Symmetry required it: 2012 american general election thread #2

it's not about if you're fine w/ that stuff, it's about whether the constitution is inherently flexible enough w/ that stuff, and it isn't. and it's near impossible to amend.

xp

yeah, the NIRA was terrible -- i don't think anyone would defend it at this point.

walter karp has an extremely harsh critique of the new deal from a left-jeffersonian perspective in 'indispensable enemies.'

We've talked about Karp, J.D. In 2004 or so he held sway over me. I tried to explain his idea of "collusion" to a party hack then and he acted like I'd insulted his mom.

it's a fantastic book although dated in many respects and frustratingly lacking in footnotes or references -- reading it today, when virtually no one talks about "party machines" or "bosses" anymore, is kind of a surreal experience.

karp died much, much too young -- i reread his essays and 'the politics of war' every couple of years. he reads like someone crossed greenwald at his rare best with someone like henry adams. it's astonishing that he isn't better-known.

Well, I don't know about the Adams comparison. The hysteria at which Karp pitched his most eloquent writing is also his worst quality.

Nate Silver ‏@fivethirtyeight
So the Pew poll really is a huge data point for Romney. But his polling today was pretty mediocre without it.

Nate Silver ‏@fivethirtyeight
How much difference did the Pew poll make? We had Romney win % rising to 24.4% from 21.6% today. Without Pew, he'd have made no gain at all.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/pew-poll-shows-post-debate-enthusiasm.html

i should probably read more adams before i make the comparison -- maybe vidal is a better reference point.

A calm and reasoned appraisal of the PEW poll:

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/10/did-obama-just-throw-the-entire-election-away.html

I have said this 100 times on this thread but I have no idea how this guy remains a tier 1 political blogger

feel like in a more just compassionate society someone would get andrew some help

or teach him about statistics

jesus christ that post

Even though I find the PEW poll a little unsettling, the Sullivan post made me laugh.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m97ho5PqNx1r4iysa.gif

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/284073_10151208236928588_915297167_n.jpg

Bristol is the white swan and Sarah is the black swan?

haha otm!

were they always that orange? have they started a jersey shore phase?

btw in all seriousness its nuts how ripped sarah is

I have been a sully reader bc of non politics links lately, but now I'm just like...this motherfucker went to Harvard?

oh all the idiots i have known who went to harvard

http://letspout.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/george-bush-harvard-mba1243831797.jpg?w=500

well tbf it was harvard *grad* school

the same one that bill o'reilly went to

sry, only Harvard ppl I know are either smarty pants ppl I went to HS with or TFA über achiever types

I have a v limited frame of reference tho

ya the harvard student body is 50% the smartest person from your not-east-coast-hs and 50% bill oreilly's kid

he is a large kid

ya i grew up in boston where you have to kick harvard grads off the sidewalk just to get to cumberland farms

what %age of harvard square crusties are harvard grads

I think we're into Jimmy Carter territory here:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/07/does-obama-even-want-to-win-the-election.html

we'll know it's all over if O says something about "normalcy" from the stump. Or "malaise". Or the Smoot-Hawley tarrif.

what %age of harvard square crusties are harvard grads

― www.toilet-guru.com (silby), Monday, October 8, 2012 8:57 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

spare some change man, tryina start a hedge fund

This is good. Instead of the hope-and-change naif, he gets to be complicated, world-weary neurotic guy now.

Outta the way mush, I'm tryin ta get ta Cumby's

omg dude u know abt mush??

Ya dood

thats p much a newton exclusive afaik, a guy told me once they say it somewhere in new hampshire but i dunno abt that

I'm pretty sure I heard it from Newton peeps back when I lived in Brookline

Naturally it's what I say as I shove Harvard grad pit rats out of the way on a mad dash to Cumberland farms

you got to

theres a wikipedia entry abt it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonantum,_Massachusetts

Lake Talk

A notable element in Nonantum is the Lake dialect. Lake Talk, as it is called, is an idiosyncratic language spoken in the village, particularly among Italian-American locals. The dialect's origins are unclear. It has been speculated that it is a blend of Italian and some World War II code, but others have seen similarities to Angloromani or Italian Romany ("gypsy") slang. Many people in the village are descendants from natives of San Donato Val di Comino, Italy.

According to a 2001 article in the Boston Globe some examples of words and phrases in Lake Talk include:

mush (pronounced to rhyme with push) -- "guy", can be positive or negative depending on context
wicked pissa, mush!--"extremely awesome, guy"
divia (div-ya) -- "crazy", "jerk, screw-up, or harmless screwball"
...

wicked pissa, mush!--"extremely awesome, guy"

can i just

Hmm, I'm dubious about wicked pissah belonging exclusively to these lake folks

interesting how there was an article about those words in the newsy-wewsies

wicked pissah is def not exclusive, but it works so good w/mush you cant really pass it up

I'm sure the Globe sees it as a bit of blue collar anthropology

shapdude (shup-dude) -- "how's it going?"

folks, p sure this might just be regular english

i totally say that!!

btw in all seriousness its nuts how ripped sarah is

― lag∞n, Monday, October 8, 2012 8:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's not like she has a job. Half an hour a day to post on Facebook and the rest of the time she can work out.

"Sarge, mush has a coramunga in his cover!"