Posts tagged politics

missbananafish: stuffmomnevertoldyou: Billy Possum: The Teddy Bear Successor You’ve Never Heard Of These days, the item most closely associated with President William “Big Bill” Taft is a bathtub. Weighing more than 300 pounds when he moved into the White House in 1909, Taft had a gargantuan, new tub installed that stretched 7 feet (2.1 meters) long and 41 inches (1.04 meters) wide to fit his ample frame, stoking rumors that he had gotten stuck in the old one and need a team of men and butter sticks to hoist him out. Indeed, Taft’s size was an enduring butt of jokes throughout his political career and legacy, but before the bathtub, it was Taft’s taste for possum that got people talking… True story! My high school BFF’s dad had the tub that they removed - it was huge, so if Taft couldn’t fit into it, he must have been The World’s Biggest Man. BFF’s Dad had the tub in his en suite bath. It was beautiful but it took FOREVER to fill up so it was hardly ever used, though a bunch of us did sit in it while drunk at a party and had a hell of time getting out. Well, this is something.

missbananafish:

stuffmomnevertoldyou:

Billy Possum: The Teddy Bear Successor You’ve Never Heard Of

These days, the item most closely associated with President William “Big Bill” Taft is a bathtub. Weighing more than 300 pounds when he moved into the White House in 1909, Taft had a gargantuan, new tub installed that stretched 7 feet (2.1 meters) long and 41 inches (1.04 meters) wide to fit his ample frame, stoking rumors that he had gotten stuck in the old one and need a team of men and butter sticks to hoist him out. Indeed, Taft’s size was an enduring butt of jokes throughout his political career and legacy, but before the bathtub, it was Taft’s taste for possum that got people talking…

True story! My high school BFF’s dad had the tub that they removed - it was huge, so if Taft couldn’t fit into it, he must have been The World’s Biggest Man. BFF’s Dad had the tub in his en suite bath. It was beautiful but it took FOREVER to fill up so it was hardly ever used, though a bunch of us did sit in it while drunk at a party and had a hell of time getting out.

Well, this is something.

stuffmomnevertoldyou

ccindecision: Willard Mitt Romney offered some thoughts on his grandchildren’s names while speaking with Dennis Miller. It’s worth unpacking this gem: “A few months ago we had twins come in (1), and you can’t believe what they’re named: Winston and Eleanor (2). [Laughs.] (3) I mean, it’s going back to the glorious days of the thirties and forties (4), I guess. But these are just darling little infants, and to have such big names on them is really something, although they call them Ellie and Win … When I heard Winston and Eleanor, I thought, It sounds like two English bulldogs (5), but they’re adorable children.” 1. Like from a catalog? Were they having a two-for-one special? 2. Say it with me: “Willard. Mitt. Romney.” You don’t get to poke fun at anyone else’s name, Willard, Father of Tagg. 3. “An old-timey name. Ha ha ha, marvelous!” 4. Some terms you might have used to describe two decades of war and depression besides “glorious”: traumatic, agonizing, brutal. 5. Okay, this is true and adorable. You win this round, Willard. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images ‘Winston’ just makes me think of Rich Juzwiak’s ex-cat.

ccindecision:

Willard Mitt Romney offered some thoughts on his grandchildren’s names while speaking with Dennis Miller. It’s worth unpacking this gem:

“A few months ago we had twins come in (1), and you can’t believe what they’re named: Winston and Eleanor (2). [Laughs.] (3) I mean, it’s going back to the glorious days of the thirties and forties (4), I guess. But these are just darling little infants, and to have such big names on them is really something, although they call them Ellie and Win … When I heard Winston and Eleanor, I thought, It sounds like two English bulldogs (5), but they’re adorable children.”

1. Like from a catalog? Were they having a two-for-one special?

2. Say it with me: “Willard. Mitt. Romney.” You don’t get to poke fun at anyone else’s name, Willard, Father of Tagg.

3. “An old-timey name. Ha ha ha, marvelous!”

4. Some terms you might have used to describe two decades of war and depression besides “glorious”: traumatic, agonizing, brutal.

5. Okay, this is true and adorable. You win this round, Willard.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

‘Winston’ just makes me think of Rich Juzwiak’s ex-cat.

ccindecision: Believe it or not, the 2012 election is almost over. See how much you remember about the Campaign That Was—and other great moments in politics—with this hilarious night of political trivia, hosted by whipsmart comedian Julie Klausner. Bring a team, or come solo and join one. Either way! It’s a free country. Prizes will be awarded and the winning team will be sworn in as 2012 Presidents of Trivia! 7pm Sun. 11/4 at 92Y Tribeca, NYC Brought to you by 92Y’s Campaign for the American Conversation, Comedy Central’s Indecision and TrivWorks. BUY TICKETS C’mon, wiseacres

ccindecision:

Believe it or not, the 2012 election is almost over.

See how much you remember about the Campaign That Was—and other great moments in politics—with this hilarious night of political trivia, hosted by whipsmart comedian Julie Klausner. Bring a team, or come solo and join one. Either way! It’s a free country.

Prizes will be awarded and the winning team will be sworn in as 2012 Presidents of Trivia!

7pm Sun. 11/4 at 92Y Tribeca, NYC

Brought to you by 92Y’s Campaign for the American Conversation, Comedy Central’s Indecision and TrivWorks.


BUY TICKETS

C’mon, wiseacres

I keep trying to get her to start a Tumblr. No luck so far, but we have established a content partnership that allows me to republish her content on my Tumblr.

I keep trying to get her to start a Tumblr. No luck so far, but we have established a content partnership that allows me to republish her content on my Tumblr.

ccindecision: Are you ready for the Paul Ryan debate workout? Yes.

ccindecision:

Are you ready for the Paul Ryan debate workout?

Yes.

ccindecision: If you ran for office, what would your campaign slogan be?“Don’t Touch My Hair, Unless You’re Already Touching It and Then Decide to Ask, ‘Can I Touch Your Hair?’ Because That Ship Has Already Sailed At This Point, So I Guess It’s Fine, But It’s Not Really Fine.” Probably too many words for a bumper sticker, but it’s totally what’s in my heart. The hilarious Phoebe Robinson does the Indecision 11. File under: Smart, funny, awesome

ccindecision:

If you ran for office, what would your campaign slogan be?
“Don’t Touch My Hair, Unless You’re Already Touching It and Then Decide to Ask, ‘Can I Touch Your Hair?’ Because That Ship Has Already Sailed At This Point, So I Guess It’s Fine, But It’s Not Really Fine.” Probably too many words for a bumper sticker, but it’s totally what’s in my heart.

The hilarious Phoebe Robinson does the Indecision 11.

File under: Smart, funny, awesome

Shocking true confession

The other day I was sitting in a tent in Tampa, about six feet from Rick Santorum, watching some dreadful movie he’d made (imagine your junior high American history class mashed up with every speech Rick Santorum has ever given). From where I sat I could see Rick and his wife Karen, and as the movie started he reached over and laced his fingers through hers, idly, without taking his eyes off the screen. It’s the kind of gesture you make when you are with someone you love, and you have been together long enough to know where she places her hand when you’re sitting next to each other at a movie. It is the kind of thing you do without thinking about it, the kind of thing you don’t even remember until that person is gone, and then you remember in the most minute detail: the texture of skin, the shape of a thumbnail.

Here is a shocking true confession. I am not what you might call a romantic or a sentimentalist. Never have been, never will be. There is no point in strewing rose petals on anything. I only cry at movies when I laugh too hard. I appreciate your wedding photos, but they provoke no feeling, unless you forced your bridesmaids to wear something particularly horrible, in which case sympathy kicks in. But there’s an exception. I am a total, helpless sap when it comes to political figures expressing affection for their significant others. It’s a bipartisan affliction that is not altered by endings that prove less happy than their beginnings: I have, on occasion, stayed up way past my bedtime watching old clips of John and Elizabeth Edwards. I once had to leave my desk and go for a walk because the Romney campaign sent me one of those calculated videos in which Ann pays tribute to her high school sweetheart—and the thing is, I know it’s calculated. I know these heartfelt moments are leveraged for crass political purpose. These days there’s not much difference, stagecraft-wise, between a spontaneous kiss near a camera and a two-minute preproduced web video. 

Yet it gets me. It gets me every time. I worry, because having Feelings means losing Edge and right now my job involves being Smart about politics, and that requires some Edge. I also worry because I don’t know why I have these reactions. I can’t explain them. They defy logic and everything I know to be true about myself. I try to tease it out, and then I see a photograph of Paul Ryan with his arm around his wife, or a clip of the president hugging the First Lady, and critical thinking evaporates.  

Maybe the answer is embarrassingly simple. It might be an involuntary compensation for all the bad news and mudslinging that’s out there, or a bizarro escape valve for whatever sentiment I do harbor. It might be because I concussed myself playing basketball in grade school. I don’t know, but now you know about it and can judge accordingly.

brooklynmutt: @BarackObama Context here Yeah yeah. I for one support a Constitutional amendment that would ban politicians of ANY party from appropriating this song EVER for ANY REASON.

brooklynmutt:

@BarackObama

Context here

Yeah yeah. I for one support a Constitutional amendment that would ban politicians of ANY party from appropriating this song EVER for ANY REASON.