Monday Cheap Shots

Via Democratic Underground.

And the Wolf Blitzer award for making the blindingly obvious sound even less interesting than it is goes to...

Another way to understand Clinton v Sanders. Their political pitches are essentially idealism vs pragmatism.

— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) August 15, 2015

Wait, what was the first way? That he has funnier hair?

Or are you saying she's the idealist and he's the pragmatist? I guess that would at least have some Slatepitchy surprise value, but if you really want to argue it out I'm turning off the TV.

I thought Trump was joking about Jonah not being able to buy pants. Lost weight too. Image via EvilBloggerLady.

Shorter Jonah Goldberg

On his feud with presidential candidate Donald Trump (which started when Goldberg called Trump, fairly oddly at this point in history, a "failed man", Trump called Goldberg "a guy who can't buy a pair of pants", and things have escalated from there to the point where Trump has now reproached Goldberg with being insulting to women):

Hahaha really? Trump thinks he's politically incorrect? Claims to be a paleolithic woman-hater with an uncontrollable mouth? I'm the real paleolithic woman-hater with an uncontrollable mouth. That Trump is nothing but a fucking gentleman!

Jim DeMint showing his Salafist loyalties with that infamous Muslim Gang Salute. Photo via Heritage Foundation.

Jim DeMint's secret plan

According to the Daily Dogwhistle, he knows how to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon, but he can't commit it to writing; you have to watch a 57-second video. I did, and it is:

• Scrap this deal*
• Stay strong on sanctions**
• Stand strong with our allies***
• And negotiate from a position of strength****

*Because that worked so well with the Versailles treaty in 1919, ending war forever.

**That is, not

 the primary U.S. sanctions targeting Iran, which generally prohibit transactions or other dealings with or involving Iran by U.S. persons and non-U.S. entities owned or controlled by U.S. persons... [or any] U.S. sanctions aimed at combating Iran's support for terrorist groups, its fomenting of violence in the region, and its perpetration of human rights abuses, which the United States will continue to aggressively enforce

which are not affected by the deal at all, but the other ones which Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China, the E.U. in general, and the United Nations are all determined to lift with or without us.

***Where, as the visual clarifies with a shot of Binyamin Netanyahu, "our allies" means not "our allies" (such as NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council— Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) but "the current Israeli government".

****i.e. a position of near-complete diplomatic isolation. An alternative definition of "position of strength" is that provided by Senator Rand Paul:

 "I want the president to negotiate from a position of strength," said Paul. "I want him to be able to go to the Iranians and say, 'Congress is going to have to vote on this, because Congress put these sanctions in place. To remove them, Congress will have to vote on it, so you will have to give up more.'"

Interpreting "strength" as "inability to do anything without the encouragement of a Congress that has steadfastly refused to do anything I want for five years, even when they technically support it, and even if it means a total governmental standstill".

Cross-posted at No More Mister Nice Blog.