Commentarama-nary Noun - a compendium of descriptive ad hoc words and phrases created to describe political, moral, ethical, or just plain idiotic situations or persons where the Merriam-Webster unabridged dictionary versions just will not suffice.
As many of you may know, WH Press Secretary Jay Carney has left the WH to go to a bigger and better place. [It has been reported that he may end up in a Chelsea Clinton-type situation and tax bracket...] He has been replaced by the appropriately named Josh Earnest. [Seriously...that is not a joke!] His first few weeks have been golden. Here is one quote from his first few weeks as WH Press Secretary. When some in the WH Press Corps asked that with the world in such turmoil, is President Obama acting more like a bystander, Mr. Earnest responded:
"I think that there have been a number of situations in which you’ve seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way, that has substantially furthered American interests and substantially improved the, uh, you know, the – the tranquility of the global community.”
Huh, well, hmmm...yeah. It appears that Earnest has clearly decided to redefine the word "tranquility" to mean "almost total chaos". Perhaps it is time to add to our Commentarama-nary. For those of you who may be new or maybe have just plain forgotten, we started our own dictionary several years ago [see below] because sometimes those standard words one finds listed in the unabridged Merriam-Webster just do not fully explain our current political climate or sometimes the definitions have just been changed for no good reason.
So to get us in the mood, I want to add three words with new definitions:
tranquility Noun 1. a state of peace 2. total chaos. Synonyms:Israel, Syria, Iraq, Korea, Russia, Ukraine, US southern border...
migrant Noun 1. anyone who crosses the southern border of the US without documentation. Synonyms: illegal alien, undocumented immigrant.
jobs Noun 1. the acts of meaningful employment 2. occupation 3. issue that one pivots to for avoidance and/or when tranquility breaks out.
You get the idea. We should take this summertime lull to add to our lexicon leading up to the 2014 Midterm election and in preparation for 2016. So, if you have a word in need of a definition, or you have a definition in need of an appropriate word, let us know. Or if you have heard a brand new definition of word or phrase you've heard, let's add that too. Help your fellow Commentarama-ians and make like Merriam and Webster.
Commentarama-nary - previous entries:
alcohol Noun \ˈbüz\ - 1. a fluid which aids in the viewing of presidential debates and state of the union addresses 2. what comes out if you prick a Kennedy;
Bidenism Noun - 1. anytime Joe Biden lips are moving; 2. gaffe.
bulsch Noun 1. alternate and shortened spelling of manure from an adult bull; Others Uses: has added benefit of passing many censor bots.
insaninine Adj - 1. simultaneously stupid and crazy as in "Joe Biden is just plain insaninine", 2. combination of the words "insane" and "asinine" [Blog-ese]
Chicago, or Chicago-style Noun 1. Method of winning political campaigns by blackmailing, framing, and/or threatening one's opponent. 2. Adj deep dish style pizza. See also Rahm Emmanuel.
Loonion: Noun 1. Union supporters/backers/members who become crazed/enraged whenever Right to Work legislation is mentioned or proposed., 2. thugs.
Obamatopia Noun 1. the state of suspension of disbelief and/or the rational time/space continuum where there are 57-60 US states and Syria is larger than Libya; 2. a place or state of being where all things are equal and just.
ouch-orrific Adj 1. an action or event too painful to watch.
skeptomistic Adj 1. The act of being both skeptical and optimistic at the same time, in other words, a confused independent.
psychophant Noun 1. a person who acts obsequiously to the point of derangement 2. a show host on MSNBC 3. a mad elephant
Famous Names -
Debbie "WTF"* Schultz - Esteemed Member of Congress and DNC Chairperson Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D/FL) *WTF stands for Win The Fight...really.
Dingy Harry - Esteemed Member of Congress and Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D/NV)
Joe "Plugs" Biden - Esteemed Vice President and all around nice guy Joseph Biden (D/Mars)
San Fran Nan - Esteemed Member of Congress and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D/Venus)
Mahmoud Imadinnerjacket - President of Iran and generally scourge of humanity Mahmoud Amadinajad (or however you spell it. It doesn't matter. He's a jerk and doesn't deserve to get his name spelled right).
Rahm Emanuel - 1. Mayor of Chicago where violence and unemployment have shot up since he took office; 2. also former Chief of Staff for President Obama; 3. brother of Ezekiel Emanuel, godfather of euthanasia and death panels. a/k/a Swearin' Rahm
Let's get creative with those words or phrases and add to our Commentarama-nary. I will keep an ongoing list. Wow, I wonder if this is what Noah Webster felt like?
I hope that "josh" is a familiar verb in all parts of the country, because everyone deserves to be in on the joke. Seriously, if the Muppets had thought to invent a spokesperson character, "Josh Earnest" would've been the perfect name. Not to suggest that the new press secy isn't a Muppet. He almost certainly is.
ReplyDeleteI love those. It's impossible to learn without a really good dictionary of terms...these are so appropriate....
ReplyDeleteTryanmax - I couldn't believe it when I read his name! It was just too perfect. Personally, I would have gone with the more formal "Joshua" just to avoid the snickers. It IS a Muppet name, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteCritch - It's fun to make up new words and definitions to old words! I guess this is how the Obama Administration must feel every day, well, and German and Soviet propagandists too...
ReplyDeleteHere comes my tax audit in 3..2...1
Hillionaire Noun. - A DC politician who claims to be "dead broke" while receiving multimillion dollar advances and speakers' fees. See also " Billionaire, Chelsionaire .
ReplyDeleteI'm comforted that the world is a tranquil place according to the Administration. And while I'm on a rant....can someone please explain why the DOJ is investigating someone for having an outhouse and a likeness of Barrack Obama on a float? When the Hell did we become some third rate banana republic? Short of a death threat I fail to see why the DOJ is doing anything about this...
ReplyDeleteCritch - Apparently, we, the little people are no longer allowed the unalienable right to parody our leaders mercilessly. To bad that no other administration has been so sensitive that any investigations ensued otherwise most of the comedians and every member of SNL would have been jailed during the Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush Administration...well all the way back to George Washington actually. Maybe that explains why all entire world of comedians has been strangely silent towards Obama for the last 6 years. They knew they would be "investigated" for crimes against the state.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of "tranquil", the Russians or Russian insurgents in Ukraine have been accused of shooting down a Malaysian Airline passenger plane over eastern Ukraine today. It has been reported that it was shot down. All on board were killed.
ReplyDeleteand Obama is at a fundraiser....
ReplyDeleteI hope no one invested in Malaysian Airlines this year...
ReplyDeleteYes, Critch. He is at two fund raisers in my neighborhood in NYC...what is he raising funds for? He's not running for anything?
ReplyDeleteKit - Sully Sullenberger, the pilot that landed in the. Hudson River and save the passengers, had an interesting question. "why were they flying in a war zone where two military planes had been shot down in the last few weeks?" And yeah, I wouldn't be flying that airlines ever...
ReplyDeleteKit, There is no Malaysian Air. It's a false flag operation run jointly by Obama, Boehner and the Fed to hide the fact that they made sweet sweet love in the back of the White House limo... the people's ride, while trying to import kids by death trains from the Common Core favoring, pro-gay part of the New Islamic State.
ReplyDeleteYes, Andrew, I think what you write rings true...PIVOT TO JOBS!!!
ReplyDeletePivot indeed, Bev! Why won't those lazy Americans take all the amazing jobs Obama has created? I don't get it?
ReplyDeletetryanmax, Nice catch! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point Bev, a very good point. Funny, some of the crazy left-wingers I work with actually hope that he will run a third time..I haven't had the heart to pull out my copy of the Constitution and read it to them...and yes, I often have a copy of the Constitution with me.
ReplyDeleteTryanmax and Andrew - seriously Josh Earnest...how is that NOT a joke that writes itself? And yes, most should understand what "josh" means...
ReplyDeleteCritch - I've heard this meme for a few years now about Obama running for a third term. It ain't never gonna happen. And I too have a pocket Constitution...:-)
ReplyDeleteI think alcohol is also what comes out when you Kennedy a prick.
ReplyDeleteKoshcat - So, that a verb - "to Kennedy" ? Whatever it means, it sounds painful.
ReplyDeleteI maybe kind of weird here but I'm kind of leery of this. It feels like an example of government overreach. But I could be wrong. It just feels like the Feds going too far.
ReplyDeleteLINK
Kit - I'm no great legal mind, but don't you think that the Feds should be investigating the pharmacies for illegal distribution first rather than FedEx? And if they are indicting FedEx, shouldn't they have to indict UPS, USPS and any other package carriers? It looks like the Feds are fishing...
ReplyDeleteBev and Kit, I'm bothered by this greatly. The feds are trying to force FedEx into becoming an arm of the state and conducting independent investigations of their customers to see if they are in compliance with the law. That's an abuse -- the Feds don't have that right. If they want to get these pharmacies, then get them... don't try to force FedEx into helping you.
ReplyDeleteBTW, this is part of a trend over the past decade or so, where the Feds are increasingly attacking "transactional" players like banks, payment processors, internet providers, or transportation services to make them enforce US policy.
ReplyDeleteIt's conscription, plain and simple. And it's an obvious sign that the Fed has spread itself too thin. (Gee, I wonder how that happened?) This is how biggness fails, by trying to draw more cats into the herd.
ReplyDeletetryanmax,Exactly.
ReplyDeleteI can understand if the entity the Feds are going after knowingly transacted. But to go after shipping companies for carrying mail that they are not allowed to open seems unlawful. They put FedEx in a bind - break the law by opening the packages or breaking the law by transporting unknown content that might be drugs or arms or "banned" material.
ReplyDeleteBev, It's even worse than that. If we were talking about guns or cocaine, then FedEx could at least spot them. But we're talking about something that is usually legal. In effect, the feds are demanding that FedEx investigate whether or not the pills it is carrying were legally purchased and stop the ones that weren't. How exactly does FedEx do that except to blacklist sellers the feds tell them to blacklist?
ReplyDeleteSounds like UPS already rolled on something similar. That'll make FedEx's fight that much harder, I suspect. According to the TIME article, FedEx allegedly “departed from its usual business practices” to allow the drug trade to continue. I don't even see how such a thing is possible. Normal practice for a shipping company is to pick up and drop off with no questions asked. Anything FedEx might do to identify illegal pharmacies would be a departure from usual business practices.
ReplyDeleteSo what you are saying is that the Feds want FedEx to request to see verification that the prescriptions are from the licensed doctors. Which of course means they would have to know exactly what is in the box and who it is going to. Doesn't that break all kinds of HIPAA laws?
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, the Feds will already know what doctors and what medications the recipient has been prescribed already through the very convenient electronic medical filing system required by ACA...
Bev, That is essentially what they are demanding from a legal standpoint. But I think the feds will try to talk around that. They will instead say that FedEx received information (from the Feds) that these pharmacies were selling illegal drugs, so they should have not taken the packages... and they will hope that no one fills in all the blanks they are skipping.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, I recall the UPS situation. I'm not sure what "normal practices" they could be talking about?
The biggest claim is that "FedEx took steps to protect its business by setting up special credit policies for Internet pharmacies so it wouldn't lose money if police shut the sites down, the indictment says."
ReplyDeleteLike the others, I'm not a big enough legal mind so how would that be "conspiracy"?
LINK
I also find it interesting that no specific individuals were indicted.
re MH17,
ReplyDeleteThere was 1 American on board. The Netherlands had the highest number of citizens killed with 189, Malaysia the 2nd highest w/ 44, and Australia the 3rd at 27. Other countries that lost citizens include, but are not limited to, Belgium (6), UK (9), and Israel (1). 3 persons remain unverified.
It was also reported that there were 100 children on board...
ReplyDeleteRe: FedEx have the two pharmacies named in the Time article been indicted? Or any of the recipients?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure FedEx has a legal leg to stand on. Knowingly transporting an illegal substance is illegal. They were informed that these companies were shipping narcs illegally. There are a lot of legal hoops to jump through to ship narcs. There is similarity between this and shipping cocain from Columbia. Does anyone think that would fly in court especially if the company was made aware?
ReplyDeleteBev, the last time I was in the desert, 2006, I gave an Egyptian gentleman a copy of our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence. We had a number of great conversations over coffee about how things should be running. He was a Cambridge graduate and a genuinely nice person. He told me that he thought it was unfortunate that so many Westerners did not appreciate those documents.
ReplyDeleteCritch - I think that so many Westerners do not appreciate those documents because they have never really lived in situation where they have not known freedom. I talk to my Eastern European friends, mostly Polish, who know first hand what not having freedom means.
ReplyDeleteAnd Koshcat, FedEx counters by stating that they handle 10 million packages a day and cannot police each package without violating their customers' privacy. It seems to me that the Feds are leaning on FedEx as the middleman rather than investigating the pharmacies and matching prescriptions to doctors to patients. I won't even go to the Big Pharma and their monopoly on drug prices...
ReplyDeleteUkraine is accusing the rebels of "destroying evidence" at the MH17 and yesterday an OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) team was blocked from accessing the site by a group of militants, several of whom were drunk.
ReplyDelete"MH17 crash: Ukraine accuses rebels of destroying evidence"
"MH17: rebels block access to part of site of crash as evidence against them grows"
Koshcat, from what I've read, the gov't is claiming that because one part of one company was shut down for selling illegal scripts then FedEx should have known to stop dealing with the parent company and all its other subsidiaries. I don't know how reasonable that is, but I'm leaning toward "not very." The gov't is also claiming that b/c FedEx took steps to protect themselves from possible illegal acts of their clients, that constitutes collaboration or at least an admission of certain knowledge. That's like saying that wearing a seatbelt demonstrates that I intended to get in an accident.
ReplyDeleteUS Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power giving the speech Obama should have made —but didn't.
ReplyDeleteShe blasts Putin for sponsoring the insurgency in eastern Ukraine and points out the numerous connections between the insurgents and the Russian government and compares that to the generous offers made by President Poroshenko to the rebels including amnesty for those not guilty of capital crimes.
Length: 12min 22sec
LINK
What? Was Barack at another fundraiser or golfing or something? Oh, yeah, I think he is at Camp David this weekend, before he and family take off for Martha's Vineyard for two weeks...
ReplyDeleteWell, I wasn't around for the actual moon landing, but it is the 45th anniversary today.
ReplyDeleteSo, here's some of NASA's restored footage of Tranquility Base. (There IS some sound at the key moments, Neil's and JFK's speeches, mostly. But it still leaves me wondering how, in a world where can put men on the moon and in stations where they can live in space, why does NASA seem to have a problem with talkies?)
Thanks Rustbelt, I forgot about the anniversary of the moon landing. I DO remember it. I was 10, sitting in front of the old B&W TV (yes there was a time, children, that TV was only in B&W!) watching the landing and then waiting for the first walk on the moon. And sadly we've never done anything quite like since...
ReplyDeleteActually, that's not true. When the first rover landed on Mars and started sending back images, that was pretty amazing too. I remember thinking what would happen if a little green face looked right in the camera as it was being shown live! What would happen?
ReplyDeleteI can think of millions of people, fundamentalist Christians mostly who would freak the Hell out if we were contacted by a species from another star. I have friends who are convinced that Earth is the center of God's universe and that all of his love is showered on us....hmmm, they don't quite understand they preach about.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of extraterrestrials, Jerry Brown may run for POTUS. So now we have a Moonbat, a fake Indian, a disgraced lawyer and a dumbass VP all looking at it....I think I'm hoping for an alien invasion.