On Ashley Judd, $1 trillion coins and other matters of import
I see where Kentucky-born movie star Ashley Judd continues to talk about running for the U.S. Senate against Mitch McConnell. McConnell may be in a bit of political trouble, and as Al Franken has demonstrated, it is quite possible for a Hollywood celebrity to perform credibly in the Senate. But Minnesota ain’t Kentucky, and in this case, Judd has as much chance of becoming a U.S. senator as McConnell has of being a Hollywood leading man.
———————————-
Cyclist Lance Armstrong is scheduled to appear next week on Oprah, where he may finally, publicly confess to years of performance-enhancing drug use on the way to seven Tour de France titles, all of which have been stripped from him.
The American people will supposedly forgive almost anything after a public confession, and Oprah has become our culture’s official Mother Confessor. But all the tears from all the crocodiles on the planet won’t wash away the stain on Armstrong’s reputation.
Set aside, for the moment, his use of performance-enhancing drugs and his supposedly heart-felt, offended claims of innocence. By multiple, multiple accounts, Armstrong conducted himself like a first-class, egotistical jerk throughout this entire scandal. He fooled the naive and gullible into vouching for his honesty, he strong-armed teammates into joining him in drug use, he intimidated others into silence and he conducted a decade-long campaign to ruin anybody who threatened to reveal him as he truly is, which is a self-centered, arrogant bully.
So please, Lance, spare us the dramatics and groveling. Live strong, dude.
————————————–
Speaking of cheating, arrogant, self-centered bullies, neither Barry Bonds nor Roger Clemens got enough votes this week to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I don’t have much sympathy for those guys, and if they never get in the hall, that would be fine with me.
But let’s at least be honest with ourselves. Everybody in baseball — casual fans, baseball writers, managers, agents, the players’ union, broadcasters, team owners and MLB executives such as Bud Selig included — all knew what was going on in the steroid era, and we pretended otherwise. When punch-and-judy second basemen suddenly turn into 50-homer sluggers, and when baseball records that have lasted for decades get obliterated by multiple players, it ain’t natural and we all knew it at the time. But it was selling tickets and raising TV ratings and it was FUN! Even chicks dig the long ball, right?
The baseball establishment now seems to believe that by casting all the blame on prominent scapegoats such as Clemens and Bonds, it can expunge itself of its own guilt for that era, and it cannot and should not.
I think Bud Selig should schedule a session with Oprah.
————————————–
Finally, in the stupid-government-tricks department, there’s the $1 trillion platinum coin. According to proponents of the idea, some of them pretty prominent (see here and here and here, among others), an odd provision in federal law would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to create a coin, made out of platinum, in a $1 trillion denomination. Federal assets would suddenly increase by $1 trillion, meaning the U.S. government would no longer be running up against its congressionally imposed debt ceiling.
Voila! Problem solved!
Look, the entire debt-ceiling debate is inherently silly. I get that. Congress has voted to spend trillions and borrow trillions, and it’s totally ridiculous to pretend that it can now refuse to pay that money back, which is what it would do by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Given all that, solving a silly, make-believe problem with a silly, make-believe coin apparently has some appeal to otherwise serious people.
But this is clown-car politics beneath the dignity of the United States of America. It also would dynamite what little credibility the governing process in this country might still retain, and it’s a mark of our decline that such a concept would even be broached.
– Jay Bookman
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816 comments Add your comment
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:09 pm
What else you got cons?
Nothing.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:11 pm
DDR,
Blogging after Miller time can be hazardous……..
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
9:12 pm
“fox has none..”
and he know that’s so because his political cell leader told him so.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:15 pm
del,
Like I said, you got nothing.
Just zip it con.
Jm
January 10th, 2013
9:17 pm
Obama is beyond ineffective
He’s an impediment to progress
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
9:17 pm
Oh well the left will always be the left until it’s left. That will occur when the fiscal mountain that can’t be avoided stares this country in the face. Not far off in our future, so enjoy the short ride left wingers.
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
9:18 pm
“Just zip it con.”
getalife,
You got nothing, lib.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byDiILrNbM4
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:18 pm
jm,
Sore loser.
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
9:20 pm
“Just zip it con.”
Much better men than you have tried that but failed.
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:20 pm
The biggest threat to our nation just took another hit on November 6th!
More to come!
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:20 pm
You better run…..
td
January 10th, 2013
9:23 pm
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:20 pm
The biggest threat to our nation just took another hit on November 6th!
More to come!
When Santa can not hand out any more goodies and takes some of the goodies back then where does that leave the progressives?
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:23 pm
get, the sore loser is going to get a lot more practice.
(As if getting smoke three out of the last four elections should mean anything to the ostriches!)
Bush killed them and now they get to deal with the GOP carcass…
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:25 pm
td, the great joke is that you and your pals are the biggest mooches of them all…
Look at your heroes on Wall Street.
They are so f&cked up they can’t even run their businesses without endless government assistance…
td
January 10th, 2013
9:25 pm
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:23 pm
get, the sore loser is going to get a lot more practice.
(As if getting smoke three out of the last four elections should mean anything to the ostriches!)
Bush killed them and now they get to deal with the GOP carcass…
Carter killed the libs and how long did that last?
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
9:25 pm
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:07 pm
albany,
Look up the definition of credibility
fox has none..
And, yet the cons are the ones with closed minds? OK. Why not debate the issue rather than shoot the messenger? My thoughts are, because you have no argument to the contrary and will not admit when you’ve been brainwashed. I’ve posted a couple of things today…Biden contradicting himself on gun control, for example. Not one single response. Not one.
When a lot of the libs on here get exposed, they run like roaches when the lights come on.
td
January 10th, 2013
9:28 pm
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:25 pm
td, the great joke is that you and your pals are the biggest mooches of them all…
Look at your heroes on Wall Street.
If you really believe that conservatives run Wall Street then you are lost for sure my friend. Tell us again where all these people running the economy for the dems in the White House is from?
Brian McNamee
January 10th, 2013
9:29 pm
Hey Bookman-I do not who the “Clemons” is you refer to in your article but the baseball guy that I shot up with steriods is named Clemens. I thought you professionals had this spell check or something. Guess your not a baseball fan.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:29 pm
albany,
Don’t quote rw media and post something credible con.
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
9:30 pm
When a lot of the libs on here get exposed, they run like roaches when the lights come
They live in the dark and the light of truth hurts their eyes. The zombie left rules this blog.
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:30 pm
Carter killed the libs…
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
I just pray you nutjobs stay the course…
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:33 pm
The zombie left rules this blog and the zombie right bows to our rules.
Thulsa Doom
January 10th, 2013
9:34 pm
td,
Clarence Thomas is black. He’s just not “the right kind” of black for the libs.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:34 pm
Jam,
They will stay the course.
And they will continue to lose.
This is great for our country.
td
January 10th, 2013
9:35 pm
“One of the worst flu seasons in a decade is putting further strains on an already sluggish U.S. economy as companies get slammed with increased health care costs and lower productivity from widespread worker absences”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100369848
Now the coming Obama recession is going to be blamed on the flu. The libs will believe anything.
td
January 10th, 2013
9:37 pm
Thulsa Doom
January 10th, 2013
9:34 pm
td,
Clarence Thomas is black. He’s just not “the right kind” of black for the libs.
He is one of those “house blacks” like Herman Cain and Walter Williams.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:37 pm
Cuts will cause a recession con.
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:37 pm
td, don’t you ever get dizzy? My Lord, anyone who spins around topics like you do must have had ballerina training.
You rube-a-cons (LOL!) love the taste of bankster bootpolish. You can’t get enough.
Occupy that…
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
9:37 pm
“The zombie left rules this blog and the zombie right bows to our rules”
Only in your dreams and the right will become your nightmare.
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
9:37 pm
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:29 pm
albany,
Don’t quote rw media and post something credible con.
I’d be glad to if I could depend on the msm to report anything credible. Of course, with the likes of Chris Matthews and the Rev Al, what do you expect?
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
9:39 pm
get, they need some new Purity Tests…
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:40 pm
Jam,
I think they ran out.
It is a tiny tent.
td
January 10th, 2013
9:41 pm
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:37 pm
Cuts will cause a recession con.
Obama already knows that the effects of Obamacare being implemented and the tax increases he just pushed is going to dump us back into a recession and is trying to find someone to blame before the uninformed wakes up.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
9:42 pm
Ftroop buffoonery continues. Carry on with the rants. Check your depends regularly Ftroopers.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:43 pm
td,
Keep wishing for bad things for your country.
Stay the course con.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:43 pm
getalife
at the republican convention they debated an empty chair
and nominated an empty suit….
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
9:45 pm
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:43 pm
getalife
at the republican convention they debated an empty chair
and nominated an empty suit….
Empty suit…as in Obama…the one that sends Uncle Joe to do his biden?
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:47 pm
frog,
They ran a man that claimed facts don’t matter and they vote for him.
Talk about la la land.
They need to get a grip on the real world.
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
9:48 pm
These lib left wingers are such panty waists. They have to get surrogates to f..k for them.
Jay
January 10th, 2013
9:48 pm
Thanks, Brian. You are right, of course, and as a lifelong Red Sox fan, I hang my head in shame at that mistake. I knew it didn’t look right … I’ll fix it.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:48 pm
Down in Albany
Empty suit as in Mitt Romney who couldn’t quit talking or
say the same thing twice.
td
January 10th, 2013
9:49 pm
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:43 pm
As to compared to the Democratic convention where they put in their plank the legalization of sodomy, the killing of the innocent anytime for any reason and denied God 3 times.
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
9:51 pm
td
January 10th, 2013
9:49 pm
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:43 pm
As to compared to the Democratic convention where they put in their plank the legalization of sodomy, the killing of the innocent anytime for any reason and denied God 3 times
Oooooo, they are going to come after you for that one! Not with any substance, just personal slander, of course.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 10th, 2013
9:52 pm
Jm
January 10th, 2013
9:17 pm
Obama is beyond ineffective
And yet, Romney still couldn’t defeat him.
What does that say for Romney?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
9:52 pm
td forgot to mention the unicorns and the free prom dresses at Whole Foods for life.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:53 pm
td 9:49
and they shall roast in hell for that but their nominee did win….
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:54 pm
You cons are hilarious.
td
January 10th, 2013
9:59 pm
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
9:53 pm
td 9:49
and they shall roast in hell for that but their nominee did win…
He sure did. Well thank God that the people of this country decided to return the Republicans to control the House of Reps, the governorships of 30 states and total control of 24 states.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
10:00 pm
td
maybe God dislikes Mormons more than reprobates……
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 10th, 2013
10:01 pm
… where they put in their plank the legalization of sodomy…
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
– Thomas “Billy Shakespeare” Jefferson.
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
10:02 pm
The way you Republicans have perverted god it is little wonder there is so much blow back…
td
January 10th, 2013
10:04 pm
More signs of the coming recession.
“Along with adjusted net income of $1.2 billion, American Express delivered a surprise in its fourth quarter earnings report today: the elimination of 5,400 jobs as part of a global reorganization of its business units.”
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/01/10/American-Express-Layoffs-011013.aspx
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
10:04 pm
“return the Republicans to control the House of Reps, the governorships of 30 states and total control of 24 states”
Good point now we know why the goober brains want to confiscate guns.
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
10:09 pm
Mormonism is a false denomination, in the non-religion called Christianity. ~Scout Chapter 5, verse12
Sixty two degrees at 10 PM on January 10th.
Man, I’m loving this global cooling! Thank you Rick Perry!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
10:12 pm
And yet, the GOP quivers and fears voters and must suppress the vote to keep control.
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
10:14 pm
Libs gone wild.
Show us your t!ts!
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
10:21 pm
moonbat betty
only on fat Tuesday….
td
January 10th, 2013
10:23 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
10:12 pm
And yet, the GOP quivers and fears voters and must suppress the vote to keep control.
You know it is funny you should mention voters. I read something a few weeks ago that Obama did not win one state that had true photo id laws.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
10:25 pm
sure you did td
you haven’t demonstrated those kind of comprehension skills.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
10:30 pm
gas prices to fall in 2013…..
but but but…. $6 a gallon was the conned pronouncement.
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
10:31 pm
I read something a few weeks ago that Obama did not win one state that had true photo id laws.
Wow! That is so unimpressive!
Money Boo Boo was a pathetic nominee.
I wrote that he’d be lucky to win 200 Electoral College votes.
I was way off. He won 202…
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
10:36 pm
Show us your t!ts!
moonbat betty, it’s t!!ts up in their pathetic show.
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
10:39 pm
Good night all even to you goobers. Taps
Old Physics Teacher
January 10th, 2013
11:07 pm
Brosephus™
Just checked back in before calling it a night and saw you were still here. You may have a point. I met the “Quick Guard” for the 1965 Alabama National Champs a number of years ago. He said his playing size was 5′11″ 175lb. Alabama’s women trainers are bigger than that now. I worked with one of the ‘75 Wake Forest tailbacks. He was a little taller and about the same weight. Maybe if they added asterisks (with the comment “juiced”) by their names?
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
11:44 pm
DDR,
Blogging after Miller time can be hazardous……..
Thats why I switched to Jim Beam!
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 11th, 2013
12:00 am
Well, I’m not sleepy yet, sooo………
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TWS0Y9ihyA
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 11th, 2013
12:04 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK1Pjgix79k
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 11th, 2013
12:13 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIYwS5I5-tg
ODD OWL
January 11th, 2013
2:22 am
President Barack Obama and the Democrats must draw a line in the sand and not tolerate any more of this Republican recalcitrant obstructionism and economic terrorism… Every Republican in the House and Senate who are against raising the debt ceiling should be charged with incompetence and dereliction of duty… The Republicans are violating Constitutional law and their oath of Office… The Republicans attempts to overthrow the Government of the United States of America today is analogous with Southern Democrats attempts to overthrow the Government in 1860… President Barack Obama must respond to this threat with the same energetic vigor and determination that President Abraham Lincoln did…
USC
January 11th, 2013
6:04 am
Not only did Ashley gradulate from Kentucky with Honors, she has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard. I think Senator Foghorn would enjoy droning on to his wife (if he has one) about spending cuts and leave the rest of us with a thoughtful, intelligent, attractive, U.S. Senator named Judd.
Jack ®
January 11th, 2013
6:09 am
A “mark of our decline”? Just when things were looking up with the GOP being in disarray, the gun problem being handled by Biden, Hillary’s promise to testify, the cabinet positions all settled, the debt crisis solved by the taxing the rich and here’s Bookman talking about decline. I’ll never understand these moody liberals.
marko
January 11th, 2013
7:03 am
I like Morning Joe. It’s informative and entertaining. Listening this morning, I learned that 75% of all NRA members favor mandatory background checks for all gun purchases. It makes you wonder what kind of organization ignores the wishes of the vast majority of it’s membership.
Why Don’t we see if we can play Republican word games. A strange place where massive assaults on civil liberties are called Patriot Acts. Let’s quit calling it gun control , and call it by it’s proper name. Nut control.
Regarding Lance, when he was on top of his game, he was raking in about 16 million a year. Put aside your moral outrage a moment , and ask yourself if you’d cheat a bit for 16 million. Bicycle racing is a lot more like NASCAR than most people realize. They cover themselves in corporate logos, and if they aint cheating they aint trying.
Wilbur
January 11th, 2013
7:16 am
Jay feels all noble and adult for admitting that the trillion dollar coin is a stupid and silly idea but has no problem with yet another trillion dollar Obama IOU. It’s the endless Obama IOU’s that are what are stupid and dangerous.
Granny Godzilla
January 11th, 2013
7:17 am
Good Morning Campers!
Granny Godzilla
January 11th, 2013
7:20 am
Wilbur
AS you don’t like the coin idea, would you prefer the 14th amendment remedy or the issuance of scrip to stop the stupid and dangerous behavior of those attempting to block the raising the debt ceiling?
Wilbur
January 11th, 2013
7:27 am
Always great to scroll back a little and read the left wing stalinists out in force on Bookman’s blog. Law? Freedom? Democracy? Rights? They don’t care. All that matters is their political win for the moment. This seems increasingly to be the face of the modern democratic party.
Aquagirl
January 11th, 2013
7:36 am
Hey alex—remember, coffee first, THEN post.
alex
January 11th, 2013
7:38 am
14 th amendment gets you exactly how many days-granny ? Stupid.
Kareem wants a stadium, no matter what the people say, what says you JAY? Stupid “leaders”
alex
January 11th, 2013
7:42 am
Thanks, Aqua, Friday, YEA! Got the post holiday Blues…..
Granny Godzilla
January 11th, 2013
7:45 am
alex
i don’t know, please tell us.
JamVet
January 11th, 2013
7:46 am
Hi Granny G! Just cranking DDR’s Low Rider link from her late night insomnia. What a great way to start a new day!
Like virtually all Republican infested organizations, the NRA will NEVER compromise.
No need wasting time and energy hoping that they will.
There is only one solution to dealing with them. Just as with the general GOP, they have to have their heavily monied asses kicked up and down the street for awhile until they very slowly begin see the writing on the wall and bend to common sense and ethical behavior…
Aquagirl
January 11th, 2013
7:46 am
Got the post holiday Blues…..
I make stupid pre-coffee posts all year long, lol.
Granny Godzilla
January 11th, 2013
7:49 am
JamVet
I could not agree more…..
It appears we have broken the back of the Tea PArty, the NRA is next.
America no longer has the patience for “gun nuts”.
Jefferson
January 11th, 2013
7:54 am
Mac nearly lost last time, have the folks in KY wised up yet?
Georgia
January 11th, 2013
7:55 am
The Seahawk Cheerleaders are in Atlanta already! I saw em at the dome. You know, I think they’re dumb. Yeah, they thought they were playing Denver so I got them all to join the mile high stadium club beneath the bleachers. Yeah, I ended up having to throw a flag for too many cheerleaders in the cuddle. Yeah, don’t expect any cheerin’ out of any of them on Sunday. We got the cheer advantage in the bag. Go Falcons..
Hmmmmmmm
January 11th, 2013
8:01 am
Hope everyone is enjoying the NEW Obama Tax c/o of Obama care…. Yes, even the middle class… You voted we got it… SUCKERS!
Cherokee
January 11th, 2013
8:03 am
I suppose it would be a waste of time to explain to Wilbur that the Congress appropriates the money and directs the executive branch how to spend it?
I have to pay my bills Wilbur – why should Republicans in Congress be any different?
Granny Godzilla
January 11th, 2013
8:04 am
The new Obama tax, Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
Don’t you mean the end of a temporary tax holiday?
Please tell us all that you DO understand the difference?
JamVet
January 11th, 2013
8:04 am
GG, yep, the tea party is as relevant as their darlings Sarah Palin, Christine McDonald, Scott Brown, Sharron Angle and Alan West.
For Andy Sinkwink, RIP Tea Party 2009 – 2012.
Occupy that, sell outs.
Cherokee
January 11th, 2013
8:04 am
Which NEW Obama tax would that be, Hm?
Mick
January 11th, 2013
8:07 am
It’s the FICA tax of 2% that congress let expire, rates are back to 6.2% as they were two years ago…
stands for decibels
January 11th, 2013
8:10 am
mornin’.
As to compared to the Democratic convention where they put in their plank the legalization of sodomy, the killing of the innocent anytime for any reason and denied God 3 times.
ha ha ha. Our td was boozin’ it up somethin fierce last night, I see.
DannyX
January 11th, 2013
8:11 am
“Hope everyone is enjoying the NEW Obama Tax c/o of Obama care…. ”
Oh dear God, has this replaced Benghazi in the Fox News crazy rotation?
Cherokee
January 11th, 2013
8:11 am
Yeah I know Mick – it’s the low info folks like Hmmmm who don’t quite get it…
stands for decibels
January 11th, 2013
8:11 am
Wilbur doesn’t understand how money works.
I will make it real simple for Wilbur, and for everyone else. Money is worth what we, collectively, decide it is worth.
The end.
stands for decibels
January 11th, 2013
8:12 am
Anyone else remember all those stalwart Republican Congrefscritters who were prepared to die on that 4.2% FICA rate hill?
Neither do I.
Granny Godzilla
January 11th, 2013
8:13 am
Hmmmm makes me go…..aaaawwwwww
stands for decibels
January 11th, 2013
8:14 am
Hmmmm makes me go…..aaaawwwwww
I dig the dude’s screen handle though. I assume it’s an homage to his momma’s nickname.
Granny Godzilla
January 11th, 2013
8:16 am
stands!
stands for decibels
January 11th, 2013
8:19 am
Hey, about this “deny God three times” business?
During the DNC, last year, I happened to be in God’s country, the passenger in a cow orker’s rental car, and said cow orker decided to tune in to some syndicated morning-redneck show (forget the hosts’ names, but y’all probably have heard of ‘em–”Jeb ‘n Cornhole”, or somesuch…)
It was a short drive to the client site, but I got to hear fifteeen solid minutes of crying and complaining about that last minute addition of “we think belief in God is swell if that’s what you’re into” to the Democratic platform. This was, apparently, the Most Important News Story in The World in Redneckville.
Which is why our td is still crying about it today, apparently.
Just in case anyone wondered WTF he was on about, up there.