Matt Yglesias

22 Responses to “Endgame”

1. Marshall Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 6:29 pm

   I think Social Democrats’ problem in Europe is mainly that the European center-right is too sensible on economics.

   Oh, come on, Farrell is much closer to the mark than you are. Too sensible on economics? The parties that have been foremost in pushing Europe to a dear-money, ignore-unemployment, finance-centric economic consensus? The problem is that the center-left has been too willing to go along with this shit, not that the center-right is too sensible!

2. Max424 Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

   The Magic went back to their old rotation in the second half of game two and dominated the rest of the way. They can still win the series. I predict they at least create a game 7.

   Gordon Brown, on the other hand, is in much bigger trouble than the Magic. The right honorable Prime Minister is not going to see a game 7.

   The Blue Dogs? They can go to hell. I volunteer to meet them there and explain that their potential salvation is dependent upon the lord’s trigger mechanism.

3. Al Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 8:16 pm

   Suderman is stupid to limit his analysis of tweeting to the right. Suderman’s analysis applies just as much to the left as it does to the right. Virtually no intelligent thought on policy can be expressed in 140 characters. Therefore, people who attempt to express intelligent ideas in 140 characters are almost certainly going to fail.

   As I’ve said before: Twitter is idiotic. Anyone who tweets is an idiot. Anyone who defends Twitter is defending idiocy.

4. tinisoli Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 8:44 pm

   If the Magic lose, and we have to endure Kobe’s new underbite and “I won this one without Shaq!” preening, we can at least look forward to Dwight Howard putting some work into his post game over the summer. It’s like he doesn’t even have a simple up-and-under move. He should trade 8″ off his vertical to Al Jefferson in exchange for two decent post moves.

   What an incredible douchebag Kobe is. Only the purist kind of asshole goes up for a typical, classic Kobe Bryant shot and then blames the bench player for going in for the rebound instead of guessing that Kobe was actually going to pass instead of shoot.

5. StevenAttewell Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 9:10 pm

   Marshall’s right – you’re being blinded by the less-obvious insanity of the European Right, in part because their far-right are in separate parties instead of the same party as they are in the U.S.

   I still recommend the thread on crooked timber, for entirely un-self-interested reasons.

6. SLC Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 9:10 pm

   Contrary to Mr. Yglesias comment, the Magic gave it a good effort on Sunday. They were just a little unlucky. However, there can be no doubt that the Lakers are a more talented team overall, which doesn’t mean they will ultimately prevail. Always remember that talent doesn’t win games, character wins games and, until the last three games, the Lakers have not shown a large helping of character.

7. 24AheadDotCom Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 9:11 pm

   MMartinez is just an ethno-centric hack. If she weren’t of the “right” race he would have said something else. He also isn’t acknowledging that she made a comparison, implying that her experiences made her wiser than those of the “wrong” race.

   In other news, the president of the group that SS belonged to recently got an award from the Mexicangovernment. For those unfamiliar with these issues, each year that country receives billions of dollars of much-needed money that the people they’ve sent us send home.

   And, that same group earlier gave an award of their own to someone who’d earlier proposed genocide and who’s said many other highly questionable things. Oddly enough, it’s difficult to find “liberals” to condemn someone who proposed genocide getting an award; I guess some kinds of genocide are acceptable to “liberals”.

8. S.P. Gass Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

   Breaking news:

   Creigh Deeds wins VA governor primary against Terry McCoulough and Jim Moran.

   Pittsburgh takes 1-0 lead against Detroit in NHL playoff game 6

9. Anonymous Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 9:20 pm

   Al: There are lots of mediums in which one cannot express profound thoughts but which still have value. Gift cards, post-it notes, nametags, and now tweets. The original purpose that Twitter very consciously marketed itself as was reporting your status to friends (”I am going to see Star Trek” “Leaving for vacation now” “Poop time~”) other uses which are popular include telling jokes, linking to things you think are neat, and noting minor thoughts that pop into your head so all your friends can know about it. Stupid to a certain extent, but that is how social interaction works.

10. AssForAHeadDotCom Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    GENOCIDE! INSECTICIDE! APPLE CIDE-R!!1!

11. S.P. Gass Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    Will home prices keep falling?

    I’d like to think prices have fallen far enough; however, if unemployment and foreclosures rise over the next several months, it’s hard to see an increase in home prices anytime soon.

12. Al Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Twitter very consciously marketed itself as was reporting your status to friends (”I am going to see Star Trek” “Leaving for vacation now” “Poop time~”) other uses which are popular include telling jokes, linking to things you think are neat, and noting minor thoughts that pop into your head so all your friends can know about it. Stupid to a certain extent, but that is how social interaction works.

    And completely irrelevant to the political conversation.

13. DTM Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    There is no sign of a bottom in housing prices yet (at least not in the former bubble markets). But even more than where we hit the bottom, the question may be how long we stay scraping along the bottom–I think there is so much “shadow inventory” out there that it could indeed be a period of years in some markets before we see any appreciation (nominal, let alone in real terms).

14. DTM Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 10:59 pm

    By the way, the Supreme Court lifted the stay in the Chrysler bankruptcy case, so get ready for the Fiat Town & Country.

15. Anthony Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 12:18 am

    In other news, the president of the group that SS belonged to recently got an award from the Mexicangovernment. For those unfamiliar with these issues, each year that country receives billions of dollars of much-needed money that the people they’ve sent us send home.

    I believe the proper term is MexicanGovernment. Get it right.

16. fostert Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 4:02 am

    “But even more than where we hit the bottom,”

    Is there really a bottom? There’s always a place below which we will not go. But a bottom? I’ve seen where I’ve been, and the bottom is lower. And many people I’ve known are already much lower, even if they’re climbing up. The bottom is a construct in your mind. Where yours is is your choice. I’ve seen the worst, and they aren’t the bottom. It really can get worse than cutting off you legs so you can beg better. If you thought that was bottom, think again. You don’t even want to know how low the bottom gets. I haven’t seen the worst, but what I’ve seen makes me sad to be human. What we do to each other is simply barbaric. That the guy doing it carries an IPod doesn’t make him more civilized. Someday, we’ll be more than erratic monkeys. But that will surely be after my death.

17. DTM Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 7:07 am

    fostert,

    With all due respect, you are overthinking this one. The relevant bottom just means the point at which house prices stop going down.

18. Just Dropping By Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 8:15 am

    get ready for the Fiat Town & Country

    Please, it’s “Fiat Città e Campagna”.

19. DTM Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 8:50 am

    Just Dropping By,

    Well done.

    By the way, I would also have accepted “Fiat Americani Grassi”.

20. mds Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 9:07 am

    Mel Martinez tries to push back on conservative racial freakout.

    I wondered if Lonewacko were going to point out that Martinez is a member of La Raza, too. Mysteriously, he did not. Well, at least he smeared Martinez’ racial identity.

    All of this hysteria about La Raza is understandable, even though it’s just one of many []-American organizations. If one is a stupid racist, it’s easy to get it confused with MEChA, which is the organization that’s into the whole Aztlan thing, and which complicates matters by also using the term “La Raza.” However, more careful inspection reveals that La Raza is an unobjectionable ethnic pride association to which a Puerto Rican judge can comfortably belong, while MEChA is composed of piloted giant walking robots.

    By the way, I would also have accepted “Fiat Americani Grassi”.

    I have an idea, you goofy guys: how about “Chrysler”? The right wing should already be delighted that the company now has connections to the country that keeps electing Berlusconi. Let’s not give them any more help.

    Wait, will it be okay to buy Chrysler now? GM is officially the remaining government-owned one, right? I’d hate to boycott the wrong car company in the conservative quest to cause thousands more Americans to lose their jobs.

21. DTM Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 9:24 am

    Let’s not give them any more help.

    Oh please–lighten up. A few jokes about “Fix It Again Tony” aren’t going to change the political effects, which incidentally are going to be very much in Obama’s favor. In 2012, most of the country won’t care, but a bunch of people in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana are going to remember which party wanted to turn the Rust Belt into the Dust Belt.

22. mds Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 9:39 am

    Oh please–lighten up.

    Um, I was making a joke, too. I actually doubt that the American right are holding “Hooray for Fiat” parties just because Silvio is their kind of European politician. Especially given the state of Indiana’s attempt to destroy the deal and worsen the American job bloodbath.