Friday links! GTFO edition

By Dan Brooks in Uncategorized 4 Comments

It’s an acronym.

Combat! blog is relocating to Jackson Hole this weekend to see the famous hole, and the transition is way behind schedule. I need to GTFO house. Normally I dislike internet slang—particularly the soul-destroying lol—but GTFO has made its way into my actual speech. I like the way it makes leaving into a transitive verb—something you do to a place, as opposed to with yourself. Today is Friday, and I am about to GTFO Montana for the weekend. First, though, the links. While I’m gone, consider that:

Paul Ryan likes Rage Against the Machine, but Rage does not like Paul Ryan. Mad props to The Cure for this one.

The Boy Scouts don’t care which religion you profess, but you have to pick one.

This handy guide will help you choose.

And now that you’ve got one, think about where but for his/her grace/karma go you.

Now watch this rap video about snacks made by middle school children in their after-school program:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YLy4j8EZIk

Eat a dick, soccer.

A birthday wish

By Dan Brooks in Politics versus Government 4 Comments

The original filename for this image was “smug dog,” which is now the brand name of my line of yoga accessories.

Today is my thirty-fifth birthday. Now that I have ascended to the top of my demographic, I have only one more year of enjoying the exact same things as an 18 year-old. After that I like Family Circus, Harley-Davidsons and voting Republican. These sorts of changes don’t happen very often, as this poll analysis from the Times indicates. It starts out with some boring stuff about Paul Ryan and the base and a car salesman in Des Moines who is not related to me, but then you hit this:

A series of recent polls in six swing states showed that only 5 percent of voters were undecided and only about 1 in 10 likely voters who had chosen a candidate said they were open to switching. At this point four years ago, more than 1 in 4 voters nationwide said they might change their minds.

Anticipated total spending this election cycle: one billion dollars. Find out who’s going to win after the jump.

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Close Readings: Meghan McCain says stupid is worse than mean

By Dan Brooks in Close Reading 5 Comments

“Everyone here is stuck up, no one has any watermelon, the copy machine doesn’t make sense…”

Yesterday in Virginia, Vice-President Joe Biden criticized Mitt Romney’s plan to “unchain Wall Street,” warning that “he’s going to put y’all back in chains.” He said that because he is Joe Biden and there were black people in the audience. Presumably, he was referring to Romney’s actual talking point about unshackling the economy, and he meant that all the members of the audience would be shackled, not just the black ones. The slip hardly lived up to his Bidentity as an unstoppable gaffe machine, but daughter of person who was almost president Meghan McCain jumped on it. Props to Ben al-Fowlkes for the link. Joining Mac & Gaydos on Arizona’s KTAR [boinging sound,] McCain called the Vice-President an “idiot.” Her point:

I’m so sick of this BS from [Biden]. I can’t stand Joe Biden because I think stupid is worse than being mean. I just think any insinuation that in America we’re going to go back to slavery times is delusional. It’s ridiculous and it’s ignorant…If I were Obama I would’ve never picked Joe Biden in the first place.

First of all, Meghan McCain, if you were Obama people would not ask for your opinions, because you wouldn’t know your dad. Second, is stupid really worse than mean?

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Guilty pleasure: Rich Kids of Instagram

By Dan Brooks in Class Warfare 6 Comments

Literal class warfare

You are looking at a gold-plated AK-47, sold by Versace for $9,000. There are at least four layers of signifier going on in that photo: the ancient—perhaps even oldest—significance of gold, the postwar guerrilla icon that is the Kalashnikov, and the increasingly decadent brand of Versace. What’s that you say? Only four? Oh, right—the fourth layer of signification comes from knowing that this gold-plated assault rifle, along with the collection of sunglasses and watches surrounding it, belongs to a child. The picture is from Rick Kids of Instagram, a Tumblr you should visit immediately if you enjoy self-righteous resentment.

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Is this the handsomest GOP ticket ever?

By Dan Brooks in Republican Candidates 3 Comments

Paul Ryan addresses a journalist who was mean to Mitt Romney last week.

Paul Ryan was a high school prom king. Also his dad died when he was young, which is sad and uncool, and now he wants your dad to die too. Mitt Romney picked this guy to be his running mate Saturday morning, in a clever bid to capture a bloc of voters who might otherwise have gone to Obama: Tea Party members. Actually Ryan is a respected representative whose traction among the conservative wing of his party would help President Romney corral a potentially rebellious Congress. Or Candidate Romney decided he was going to lose in November unless he did something crazy. It depends whom you ask.

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