Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No one could have predicted…

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Books are my comfort food!

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

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

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

The revolution will be supervised.

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

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

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Reader Interactions

33Comments

  1. 1.

    Jen

    August J. Pollak
    Ta-Nehisi Coates
    Mahablog
    Stiftung Leo Strauss
    The Field
    Just One Minute

    Those are my guesses.

  3. 3.

    Jen

    That sounds about like the maximum percentage of right I can ever be.

    I’m changing one of my answers to Oliver. But I’m not sure which one. Maybe The Field.

  5. 5.

    rawshark

    Is there any good ‘check out what Hugh Hewitt (or Dennis Prager) said today’ blogs? How about Savage?

  7. 7.

    Wilfred

    I’ll bet this isn’t one Many Florida Jews Express Doubts on Obama:

    Some of the resistance to Mr. Obama’s candidacy seems just as rooted in anxiety about race as in anxiety about Israel. At brunch in Boynton Beach, Bob Welstein, who said he was in his 80s, said so bluntly. “Am I semi-racist? Yes,” he said.

    Decades earlier, on the west side of Chicago, his mother was mugged and beaten by a black assailant, he said. It was “a beautiful Jewish neighborhood” — until black residents moved in, he said.

    A shvarzer who thinks Arabs are humans? No way. It’s funny to see this article ignored by the same people who screamed about Appalachian racists.

    Jews, who have long considered themselves less racially prejudiced than other Americans, have been especially wounded by black anti-Semitism, she said, which may help explain why so many Florida voters were incensed about Mr. Obama’s membership in a church whose magazine gave an award to Mr. Farrakhan.

    Yeah. Funny you never hear the Black side of the story, not in the white owned MSM – they could have referenced Malcolm X’s take, for example, but that would have been too difficult.

  8. 8.

    RampantSexism

    Dear Friend,

    Is it ever acceptable to use the term “bitch” to describe a woman? CNN political contributor Alex Castellanos seems to think it is.

    On Wednesday’s edition of The Situation Room, moments after CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin referred to a column in The New York Times that “talked about some of the humor in the campaign, and the punch line was a line that was — that Hillary Clinton was a ‘white bitch,'” Castellanos asserted, “And some women, by the way, are named that and it’s accurate.”

    Hard to believe? You can check out the Media Matters for America item below or watch the video for yourself here.

    It’s time to hold CNN and Castellanos accountable for his horribly sexist remarks. I hope you’ll take a moment to contact CNN today and demand an on-air apology from Castellanos.

    >> Make your voice heard — Contact CNN today and demand an on-air apology.

    From Media Matters this morning.

    Sexism: America’s Shame.

    Speak out, stop this outrage.

  11. 11.

    Ned Raggett

    Ta-Nehisi’s work is a far too late discovery of mine just this past month. Wonderful writing through and through.

    And that’s great about Greg! I was just checking his blog the other day and thinking, “Is he just gone for good?”

  12. 12.

    nightjar

    The Senate today passed the GI Bill/Iraq war funding bill with most endangered GOOPers voting for it ( quite a passel) –enough for a veto over ride.

    As usual idiot house wingnuts plan to thwart the veto overide vote, also denying Bush his blood money for the Iraq war.

  13. 13.

    Ted

    This is what we call a shpongle intervention.Are you shpongled?

    Ooooooooohh. Ear candy….

  14. 14.

    gex

    Sexism: America’s Shame.

    I’ve seen you around the comments long enough to wonder who you think you’re talking to. As enlightened as this blog and it’s commenters are (most of them anyhow), it is still the kind of place where a thread on Battlestar Galactica temporarily turned into a “women are bitches” thread.

    For the media to be called out on it, the people the media serves would have to 1) care and 2) think it’s bad. I really don’t see a lot of either of that except in women who are called Feminazis.

  16. 16.

    w vincentz

    Gex,
    There’s a lot to be ashamed about. Like for instance, my girlfriend (who unfortunately was born with three teats).
    I went shopping for bras with her and, low and behold,
    There were absolutely no D-A-DD cups to be found.
    You can laugh if you want about her condition, but I’ll continue to support her, even if the bra manufacturers don’t.
    To me, three tits are better than two. Heck, the more the better! They will continue to have my support even if Victoria’s Secrets and Playtex don’t support her.
    I’m all in favor of equal Nippillry.

  17. 17.

    Chuck Butcher

    I’m sure a lot of us found the removal of all kids emotionally satisfiying, the problem with it is that satisfying breadth poisons the case. I don’t care how many women and men get together sexually, it just isn’t my business, kids are another deal altogether. But…

    I have had dealings with a child protective services agency and their self-delusion of omnipotence is vast and organizational in nature. My dealings with them were in a case where there was no evidence to back their position and all kinds of evidence that it was hooey, it dragged on for over a year. By the time it was over the state judge (Circuit Court) was ready to blow a gasket with the State. This thing finally involved 3 separate judges and two separate trials with the State getting its ass handed to them in all of them. One ADA was gone within a couple months (the one leading it) the Child Protective Services head and some staff all gone or kicked sideways and out of the game. Yes, everyhing went my way in the end. Try a year of this crap.

    I have no sympathy for the FLDS, but I also have little to no trust in those agencies’ ability to act correctly. In many states your legal rights in regard to these agencies are seriously weakened, caution is required in any dealings with them.

  18. 18.

    bago

    Yeah, posford tend to be. Let’s hook ’em before we pull in the spanish guitar.

  19. 19.

    Surabaya Stew

    Let’s see, I suggested:

    Mr. Furious,
    The Dilbert Blog
    Pam’s House Blend
    The Field
    The Devil’s Excrement

    Well, 1 out of 5 isn’t too shabby! Right? Whatever…

    Anyway, I am glad to see The Field take an honored position on your blog roll; you have made a wise choice, Mr. Cole.

  20. 20.

    Jon H

    Hillary’s organizing a 2000 GOP-style ‘bourgeois riot’ to make the DNC give her what she wants on MI/FL:

    “Then Join a group of Hillary supporters who are planning to visit Washington, D.C. on Saturday, May 31st to attend the meeting of the DNC Rules Committee. The Rules Committee will meet at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel -2660 Woodley Road NW, Washington, DC”

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    RampantSexism Says:

    Is it ever acceptable to use the term “bitch” to describe a woman? CNN political contributor Alex Castellanos seems to think it is.

    From Media Matters this morning.

    Sexism: America’s Shame.

    Speak out, stop this outrage.

    My, my, my. What shall we do, then, with this little gem from back in February?

    Last night politics was center stage on SNL, with an epic cold open spoofing the latest CNN debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (over 8 minutes), a supersized “Weekend Update” (11 minutes), and about as close as SNL could come to a live, on-air endorsement of Hillary Clinton by host and returning alumna Tina Fey. In a segment on Update called “Women’s News” (“It’s a great time to be a lady in America!”) Fey celebrated the news of a woman running for president — and then (after a bitty swipe at Oprah), proceeded to take aim at a number of Hillary-hating arguments….

    But what bugged her most, said Fey, was when people said that Clinton was a bitch. “Yeah, she is,” said Fey. “And so am I — and so is this one over here,” gesturing at Amy Poehler. “Yeah, deal with it,” said Poehler. Fey’s point: Bitches got things done, yo, and that’s why Hillary would be a good president. “So I’m sayin, it’s not too late, Texas and Ohio, get on board! Bitch is the new black!”

    Meanwhile, 11-year-old Akshay Rajagopal answered “Bolivia” to clinch the 20th annual National Geographic Bee on Wednesday (Nebraska boy, 11, wins National Geographic Bee ).

    The question, by the way, was, “Cochabamba is the third-largest conurbation in what country?”

    Apparently, Akshay was the youngest of the 10 finalists, all boys.

    Senator Clinton has demanded that Obama, the Democratic National Committee, Alex Trebek (who has hosted the Geographic Bee for 20 years), and all men over the age of 16, reject and denounce the abject sexism of the National Geographic Society in not automatically awarding the first prize to Hillary.

    When asked by she thought she merited the child’s $25,000 scholarship winnings, Senator Clinton tossed back a shot of Crown Royal and snarled, “I’ve been to over 80 countries, so I’m more qualified than that kid. Besides, I got campaign debts to retire!”

  25. 25.

    empty

    Digby has a great post up on the sexism in the media.

    The juvenile, demeaning behavior Shuster and his cohorts have displayed during this campaign has taken their credibility further into the sewer. Last night we saw the creepy GOP operative who put together the famous Jesse Helms “white hands” ad unctuously pontificating on the Democratic primary on CNN, saying that calling Clinton a “white bitch” is simply an accurate statement.(In a previous primary night broadcast the same man had said that it was time to “take the old family dog to the vet and have her put to sleep.”) Earlier this year, MSNBC featured “expert” commentary by Roger Stone, the GOP dirty trickster, who bragged in the Weekly Standard about creating a group called C.U.N.T, to oppose Clinton’s candidacy. We all know about Chris Matthews’ ongoing insanity, the endless stuff about the psycho female “Fatal Attraction” archetype and all the rest. This isn’t just a few offhand comments. It has been a campaign narrative.

    Go read the whole thing.

    And please, for fucks sake don’t make this into another Obama vs. Clinton crapfest. As Digby says:

    I don’t think that it’s fair or reasonable for the Obama campaign to be held responsible for this. I’ve not detected sexism coming from them toward Senator Clinton, certainly in any systematic way. I suspect they have been quite conscious of not going there, which is to their credit. Many Clinton supporters feel that Obama has benefited from the sexism in the media and should have stood up to it, but I just reject that. Both he and Clinton are fighting hard campaigns for the most important job in the world and they are not obligated to defend their rivals while the battle rages. (It might have behooved the progressive movement to have done so, however.)

  26. 26.

    Warren Terra

    I see that my suggestions at 6:13 PM (which I appear to be unable to hyperlink, possibly because of the hyphen in the URL) were one-for-three. I claim victory, of course.

  27. 27.

    Chuck Butcher

    Today’s afternoon tally of hits on my site show 40% coming in from Balloon Juice. I’d like to thank you for stopping by in large numbers. As you might guess, the reward for writing is being read.

  28. 28.

    RampantSexism

    Digby has a great post up on the sexism in the media.

    Good work.

    The really insidious thing about this sexism is that it resulted in Clinton winning more votes, which as you know, is usually fatal to a political campaign.

    Flogged by constant sexism, and then staggering under the load of all those votes, she is going to end up having to give up her quest to establish gender equality at the highest levels of government.

  30. 30.

    jake

    Of those not already guessed:

    5.38
    Rump Roast
    The Street

    …Wha? Blogs4Conservatives??

    Seek help.

    Since this is an open thread: Let the spin begin!

    Four years ago I would have been shocked if anyone suggested this was somehow arranged. Now I’ll be shocked if I don’t hear something along those lines before the 3-day weekend is over.

    The MUP gets $50 if voodoo, witch doctors or black magic are mentioned.

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    RampantSexism Says:

    Has anyone noticed that John McCain was forced to renounce the endoresement of John Hagee today?

    Kind of a no brainer:

    Republican John McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of an influential Texas televangelist after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land….

    In his sermon, Hagee said, “Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun, and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. … How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said, ‘My top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel.'”

    Crypto anti-semitism and a pro-gun message wrapped up in one ball of teh stupid!

    A sadder, but more touching story, is Senator Ted Kennedy’s noble gesture in the light of his personal health challenges:

    BOSTON – Barack Obama has agreed to deliver the commencement address at Wesleyan University in place of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who pulled out Thursday after finding out he had brain cancer. …

    Obama, who leads in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, said he and Kennedy had talked earlier in the week about the Illinois senator delivering the commencement speech. Kennedy has endorsed Obama in his race against fellow Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and has campaigned for Obama.

    “Considering what he’s done for me and for our country, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him,” Obama said in a statement. “So I’m looking forward to standing in his place on Sunday, even though I know I won’t be able to fill his shoes.”

    Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Kennedy accepted Obama’s offer to help “knowing it would be an historic opportunity for the school and all those attending. … He’s enormously grateful to Sen. Obama and the support he’s received from all of his colleagues this last week.”

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  2. […] Anyway, tipped off by John at Balloon Juice, I’ve learned Greg’s posted a new update explaining his silence (keep in mind he and his wife had a baby last year!), as well as pointing to some ideas for the future: In coming weeks/months I promise to better explain what I can honestly represent might be in store here at B.D., but I’m afraid professional and family commitments look set only to become more intense, not less, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for this space. Still, don’t count me out just yet, since the inception of this blog back in Belgravia in early 03 I’ve enjoyed the freedom to post on matters foreign policy, and being able to wade into policy debates on occasion remains important to me. But to blog with the requisite frequency and depth takes tremendous energy, and I’m afraid even super-human efforts would have me coming up short hours-wise. So, a different way forward will need to be determined, and I’ll be thinking through the ‘hows’ better once I come up for air. […]