By the people

Take what you need

Baseball player Don Carman had grown so tired of mundane post-game interviews by 1990 that he decided to forego them altogether, and instead attached a handwritten list of stock responses to his locker along with a message to reporters: “You saw the game. Take what you need.”

(Source: bankbryan)

9:12 pm • 2 January 2012 • 2 notes

“If John Boehner is speaker of the House for the next 20 years, he’ll be lucky to match Nancy Pelosi’s achievements.”

— William Saletan, Slate, November 5, 2010 — ticking off what Pelosi’s Congress accomplished: health care, financial reform, economic stimulus, college lending reform, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and much more. More than a year later, Boehner’s failure — and Pelosi’s triumph — is clear.

12:05 am • 21 December 2011 • 1 note

“Ask Osama bin Laden … if I engage in appeasement.”

—

President Obama (via nationaljournal)

Gauntlet thrown.

(via joshsternberg)

(via theatlantic)

3:52 pm • 8 December 2011 • 736 notes

There is a man walking his orange cat on a leash on the plaza of the United States Supreme Court. Meanwhile, I am still standing in line.

11:08 am • 5 October 2011

Beautiful morning to be lined up outside the Supreme Court.

7:11 am • 5 October 2011 • 2 notes

“And today, thanks to Mike’s principled leadership, our military draws its strength from more members of our American family. Soon, women will report for duty on our submarines. And patriotic service members who are gay and lesbian no longer have to lie about who they are to serve the country that they love. History will record that the tipping point toward this progress came when the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff went before Congress, and told the nation that it was the right thing to do. Mike, your legacy will endure in a military that is stronger, but also in a nation that is more just.”

— Barack Obama on Admiral Mike Mullen, who retired as Joint Chiefs chairman today. (via washingtonpoststyle)

6:58 pm • 30 September 2011 • 19 notes

Out of Time

For the Gen-Xers who grew up on R.E.M. and now toil as copy editors for news and entertainment web sites, the breakup of R.E.M. provided a chance for some clever headline writing. Let’s see how they did:

Shiny, Happy Rockers Call It Quits (E! Online)

R.E.M., R.I.P. (MSN)

R.E.M. Breaks Up, Everybody Hurts (Metro Boston)

They Stood in the Place Where They Lived (Time)

It’s the End of the World: R.E.M. Calls It Quits (Chicago Sun-Times)

It’s the End of the Band As We Know It: R.E.M. Calls It Quits (news.com.au)

It’s the End of R.E.M. As We Know It: Michael Stipe and Crew Break Up After 31 Years (Philly.com)

R.E.M. Break Up: Life’s Rich Pageant (MTV)

The End of R.E.M., and They Feel Fine (The New York Times)

R.E.M. to Fans: It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and We Feel Fine (Red and Black: the University of Georgia student paper)

They Have Got to Leave to Find Their Way (oddly, no one)

11:50 pm • 21 September 2011 • 2 notes