Comments on: Message discipline’s what got us into this mess!

By: jackd

jackd — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:20:14 +0000

Nah, I think this is exactly what it looks like. No official party leader, no message discipline. The press aids and abets both ways. It’s easy for them to find the Official Party Position when all they have to do is read the latest White House press release, and they can treat any dissent as marginal and unimportant. For the out-of-power party, anyone who’s vaguely prominent can get quoted – McCain, Limbaugh, Steele, a whole bunch of senators, reps, governors and too damn many pundits – and nobody can get real leverage to say, “hey, that’s not the Republican position!”

By: ajay

ajay — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:41:34 +0000

Wait, what’s wrong with ritual suicide of business executives?

Well, it could be regarded as culturally insensitive or even offensive by Japanese people. It’s like: black singer stands up and sings a spiritual: not a problem. White singer blacks his face and does the same thing: problem. Non-Japanese executives should kill themselves in culturally appropriate ways; jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, say, or shooting themselves in the library with their old service revolver.

By: PatM

PatM — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:06:13 +0000

I think “me Says” is right. The Repubs are right on message by framing this as an issue of how the party in power will handle this as opposed to how the party out of power might have handled it. What gets lost is the fact that the overwhelming majority of the upper cleptocracy at AIG is almost certainly Republican. Some Democrat with a pulpit needs to loudly point this out and make sure that the debate is less about how the Republicans would wield political power and more about how Republican citizens, just by acting the way Repubs do, can fuck us all.

By: vachon

vachon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:15:09 +0000

I, for one, don’t want anyone to be half-assed about committing sepuku. Talk about humiliation.

I do, however, wish to see perp walks for the next year and I want it with the full monty: cuffs, leg irons, dozens of flashing cameras, dark-suited FBI types and loads of bystanders. Make my day.

By: Sifu Tweety

Sifu Tweety — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:32:02 +0000

Wait, what’s wrong with ritual suicide of business executives?

Nothing; it’s just not the sort of thing you want to be half-assed about, as a political party.

By: lemuel pitkin

lemuel pitkin — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:12:35 +0000

Wait, what’s wrong with ritual suicide of business executives?

By: par4

par4 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:01:53 +0000

Suicide is painless

By: Me

Me — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:07:58 +0000

“Item one: what is this thing you call a ‘memo’?”

I seriously doubt that the GOP has already forgotten what message discipline is. It’s pretty much who they are.

By: Froley

Froley — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:17:39 +0000

When you buy an elephant, you can’t refuse to buy the manure that comes with it.

Jonah, I think the LA Times is well aware of that fact.

By: norbizness

norbizness — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:14:36 +0000

Chief Wiggum: Gee, I really hate to spoil this little love-in, but Mr. Malloy broke the law. And when you break the law, you gotta go to jail.

Mayor Quimby: Uh, that reminds me, er, here’s your monthly kickback.

Chief Wiggum: You just, you couldn’t have picked a worse time.