.

Florida Legislative Session Opens Today (Lord Help Us)

March 4, 2014 Buck Banks

60

Number of days the Florida state legislature is in session, beginning today. “Republicans are looking for a smooth session,” said Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, as reported by Tampa Bay Times. “I believe they want to be able to walk out and say that we had kumbaya going downstream through this entire process.”

Day: March 4, 2014

No Victimless Crimea

Rush Limbaugh Proves He’s the Racist’s Roger Ebert

If it was the only thing that movie won, it was gonna win Best Picture. There was no way. It didn’t matter if it was good or bad. I haven’t seen it. It was going to win. It had the magic word in the title, ‘slave.’

— Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show, on why “12 Years a Slave” won an Academy Award.

Too Much Talk of a ‘Frontrunner’ When There’s Not Even a Race Yet

— Jason Linkins, in Huffington Post.

America’s Experience In Iraq Made Putin’s Crimea Putsch Possible

One undeniable truth: Iraq weakened the U.S. more than anything done since. Maybe Obama overlearned its lessons; maybe we all have. But nothing empowered Vladimir Putin more than America’s squandering of moral standing in the early part of this century.

— Marc Ambinder, writing in The Week.

Florida Legislative Session Opens Today (Lord Help Us)

60

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

— Rick Wilson

— Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) on the “resign or be fired” ultimatum from the GOP’s Freedom Caucus just 174 days into his tenure as sp[eaker, reported by Punchbowl News.

“Trump’s head slowly dropped, his eyes closed. It jerked back upward. He adjusts himself. Then, his head droops again. He straightens up, leaning back. His head droops for a third time, he shakes his shoulders. Eyes closed still. His head drops. Finally, he pops his eyes open.”

— Law360 reports from the second day of Donald Trump’s “hush money” criminal trial.

— Jonathan Last

“He’s f**king crazy! The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out!”

— New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), quoted by the Associated Press two years ago. Sununu is now backing Trump for president.

Numerati

$71.1 million to $45.2 million

56% to 37%

270,000

50 of 96

New York Times: “Of the 96 possible jurors brought into the room, more than 50 raised their hands to say they couldn’t be fair. They were immediately excused.”

20%