Mickey Gets Results!

There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time is coming.  And when that idea springs from the brow of Mickey Kaus well, stand back.

A month ago, Mickey tackled the debt ceiling debate with the notion that a "cuts only" deal made sense:

Opponents of bloated government don’t trust politicians to make cuts if extra revenues are in the offing. Neither, sensibly, do many voters.  But if you make dramatic cuts, demonstrate you’ve sweated out the fat–and there’s still a deficit, you’ve got a shot at getting a tax increase through. Cuts First! You could start with the Department of Education’s Office of  Civil Rights.

In any case. it’s inane to argue that every step on the road to deficit reduction has to be a balance of cuts and tax increases. That’s like saying you can’t take a piss unless you’re taking a drink.

And today, Jonathan Chait of TNR climbs aboard:

An all-cuts deal sounds bad, but it contains some real advantages. It clearly positions Obama in the center, and assuages centrist fears that he's a big government liberal (fears I don't share, but the political power of which I concede.) It makes a large step toward medium-term fiscal correction without taking the choices off the table. Having taken a large step, voters in 2012 will decide the next one -- higher taxes on the rich, or deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid? That's a good set-up for Obama. If he think he can "take the deficit issue off the table," then he's also taking off the table the priority contrast that offers the strongest basis for his reelection. And he ensures the discussion moves off of priorities and onto the state of the economy, which is a discussion he's likely to lose.

Meanwhile, a scuffle has broken out amongst angst-ridden progressives - is Obama "MiddleMan" or "The Conceder-in-Chief"?  Tough call.  FWIW, here at JOM he has been nicknamed "JEF" for Jug-Eared uhh, fellow.

ITS NOT JUST SCHADENFREUDE:  OK, its fun watching progs gnash their teeth over the antics of The One.  But their unhappiness with Obama is also relevant for 2012.

In 2008 conservatives couldn't get excited about supporting McCain, so they got excited about opposing Obama.  A similar dynamic will play out on the left in 2012 as they engage in a hate-fest against whomever the Reps nominate.  The Bush-bashing and Palin-smashing will seem calm, objective ad dispassionate by comparison, and this will be true even if Republicans nominate Lincoln and Eisenhower.

THE HITS KEEP COMING: Nancy Pelosi gets on board the "Cuts Only" Express.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

Where is the 800 billion in revenue, that Boehner mentioned, coming from?

[Clarice]

On an earlier thread someone posted the RCP Obama favorability chart and he was sinking. Some pointed to that as proof that he lacked the strength to do more than bluff in these negotiations. Actually, it appears the downturn is because of progressive dissatisfaction and it seems hard to turn that around without some tax increase because in prog land the big thing is not revenues its the workers versus the kulaks.

[bgates]

even if Republicans nominate Lincoln and Eisenhower

Two non-Ivy Leaguers, responsible for the prosecution of the bloodiest conflicts in American history? A man who practiced law without a license and one who described his war as a "Crusade"?

[Danube of Thought]

"That’s like saying you can’t take a piss unless you’re taking a drink."

At age five my cousin and I tested the proposition that if you stood at the toilet peeing while constantly consuming cups of water replenished from the adjacent sink, you could go on indefinitely.

To this day I think of the experiment as my first exposure to the scientific method.

[Rick Ballard]

"Where is the 800 billion in revenue, that Boehner mentioned, coming from?"

TK,

Economic growth fueled by the Bush tax cuts generated increases in revenue that would have totaled over $800 billion in ten years had the Democrats not taken the House in '06. Their "victory" set the stage for the Obama Depression which Boehner anticipates will end in January of '13 with the inauguration of our new President.

It just ain't that difficult to increase revenue when there's a commie in the Oval Office to be disposed of. Tax increases are unnecessary.

[Ben Franklin]

"I hope I’m wrong about all this. But when has Obama given progressives any reason to believe they can trust him?"

Krugman should revisit the parable of the frog? (tortoise?) and the scorpion..............

With any politician, you must "trust, but verify............" RWR

[Threadkiller]

The 800 billion is off of projected growth? It is not from removing mortgage interest deductions? Has this plan been seen by the public?

[Porchlight]

DoT,

So what happened? Don't leave us in suspense like that.

[cathyf]

The Bush-bashing and Palin-smashing will seem calm, objective ad dispassionate by comparison, and this will be true even if Republicans nominate Lincoln

Um, actually, when the Republicans nominated Lincoln, what followed DID make Bush-bashing and Palin-smashing seem calm, objective and dispassionate by comparison...

[Rick Ballard]

TK,

I haven't seen the proposal. My point is that $800 billion in revenue increases doesn't require much in the way of deduction elimination - if the economy is growing rather than dying.

Obama and the Dems are economy killers. Get 'em out and watch what happens.

[Jim Ryan]

A man who practiced law without a license and one who described his war as a "Crusade"?

This is oddly narcisolike. I say odd because Fred waxed oddly bgateslike today.

[Threadkiller]

I was curious what the specifics were, Rick.

My thought is Boehner agreed on a screw job tax hike. He gets cold feet at the same time odummy attempts to add a reach around. Boehner seizes the opportunity, jumps ship, and we are left to speculate as to the 800 billion.

[Jim Ryan]

Ladies and gentlemen, kick back with Matt Dennis and Tom Adair's Violets for Your Furs.

[Rick Ballard]

TK,

A GDP growth rate of 2.8% will generate a total revenue increase of $370 billion (2008 Personal Income Tax Paid as base) over 10 years. A 3.5% growth rate will produce $755 billion over the same period.

The IRS collected $1.031 trillion in personal taxes in '08 while allowing $2.1 trillion in deductions from gross income. Shaving deductions by 10% would generate the balance of the $800 billion but my bet is that Boehner 'borrowed' Obama's totally unrealistic GDP growth rate projection (north of 4%, I believe) rather than hit deductions.

Obama's bump from $800 billion in revenue increase to $1.2 trillion may well reflect the fact that someone whispered in his ear that Boehner was clubbing him like a baby seal by using the President's own unrealistic growth estimate.

[Danube of Thought]

Porch, we kept trying but came to the realization that the hypothesis could not be defended. Then we went promptly outside and played--and probably peed a bit extra for the next few hours, although I really don't recall. Our attention had been diverted to innumerable other things, as I'm sure you know. Those things might have been ants, worms, dirtclods or girls' underpants--I just can't say at this point.

[Clarice]

I love that story, DoT.

[Drider]

Rick,I am in tears over your last paragraph.
Great stuff!

And I too can picture that exact senario as being in fact what happened.

[Porchlight]

LOL, DoT. Thanks for the update.

[Comanche Voter]

According to Mark Steyn the Federal Department of Education has its own SWAT team. And unless they're going to use the SWAT team to break up teacher "cheating parties" in Atlanta, they could probably cut that from the budget.

And I'm not talking about the old throw the car keys in a circle cheating party among teachers--I'm talking about parties to alter test scores and grades for kids who couldn't cut it.

[(Another) Barbara]

At age five my cousin and I tested the proposition that if you stood at the toilet peeing while constantly consuming cups of water replenished from the adjacent sink, you could go on indefinitely

You and your cousin should have considered a career in politics.

[BR]

There's something going on with Obama and his Blackberry.

A few weeks ago, I think it was, Janet linked to this, pointing out that Obama requested a stay of execution of a rapist/murderer/illegal alien, whose counselor was Sandra L. Babcock, law partner of Mrs. Bill Ayers (Bernadine Dohrn).

And in this series of 3 articles, one of his 100-member birther damage control team* mentions the security system of his Blackberry.

*Led by Jim Johnson, chairman and CEO of FNMA from 91-98, fundraiser for Obama.

A test was done to see if Johnson had current access to Obama. Someone asked Johnson to have Obama contact a 110-yr-old lady in Michigan for her birthday, and he did.

The articles show people in this group were the source of earlier fake birth certs and active in various obstructions in birth cert lawsuits. Echoes of Segretti.

Obama probably receives overseas phone calls, texting and emails from his Code Pink pals in Greece, too.

I do believe there's a law that certain agencies can intercept overseas calls when terrorist affiliation is suspected.

[BR]

I can see it now, Obama busily snapping pics of national security documents and emailing them to the flotilla.

[Clarice]

While we are in bizarroland..More great news from Deepak Chopra.
http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/847-chopra-hopes-to-connect-minds-bodies-with-leela

[BR]

Ah, the flotilla of one - what a great WIN!

"This Time, Israel Wins Long before Confrontation"

"The flotilla organizers lost long before the little yacht Dignite-Al Karama was boarded by Israeli navy seals this week. The flotilla sought to embarrass the IDF and diminish support for the blockade, either by making it to Gaza, provoking the navy into using excessive force, or at the very least, broadcasting Israeli cruelty to the world while their boats are stopped and boarded. They accomplished none of these things. In an overwhelming and complete success, Israel managed, through a mix of diplomacy, legal maneuvering, deterrence, and possibly sabotage, to cause the coalition of activists/provocateurs to crumble before it even left the port. In the end, the overmatched activists looked like naïve amateurs, unable to cope with the whirlwind of challenges Israel and its allies presented."

[BR]

Yaaaayyy! Operation Sirocco was successful!

[BR]

Oh my gosh, I'm having such a good time here celebrating. The wimps. I was planning when the flotilla got to a point between Crete and Cyprus, a big sandstorm wind would blow them off course and confuse their GPS system, so they couldn't even be rescued, because they wouldn't know where they were :)

Wishes do come true in such a nice way.

[futuramanerd]

While we are in bizarroland..More great news from Deepak Chopra.
http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/847-chopra-hopes-to-connect-minds-bodies-with-leela

I connect my mind with Turanga Leela every Thursday night.

[BR]

Oh, how beautiful - Turanga Lila - Sanskrit for playful horses, rhythm, love song, hymn of joy :)

[Danube of Thought]

Glad to see you having such a great time, BR.

[BR]

Yeah! Now for Operation Blackberry!!!!!

[hit and run]

Chait:
It clearly positions Obama in the center, and assuages centrist fears that he's a big government liberal (fears I don't share

Of course he doesn't fear it . . . he craves it.

FWIW, here at JOM he has been nicknamed "JEF" for Jug-Eared uhh, fellow.

I suppose that's funny and all,but it hits a little close to home. Think of all the f-f-f-fun you can have with the acronym with that extra F!

[Old Lurker]

Rick...remind me.

Do all of their numbers assume the end of Bush tax cuts as already in the bag?

[Janet]

If Ayers wrote Obama's book (which I believe), then there has to be some of what BR is talking about going on.

[Janet]

Dem Rep. David Wu accused of aggressive, unwanted sexual encounter.

This guy reminds me of my Rep.Jim Moran...it doesn't matter WHAT he does...he still gets elected. Barney Frank is like that too. You can't scandal them out of office because their constituents don't care.

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

I'm not privy to the details of what is occurring behind closed doors in the meetings with the all wise and powerful. I believe the safe assumption to be that the parties are all using the President's Magic 8 Ball, loaded with his 4%+ GDP growth and elimination of the Bush cuts above the $200K level of income.

IOW - all plans being talked about are a fine mixture of horseshit and gibberish backed by model extrapolations developed by the President's very highly credentialed morons economic team (Geithner + ?).

After all, we're talking about a script for a never to be produced political farce the premise of which is satisfaction of the President's base wrt to their deep rooted jealosy and envy of the productive plus the sowing of seeds of division within the ranks of the opposition by using the dreaded phrase "tax increase".

[Clarice]

I think it'll be a short term increase, no tax increase and about a $500 billion cut in spending. But I'm not Cassandra.

Here via Instapundit, come very good news:
CHANGE: Pew Study: Democrats Losing Support Of Poor Whites. ““A seven-point Democratic advantage among whites under age 30 three years ago has turned into an 11-point GOP advantage today. And a 15-point Democratic advantage among whites earning less than $30,000 annually has swung to a slim four-point Republican edge today.”

Plus this: “The last time that Republicans had this level of support among young white voters was 2002-2004, which was, of course, the wake of the 9/11 attacks.”

[Clarice]

*some very good news* (Haven't yet had coffee)

[Clarice]

Also--short term EXTENSION..Agh. Caffeine nectar of the gods.

[hit and run]

Janet:
Dem Rep. David Wu accused of aggressive, unwanted sexual encounter.

iOwntheWorld points out that BreakingNews (a popular wire service-like feed with 2.8 million followers) turned Wu into a Republican in their tweet of the news.

[Extraneus]

Tsk, tsk.

[Rick Ballard]

Here's the Pew Center Report*.

*Please note that the report is significantly Dem loaded in comparison to the Rasmussen Party Affiliation polling. Pew is using a "leaner" model which loads independents in favor of Dems. 'Tain't so - independents are tilting right at the moment, not left.

As bad as the Pew Report is for the Dems, it's still sugar coated.

[narciso]

I suspected delusion when it comes to Chaitred, and a 'look see' proved it, he doesn't label what cuts, Obama would be willing to make,

[Extraneus]

Tsk, tsk.

[Extraneus]

Ooops.

[DebinNC]

Boehner's office refuted Obama's claim that Bush tax cuts expiring was agreed to:

The White House is misleading reporters tonight by claiming that new revenue in the framework that was discussed would have been generated by letting the current tax rates expire. That is simply false. Under the framework, a CEILING was offered by the White House that would generate $800 billion in new revenue over ten years. This would be done through comprehensive tax reform that would clear out deductions, credits, and loopholes in the system – and spur economic growth.
After the gang of six plan came out, the White House moved the goal posts and insisted on $400 billion more in higher taxes – a 50% increase in revenue – and wanted that to be the FLOOR instead of the ceiling. The President acknowledged this in his remarks tonight. “Letting tax cuts expire” was never part of the tax reform agreed to. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Just checking that I closed italics.

[Clarice]

It's a wonder that Manchin won in W Virginia the last time around. Now that the UMWA is not able to hide Obama's coal killing agenda and in light of the Pew observed trend. I can't imagine that Senate seat is a safe one. His term ends Jan 2013.

[narciso]

They all pretend to be moderate, but when it comes to brass tacks, like Janet's example of Webb, they sign on the dotted line, also witness Byrd's retraction on 'deem and pass'
or whoever was ghosting his work,

[Rick Ballard]

Thanks, Deb.

Everybody who believes that JEF has any clue wrt the meaning of the talking point gibberish he spouts needs go pet their unicorn.

I'd really like to see the assumptions on GDP growth underlying the models used by both sides. I suspect that both sides are using JEF's hallucinogenic rates.

[Ignatz]

That's what Boehner said in his news conference yesterday, Deb.
So to answer TK's question Boehner explicitly said that the $800B came from a combo of eliminated deductions and lower rates.

Has the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight ever not screwed anything up they've touched?

[DebinNC]

Boehner also said mortgage and charitable deductions were never on the table.

[rse]

clarice-

It is my belief that when the real story of what the federal ed policy is and has been comes out, it will substantially damage that above 90% bloc of minority support the Dems rely on.

It is minority parents who have no use for the Alfie Kohns of the world. They tend to be some of the most empassioned about what I am doing.

[Ignatz]

--Boehner also said mortgage and charitable deductions were never on the table.--

I suspect those two alone would account for the difference between the Gangster's numbers and his.

[Threadkiller]

Cain just choked again on Cavuto's show. Cavuto is pressing Cain on the 800 billion. Cain says he is ok with the increase because it does not affect the "rates".

A member of the Debthole Bumbling Gang is up next.

[Porchlight]

Clarice,

I could see WV voting overwhelmingly against Obama in 2012 and Manchin still being re-elected in 2013. WV likes their Dem senators even when they vote for the GOP in Pres. elections.

[Jane (get off the couch - come save the country)]

I thought the gang guy did ok threadkiller since he didn't throw Boehner under the bus.

[boris]

Not a Megan McArdle fan but she might have a valid point more often than a stopped clock.

... phone hacking has been widespread there for a long time.

... evidence started suggesting that this was a British problem, not a Murdoch problem.

If it is indeed a British problem, however, the question is: why? Some of the suggestions that have suggested themselves are obvious, others deliciously counterintuitive. British libel law, for example, is actually much stricter than US libel law. But a twitter correspondent suggests that this may, paradoxically, have encouraged hacking: you can’t take the risk of reporting something that’s false, so instead you go to illegal lengths to report things that are true.

As a safeguard phone hacking is fairly easy to do and in isolation low risk of getting caught ... until it becomes standard procedure and just about everybody is doing it. At which point it is a scandal waiting for a trigger.

[Threadkiller]

I noticed that, Jane. It sounded like he was not for the $800 billion, though. I thought the Gang wanted a higher $1.2 trillion.

The more I watch the $800 Billion coverage, the more I am convinced that Boehner read the CNN poll and had a change of heart.

Odufus gave Boehner an out without knowing it. This explains why he was so pissed off.

[Threadkiller]

Clarification:

It sounded like the Gangster wanted something lower than the $800.

[hit and run]

McArdle:
Some of the suggestions that have suggested themselves are obvious

I would have phrased it "Some of the suggestions that have suggested themselves are suggestively suggestful.

But then I don't get paid to write. Except in attention.

[Threadkiller]

Did anyone else experience the same flashback I had yesterday?

At Boehner’s presser reporters were jumping over each other to ask their questions and Boehner handled it in style. Ahh, The good old days.

Yet, Barack-star heads out with a list of reporters he will call on. He even called the name of a reporter that was not there. Pathetic.

[Ben Franklin]

TK;

I posed a question to someone, can't remember who, but got a bs answer. Maybe you will be honest........

Do you think all this talk about Obama being stupid, leaves one at a disadvantage? Do you think people underestimate him, and thereby miss opportunities? Kind of a 'Columbo' effect?

[boris]

"Obama being stupid"

If I say "not that smart" ... it is not a claim of stupid, it just means well short of the hype. People know about Alinsky because the carp actually works so nobody is going to drop guard around Chicago operatives. The notion that Obama is like GWB taking advantage of being misunderestimated ... nah.

[Ben Franklin]

Fair enough, boris. He just might not, be a genius.

[Ranger]

Do you think all this talk about Obama being stupid, leaves one at a disadvantage? Do you think people underestimate him, and thereby miss opportunities? Kind of a 'Columbo' effect?

Posted by: Ben Franklin | July 23, 2011 at 11:20 AM

So Obama is pulling a W? I would say it is exactly the opposite.

W spoke plainly, and so was "misunderestimated" often. He got his tax package through when everyone thought there was no way once the Senate flipped to Dem control because of Jumping Jim. W got the Dems to set a political trap for themselves through the debate and vote on Iraq before the 2002 election. W got re-elected in 2004 despite the best efforts of the entire press corps to undercut him (remember when CBS tried to defend their hit job by cliaming it was fake but acurate!).

In contrast, Obama speaks in an educated style, but he's really not very smart. He doesn't negotiate, he tosses the problem to others, then tries to claim credit at the end. That is why is messed this up so badly. He has no real experience in either governing, or deal making, and he has never learned how to learn, just how to tell people what they want to hear at the moment.

[narciso]

It's a paradox, isn't it Boris, he doesn't really know what he's talking about on most
subjects, whether it's languages, 'Austrian'
'Cuatro de Cinco' economics'profits/earnings, history 'the USS Missouri, 'the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor' yet they pretend he does.

[Chubby]

(( Do you think people underestimate him, and thereby miss opportunities? Kind of a 'Columbo' effect?))

I think it's true wrt the enemies of Sarah Palin, I don't think it's true wrt the enemies of Obama

(measuring intelligence as understanding that growing government and bureaucracy is a very stupid idea)

[Threadkiller]

I think he overestimates himself. That is a dumb thing to do on a continual basis. The gap between what he is supposed to be and what he really is grows every day, because of this.

I do not think he is an unintelligent person. I just don’t think he is as smart as he thinks he is. His sincerity and credibility are always lost between the real Obama and the Mirror, Mirror version he has of himself.

If any one group has missed an opportunity, it is the media. Exposing the credibility defect of Obama’s would have repaired theirs.

He compares to acting but not the character portrayed. He spent his Colombo days at someone else’s direction, reading their script. He has yet to solve any crime on his own.

If he were Colombo, that press conference was the time to solve the case.

A question that is always asked and never answered here is to name one significant thing that Obama has accomplished. Besides letting fruitcakes get kissy face in a government owned Humpvee, I can’t think of anything.

[MarkO]

Ben-Dana,

Obama is regularly overestimated. His silliness is described as brilliance. His resume is so puffed up and his press so inflated that even he thinks he is smart. Three years of observation can now yield a solid conclusion that seemed correct at first but which has played out in so many ways. He is more cunning than smart; more calculated than brilliant; more vindictive than inventive. Without a Teleprompter he’s likely to say damn near anything and rather poorly.

In truth, he's just not that smart and he's a liar.

[Ignatz]

Obama strikes me as very similar to my brother; a facile mind with a skimpy knowledge about many subjects which is revealed to be no deeper than surface tension when put to the test.
And it strikes me he does it for the same reason; insecurity.
He always wants to be thought of as the smartest guy in the room. And, with a facile mind and a wide range of just a tiny bit of knowledge, that's easy to pull off in front of the average moron with a pen, pad and byline.

[Ben Franklin]

Ranger;

It's kind of 'opposites' in action when you describe perceptions about W and O. What I mean is that Obama had a higher bar of expectations to clear with each initiative he undertook. W is intelligent, of that I am sure. The main difference I see is that he lacked a fundamental curiosity about things and that served his purposes well. He just wanted the bullet points in meetings and trusted others to understand what he wanted. He was a good delegator.

Obama is making the same mistakes Carter did. He's got his hand in everything, and I don't care how smart you are, these days the job is just too BIG. That micro-management has been his undoing. I'm not sure how much he trusts anyone. I think he is beginning to trust Biden, but even there, he seems 'hands on'....

[hit and run]

I don't think people misunderestimate Obama to their political peril. They may misunderestimate him to some extent -- but that doesn't lead to letting their guard down.

One's opinion of Obama's not-that-smartness doesn't blunt one's view that the media does all it can to prop him up,that he grew up politically in Chicago,that he outsources the political ops to people smarter than he,and that (h/t MarkO) he's a liar.

Having said that -- I don't think ODS doesn't exist. It does. But not among those in a position to "do something" about the problem that is Obama. ODS being the point at which opposition becomes irrational -- doing things that subvert your own goals.

[Threadkiller]

--"What I mean is that Obama had a higher bar of expectations to clear with each initiative he undertook."--

Details?

[DebinNC]

Keith Hennessey seems to think, politically, Obama is plenty smart.

[narciso]

What he managed to win his first seat in the state legislature, without opposition, mismanaged the CAC initiative, voted present
140 times in the legislature, showed his clear
preference for gun control, of the kind that
befouls average citizens in Washington D.C, but has no impact on criminals, who expected
anything positive based on this track record.

[Ranger]

He [W] just wanted the bullet points in meetings and trusted others to understand what he wanted. He was a good delegator.

In other words, he functioned as the chief executive, which, happens to be the president's job. He gave broad guidance (objectives to be met, allowable means, and acceptable costs), recieved updates on progress, and approved or disaproved of the final plans before implimentation. Any chief executive that gets sucked into the details runs the high risk of "analysis paralisis."

He's [Obama]got his hand in everything, and I don't care how smart you are, these days the job is just too BIG. That micro-management has been his undoing.

I really don't see the evidence of this. He's appointed Czars to put their hands in everything, but Obama himself is very hands off. With both the Porkulus and Obamacare, he basically turned to Harry and Nan and said 'Bring me a bill worhty of my name.'

[hit and run]

Can't believe I left my reading glasses at work.

You people type so small.

[Susanne]

BF,
What evidence do you see that Obama has a fundamental curiosity about anything? The meme is always that Bush lacks curiosity, but I have never thought that to be true. Just because the man knows how to run a meeting and delegate is not proof that he lacks curiosity.
I read something the other day (can’t find it now, of course) about the reading habits of Bush vs. Obama. I was struck not only by the amount of reading that Bush does regularly, but the breadth of topics. The contrast to Obama, who has very narrow and light reading habits, seems to me to indicate that Bush is not the one who lacks a fundamental curiosity.

[Jane (get off the couch - come save the country)]

I don't think Obama has his hand in anything except fundraising, partying and golf.

The media (and Obama) want you to think he is engaged but I see no evidence.

Hit I have at least 20 pairs around at all times. $2.25 for 3 pair at ocean state job lot.

[Clarice]

Bush lacks curiosity in the same way Stevenson was a brilliant intellectual who just happened to flunk out of Harvard law school and Eisenhower was a dope who just happened to successfully command the European Theater of Operations in WWII, Susanne.

[hit and run]

Jane:
I have at least 20 pairs around at all times.

I'm still in denial that I need them. Just checked the call log on our phone and see that mrs hit and run called at 11:34.

But I can't tell whether it was 11:34 this morning . . . or last night! AM? PM? Who can tell?

A and P apparently look quite similar when blurry.

[narciso]

You know,hit that happens with my monitor, but not with my phone, I guess the stigmatism
only goes so far.

[Threadkiller]

GE Speakerphone with Large Numbers and Answering Machine

[bgates]

Do you think people underestimate him

I keep trying to, but it's like shooting a hunting rifle at a meteor - it's just not humanly possible to lower my aim fast enough to keep up with his plummeting.

[hit and run]

On the menu: andouille and red snapper jambalaya

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Thaw fish thaw!!!!!!

[hit and run]

Thanks TK!

In other news -- it's hot. But I am determined not to give up my place in the driveway (time to load up a cooler next to the beach chair).

Me and Gaia: The Showdown

[Clarice]

OT this will come as a shock to no one. Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apt. she was 27.

[Rick Ballard]

I'm trying to formulate an intelligent response but foundering on the shoals of my inability to come up with concrete evidence of intelligence. I can get to cunning pretty easily (vide The Tale of the Wookie and Rev. Wright), calculation (vide CAC - Failing Upward) and vindictive (vide Dreams re mother) but the closest I've come to finding an instance where JEF actually solved a problem is Altgeld Gardens and I don't really think that one justifies a cigar.

I suppose we could try and count the lessening number of stupid moves made as evidence of at least the ability to learn but yesterday's presser throws a wrench in that one.

[Threadkiller]

Stay strong, hit.

[Frau Steingehirn]

Deepak Chopra and Leela...

clarice, those of us who read SF literature know what a wirehead is. It ain't pretty.

[Captain Hate]

Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apt. she was 27.

Lots of dead pool payouts on that one. Great voice and sense of R&B but otherwise what a freakin' mess.

[Porchlight]

Yeah, not much of a surprise there. I didn't know she was that young; I would have guessed 37 from her looks. Poor woman. RIP

[Porchlight]

Hit, I had been living without my glasses (3 y o broke them) for almost 3 years when I finally got new ones last fall. Prior to that I hadn't had a prescription update since (gulp) 1998.

Needless to say my life has changed now that I can see again. I have pretty good eyes; the prescription isn't all that strong, which is why I could live without them for so long. But it was getting to be a real safety issue with driving.

[hit and run]

Porch:
I have pretty good eyes

I read that at first without noticing the word "good". You do have pretty eyes. ;-)

I found the original pair of glasses mrs hit and run bought after she got so exasperated when I would take whatever it was she was showing me and push it far enough away that I could see it. Problem is -- she just went and bought the most powerful glasses she could find. I can't use them unless the laptop is 12 inches from my face.

I just can't believe how I have now become the dude with reading glasses in meetings at work where they're hanging on the end of my nose so I can read whatever report we are discussing on the table in front of me and then look up to talk to the people in the room.

In my off-hours I am practicing the dramatic pulling the glasses off my face to respond to whatever point is being discussed. Should be ready for deployment in a week or two.

Have I said lately how much I love Prof. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection? No? Then I am now. Love him. Great dude.

[Clarice]

I love him, too, hit.

[cathyf]

All three of us techish types at work wear progressive lenses and have astigmatism. Funniest thing watching us all bunched together with our heads tilted at weird angles trying to see whatever it is we're looking at. I'm to the point where I can only see regular-sized type through a tiny bit at the very bottom of one lens. It makes reading notes and words on music pretty challenging.

My brother finally gave in and has two pair of glasses around his neck and he swaps back and forth...

[scott]

I really liked Amy Winehouse. I was rooting for her to make it out alive. So many lost so young. Sad, RIP.

[Porchlight]

In my off-hours I am practicing the dramatic pulling the glasses off my face to respond to whatever point is being discussed. Should be ready for deployment in a week or two.

LOL Hit. And thanks! :)

[hit and run]

As much as I love Prof. J -- you know who's my real favorite?

Paul Prudhomme.

Andouille browned,veggies in . . . tomatoes next. Then the fish stock . . . and then the rice . . . then the snapper.

Using fresh jalapenos and cayennes from my garden.

Oh my.

[Clarice]

Sadist!

[Chubby]

((In my off-hours I am practicing the dramatic pulling the glasses off my face to respond to whatever point is being discussed.))

One day my bespectacled grade nine history teacher was reading to us, book in his left hand and vehemently stabbing the air with his right. One of his stabs was so vehement that it snagged his eyeglasses and they took a a real long flier ...

we all got a big laugh out of it, including him