Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

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31Comments

  3. 3.

    RSA

    The Big Brother article reminds me of the somewhat controversial work of Reeves and Nass, who give experimental evidence that people are so hard-wired for social interaction, we’ll treat almost anything that gives even the vaguest social cues as a social actor. For example, we’ll like a computer more if it flatters us, even if we know that the flattery is completely unjustified. Just as we do with other people. Weird.

  4. 4.

    The Other Steve

    News of the bizarre…

    The Josef Mengele of Philanthropy… Or so says the Pro-Life movement in America about Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, because they’ve given money to Planned Parenthood to help with birth control initiatives.

    News of Russia…

    Two coins in the fountain.

    Russia is putting the Rouble on the world market. Yes, you’ll now be able to buy and sell Roubles against the Dollar and the Euro. This is a big move, as it means Russia will no longer be able to devalue it’s currency. It’s also a good sign for the citizenry, who have long valued the Dollar(and most recently the Euro) over the Rouble.

    BTW… Russia is now a Lender nation, not a Debtor nation.

    Don’t Fuck with Russia

    Putin has vowed to hunt down and destroy the killers of four Russians in Iraq. Putin has offered a 10 Million Euro reward for information.

    Rumors are, there are already Spetsnaz and FSB operating in Iraq, and they’ve now been directed to seek and destroy.

    From Russia with Love

    The State Duma has passed a declaration blaming the United States for the deaths of the four Russian diplomats, stating that “all responsibility for the situation in Iraq, including the security of its citizens and foreign specialists, continues to rest with the occupying countries. We believe they could have prevented the tragedy.”

  5. 5.

    The Other Steve

    News from Whitehall

    Tony Blair is polling at Bush levels, actually possibly below Bush levels.

    The Tories are out polling Labour.

    Although that’s kind of interesting, because the Tories to Blair are kind of like Goldwater to Johnson. It’s not that they are against the war, they just think they ought to have used more nukes.

  7. 7.

    Nutcutter

    As Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006, media impresario Berlusconi owned or controlled all six of Italy’s national television networks — 90% of the country’s airwaves. The author, whose previous books include an illuminating history of the Italian Mafia, Excellent Cadavers, artfully documents the raw might of Berlusconi’s media to warp public opinion by ignoring and distorting the truth or broadcasting outright lies. For example, Stille shows how

    Berlusconi’s allies planted and then fanned mysterious, unsubstantiated claims of bribery against a possible rival, Antonio Di Pietro, the former star prosecutor who had pilloried a corrupt political class during the 1990s. By 2001, he writes, 77.4% of Italians got their information from TV and only 6.4% from newspapers. Berlusconi knew his audience: millions of voters with little better than a 7th-grade education who “knew little about politics and cared even less.”

    (Business Week).

    Does this kind of politics remind us of anything?

  8. 8.

    Stormy70

    I just saw Superman Returns. Loved it.

    Men stop reading now. Krista et al, pay close attention.

    This Superman is Hot! Hawt! Haute!

    Revel. Just revel.

    That is all.

  12. 12.

    Richard 23

    Truth, Justice and all that other stuff. Huh, no more American Way?

    Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex

    Humerous essay by science fiction author Larry Niven on the problems of procreation for Superman & Lois Lane. A scientific approach.

  13. 13.

    Perry Como

    Oh, look. Christian tolerance:

    The complaint recounts that the raucous crowd applauded the board’s opening prayer and then, when sixth-grader Alexander Dobrich stood up to read a statement, yelled at him: “take your yarmulke off!” His statement, read by Samantha, confided “I feel bad when kids in my class call me Jew boy.”

    A state representative spoke in support of prayer and warned board members that “the people” would replace them if they faltered on the issue. Other representatives spoke against separating “god and state.”

    A former board member suggested that Mona Dobrich might “disappear” like Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the atheist whose Supreme Court case resulted in ending organized school prayer. O’Hair disappeared in 1995 and her dismembered body was found six years later.

  15. 15.

    Nutcutter

    TIME Magazine

    Posted Friday, Jun. 30, 2006
    A spate of good news at home and abroad has so far failed to boost how Americans feel about President Bush’s job performance. Bush’s approval rating slipped to 35% in a TIME poll taken this week, down from 37% in March (and 53% in early 2005). Only 33% of Americans in the survey said they approved of Bush’s handling of the situation in Iraq, vs. 35% in March, and 47% in March 2005. His management of the U.S. economy lost supporters, too, as 36% approved, compared with 39% three months earlier. Bush’s handling of the war on terror saw a slight gain in support, from 44% to 45%.

    Bush’s poll numbers remain stuck in a rut despite several high-profile victories scored recently by the Bush Administration. Earlier this month, U.S. forces killed al-Qaeda leader Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi in an air raid in Iraq. Also this month, Karl Rove escaped indictment in the CIA leak investigation. And the Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. economy grew 5.6% in the first quarter of 2006, the fastest growth in more than two years.

    But continued pessimism about the situation in Iraq and a broad sense of unease about America’s direction may be undermining Bush’s popularity. In the TIME survey, 66% said the country is on the wrong track, vs. 28% who said it’s going in the right direction. Those numbers have worsened since March, when the poll recorded a 60% to 34% split. When asked whether the new Iraqi government will be able to build a stable and reasonably democratic society, 48% of those surveyed said no, while 39% remain optimistic.

    Congress isn’t faring much better.

    Americans have grown more critical of the job Congress is doing, compared with three months ago. Only 31% approved, down sharply from 39% in March. Asked whether they would be more likely to vote for the Republican or Democratic candidate in the district where they live if the election were held today, 47% said Democrat and 35% said Republican, a two-point improvement for Democrats.

    I guess having a close presidential advisor “escape indictment” isn’t the big accomplishment that the apologistocracy took it for?

    Next, the idiots in charge are going to try to turn the disapproval of the Supreme Court into a political advantage for themselves.

    Aren’t these just the cutest people?

  16. 16.

    Krista

    Men stop reading now. Krista et al, pay close attention.

    This Superman is Hot! Hawt! Haute!

    Revel. Just revel.

    Oooo…Thanks, Stormy. You just made my Canada Day that much brighter. :)

  17. 17.

    The Other Steve

    The complaint recounts a raucous crowd that applauded the board’s opening prayer and then

    Who fucking applauds after a prayer?

    Seriously, these sick fucks disgust me. God is probably right now debating whether to bring a second flood just to wipe the earth of their heathen presence.

  18. 18.

    The Other Steve

    BTW, my representative is having a town hall meeting here soon. I’m going to go and try to ask him if he supports this latest move by Republicans to try to turn the SCOTUS decision on gitmo into a political issue, or if he’s gonna have the guts to stand up there and say enough’s enough.

    The bastard is Republican, but he pretends to be independently minded. He always votes the party line though.

  19. 19.

    Stormy70

    And definitely an illegal alien.

    Oh, honey. I am pro-Amnesty. It is practically the only issue on which ppgaz and I agree.

    Ahem. Right this way, Superman.

    (Superman is not gay. I could care less if Brandon is gay, and or Mexican. Although, it would be to his advantage if he was Mexican, since they are very attentive to the ladies. ;)}

    I may have to see it again after The Devil Wears Prada.

    Krista – we also have this to look foward to this week.

    I have noticed a dearth of pop culture threads lately here at Balloon Juice. It is summertime, and the living is easy.

  20. 20.

    Krista

    I noticed that too. Cat blogging and dog blogging have also gone by the wayside. I think John is too busy being politically disillusioned to think of froth.

    That movie looks like so much fun. Can’t wait to see it.

  21. 21.

    Nutcutter

    It is practically the only issue on which ppgaz and I agree.

    Well, there’s also the barbeque thing. I think that good Texas barbeque is a gift from the gods.

    There’s a little roadside shack out there somewhere between Dallas and Denison …..

  22. 22.

    Nutcutter

    I think John is too busy being politically disillusioned to think of froth.

    I thought he was doing fine until the “damage done” thread.

    Even a small amount of research would have revealed the true nature of the damage done by NYT: None.

    The damage he was talking about, of course, is in terms of terrorists. But the real damage done here is to privacy, liberty, and freedoms of speech and press, by a cynical government. Apparently it never occurred to John that a government that would deliberately put on a show consisting of worthless flag burning and defense of marriage initiatives would also put on a show of “outrage” over a newspaper story that revealed basically nothing new and affected basically nothing about a program that had already outlived its usefulness …. in order to deflect from news that reflected badly on the government. Such as the complete lack of any “threat” represented by its sham arrest of seven “terrorists” in Miami a few days before. Or the flatline approval numbers they are getting even after their showy kill of Zarqawi earlier in the month. Or a smackdown by the US Supreme Court of their clandestine Tower of London operation in Guantanamo.

    Apparently John thinks that assessment of “damage done” is to be found out on the blogosphere, where appearance and snark trump reality, every day.

    There has been damage done … to freedom, by the government sworn to protect it. Again. When do we think we’ll see THAT thread around here? When do we think that the BJ contribution to this struggle will be anything more than providing a place for fucking Darrell to shit all over the facts and the truth for a few more days?

  23. 23.

    Slide.

    there was some polling posts in this thread so I thought I’d post this one which polls our closest allies, the UK, on how they view Geroge Bush’s America. Not pleasant reading. The damage this criminal president has done to our great country can’t be over estimated.

    LONDON (AFP) – People in Britain view the United States as a vulgar, crime-ridden society obsessed with money and led by an incompetent president whose
    Iraq policy is failing, according to a newspaper poll.

    The United States is no longer a symbol of hope to Britain and the British no longer have confidence in their transatlantic cousins to lead global affairs, according to the poll published in The Daily Telegraph.

    * 77 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement that the US is “a beacon of hope for the world”.
    * 12 percent of Britons trust them to act wisely on the global stage. This is half the number who had faith in the Vietnam-scarred White House of 1975.
    * 83 percent of those questioned said that the United States doesn’t care what the rest of the world thinks. (Surprised it’s not higher. Who actually thinks Bush cares?)
    * 70 percent of Britons like Americans a lot or a little. (Phew, there’s hope for the future.)
    * 1% consider Bush a “great leader” against 77 percent who deemed him a “pretty poor” or “terrible” leader.
    * 1 per cent of those who took a view said President George W Bush hypocritically championed democracy as a cover for the pursuit of American self-interests.
    * In answer to other questions, a majority of the Britons questions described Americans as uncaring, divided by class, awash in violent crime, vulgar, preoccupied with money, ignorant of the outside world, racially divided, uncultured and in the most overwhelming result (90 percent of respondents) dominated by big business.

  24. 24.

    capelza

    Is Darrell posting as “dipshit” over at Glenn Greenwld’s blog?

    The whole NYT Travel section treason thing has brought the loonies out in force.

  25. 25.

    Punchy

    The whole NYT Travel section treason thing has brought the loonies out in force.

    Apparently, if you publish photos of the oceanfront house, you’re a traitor b/c you’ve shown the terrorists what beach they’re supossed to land on. If you publish photos of Pitt and Jolie, you’ve aided the terrorists by taking the focus of Americans off the duct tape and plastic sheeting.

    If you post pictures of child porn, however, you’re a godsend, at least at the Dept. of Homeland Security.

  26. 26.

    capelza

    My personal favourite is, when it is pointed out that the Clinton’s home and goings about were published in much greater detail, that was different because the Clinton’s support Al-Queda. I kid you not.

    And of course the fact that Newsmax published pretty much the same thing last year, about Cheney and Rumsfeld’s little getaways..well they just don’t have an answer for that.

    It would be funny, but it is the “big-wigs” of the Rightie blogoshpere and pundits that are going with this. Not to mention the whole publishing the address of the poor travel photographer and siccing the minions on her and her kids.

  27. 27.

    Slide.

    capelza rightly points out:

    My personal favourite is, when it is pointed out that the Clinton’s home and goings about were published in much greater detail, that was different because the Clinton’s support Al-Queda. I kid you not.

    And of course the fact that Newsmax published pretty much the same thing last year, about Cheney and Rumsfeld’s little getaways..well they just don’t have an answer for that.

    It would be funny, but it is the “big-wigs” of the Rightie blogoshpere and pundits that are going with this. Not to mention the whole publishing the address of the poor travel photographer and siccing the minions on her and her kids.

    but forget to add that THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH RUMSFELD’S PERMISSION. I’m getting real tired of the right wing fucktards that find terrorists and conspirators under ever bed. How scared are these little cowards. What kind of fucking bedwetting chickenshit punks would publish the address and phone numbers of the NYT’s photographer and say that they should be “hunted down”? RUMSFELD GAVE THEM PERMISSION ASSWIPES..

    Link.

  28. 28.

    The Other Steve

    People in Britain view the United States as a vulgar, crime-ridden society obsessed with money and led by an incompetent president whose
    Iraq policy is failing, according to a newspaper poll.

    Ok, the only difference between this and the poll taken when I was there in 2000.

    Is that in 2000, we weren’t being led by an incompetent president whose Iraq policy is failing.

  29. 29.

    The Other Steve

    The whole NYT Travel section treason thing has brought the loonies out in force.

    Let ’em keep going.

    These crapping in their britches Republicans are doing more to discredit the party than anything we could ever say, even as a spoof.

    There’s a guy over at some blogspot.com blog who recommended going after the children of NYTimes reporters. I can’t remember the link right now, but it was mentioned over on dKos.

  30. 30.

    Nutcutter

    Here’s an experiment you can do at home:

    Find and count the number of references that Darrell made to NYT revelations of “classified” information wrt to the Swift story.

    Then, find and count the number of actual classified pieces of information contained in the NYT story. Use any sources you like.

    Your result should look something like this:

    Darrell references to “classified” information: 30-50

    Actual classified facts contained in NYT story: 0

    Now, count the number of times Darrell was challenged on this by any righty here, or by the blog proprietors.

    This is approximately the same as the ratio you’ll find out “there” where the story has made its rounds the last week or so. Talking heads and blog pundits galore, bloviating endlessly about “classified” information.

    Only, there wasn’t any.

  31. 31.

    scs

    Is Ken Lay REALLY dead? Or did he just pay off a hospital attendant to switch bodies, so that he can flee to a tropical island unsuspected and escape his jail sentence? Enquiring minds want to know.

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