Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We will not go back.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Peak wingnut was a lie.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Petty moves from a petty man.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

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

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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Wednesday Open Tread

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I ran over a screw today and was late for work. Ugh. So this is an open tread!

Open Tread

Has Bush wiretapped all the Democratic members of Congress? Does he have something on them? I’ve decided that Bush must have embarrassing personal information on every Democrat because, contrary to their election promises, they certainly seem to be completely willing to capitulate to the president on, oh, just about everything:

  • US Attorney scandal: Remember that?
  • Immigration: Nothing.
  • SCHIP: What’s that?
  • Iraq: Don’t get me started.
  • Earmark transparency: Duh.
  • Larry Craig: Who’s he?
  • Corruption: Who is Ted Stevens? What about William Jefferson?

Can you say:

Cave

Merry Christmas, Congress. While the rest of us worked our asses off this year, you did next to nothing. Discuss.

Update: Will the 18-year-old who nailed Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister get to spend the same amount of time in jail as Genarlow Wilson?

Reader Interactions

80Comments

  1. 1.

    Psycheout

    Has Bush wiretapped all the Democratic members of Congress?

    Was 9/11 an inside job?

    Did ThymeZone puncture my tire?

    Was Dick Cheney behind the grassy knoll?

    Did Lister create the known universe?

    Inquiring minds want to know!

  3. 3.

    Dug Jay

    Come now, you are being excessively harsh. You have left out a number of things that the Dems have accomplished, including:

    +a revenue neutral solution to the alternative minimum tax problem,

    +massive expansion of the SCHIP program to include adults and middle income individuals,

    +incarceration of Alberto Gonzales,

    +indictment of Karl Rove on approximately 12,000 charges,

    +the end to torture as Andrew Sullivan understands it, but not including sado-masochistic practices among consenting adults,

    +and on and on and on…

  4. 4.

    LiberalTarian

    I have had that passing thought (that BushCo has been blackmailing members of Congress). It seems reasonable in light of all the rubber stamping and the retirement stampede going on. Recall, early in GW’s tenure the Republicans were hacking the Dems judicial committee servers (I know, not hacking, merely browsing and copying all the files). These guys play dirty. I have wondered if some of the retirements were a symptom of getting out of the way so that someone with fewer closet skeletons could come forward; but, who knows.

    A while back someone lamented how the GW Bush administration had turned us all into raging conspiracy theorists. But, someone should ask Orrin Hatch, “When The Man really is out to get you, is distrust of the government irrational?”

  5. 5.

    Psycheout

    I have had that passing thought (that BushCo has been blackmailing members of Congress).

    So were those planes on 9/11 holograms or were the twin towers loaded with thermite planted by Darth Cheney himself?

  7. 7.

    Scott H

    Or, maybe the Democrats look at what Cheney (& Bush) hath wrought, and they actually like it. It’s all theirs after the election.

  9. 9.

    calipygian

    Will the 18-year-old who nailed Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister get to spend the same amount of time in jail as Genarlow Wilson?

    It depends. Is the 18-year-old who nailed Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister as black as Genarlow Wilson?

  10. 10.

    Jen

    You know, Psycho doesn’t seem to think Britney’s mom did a real good job raisin’ them girls, yet Britney *does* think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes. The fact that she evidently did raise them without a lick of empirical thinking skills should count for something in Wingnuttia, no?

  11. 11.

    demimondian

    No, no, no. It’s clear that the Spears family practices what the Bush administration preaches: abstinence as the only method of birth control. Brit and Sis are the poster children for the success of Psicko’s Program.

  12. 12.

    Cain

    Greenwald had a great quote from Huckabee that refers back to John’s quote about Republicans vs evangalist base. I wasn’t sure if they really thought about that but then I read this:

    “There’s a sense in which all these years the evangelicals have been treated very kindly by the Republican Party. They wanted us to be a part of it. And then one day one of us actually runs, and they say, Oh, my gosh. Now they’re serious. They don’t want to just show up and vote. They actually would want to be a part of the discussion, and really talk about issues that include hunger and poverty and things that ought to be really a concern to every American, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. . . .”

    So it has crossed their minds.. This is going to get dirty.

    cain

  13. 13.

    Jen

    Well, I’m a dumbass, ’cause I just figured out that Psycho is a spoof after all…

    My heroes are Jesus Christ, George W. Bush and Sam Brownback, in no particular order.

  14. 14.

    calipygian

    Jen –

    I’m pretty sure Psycho is also a blogger at blogs4brownback. Now THAT was some spoof blog.

  15. 15.

    MC

    Since she’s pregnant, probably not so much.

    Remember that Genarlow Wilson’s offense (besides being black in Georgia) was that he received oral sex.

    “Had Genarlow had intercourse with this girl, had he gotten her pregnant, he could only have been charged with a misdemeanor and punished up to 12 months,” said Brenda Joy Bernstein, Mr. Wilson’s lawyer.

    I guess oral sex is the gateway that leads to other immoral behaviors like homosexuality and necrophilia. Throw in a black dude…look out. The fall of Western Civilization is upon us.

  17. 17.

    Jen

    Is anyone out there in the psychology field, because I would really like to know if there are studies being undertaken in anonymous internet psychology. Seriously. I understand the idea of being sort of a different person online, I am familiar with the concept that just because someone says they are an attractive orthopaedic surgeon that they might not necessarily be, o.k. Is it just me, though, or is there some complicated-ass psychology at foot out there? It’s starting to feel like I’ve struck up a conversation with people in line at the grocery store and ten minutes into it I notice that one of them is a squirrel. It’s disconcerting, that’s all.

  18. 18.

    rawshark

    jo6pac Says:

    The wiretapping wasn’t to catch bad guys but to stop anyone who spoke out.

    That’s how Nixon used it. And what got it taken away.

  19. 19.

    Jen

    I’m pretty sure Psycho is also a blogger at blogs4brownback. Now THAT was some spoof blog.

    Yep yep, as fake as a three dollar bill.

  20. 20.

    Psycheout

    Now THAT was some spoof blog

    What’s with the “spoof” and “was” garbage? The only thing I agreed with in your nonsense rant was “THAT.”

  21. 21.

    Psycheout

    Remember that Genarlow Wilson’s offense (besides being black in Georgia) was that he received oral sex.

    Not even my Jen character could get preggers through oral discourse. Too much!

  23. 23.

    Jen

    I mean, he even put it in the name. I’m not so very bright. At least I didn’t fall for Jon Swift, he clubs a little bit harder.

    It’s *still* a disconcerting philosophy to make people think you’re not a squirrel, if you ask me.

  24. 24.

    Psycheout

    Dingdingdingdingding We have a winner!

    Not really. The live in boyfriend is 19 and the age of consent in LA is 17. I say prosecute the penis endowed horny dude.

  28. 28.

    jcricket

    It’s still a disconcerting philosophy to make people think you’re not a squirrel, if you ask me.

    I think there have been a number of treatises on online anonymity. The biggest thing I’ve read is that it certainly amplifies the willingness to be an asshole.

    Just look at that suburban mom who conspired with some others to pose as a teenage boy to harass that poor girl. Do you think she would do the same over the phone or via the mail?

    It’s so much easier to be an ass-hat, and the pile-on echo-chamberish nature of a lot of sites (fark, somethingawful, myspace, etc) make it too enticing for a lot of people to resist.

  29. 29.

    AnonE.Mouse

    Looks like another Psycheout frenzy.If we all just visited his blog once a day,it might satisfy his longing for human contact and he wouldn’t feel compelled to post dozens of times on the same thread.
    Daring to speculate whether an administration would spy on members of congress is incomprehensible to Psycheout.Psycheout is no doubt among those whose recollection of government misdeeds include Waco,Ruby Ridge,and Evian Gonzalez,but who tend to overlook J.Edgar Hoover’s use of the Bureau of Investigation(later the FBI)as his personal blackmail outfit and the well documented abuses of COINTELPRO(among other covert operations run by not only the FBI but also the CIA,the NSA,etc.),the intent of which were to suppress dissent and resulted in FISA in 1978 and the Intelligence Oversight Act of 1980.
    And now we’re at a point in history where more than a dozen federal intelligence agencies MAY have collective budgets in excess of $100B(no one has anything close to accurate information),electronic technology far surpasses the horse and buggy days of the 70’s,and we have the most secretive administration in history who have proclaimed a “unitary executive”,essentially placing themselves above the law.
    Jesus,Psycheout,only someone missing a frontal lobe WOULDN’T speculate on the possibility.

  32. 32.

    Dug Jay

    In response to a question that Jen raised in this thread, Mental Health Psychology publishes a periodical called “Health Psychology.” An edition of this publication from either late last year or earlier this year reported on the results of a fairly large review of the apparent mental health of readers (as evidenced by those who posted comments) in a spectrum of blogs representing varied points of view.

    In brief, the conclusions as I recall, were that many regular readers of blogs were to some extent abnormal in a wide range of aberrant pathological characteristics. While this conclusion was to some extent true across all political points of view, it was especially pronounced among the more extreme elements of what the study termed “liberal philosophies.” I gather that the researchers felt that the latter group were just a few steps removed from what the man-on-the street would term “nuts.” By the way, this blog was listed as one of those included in their review.

  35. 35.

    Bob In Pacifica

    I mean, forget about the Gus Boulis hit, or Mohammed Atta seen with his buddies on one of those SunCruz gambling boats a week before 9/11.

    Just asking about this:

    http://www.madcowprod.com/09062006.html

    “Just three weeks after Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi arrived on July 3, 2000 to attend the flight school at Huffman Aviation in Venice, FL., the owner of the flight school, Wallace J. Hilliard, had his Learjet surrounded by DEA agents with submachine guns on the runway of Orlando Executive Airport.

    “Agents found 43 pounds of heroin, arrested everyone onboard, and confiscated the plane.”

    I mean, this is all unrelated, right? We shouldn’t be looking at this, right? After all, we don’t have any federal agencies who have in the past been implicated in drug smuggling, have we?

  36. 36.

    Jen

    Psycho’s attention is kind of like being skull loved by a squirrel, though. Come on, can’t someone else antagonize him and get him off of me?

  37. 37.

    Jake

    Is it just me, though, or is there some complicated-ass psychology at foot out there?

    Here’s a little something from a study on Internet addiction. Now I remember why I didn’t get a post-grad degree in psych.*

    Creating a Persona

    Each on-line user has the ability to remove the imposed constraints of real life in order to experiment with altered perceptions of oneself (Rheingold, 1996). Rheingold (1996) states that “we who populate Cyberspace deliberately experiment with fracturing traditional notions of identity by living as multiple simultaneous personae in different virtual neighborhoods.” Later research conducted by Turkle (1995) states how the Internet “is another element of the computer culture that has contributed to thinking about identity as multiplicity, allowing a person to ‘reconstruct’ their identity.” Consistent with these observations, findings in this study showed that CMC creates a virtual “stage” where a person can “act” in a new role through the creation of fictitious handles which alter physical characteristics such as gender, age, or race that cultivate a persona or false image of oneself.

    *No offense meant to mental health workers or those who use their services. But shit like this makes Homo Sapiens seem so fucking boring.

  38. 38.

    Ted

    Come on, can’t someone else antagonize him and get him off of me?

    Not easily done. Once he’s found a leg to hump, it’s easier, and safer, to just let it take its course if you know what I mean.

  39. 39.

    jcricket

    Psycho’s attention is kind of like being skull loved by a squirrel, though. Come on, can’t someone else antagonize him and get him off of me?

    Sorry, you’ll have to take your fifteen needles in the gut. It’s like rabies.

  40. 40.

    jcricket

    Not easily done. Once he’s found a leg to hump, it’s easier, and safer, to just let it take its course if you know what I mean.

    Plus, he shoots blanks, so you don’t have that much to worry about.

  42. 42.

    bains

    …because, contrary to their election promises, they certainly seem to be completely willing to capitulate to the president on, oh, just about everything…

    Immigration: Nothing.
    Earmark transparency: Duh.
    Larry Craig: Who’s he?
    Corruption: Who is Ted Stevens?
    What about William Jefferson?

    Huh? Just where do the Dems and Repub differ on these?

  43. 43.

    Psycheout

    Not easily done. Once he’s found a leg to hump, it’s easier, and safer, to just let it take its course if you know what I mean.

    Jealous much?

    Plus, he shoots blanks, so you don’t have that much to worry about.

    Ah, that’s what we call projection.

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    Has Bush wiretapped all the Democratic members of Congress? Does he have something on them? I’ve decided that Bush must have embarrassing personal information on every Democrat because, contrary to their election promises, they certainly seem to be completely willing to capitulate to the president on, oh, just about everything:

    I think that for some weird, deep, psychological reasons, the Democrats are actually afraid that they might win if they actually stand for something. Maybe they are looking back at the disastrous results that almost sandbagged the Clinton Administration when Newt Gingrich brought the government to a halt. Maybe they are too afraid to stand up to their campaign advisers, one-trick ponies who don’t have an idea in their heads or any understanding of politics or history, and who always fall back on dirty tricks and negative campaign ads.

    The Democratic leadership feels free to take their base for granted. After all, where else are they going to go? So the Dems can strike more poses than a steroid-juiced participant at the Mr. Universe contest and not fear any repercussions.

    The sad thing is that Independents, moderates and conservatives who are fed up with the incompetence of the Bush Administration might just stay home, rather than vote for candidates who seem to be afraid of their own shadows.

  49. 49.

    jt

    “Will the 18-year-old who nailed Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister get to spend the same amount of time in jail as Genarlow Wilson?”

    No, actually. The Wilson case turned on the fact (besides race) that that the young man had committed sodomy, that is, oral sex, with an underage girl, thus triggering the prosecution and subsequent ludicrous sentence. This seems to be a case of good ol’ straight-up sex of the knockin’ up variety. Add that to the relative whiteness and richness of the parties involved and you’ve got one heck of a non-story there.

  50. 50.

    canuckistani

    War on Marriage! War on Marriage! Man the trenches!

    The War on Christmas is so much fun that we needed a second front.

  53. 53.

    myiq2xu

    Not easily done. Once he’s found a leg to hump, it’s easier, and safer, to just let it take its course if you know what I mean.

    To quote Molly Ivins (RIP): “I have been attacked by Rush Limbaugh on the air, an experience somewhat akin to being gummed by a newt. It doesn’t actually hurt, but it leaves you with slimy stuff on your ankle.”

  55. 55.

    The Other Steve

    Psicko is fundamentally harmless. Obnoxious, disgusting, and evil, yes, but, truly, fundamentally nothing but a second rate loser.

    I hear he’s actually from Canada and his parents were divorced twice, thus negating the benefit of divorced parenting skills study.

  56. 56.

    Anne Laurie

    I have wondered if some of the retirements were a symptom of getting out of the way so that someone with fewer closet skeletons could come forward; but, who knows.

    Considering the cascade of mutant six-legged hump-backed skeletons the *Republicans* have gifted the freak-show-loving media with over the past few months, even a pre-Jeebus Chuck Colson might flinch away from mentioning “closets” around Democrats. On the other hand, if you occasionally try on tinfoil chapeaus just for fun, remember that T*H*E*Y never did put a name to the Anthrax Mailer who targeted Democratic senators and Teh Lie-brul Media. In fact, the whole ‘Anthrax Killer’ meme went down the memory hole with Osama bin Laden, and at just about the same time, didn’t it?

  57. 57.

    myiq2xu

    I hear he’s actually from Canada and his parents were divorced twice

    Does that mean they ain’t brother and sister no more?

  59. 59.

    Richard Bottoms

    You know I am pretty damned sick of GOP supporters who have stood silent while Democrats were branded as traitors or worse carping about why we don’t ride to their rescue from the dumbasses they helped put in office for the last 30 years.

    We’ll kick your asses soon enough. You elected these assholes so deal with it.

  61. 61.

    myiq2xu

    You know I am pretty damned sick of GOP supporters who have stood silent while Democrats were branded as traitors or worse carping about why we don’t ride to their rescue from the dumbasses they helped put in office for the last 30 years.

    Fixed

  62. 62.

    Conservatively Liberal

    Psycheo is the ultimate parody of a right wing nut, and I think he likes the attention he gets from both sides. Fooling the wingnuts in to thinking he is one of them, and trying not to blow his cover when the libs tear in to him for his ‘conservative’ ways, he is a non stop high wire act whose pratfalls are ‘Hillaryous’.

    Quit picking on the Lil’ Spears, she is a good christian and so is her boyfriend. That they became sweeties in church is soooooo cute! So what if her and her boyfriend heard the preacher talking about youth missionary work and they got it confused with the missionary position. At least they got the position right!

    As far as the comparison to the kid who got tossed in prison, jeez! He got oral sex and this guy got Jamie pregnant, it is as black and white as that. Oh, and that too.

  63. 63.

    myiq2xu

    So what if her and her boyfriend heard the preacher talking about youth missionary work and they got it confused with the missionary position. At least they got the position right!

    I always preferred doggy style but it’s hard to find a woman willing to do it on the front lawn.

  64. 64.

    Psycheout

    I always preferred doggy style but it’s hard to find a woman willing to do it on the front lawn.

    I hope you carry a little baggie with you to pick up the doodie.

  65. 65.

    LITBMueller

    Hmph. Not sure which is worse: an inept Congress unable or unwilling to deliver on its promises, or a crazy Congress that requires everyone to clap louder for our Dear Leader while holding late night sessions to “save” a brain dead woman.

    I’ll ponder it for a while…

  66. 66.

    Zifnab

    Hmph. Not sure which is worse: an inept Congress unable or unwilling to deliver on its promises, or a crazy Congress that requires everyone to clap louder for our Dear Leader while holding late night sessions to “save” a brain dead woman.

    I’ll ponder it for a while…

    The vote to Save Christmas passed three hundred and something to nine. Ponder that.

    I keep waiting for ’09, but I feel like I’m waiting for Godot. I don’t know what I’m really waiting for and I have begun to question whether it even exists. Will the 111th Congress with a Dem-Friendly President be more progressive friendly or just less deliberately obstructionist? Will we get to see Washington hit with a bottle of bleach or just watch a whole new wave of slime roll in? Revolution or more business as usual?

    I’ll tell you one thing right now. If Hillary gets elected President, I’d be my right nut that we’ll still be in Iraq through 2010.

  67. 67.

    Cassidy

    Why is this even a discussion? Sixty-six comments on a 16 y/o girl getting pregnant. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again. I’m sure the poor girl has enough on her mind without being the focus of the gossip corner.

  69. 69.

    jcricket

    The vote to Save Christmas passed three hundred and something to nine. Ponder that.

    Just shows how, even in the minority, the Republicans are far better at “Congressional Theater” than Democrats. Even more proof is that Republicans could spin the talk of the occasional filibuster into Democrats being “obstructionist” and not being ok with “up or down votes”, yet Democrats can’t get the media to report that Republicans are on target to double the highest ever number of actual filibusters.

    Instead we get reports about how Dems are “frustrated” or “ineffectual”.

    The media is partially to blame, but it’s the Dems who need to start attacking. Need to get some new advisers and media critics at the DNC.

  70. 70.

    Dreggas

    Dug Jay says:

    +the end to torture as Andrew Sullivan understands it, but not including sado-masochistic practices among consenting adults,

    There’s a big difference. But then again I am sure you knew that.

  71. 71.

    Dreggas

    Regarding online personas and anonymity, I think google pretty much blew a lot of that out of the water. Then again I maintain one online persona and to me it’s really no big deal to be found at this point. So what? I am who I am it’s the 21st century and I’m not afraid to live my life. I’m not breaking any laws so I’m not that concerned. Google me, you find out who I am and if you don’t like it TFB.

  72. 72.

    Krista

    Why is this even a discussion? Sixty-six comments on a 16 y/o girl getting pregnant.

    Bwah-ha-ha! Since when have ANY threads here stayed on topic?

    Jeez, man — go back through the comments. There are maybe 11-12 comments about that, and some of them only reference it obliquely. There are more comments in this thread talking about Psycheout than about Jamie-Lynn Spears.

  74. 74.

    myiq2xu

    There are more comments in this thread talking about Psycheout than about Jamie-Lynn Spears.

    That seems to be a case of misplaced priorities if you ask me.

  76. 76.

    jrg

    I ran over a screw today and was late for work. Ugh.

    Good to hear you’re O.K. That looks like a nasty blowout.

  77. 77.

    Egilsson

    Criminy, there’s a lot of cheap shots here. Democrats have accomplished a hell of a lot actually, given that we have a Dear Leader rather than a president, who is backed up by 40+ lemmings in the Senate. Already they’ve filibustered more legislation in one year than any other minority has ever done in 2 years. And Democrats have snakes like Lieberman caucusing with them…

    All things considered, they had a good year, and certainly helped this country a hell of a lot more than more republican rule would have.

  78. 78.

    Chuck Butcher

    As for Congress take a look at what they actually can do, they provide laws and money, get that one, provide. So what you advocate is NOT supplying money. I’m ok with that right up to the point where GWB strands the troops there to get his way and that involves getting our people killed.

    Remember, the Rs shut the govt down on Clinton and it blew up in their faces. That is what Congress can do, and you know that (cough)tough gut from Texass won’t back down, no matter who gets hurt. It is entirely immaterial to him who he fucks over because nobody can get their hands on him.

  79. 79.

    Birdzilla

    All those demacraps want is more regulations and more litigation they are just your usial bunch of crooks

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