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

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”