I must be a masochist; I've been watching the GOP convention all evening.

Right now, Fred "I'm Acting as Bad as I Can" Thompson is speaking. He's cleared his throat about 45 times in the first few minutes of his speech. Nauseating.

Yeah, I love his sum-up of Palin: "a small-town girl with small-town values." Uh-huh. The worst of small-town values: a knocked-up teenager and a history of embarrassing secessionist politics.

But...but...didn't you know? Republicans are AWESOME!

Hey thanks for this etymology. Never thought about the term "boilerplate" before and now we know where it comes from.

This really should've been Charles' post, since for once, the etymology is actually connected to the industrial revolution which takes you right to MArx, and globalization. For once!

It'd quibble that the defining characteristic is "sturdiness" -- huh? --here did you make that up from ?
And reusability? Methinks the concept fungibility or standardization of the large flat pieces which can be used to build any boiler. (Note: this concept is in fact what underlies industrial manufacture.)

So when the large pieces of standardized verbiage actually looked like the boilerplates used to make boilers, there was a double dual meaning (large flat pices, both interchangeable in their respective fields).

Hopefully this discussion will lead to a fully standardized definition of boilerplate. We can't be making up artisanal definitions, one by one, with minor variations, you know.

If McCain/Nazi-Barbie win, I'm signing up for the secessionist party. The Republicans are world-class pigheaded assholes.

I just wrote a fantastic essay in Slate about Karl Rove and Sarah Palin:

Libs Get Rove All Wrong

I like to go into mens rooms and sniff shit when no one is looking...it is the patriotic thing to do!

Lieberman's themes regarding the Gustav are remarkably similar to those used by Obama just yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIVFraQwm3c&eurl=http://www.dailykos.com/

Joe Lieberman is a tool. I think the term McCain would use is cunt (in the most perjorative sense).

Still watching, LDP? Dom DeLuise is delivering the benediction!

Thanks, Brendan. I'll turn back to it -- I'd hate to miss the part where he puts a pie down Burt Reynolds' pants!

Plus, more unmitigated bullshit from Fox News: "4,000 Protesters Try to Break Down RNC Fence After Rage Against the Machine Concert."

The crowd (which couldn't have been more than 2,000) marched to the Xcel Center, where they briefly toyed with the idea of climbing over the barricades.

"Soldier, I come in peace!" a middle-aged lady warbled. "I'm going to climb up there!" Police, wearing gas masks, shook their heads and pulled out canisters of pepper spray. The lady didn't climb over and most everybody left.

I was watching, but I got sick after seeing the traitor speak.

Then turned on the daily show and everything was ok again. Like an oasis of fact in a sea of ignorance.

@12 With 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, can Kristolnacht be far behind?

Pepper spraying an old lady for practicing peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights (well, at least guaranteed to those who are actually Right)?

Yes, it's a rhetorical question. And no, Joe, your argument for politically switch-hitting just - so blows.

Isn't article a pretty fanciful term for posting in an internet forum on the website of a news magazine?

To hear more about this fantastic topic, please follow this link* to the article I am writing right now for the Stranger.

*thanks for taking the time to read this article I wrote.

good god...finding the African-American in this picture is kinda like finding Waldo. Everyone looks so...happy?

@ 15: What the hell are you talking about?

Sorry, Kiley- I was refering to #6.

While I've heard the origins of boilerplate before, I'd never seen that thorough of a analysis. Spot on for posting it.

It's like every speech at this convention was written by the same person. I mean, I understand they all got similar talking points, but this shit is ridiculous.