Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 8, 2020 9:03:53 GMT -8
Here’s an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who is having nothing to do with Romney’s quislingness. At the end of the day, it’s just a rant. But it’s a pretty good one: Praying With Mitt Romney
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Post by timothylane on Feb 8, 2020 10:27:13 GMT -8
That ending comment brought up one of my complaints about Romney: He made it not only possible but probably necessary for the 3 uncertain Demagogues to vote to convict. I think Jones announced before Romney did, but not Manchin and Sinema. So it ended up being 52-48 and 53-47 instead of 55-45, and the bipartisan vote in the Senate (unlike in the House) was to convict, not to acquit.
And he may also make things more difficult for Collins (probably as conservative a senator as we probably could get in Maine) and Gardner this year. Thanks, Mitt, you've been really helpful -- for the Demagogues.
One might recall additionally that Romney was much harsher on Republicans (especially Gingrich) during the 2012 primaries than he was to the Black God that fall -- and much harsher on Trump than he was about the Black God, whose misdeeds far exceeded anything Trump is known to have tried.
Note that, like his running mate Paul Ryan, he does vote with the GOP most of the time -- indeed, one count I saw reported that he voted with Trump nearly 80% of the time, actually a bit more than Mike Lee. But the problem isn't that we disagree with Romney, or Lee, or Collins, or even Murkowski. It's how he voted on an issue that was obviously purely partisan. When it came to a straight partisan issue, he voted with the other party. And (as you may recall from the ST symposium on the Third Commandment) he took the Lord's name in vain (as the Demagogues routinely do) in justifying it.
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Post by timothylane on Feb 8, 2020 12:37:02 GMT -8
There were some interesting details from last performance of Newsliars and the Seven Dwarfs and the aftermath. Although all the Demagogues aside from Bolshie Bernie Scamders deny being socialist, only one reluctantly raised her hand when asked if they would have a problem with a "democratic" socialist (i.e., a socialist who wants the dictatorship to be elected -- or at least have the appearance of it), Amy Koldbutcher. And even she mainly seems to have been concerned about the politics of it.
Of course, there was no dissent on abortion, either last night or today at a Molochite event. At one of them, Yang the Nauseous (contrary to popular belief, "nauseous" means "nauseating", not "nauseated") whined about how the right-wingers (Moloch forbid he call them "pro-life") kept putting in anti-abortion judges whereas the Demagogues paid no attention to the issue. In the real world, the opposite has been true, as anyone who actually looks at SCOTUS votes on the issue will know. The last pro-life Demagogue justice was Byron White, appointed by JFK nearly 60 years ago (before abortion became a national issue). The GOP, by contrast, has repeatedly appointed justices who approve of it. The 7-2 vote for Roe v. Wade included 3 of Nixon's appointees in the murderous majority. Later GOP nominees included 2 leftists (Stevens and Souter) as well as 2 weathervanes who both opposed pro-life laws (O'Connor and Kennedy). No one expects Roberts to be any different.
Immigration never came up, no doubt because the newsliars knew that asking the question would simply be an invitation to outdo each other in pandering to illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens.
Meanwhile, Bolshie Bernie proposed extending the disastrous New York elimination of bail to the whole country (at least for federal crimes, though one can never be sure that a Demagogue will accept limits on Behemoth power anymore). Discussing Clarence Darrow in The Great Monkey Trial, L. Sprague de Camp brought up the defense lawyer's lack of regard for the victims of crime. He quoted a Persian saying that is appropriate for just about all Demagogues today: "To be kind to the tiger is to be cruel to the lamb." And he pointed out Darrow's concern for victims: "Their plight concerned him not." Again, the same thing is generally true of Demagogues today.
The difference between the "moderate" and "progressive" Demagogues is the difference between leftists who propose wretched policies and extreme leftists who propose disastrous policies.
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Post by timothylane on Feb 8, 2020 16:24:04 GMT -8
The Blaze reported on an amusing negative ad that the Yellow Jester is running against Battygeek in New Hampshire. It's done as a comparison of the accomplishments of both men. Naturally, the former VP has been involved in major national policies that would sound very good to the Demagogue voters he's trying to win over. Battygeek's are the minor accomplishments expected of the mayor of a small city. The link is:
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Post by timothylane on Feb 11, 2020 19:04:39 GMT -8
New Hampshire isn't completely conclusive, but so far 2 candidates have dropped out (Bennet and Yang). Steyer was also reported as exiting, but then his campaign denied it. Patrick says he'll sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow. (Since he and Bennet were contesting for 9th place, and he was previous Governor of neighboring Taxachusetts, he probably should make the same decision, but we'll see.)
Incidentally, I wonder if they're counting write-ins. Last night, Doomberg got 3 of 4 votes (write-ins) in Dixville Notch (and also got the sole GOP vote, also a write-in). How many did he get overall? Will there be a count anywhere? Does anyone even know? Incidentally, I used Doomberg as more or less a pun but also suggesting the dire consequences if he won. Only this evening did I realize that the name is equivalent to Mt. Doom.
Someone blogging the race (Town Hall and Hot Air have live blogs and also note what others are saying elsewhere) noted that the Yellow Jester (coming in 5th) got fewer votes than Trump had attendees at his rally there last night.
Overall, Bolshie Bernie has a very modest lead over Battygeek that will probably hold up. Koldbutcher is a very respectable third, almost as close to Battygeek as he is to Bolshie Bernie. The Blonde Squaw is 4th and hoping to end up in double digits, but she has been shut out of delegates (as is everyone but the top 3).
Trump, meanwhile, won overwhelmingly in the GOP primary, but at least Weld approached 10% of the vote in a neighboring state.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 12, 2020 9:06:14 GMT -8
Here’s the weird and relevant thing to come out of these first two primaries. After trying to find out how to pronounce “Buttigieg,” it’s now morphed in my head from “Butt-gig” to “Butt-gig-gig.” I guess that’s a bit closer.
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Post by timothylane on Feb 12, 2020 9:40:52 GMT -8
I've heard Battygeek's name enough to be able to pronounce it if I want to -- which I prefer not to.
Deval Patrick, as was more or less expected, has joined Yang and Bennet in dropping out of the race. Of course, a lot of people were probably unaware that either Patrick or Bennet ever dropped in. Yang was at enough of the debates that people probably had heard of him.
It turns out Trump may have set a record for highest percentage of votes by an incumbent President in the New Hampshire primary, at least from 1968 on. He also received more actual votes. This is a strong indication of enthusiasm for his campaign, which never hurts. The Demagogues got about as many votes as in 2008, which was a record, so they may have set a new one. But the available voter pool is a lot larger, and that doesn't even include Republican-leaning independent voters possibly meddling in the Demagogue primary (which would have been unlikely in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 primaries).
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Post by artraveler on Feb 27, 2020 9:05:00 GMT -8
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Post by timothylane on Feb 27, 2020 10:00:58 GMT -8
Very interesting. This may explain why I haven't had too much of a problem getting Trump. I also suspect a lot of his hyperbole comes from being a real-estate salesman as well as a builder. But I'll try to keep this in mind the next time I hear one of his speeches.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 11,046
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 27, 2020 11:33:55 GMT -8
What would the language and sensitivity police do with Don Rickles?
I prefer the word, schwanzstucker.
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Post by timothylane on Feb 27, 2020 11:42:44 GMT -8
Well, as long as Rickles insulted the right people they could accept him. Whether he could do that is anothr matter.
Well, I've seen Young Frankenstein, presumably including that scene. I don't know why the creature's schwanzstucker would be so big, but of course the point of the scene was simply to put that in there. Sort of like the effort Terry Pratchett put into setting up a comment when a character was informed of a robbery in a musical instruments shop. ("Luters, I suspect.") It was in one of his early Discworld books, but I don't remember which.
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Post by timothylane on Feb 27, 2020 13:22:31 GMT -8
MAD Magazine had a piece about Don Rickles getting a wrong number and handling it in his inimitable fashion. Then he found out he had reached J. Edgar Hoover. Oopsie.
Allan Sherman, whose humor heavily referenced his Jewish background, had a short parody that would be appropriate to quote here:
I'm Melvin Rose of Texas, and my friends all call me Tex. When I lived in old New Mexico, my friends all called me Mex. When I lived in old Kentucky, they called me Old Kentuck. I was born in old Shamokin, which is why they call me Melvin Rose.
Shamokin is located in Pennsylvania, as I recall. I wonder if Arlen Specter came from there.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 11,046
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 27, 2020 16:14:49 GMT -8
Doctor Fronkensteen reads from his grandfather’s diary and then comments:
“As the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed, I resolved therefore to make the creature of a gigantic stature.” Of course. That would simplify everything.”
As the Japanese have surely shown, it takes great skill to miniaturize something. And such miniaturization takes a lot more time and certainly more money.
As for specifically why the schwanzstucker would also have to be big, I can’t find any authoritative information on the web. It’s possible that whatever subject they hoped to find who just happened to have large hands, feet, head, etc., might then normally have a big everything else.
We know that the brain that Doctor Fronkensteen intended to use was the one of Hans Delbrück, scientist and saint. Unfortunately, he had to make do with Abby Normal.
I’m not sure of the name of the man whose body they used. He was a convicted criminal of some type but I don’t know if the movie mentions his name.
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Post by timothylane on Feb 27, 2020 16:38:19 GMT -8
I remember the Abby Normal scene. There is a blogger I see regularly on Town Hall whose handle is Abby Normal. He has Marty Feldman as his avatar, though of course Feldman wasn't talking about himself. (In the same way, a lot of people confuse Frankenstein with the unnamed monster he fashioned.)
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 27, 2020 21:49:17 GMT -8
One of the great jokes of movie history. Abby Normal. And Gene Wilder really sells it.
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Post by kungfuzu on Feb 28, 2020 6:56:20 GMT -8
I believe this and his performance in "The Producers" are the best of his career.
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Post by timothylane on Feb 28, 2020 8:18:43 GMT -8
The Producers would have to be Wilder's masterpiece. But I would add Blazing Saddles (which is another Mel Brooks movie) and Start the Revolution Without Me. I seem to recall he also did well in Silver Streak and Haunted Honeymoon.
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Post by artraveler on Feb 28, 2020 8:23:05 GMT -8
Hey, Don't forget Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Not a kids movie by any means. Umpa Lupas and we are the dreamers of dreams.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 28, 2020 9:20:43 GMT -8
That’s what is funny about watching that movie as you get older. You don’t notice a lot of stuff as a kid. It’s just all candy and colors. But then you started seeing things through Wonka’s eyes, all these obnoxious brats. The way he says “Help, stop, come back” so half-heartedly is not something I picked up on as a kid.
Many of the troubles in our world right now is because of trying to rearrange everything around children...if they can actually make it out alive from the womb first.
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Post by kungfuzu on Feb 28, 2020 9:39:40 GMT -8
I never saw the movie, but Raold Dahl was a strange man. I have read a couple of his stories and they were, let us say, different.
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