"between a banana and a hand grenade"

John Cole: Raise Your Glass High

Let’s have a big round of applause for Joe Klein:

Now that’s a panel discussion! A heated debate between Time magazine’s Joe Klein and the New Republic’s Jamie Kirchick spilled off the dais Tuesday into a hallway confrontation where Klein called the younger pundit a “dishonest [expletive]” and a “[expletiving] propagandist.”

Klein told us today he’s not sure he uttered the “propagandist” bit—heard by a few witnesses—but stands by the “dishonest [expletive]” part.

“Absolutely. He’s a [expletive],” Klein, 62, told us. “He’s 25 years old, and he’s one of those people who has opinions but no facts or experience.”

In other words, Kirchick is perfect in his role as Marty Peretz’s jockstrap.

I’m sure the Weekly Standard and Commentary magazine will spend the next week explaining how this makes Joe Klein a self-hating jew. Joe may not be perfect, but he is on the side of angels when it comes to these assholes.

And as a fellow heater, I understand Joe and appreciate it, even when I disagree with him.

John +5

*** Update ***

Wolcott:

Klein may have his flaws and vanities, a plethora of less than charming polemical traits, but Kirchick—Kirchick is the Eddie Haskell of neoconservatives, a calculating little suck-up whose obsequious pieties drip like melted plastic. (To wit: “Reached for comment, Kirchick said ‘McCain spent five years in a North Vietnamese torture camp. He doesn’t need lessons in the horrors of war from the likes of Joe Klein.’”) If Commentary made a lunch box, Kirchick is what you find packed inside, between a banana and a hand grenade.

Brilliant.

Hoekstra, dubious choice for Intelligence Committee Nov. 11: Rachel Re: Rachel Maddow provides an overview of intelligence leaks and misstatements by Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-MI, the Republicans' ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

John Cole: Punishment Enough

It just never stops with these clowns:

Texas GOP Gov. Rick Perry accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of “punishing” Texas and being “hell-bent” on turning the United States into a socialist country.

Speaking at a luncheon for a Midland County Republican Women’s group, Perry said that “this is an administration hell-bent toward taking American towards a socialist country. And we all don’t need to be afraid to say that because that’s what it is.”

Perry praised the tea party movement to the Republican activists in attendance, crediting the grassroots groups with discouraging some Democrats in Washington from pushing for a public option in the health care bill.

No mention in the article about how exactly Obama is “punishing Texas, but then again, that would have required reporting with actual questions, and not just stenography.

You want to punish Texas and Rick Perry? Blockade it and stop the flow of everything, including hair products. I’m open to an airlift to Austin.

John Cole: I Told You Straight Up

Because I am ornery, I just need to see this again (and again and again and again):

That never gets old. I’m dying here.

Kleefeld (TPM): Family Research Council PAC: We Would Support A Primary Against Olympia Snowe

I just spoke to Connie Mackey, president of the Family Research Council Action PAC, and she told me that if a conservative candidate were to emerge to run against Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) in the 2012 Republican primary, FRC Action will back them.

"Well of course there is an audience that would love to see Olympia Snowe out of office, within the ranks of social conservatives, that's for certain," said Mackey.

A new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) found that a generic conservative challenger would lead the moderate Snowe in a Republican primary by a whopping 59%-31% margin.

"I think a couple years ago, we wouldn't have thought it was possible," said Mackey. "However, those numbers are interesting, and I think those numbers might just track the fact that a lot of Americans are waking up to the liberal policies, what they mean and how they're playing out. And it may be affecting her, with her votes for the stimulus, and breaking from her party. And we would like to see a conservative have a chance to remove her from office up there."

As luck would have it, Mackey is headed up to New Hampshire this weekend for a regional Family Research Council conference on family policy. And she expects that this subject will probably come up in her discussions with FRC members from Maine. Mackey reiterated that nobody would have expected to see numbers like this until now, "so now the process of discussion will begin."

I asked Mackey whether this could turn into another case like the recent NY-23 special election, in which FRC Action supported Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman against Republican Dede Scozzafava, only to end in a victory by Democratic candidate Bill Owens. Mackey said it had surprised a lot of people when the GOP nominated a candidate as liberal as Scozzafava, and that a key difference here is that Maine would have a primary.

"Well, I think that New York 23 actually had a shot. It wasn't automatic that the Democrat would win that one," Mackey explained. "I think a primary is a whole different situation completely. Would we support a conservative against Olympia Snowe in a primary? Yes."

Kleefeld (TPM): Porn Star Stormy Daniels: 'I Have Nothing To Hide'

Porn star Stormy Daniels, who is running for U.S. Senate in Louisiana against incumbent Republican David Vitter, said in an interview with Marie Claire that she would provide a contrast to the hypocrisy of the incumbent, a family-values politician who was implicated in a prostitution scandal.

Q: Why shoot for the Senate?

A: I was drafted by a group called Draft Stormy, a grassroots movement in Louisiana that wanted someone who was the polar opposite of current senator David Vitter. They figured I would be perfect because I am open and honest about my sexuality, unlike Vitter. I realized that this is my chance to make a difference, to do something unselfish, noble, and to help a lot of people.

Q: You're referring to Senator Vitter's link to a Washington, D.C. escort service . . .

A: I'm not one to judge someone's sexual activity, but what annoys me is that he's so hard-core "family values," and he puts his wife and kids out there, saying he's a Christian family man. Then he's caught up in a prostitution scandal. He's a hypocrite.

Daniels also said that her career won't be a problem. "It's actually starting to work in my favor," she said. "I have nothing to hide. A sex tape of me isn't going to pop up and shame me; there are 150 of them at the video store."

She answered some additional questions:

Q: Do you think you're more qualified than Senator Vitter?

A: Absolutely not. But in one movie, I did play a Secret Service agent marooned on an island controlled by North Korea. I butt heads with dictator Kim Jong-il and come out on top.

...

Q: What's your party affiliation?

A: As far as the two-party political system goes, I swing both ways. But I'm leaning toward the Libertarian Party.

Q: Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton?

A: Hillary Clinton. She's a well-rounded woman, extremely knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects, and carries herself with dignity.

...

Q: If you're elected, will you quit porn?

A: Probably, but only because of HD...and gravity.