Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

No one could have predicted…

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

We still have time to mess this up!

“woke” is the new caravan.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

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

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

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Reader Interactions

106Comments

  2. 2.

    donovong

    Well, I am as white as the driven snow, and I am going to spend the whole day in front of the tube, crying like a fucking baby – tears of overwhelming joy.

  4. 4.

    rob

    Yeah, the title of this article sucks. And they wonder why Obama had 150% of the black vote. Respect man, respect. But, as a Black female I will be going to work that day and chomping at the bits to get home and you tube it and check in with the juicers!

  5. 5.

    Comrade Tudor

    I know for a fact at least one person, who coincidentally got tickets from a Mississippi Senator by just calling him and asking him for them, is decidedly not unemployed and will be spending three days in D.C. for the celebration.

  6. 6.

    Comrade Stuck

    “All the white people going to the inauguration must be unemployed, because only black people are taking off from work to celebrate.”

    Maybe this Quote was in the article, but I couldn’t find it.

    it’s an Associate Press piece and who knows what kind of angle they’re after these days. But some wingnuts will certainly flog it as racial in some way. Of course, not on BJ.

    see ap correction

    Guess i’m slow on the uptake, but don’t really have a problem with it.

  7. 7.

    gbear

    That really is a strange story. It does make it sound like only black people are going to celebrate.

    People across the country may notice the absence of their black colleagues and classmates on Inauguration Day

    While thousands of blacks are expected to make the pilgrimage to the capital for the long inauguration weekend…

    I’m with donovong. The reason I won’t notice that ‘many of my black colleagues’ aren’t at work is because I’m going to be at home glued to the intertubes (no TV) celebrating and watching and listening to this historic day unfold.

  9. 9.

    Limniade

    Well, there are certainly enough unemployed people these days to have all kinds of them at the Inauguration. 2008 saw the most lost jobs of any year in the last half-century, did it not? Maybe the AP can go bitch about that, instead of wondering what those people are doing with their time.

  11. 11.

    Incertus

    I’ll be at work and teaching during the actual inauguration–I just wish I was in a classroom with a projector tied into an internet-capable computer so I could show it to my class. Maybe something will make me end class early that day. Never can tell.

  13. 13.

    sbjules

    When I was in high school, our history teacher brought a small black & white TV to school so we could watch Kennedy’s inauguration. I’ll never forget it.

    The day after Obama was elected, I told all my friends & clients that I was taking inauguration day off. I’m a 64 year old white woman. I can’t wait!

  14. 14.

    Woodrowfan

    My cousin from Ohio is taking off work to come here to go to the inauguration. Boy, will she be surprised to find out she’s black! She thought she was of Hungarian descent!

  15. 15.

    HumboldtBlue

    What’s to celebrate?

    The Wall Street crooks have gotten away with their money; the DoD crooks have gotten away with their no-bid contracts, their torture regime and the destruction of a country that was of no threat to us.

    The DoJ is stocked with dipshit wingnuts, our economy worsens by the minute and no one who committed a crime on orders from Bush will ever be held accountable.

    What the hell are we celebrating again? Oh, that’s right. Mr. Centrism is in the house. Woo-dee-fucking-doo. I wonder what Billy Kristol thinks.

  16. 16.

    Ron Chusid

    Only blacks taking the day off work??? I decided back in October–my office would be closed on January 20 if Obama were to win. (If McCain won, some employees thought they deserved more time to take off to drink or plan their moves to Canada, but I saw no reason to treat different from any other day.)

  18. 18.

    robertdsc

    I switched my off day around so I could take Tuesday around. Camping out in front of the new HDTV with my Obama shirt on and plumbing the intertubes on a special day is in the works for me.

  19. 19.

    gbear

    @HumboldtBlue:

    If you need some cheering up, I’ve got a snowbank that I can dump you into. Head first. You’ll love it. You can write about it afterwards.

  20. 20.

    Comrade Stuck

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I wonder what Billy Kristol thinks.

    The same thing he always thinks, "Let’s bomb Iran" or some other Middle East Arab country. In that sense nothing much will change. But do you think Obama will likely do it, as compared to say John Mccain? Think positive dude, like start counting backwards from 2012.

  21. 21.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I’m going to ask the boss if I can leave work early (I will need to go into work in the morning for court business) but come the actual ceremony I will be at home on my couch, crying buckets, I really don’t think I will be fit for public viewing after that.

  23. 23.

    HumboldtBlue

    If you need some cheering up, I’ve got a snowbank that I can dump you into. Head first. You’ll love it. You can write about it afterwards.

    Maybe we can shove your head up Rick Warren’s ass. You can write about it afterward.

  24. 24.

    demkat620

    Well, this bitter, middle aged white working, hard working american will be taking the day off.

    I am not missing a second of this. And to suggest that I should be at work is a slap in the face.

  25. 25.

    r€nato

    I am self-employed (which at times is a euphemism for, "unemployed" or "underemployed"). And white (as if that should matter).

    Unlike 9-5 desk jockeys, I don’t get any paid vacation time. When I’m not working, I’m not earning.

    In any case, I am taking off 6 days to fly east and be there for the inauguration. It’s a historic, once-in-a-lifetime event beyond the usual uniqueness of a presidential inauguration.

    I wouldn’t miss it for anything.

  26. 26.

    Maus

    who knows what kind of angle they’re after these days

    They made clear what angle they’re after over the last few years.

  27. 27.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    This is interesting. "Notes to Obama" is a BBC World News America spot where various people give advice to Obama, or perhaps just expouse their hopes. This one is Lewis Iwu the first black president of the Oxford University Student Union. I found it almost eerie. A young black man in a "first" position. Who knows where he will be in 10-15 years time. (the second one is an environmentalist).

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/world_news_america/

  30. 30.

    Tsulagi

    Shit, any word from AP what mixed race people are doing? Didn’t get the memo. Would hate not to know what I’m supposed to do.

  32. 32.

    gbear

    OT from today’s confirmation hearing for Peter Orszag as Barack Obama’s head of the Office of Management and Budget:

    Orszag said he’d like to “create a Web site that will contain information about the contracts and include PDFs or contracts themselves.” To that, Lieberman [replied] “Define PDFs.”

  35. 35.

    The Other Steve

    When looking at AP stories in a newspaper, you really do need to find the original version. Newspapers frequently edit AP stories by taking out entire paragraphs, and it is the paper who chooses the title of the piece not the AP.

    I don’t know, I can see your point but you have to realize that this is pretty typical of any news coverage of race.

    Remember: All black people think alike and they voted to make Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton their leader.

  36. 36.

    Tsulagi

    @harlana pepper:

    i’ll be working and dodging white conservative bullets of angst all day

    Pretty sure I’ll be working too. And pretty sure too I’ll be grinning and laughing at those conservative (the Bush type conservative) bullets of angst all day. So looking forward to it.

  39. 39.

    kay

    I got a ticket, which arrived today. I can’t go, because I’d have to take more than one day off, and I didn’t plan for that.
    I sent it to my sister who was going with or without a ticket.
    It was fun to tell her.
    I am taking the day off, however.

  41. 41.

    JenJen

    You know what’s funny? I’m going to the Inauguration. I’m white. I’ve been unemployed for almost three months.

    Oh wait, unemployment isn’t funny (trust me, it is gut-wrenching and is to the point now where I’m getting terrified). Still, I was always going to go to the Inauguration, I made a promise to myself years ago that it would be worth it just to look up in the sky at Marine One as it headed off carrying whats-his-face into the metaphorical sunset. And if my position hadn’t been eliminated due to the shitty Bush Economy, I would’ve just taken a week’s paid vacation to attend the Inauguration. Being white is awesome, they pay you to take time off! Shhhh, don’t tell The Others!

    Gawker has an additional, nice take-down here.

  43. 43.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    I’m white, unemployed, and will be watching the inauguration on the TV.

    Same here.

  45. 45.

    DougJ

    What do you want to bet some wingnut makes a crack about janitors and/or drug dealers taking the day off? Or has one already one that?

  48. 48.

    littlesky

    @gbear:

    Yes, would someone please define "PDF" for the Chairman of the senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee?

  49. 49.

    linda

    i’m a middle-aged white woman and i’m taking the day off from work to partake in the festivities.

  50. 50.

    DecidedFenceSitter

    I know I, and 3-4 of my close friends (all white) will be watching it on HDTV. Oddly enough, our one token black friend(TM) (Patent Pending), will be at work.

  53. 53.

    Genine

    I’m black and I was going to take the day off. But I’ve been sick at home all this week, so far. I don’t want to take the personal day so soon after.

    But I’ll be watching it on the big screen tv at work. And, I had a meeting re-arranged so I wouldn’t miss it.

    I love the company I work for!

  54. 54.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Holy Christ, someone unplug this asswipe’s computer. And hit him with it.

    It recalls the 1965 theatrical classic ”Day of Absence,” a one-act satire by black playwright Douglas Turner Ward that ponders events in a fictitious Southern town when all of the black people suddenly go missing.

    I kan haz historikul kontecks, plz?

  55. 55.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Speaking of which, just in case I can’t take the day off. Which is the best way to watch the coverage on the puter? I am assuming everyone will be live streaming, but what is everyone’s preference MSNBC, CSpan Faux? Anyone?

  56. 56.

    kay

    It’s a celebratory day for the whole country.
    What do we know, though? That if there are less than 4 million people lining the streets and cheering, one or another idiot on television will say Obama didn’t meet some pundit-invented benchmark of Presidential fabulousness.
    1.5 mill will be "poorly attended" or "disappointing". One of them will say it.

  58. 58.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I am going to watch it somehow, come hell or high water. I will sit there (other than the crying thing) with the smug smile on my face that I have when I am following a vehicle with a McCain/Palin sticker on the bumper. (It is not true that I actually snort tea out of my nose when seeing such a sticker it is just a rumor)

  59. 59.

    The Moar You Know

    In other news, Joe the Plumbing Tool gets served by CNN’s Rick Sanchez.

    @Ash Can: Oh my. Joesphine the Plunger Jockey got his ass handed to him there.

  61. 61.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    @kay: POTD.

    And don’t forget, any crime, rude behavior or general unpleasantness that occurs on the 20th will be OBAMA INSPIRED UNREST & RIOTS!11

    I fully expect to see stock footage of people getting on the trains at rush hour touted as STAMPEDE DEATH CRUSH ON DC METRO.

  62. 62.

    demimondian

    I love the fact that Sanchez let him have it w/o mentioning PJTV, too, and without providing any links. Hey, Simon, old bean, how’s that -stupid publicity stunt- amateur "war-correspondent" working out for you, again?

  64. 64.

    demimondian

    I fully expect to see stock footage of people getting on the trains at rush hour touted as STAMPEDE DEATH CRUSH ON DC METRO.

    Is Barack the Bat Boy?

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne

    I have two co-workers who are taking that day off. I wouldn’t mind, except that I already have an upcoming vacation and don’t want to take the extra time. And they’re both quite white.

  67. 67.

    Comrade grumpy realist

    Well, some of us may be taking the day off but it’s going to be because the USPTO will be shut down due to all the traffic etc. in the area.

    I suspect most of us will be coming in anyway to attack the back piles of work (and taking quick peeks at what we find on the blogs.)

    No matter what results from the next four years, this will be a very historic moment.

    Anyone going to liveblog the inauguration?

  70. 70.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Oh, HAHAHAHAHA! Not bloody likely. Iggy looks as if he wants to play patty-cake with Harper, so the Tories will be at the helm for a while yet.

  71. 71.

    Brick Oven Bill

    That was a strange article from the New York Times. This one has me confused too. Sounds like they’re running out of money and the editors might be having some fun on the way out.

    NYT stock is down 88% in 5 years and dropped 8% today. If I understand the theory correctly, if it drops below $5 a share, institutions need to dump it. It is at $6.26 today. The decline in stock price has been roughly linear.

    Having a big, fancy party at will be seen as a mistake, in my opinion. But have fun dancing.

  72. 72.

    SnarkIntern

    I’m concerned that people are expecting too much from Obama. I’ll take the day off to watch, because it’s an important day for the country, but I am not expecting any miracles from the new president. He wasn’t exactly the most experienced candidate, and I think people are forgetting that.

  73. 73.

    Genine

    Having a big, fancy party at will be seen as a mistake, in my opinion. But have fun dancing.

    Actually, the Obamas decided to tone down the festivities months ago. There will be less parties and fanfare.

    They still want to have a celebration and make the Inauguration festive, but they decided now was not the time for excessive lavish parties.

  74. 74.

    Laura W

    @Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse: My life is nothing if not ironic. I’ve worked at home, blessedly alone, for the last two years. I started a p/t gig two weeks ago and our meetings are on Tuesdays! We had it today this week, and I brought up the issue of next Tuesday in hopes we could r/s that as well, but I left them still not clear on what we will do about next Tuesday’s meeting.

    So I’m driving home tonight thinking how lame I am to have this great new source of income and I just want to scream at them:
    NO, I CAN’T COME TO A MEETING. I HAVE TO STAY ON MY COUCH AND START DRINKING CHAMPAGNE AT 11:00AM AND SOB AND REFRESH BALLOON-JUICE.
    CHRISTIE!
    HOSTIE!

  75. 75.

    shortstop

    And I’m having friends over.

    I learned my lesson on election night. Refilling everyone’s drinks and replenishing the tapas cut into valuable viewing, not to mention crying, time. We love our friends, but the spouse and I will be hunched over the TV all day Tuesday all by ourselves. Of course, there’re always jubilant phone calls to be made.

  76. 76.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    shares leftover Communion wine with Laura

    Yeah, I normally work at home almost every day, but this month, there’s been an explosion of meeting/teaching days, which is great for my bank account and debt load, but lousy timing otherwise. It sounds as if you might be able to swing something, right? Hey, it should be a national holiday.

    I’ll do my best to sneak in at lunch break Tuesday. Save some champagne for me, guys. Or, given the cold weather, some Caribou.

  77. 77.

    Pinsonfrau

    I’ve been a lurker here for a few months and love the comments. You guys are brutal (but in a good way).

    Anyway, I finally had to comment on this one. I’m headed to D.C. from the San Francisco Bay Area this Saturday night with my 12 year old son. We’re both extremely white (talking 50 spf sunscreen here), and we’re both extremely excited. BTW – I work part-time on a per project basis (wanted to have more times with the kiddos); so, this is a money-losing proposition on my part. However, the memories we will have an, as that awful commercial goes, "priceless."

  78. 78.

    demimondian

    @SnarkIntern: 4/10. Not up to your usual standard — although the swipe about "not the most experienced candidate" was enough to get you some credit, it was not enough to get you to a passing grade.

  79. 79.

    Cain

    @Tsulagi:

    PVT DougJ, I hope you’ve completed BWT (Basic Wingnut Training) as the RSSF may put you on alert if conditions in TN deteriorate.

    There really needs to be some kind of mockery army to mock red state operatives. If only we could make their lives miserable for the next two years. OH yeah, that’s right, we’re in charge. Fuckers.

    cain

  81. 81.

    Cain

    I’m not going. But I’ll probably watch the streaming video from work like most of the people. Then I’m going to get my team to take half day off and go watch the inauguration at a bar. It’s gotta happen.

    cain

  82. 82.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Obama is spending twice what Bush did on his party, so it is a good thing Barack and Michelle toned their party down. The cynical side of me thinks Hillary might be behind the size of it.

  84. 84.

    SnarkIntern

    the swipe about "not the most experienced candidate"

    It’s not like I made that up. His own Secretary of State designee said that he was not experienced enough for the job. We have to assume that she took her new assignment in order to keep an eye on him.

  85. 85.

    demimondian

    @SnarkIntern: Nice recovery. Next time, I strongly suggest incorporating that into your initial put-down, thus strengthening it.

    "Like Hillary said, he’s wasn’t the most experienced candidate, or even the most experienced nominee. It’s just a good thing that she decided to take the job of keeping the O’Romper Room in check by providing wisdom and balance."

  86. 86.

    SnarkIntern

    Nice recovery.

    Thank you, I think. But I suspect that you are not taking me seriously. You probably gave your unwavering support to Obama during the campaign, despite having more experienced candidates to choose from.

  87. 87.

    demimondian

    @SnarkIntern:

    I suspect that you are not taking me seriously

    Oh, no, I take you very seriously. I am, after all, very experienced in snark, and I take its budding practitioners very, very seriously indeed.

  88. 88.

    donovong

    @snarkintern:

    In eight years, BO will have exactly 8 more years experience than any of the other idiots you so fond of.

    Fuck off. He won.

    Tee-hee.

  89. 89.

    Comrade Stuck

    Nice recovery.

    rule 36 for blogging bullshit. Always leave room to wiggle your atoms out of a jam.

  93. 93.

    Original Lee

    I’m white and employed. About 90% of my coworkers are white. The CEO is white. Yet the CEO is giving us a company holiday on January 20th because so many people were taking the day off, either to watch the Inauguration on TV at home and party down, or to go to DC to be a part of the celebration there. One lucky coworker even scored a pair of tickets to the State of Hawaii Ball, dammit.

    So thhhhhhhhbbbb! to the AP. They know not of what they speak.

  94. 94.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Here is my handicap as to Original Lee’s industry. In the process of developing this handicap, the following source was referenced:

    (1) Non-profit, general; 3:2
    (2) Coffee Shop; 12:1
    (3) Film; 19:1
    (4) Obama campaign-related; 12:1
    (5) Education; 6:1
    (6) Internet; 14:1
    (7) Child care; 8:1
    (8) Wine Industry; 35:1
    (9) Vegan/Vegetarianism; 32:1
    (10) Construction; 1762:1
    (11) Manufacturing; 1546:1
    (12) Transportation; 1876:1

    Integrity, Original Lee

  96. 96.

    Rainy

    *shrug* It looks just like an article that is focusing on what black people are doing. I really doesn’t need to dissected and analyzed.

  97. 97.

    zoe kentucky from pittsburgh

    I’m going to DC for the weekend. I lived in DC for 8 years and left a few years ago due to total political burnout. So it’s going to be CRAZY FUCKING AWESOME to go back when Bush and his cronies are leaving town. It’ll be nice to have a president who has some actual affection for DC– if you don’t know what I’m talking about go to youtube and search for "Obama" and "Ben’s Chili Bowl."

    I’m a liberal Jewish lesbian and I’m going with my good friend and neighbor, a liberal black lesbian. (I’m only providing so many labels because of the article.) I own my own business so I’m losing money for any days I don’t work BUT I don’t care. My friend is a public school teacher who is taking 2 days off to be there.

  98. 98.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @kay:

    Well, they’ve already announced they are going to close off access to the parade route when the crowd hits 300K, so there’s only so much the idiots can say.

    SF Chronicle

  101. 101.

    harlana pepper

    shit, I am really getting jealous of all you peeps taking the day off – if I don’t work I don’t get paid but I certainly can’t celebrate at work – too much anti-Obama hostility there – but then again, it’s probably worth the lost change after all

  102. 102.

    Michael D.

    @Comrade Stuck:

    Guess i’m slow on the uptake, but don’t really have a problem with it.

    I’m with you. I don’t get the indignation. I read the article and found nothing in it that would warrant it.

    Basically, an article about how important the day is to African Americans and what some of them will be doing on Tuesday.

    Maybe I’m racist too or something, because over the past couple weeks I’ve discussed exactly this subject with many of my black co-workers.

  103. 103.

    Bob

    Fearing that everyone at my place of buisness will watch online and slow or crash the network, my work is setting up a large TV in a conference room and inviting people to take an hour off and watch it.

  105. 105.

    Xanthippas

    Eh, that’s not so bad. I live in Texas, and I have one black co-worker who’s taking off to travel to DC, and another who’s seriously considered it, but no white people (flaming lib myself included) who are planning on going.

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