lede of the day

via matt yglesias @ thinkprogress

it will come as no surprise to learn that las vegas, nevada is not a model of sustainable urban planning. after all, this is a giant city in the middle of the desert where nobody should have ever put a city.

quote of the night

matt yglesias, on north korea's execution of a "top financial official":

it seems like it should be possible to find a middle ground between this sort of thing and the U.S.-style “everyone cashes in, nobody important is ever at fault for anything” approach.

observing 9/12

matt yglesias @ thinkprogress:

as we know, back in november most people voted for barack obama. most people voted for a democratic house candidate. and most people voted for a democratic senate candidate. today, most people prefer obama’s approach to the approach of congressional republicans. but this is a very large country. and a large minority of the population is out of step with the views of the minority [sic: matt meant "majority"]. you’ve got your anti-abortion guys, your tenthers, your birthers, your medicare-hating congressmen, etc. something called the ayn rand center for individual rights is among the sponsors of the rally. and so, fine, there are a lot of people with far-right political opinions. but the idea that this is actually some kind of response to specific things barack obama has done is pretty off-base. it’s just the usual suspects getting fired up.

mark mckinnon @ the washington post:

mark mckinnon, a former adviser to sen. john mccain (ariz.) and other republicans, said there is an "opportunity for republicans" to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government. but he said that "right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements" and are dominating media coverage. "it's bad for republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party," mckinnon said.

alex pareene @ gawker:

on 9/12, people in new york (and DC) did not feel as "great" as glenn beck. they just felt like shit. they felt scared and confused and depressed ... and only an idiot or an actual terrorist would want to always feel like it was 9/12/01. and eight years later, normal people, with brains and souls, have decided that some emotional distance from that disaster is healthier and wiser than trying to recapture the dread. so thank fucking christ that the commander in chief is no longer subjecting the nation to death porn. no, this year it’s limited to a nutty little cult leader on basic cable who is encouraging his radicalized band of fanatical followers to invade the cities where the tragedy actually happened in order to shock the populace back into fear. glenn beck is an actual terrorist, and the people attending his rally in DC tomorrow are al-qaeda in america.

(art by rottenart @ daily kos)

update: reader feedback

sigh.

i'll type s-l-o-w-l-y so even hillary can understand.

you said that he is on "basic cable"....are you saying that FOX news is "basic cable"...just asking. i mean, what does that even mean???

1) alex pareene said "basic cable". i'm quoting him.

2) basic cable = tv networks "generally transmitted without any scrambling or other special methods and thus anyone connected to the cable tv system can receive them". l-i-k-e f-o-x n-e-w-s.

GLENN HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE 9/12 MARCH!!! it was put together by a completely different group of people who told glenn about it.

from glenn beck's the912project.com:

9/12 SATURDAY – FINAL UPDATE – MORE NEW STATES & EVENTS FOR 9-12-09 ... GLENN WILL BE ANCHORING THE COVERAGE OF 9-12 EVENTS, LIVE ON FOX NEWS ... SEPTEMBER 12, 2009 FROM 1-3PM Eastern time. many have asked about the event in washington dc on 9-12, here are a couple links to help you find out more information from the people who have organized the event and are helping people find the best way to participate. ... HOW DO I FIND A LOCAL GROUP OR EVENT? we have tried to list, by state, every single 9-12 event that we know about. we may have missed one so please share your information with us. you can also look online here. if you cannot go to DC — there are probably events happening CLOSE TO YOU. glenn has always suggested using meetup.com to find like-minded souls in your area and we also suggest looking there for local events that are not listed below. get off the keyboards and on your feet. ... HERE ARE THE LOCAL EVENTS WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT FOR SATURDAY 9-12-09 (SORTED BY STATE, ALPHABETICALLY) [etc etc ]...

"nothing to do with it" must not have anything to do with sponsoring, organizing, promoting and covering it. glad you helped clear that up.

thanks for visiting my little stake on the intertubes. it's nice to have fans, even if some of them are m-o-r-a-n-s.

read arguing with idiots. read common sense. read SOMETHING.

please, hillary, watch something besides glenn beck. a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g.

time to shit

as reported in my post "has it been six months yet?", tom friedman has a problem with deadlines. but matthew yglesias, who's currently playing guest host in josh marshall's stead at talking points memo, reports that he's not the only one dithering:

yglesias: beyond poking fun at people, there's a serious issue here. voters are upset about how things are going in iraq. so democrats want to criticize the bush iraq policy. this means they must agree that things are going very badly in iraq. but the consultant class along with various others has determined that calling for withdrawal is a losing strategy. consequently, democrats find themselves arguing that iraq is perpetually on the brink of total disaster as a result of bush's policies, but never, ever, ever actually goes over the tipping point of becoming the sort of lost cause where the main american goal has to be cutting our losses.

i think an important distinction needs to be made between those like friedman who insist that we're always six months away from the crucial deciding factor for staying or withdrawing from iraq, and those insisting that iraq is always on the brink of disaster. while it's certainly possible that a situation can teeter precariously for an indefinite period, it's certainly not practical to allow a period for making a crucial decision to remain open indefinitely. the first concerns conditions that may be outside one's control, but the second is about conditions when one actually takes control.

so those who continue to claim that iraq is at the tipping point could still be right (although i personally don't believe so; i believe civil war began last year); but friedman proved himself wrong years ago. either iraq has hit his magic milestone, obligating us to stay, or iraq hasn't, obliging us to leave, but to continue to move the goalposts and insist that it's not yet time to make a decision is to indulge in a most disingenuous and deadly game of procrastination.

friedman's six months has expired five times already. so, to paraphrase nixon, it's time for everyone to shit or get off the pot.