Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

T R E 4 5 O N

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

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

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Democrats have delivered the Square Deal, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now… the Big Joe Biden Deal.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

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

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

The revolution will be supervised.

This really is a full service blog.

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

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Reader Interactions

130Comments

  1. 1.

    Maurs

    Ummm, I’m not sure I know what to make of this either. Like the tunes playing in the background though.

  2. 2.

    Laura W

    Well, I’m not gonna overthink it since it was my first laugh of the day.

    John, I think you should name your kitty Jillie Ginger. Here are my reasons:

    1) It’s very fun to say. Try it. Jillie Ginger!
    2) She would share your initials.
    3) mmmmmm…ginger.

    You wouldn’t have to use both names. I mean as a middle name.
    Plus, then she could have her own Ben & Jerry’s flavor:
    Jillie Ginger Gelato

  3. 3.

    vickie leonard

    You do realize that all dog owners despise the suck-up Sheltie since that little happy, desperate-to-please-it’s- owner breed makes our dogs look like the lazy parasites they are.

  8. 8.

    Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist

    Is that Shigesato Itoi? I know he loves dogs and the Beatles and does weird performance-art-like stuff from time to time.

    If so (or even if that isn’t him [and ETA probably it isn’t because this guy is younger than Itoi, I think]), he’s an interesting dude. Designed the quirky “Mother”/”Earthbound” series of video games which have some of the most devout fans of anything; also has done voice acting in anime and plays music and is generally an all-around mensch.

  9. 9.

    Bhall35

    Anyone have some good & perhaps unusual cold soup recipes (making gazpacho tonight) to try out during my food processor honeymoon?

  10. 10.

    JGabriel

    She certainly has her man well-trained. Not as well as her dog, though – notice how the guy didn’t start obeying commands until he could follow the dog’s lead.

    .

  11. 11.

    slag

    That’s the next RNC red-scare video claiming the Democrat Social ist Party is going to force us all into synchronized aerobics after we get gay-married to our pets.

    Edit: Damn Cia lis! Forcing soc ialists into moderation.

  12. 12.

    The Cat Who Would Be Tunch

    @Perry Como:

    /r/ John Cole and Tunch doing that routine.

    Tunch seems to have trouble rolling as it is, if the videos are any indication, nevermind doing squats.

  14. 14.

    Tim

    Two things:

    The dog cheats by leaning against the wall.

    I may have to allow the Pammy ad to show at the top of the left column again if the alternative is seeing Coultergeist every time I visit.

  15. 15.

    Delia

    @Laura W:

    Did you go and get the kitty, John? I don’t catch all the threads so I may have missed it, but I thought you were just busy with gardening stuff during the weekend.

    My son sent my dog one of those dog puzzle toys that you fill with dog treats or kibble and the dog has to figure out how to get them out of the bottle. Victoria on It’s Me or the Dog has recommended them for bored pooches. Anyhow Pippin smelled it, looked at it, then looked up at me and wagged his tail at me to encourage me to take the treats out for him. Then he ignored it.

  16. 16.

    JGabriel

    @MattF:

    I can’t be sure, but that might be because my hovercraft is full of eels.

    I wonder if the Japanese ever complain about directions that were badly translated from English? I mean, do they laugh at our instruction manuals for DVD players, cars, computers, err, umm, how to open potato chip bags?

    .

  17. 17.

    Delia

    @JGabriel:

    I wonder if the Japanese ever complain about directions that were badly translated from English? I mean, do they laugh at our instruction manuals for DVD players, cars, computers, err, umm, how to open potato chip bags?

    Warnings that coffee cups are hot?

  19. 19.

    The Cat Who Would Be Tunch

    @JGabriel: Yeah, they do. I was working with a Japanese translator who had to correct some of his incorrect translations for a software program. One sentence had been unintentionally translated to “Please Beat Down Next To Continue” in Japanese.

    Although my favorite all time mistranslation was this bathroom sign in China for disabled people that read “Deformed Man Toilet” (in English).

  20. 20.

    Chuck Butcher

    Completey non-dog, but I took this motor scooter to a Sober Riders MC rally over in Meridian, ID at the Harley dealer Saturday and won best stock bike in their show. I didn’t enter the bike rodeo, for good reasons, like owning the thing for one week. The skills and bike familiarity involved in riding 60′ between two lines 16 inches apart with the last bike at the end without going out winning each elimination, riding 40 feet on flat 2×6, and throwing a dart a each of two boards 15 feet away while riding were not within my reach.

    100 miles each way, good band, good food, cool bikes, hard core scooter tramps – what could be better?

  21. 21.

    Beauzeaux

    I once heard an apocryphal story that Coca-Cola’s advertising phrase “Coke Adds Life” had been badly translated for the Chinese market as “Coke brings your ancestors back from the dead.”

  24. 24.

    South of I-10

    Progress. I have an itty bitty kitty on my shoulder and a full grown cat in my lap, and no one is hissing. Also, my border collie is cuter than that border collie, if not quite as talented.

  25. 25.

    JGabriel

    @The Cat Who Would Be Tunch:

    Yeah, they do. I was working with a Japanese translator who had to correct some of his incorrect translations for a software program. One sentence had been unintentionally translated to “Please Beat Down Next To Continue” in Japanese.

    Ha! That’s hilarious. Though “Please Beat Down Next To Continue” sounds suspiciously like a GOP slogan.

    .

  26. 26.

    JGabriel

    Laugh your ass off funny from Redstate (via Sadly, No!)

    Will Obama Again Choose Unilateralism & the Status Quo?

    Redstate complaining about unilateralism? That’s almost too rich.

    .

  27. 27.

    Laura W

    Speaking of sailors and sentimental stuff, I was in the kitchen cooking up some ginger curry shrimp sort of horrible mess and XM Coffeehouse had James Taylor on doing a very uninspired version of Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne, which is very dear to my heart.

    After searching pages on youtube for a decent version (in English. If vous parlez Francais, this must be teh awesome!) I found Judy Collins doing it just last month for WNYC radio. Beautiful. Wish I had speakers for the laptop, but I sense they’d be awkward to balance on my lap along with the Mac and two cats.

  28. 28.

    Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist

    @JGabriel: Redstate complaining about unilateralism? That’s almost too rich.

    Ain’t it, though?

    Welcome, my friends, to where the butthurt never ends!

  30. 30.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    @Beauzeaux: Oh, that’s a really old one. I heard that story about Pepsi in the 60s/70s (“Come alive! You’re in the Pepsi Generation!”)

    Of course, that slogan was also the punch line to a rather bad joke about a young boy pouring a 10 ouncer over a dead bird in hope of reviving it. Every kid in the schoolyard knew how to tell that one, as it involved rocking an imaginary dead bird back and forth in our cupped hands while singing this.

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    That’s almost vichysoisse-like there Filly, so I can see that translating into being equally good hot or cold. The sausage gives it an interesting quality. I wonder if you used different sausages it would give slightly different results (like Italian vs Polish vs the various chorizos), it might be worth playing around it one night when I’m bored.

  33. 33.

    Bhall35

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    Thanks! That looks great! And evil. Can’t wait to try it.

  34. 34.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Delia:

    I wonder if the Japanese ever complain about directions that were badly translated from English?

    Gawd yes happens all the time. I’ve worked with whole teams of translators sending me questions night and day to avoid such things, because they used to happen sort of non-stop. It’s fascinating seeing the different kinds of questions asked by Japanese versus Dutch versus Russian, etc..

    One of my favorites in the other direction: A phone booth in Chinatown in NY that had a sign on it:

    “Phone out of work”

    Of course, “a phone booth” needs to be translated these days two practically, I realize ( = a sort of cell phone and closet combined that you stood inside to make calls, oh and it was attached to the ground and anyone could use it. )

  35. 35.

    Laura W

    @Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse: I have something for you. Remember that horrible NC pickle site? I found another one tonight that is not quite so bad in the flash whatever, but even more tacky in the marketing schtick. It’s like plentyofbottlesofwine.com…online dating for wine bottles or something.

    I only went there because the Pinot is very good and it’s from France so I thought I’d find a very refined and elegant site. I honestly don’t think I could date a Pinot who liked John Mayer.
    Shiraz? Call me.

  36. 36.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Wonderful day in the garden again today. More of my asiatic lilies are blooming and the garden looks glorious (even though I do say so myself). The neighbor and his young boy came over this morning to borrow a wrench and Chris spent the time waiting for it wandering around the flower beds I heard him remark (as I was giving his Dad the wrench) “this yard is really, really cool” did my heart good. Enjoy the flower pics!

  37. 37.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Laura W:

    What’s really funny about that is that it gives the wine’s “orientation”.

    “This little shiraz goes with both beef or chicken dishes, and once was into a thing with a guinea fowl and a rack of lamb at the same time down on the lower east side but that was mainly because it was a rent controlled-apartment and it needed some time to breathe.”

  38. 38.

    kid bitzer

    @33–

    the amazing point on that chart, to my mind, is the difference in nixon’s 68 share of the southern vote, as compared to his ’72 share of the southern vote.

    it’s the southern strategy writ large, and man did it ever work.

  39. 39.

    Laura W

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Yeah, against my better judgment I explored a bit more of the site. I enjoy marketing. I’ve done it for years in various arenas. Do it today. But that is just insulting. At least to me. Contrast to Wine Woot. That’s my kind of wine site.

    What Is Wine Woot? sort of says it all.

  40. 40.

    WereBear

    Since it’s open thread, I’ll look for Internet sympathy: lost our 13 year old cat this weekend.

    And I finalized a book for Kindle this week; just waiting for the proofreaders getting back to me. Since it’s the 21st Century, I was telling all my friends I’m published, a long held dream… and I was so excited and happy.

    Well, it was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times, I guess.

    John getting a kitty! How wonderful. There Will Be Pics? Video? Tunch’s face when he found out?

  42. 42.

    geg6

    I spent the day being a Real American. My small river town had its Memorial Day parade with vets from WWII right on up to Iraq and Afghanistan. Three high school bands with cheerleaders and majorettes and drill teams. A lovely ceremony at our war memorial. Chatting with neighbors and old friends. I had a lovely hot dog for lunch with mustard and onions and dill relish. And then a beautiful burger with scallions, dill relish, bibb lettuce, terrific hydroponic tomato, and sharp yellow cheddar and white cheddar. And then I reverted back to my DFH self and put Dijon on my toasted bun. It was tres bien.

  43. 43.

    Krista

    So I am liking Chuck, but I can’t help but think he looks like a young Stephen Tobolowsky.

    Don’t do that, John. You’re ruining my fancrush.

  44. 44.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @Yutsano: I mostly stick with spicy Italian, but switching it up with some chorizos and some cilantro will be my next experiment.

    Of course when I’m in a healthy mood, I use lean ground beef that I spice up myself and 1% milk – it’s still good and I don’t feel so guilty.

  50. 50.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @geg6:

    And then I reverted back to my DFH self and put Dijon on my toasted bun. It was tres bien.

    Nice memorial day story. Just a last note on whole food snobbery thing (the one practiced by the wingnuts– funny they don’t call that being “PC”, huh?) and memorial day:

    I used to work in the American Legion bar off the Champs Elysee that was populated by a collection of old soldiers, French and American both, a really interesting clientele. You still had to show your passport to get in in those days. On Armistice day, the Arch de Triomphe was draped with colors and these old guys would start showing up in the bar after the parades, with their wives, all dressed up, guys you hadn’t seen before, and they had on medals and uniforms and so on. Talking with some of them was fascinating.

    The French lost something like 1.4 million soldiers in combat in WWI.

    1.4 million.

    As a percentage of their population which was around 40 million, that would be roughly equivilant to us losing 18 million soldiers defending our country.

    18 million. Imagine that.

    And imagine how after such a thing, we might just be slightly more reluctant to march off to war every time some tinhorn cowboy thinks it would be a good idea.

    Every time I read even “liberals” at times making some joke about “surrender monkeys” I want to scream.

    Hope you enjoyed your French mustard on that American burger, they like the same combination often here too. Happy memorial day. Peace.

  51. 51.

    Laura W

    @geg6: ACK! Oliver just broke my heart. ACK.
    Mia was so good I watched it again tonight. I’m guessing April broke your heart.
    God the finales this season are SO well-written and moving.

  53. 53.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @WereBear:

    Sorry to hear about your beloved furbaby. May you meet him on the Rainbow bridge many years from now.

    On Friday I took down my hummingbird flag and proudly put up my stars and stripes outside the front door to honour memorial day weekend. Strangely enough I was the only one on the street to do so, now isn’t THAT pathetic seeing as a street full of real “amurkans” (many marines)were shown up by the lone Brit.

  57. 57.

    Laura W

    @John Cole: No. It was the wrong movie for my mood that night. I really wasn’t looking for all the violence and sensory intensity. I bailed out about half way in. I probably would’ve enjoyed it in a lighter mood.

    I lit a candle, put on Joni Mitchell’s Blue and played it twice through.
    Many Kleenex gave their lives.
    (Brings to mind Holly Hunter in “Network”, taking the phone off the hook and sobbing in the morning before her work day began. Sometimes you just need a good, long, sloppy cry.)

  59. 59.

    AhabTRuler

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I understand what you are saying, and I won’t argue that the French didn’t suffer disastrously in both WW’s, but many French were quite willing to march off to war again, as long as those wars were fought somewhere other than France. Vietnam and Algeria didn’t become famous in the annals of warfare before 1914.

  60. 60.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Laura W:

    That was “Broadcast News”, not Network.

    One of my all time soft spots is reserved for that movie.

    The one I always cite is how the two friends could say “Okay meet me at the place by the thing where we met that time” and know what they meant.

  61. 61.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @AhabTRuler:

    Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the French entirely learned the lesson either. I’m mainly just talking about the vitrol directed at France for not joining the invasion of Iraq, which echoes right to the present day in the whole Dijon/Freedom Fries idiocy by the wingnuts.

    I think both countries have a lot to learn about being egged on into war, I’m just saying that the taunts directed at France from the right wingers in the US are often particularly absurd, given their history.

  62. 62.

    Laura W

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Thanks. I sat here staring at my post for the whole 5 min. wondering what was wrong with it. I knew I had the Joni CD right.
    I love that movie. Holly Hunter and William Hurt? Perfection in my book.
    Accidental Tourist. Also. The alphabetizing of the pantry foods? More perfection.

  63. 63.

    Indylib

    I know it’s late and I’ll probably repost this on an open thread tomorrow, but I need a new washer and dryer. It needs to be a large capacity – I wash clothes for 7 people. Any suggestions?

  64. 64.

    Yutsano

    I know it’s late and I’ll probably repost this on an open thread tomorrow, but I need a new washer and dryer. It needs to be a large capacity – I wash clothes for 7 people. Any suggestions?

    Maytag Neptune. Awesome capacity. Work like a champ. They can even be repaired if you need it. I can literally do a week’s washing just for me in one load and you’ll need the matching dryer just to keep up.

  65. 65.

    AhabTRuler

    I’m just saying that the taunts directed at France from the right wingers in the US are often particularly absurd

    Yeah, but they were absurd, more so because the French blew up fucking Greenpeace than anything associated with WWI.
    Of course, the argument never was about the facts, now was it?

  66. 66.

    Laura W

    Fuckity Fuck. John’s thunderstorm has arrived in WNC and just took out my DTV signal. Because it’s not rained enough here over the last four days.
    Paul is now pouring out his burdened heart to Gina, his therapist, and I am missing it.
    Maybe I’ll go watch Tunch I-V again. Or maybe I’ll just shut down since the lightning is now overhead and I’ve not yet backed up the Mac. Christ. It’s pouring!
    Like the Weather (Natalie Merchant Alert!)

  68. 68.

    WereBear

    Indylib, don’t have specifics, but you definitely want a front loader. You can really pack in the clothes without damaging them, and it uses less water. Win-win.

    Thanks again for the condolences on my little kitty, all. It does help to know other people understand.

    I think the psychological concept of “pet loss” has come a long way. In the early ’80’s, I got called into a corporate bigwig’s office who wasn’t in my chain of command. She closed the door, and started telling me about losing her little dog of 18 years.

    This woman turned to a basic stranger, only knowing I had many pets, and cared about them, because she had no one in her life who would understand her grief.

    And then we went back to our distant relationship. It was my good deed of the day; I didn’t mind.

  69. 69.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    I think both countries have a lot to learn about being egged on into war, I’m just saying that the taunts directed at France from the right wingers in the US are often particularly absurd, given their history.

    Sadder still is that the wingers seem to have forgotten the fact that without the timely aid of the French our own Revolutionary War might have been lost. Ignoring other history, say the French experience in Algeria or their experience in Vietnam seems to be an American specialty.

  70. 70.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @AhabTRuler:

    Well they were absurd for any one of a zillion reasons you want them to be. The whole idea that the French are a bunch of sissies is the laughable part in any case, and you can cite deaths in WWI just as logically as crimes in Algeria for that if you ask me. You could say your examples are more recent, but then not invading Iraq was more recent than both, so so what?

    My point wasn’t to argue the merits of one country over the other in any case, sort of the opposite, just to remind people that it’s a real place with all the black and white and everything in between that we have in the US.

    And as usual, as you point out, the level of wingnuttery that we reached in the past decade has almost nothing to do with anything resembling reality anyway.

  73. 73.

    Ninerdave

    Yesterday I took a two hour ride from Oakland to Atwater to visit the Castle Air Museum.

    What an awesome place. Apparently on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, they open up all the old warbirds there, so visitors can climb around inside them. They then have people, some vets who actually flew the planes, inside answering questions. Aviation, especially warbirds, have always facinated me, so getting to climb around in them was a ton of fun.

    I guess what really amazed me was how cramped the old bombers were. Now, I’m a tall guy at 6’3″, but in the B-17 there was maybe 4′ of headroom? The B-29 was a little better, but the cockpit was small and the aft area small, with only a little crawl space between the two that I doubt I could have fit in. The B-29’s cockpit access was also from beneath the front landing gear. These aircraft weren’t fast either, so I spent a good deal of time trying to imagine what it would be like to spend long hours in cramped, loud quarters.

    All in all a fun experience, and if you have the chance to crawl around in some of these aircraft, I highly recommend it.

  74. 74.

    AhabTRuler

    just to remind people that it’s a real place with all the black and white and everything in between that we have in the US.

    Fair enough. Not trying to pick a fight, and I have always enjoyed the time I have spent in France. The Francophobia that the US displayed made me sick.

  75. 75.

    Ninerdave

    Just looked at Memeorandum and the top article titled: “Will the Left Apologize to Bolton.”

    I haven’t read the article, and don’t plan to, but my first thought was “For what?” followed closely by “Shouldn’t he apologize first?”

  76. 76.

    Bostondreams

    Not to sound like a jingoistic wingnut, but my wife, daughter and I walked through our Florida neighbor today and only about seven houses (including mine) was flying the flag. I know, I know, America is about more than the flag, but it just made me a bit sad, especially on Memorial Day.

  78. 78.

    Indylib

    @Yutsano: @WereBear:

    Thanks for the input. I’m definitely going for a front loader. Trying to decide between the Samsung , LG and Maytag frontloaders with steam.. I need something that can handle grungy clothes from 3 little boys and 2 teenagers that have stocking jobs and get all covered in dust and grime. Oh and did I mention that they have to be durable enough to be moved every 3 years without falling apart? The steam seems to be a relatively new feature, so I’m a little leery. But they are advertised to get stains out without extra chemicals, so I’m willing to try it.

    Sorry to hear about your kitty WereBear, it sucks to lose pets.

  79. 79.

    Yutsano

    Mine isn’t steam-capable because it’s too old to be, but that gives you an idea of how good they last. Oh and Neptunes are all front-loaders though I don’t think they make them anymore. From what I’ve heard, the LGs are worth the dimes dropped on them if you choose to go that route.

  81. 81.

    Some Random Chick

    So now Liz Cheney may run for office says Karl Rove.

    Let’s see now . . .

    blatant cronyism – check
    lying with a straight face – check
    Karl Rove endorsement . . . she’s almost good to go.

    I guess she’s better than Joe the (not) plumber in that she has some state department experience, even if that road was also paved by Daddy.

    But seriously, what office would she run for? And would the wingnuts elect her? Aside from whether or not they actually could elect anyone.

  82. 82.

    Yutsano

    But seriously, what office would she run for? And would the wingnuts elect her? Aside from whether or not they actually could elect anyone.

    MAYBE if she tried the open seat in Wyoming, if the guy who holds it now chooses to retire. Otherwise I have no idea where all she’s lived or where she has residence in other than D.C. so besides there I’m clueless.

  83. 83.

    Yutsano

    And just in case y’all haven’t figured it out yet yes I’m that bored at work LOL.

  84. 84.

    Some Random Chick

    @ Yutsano

    But do they like her? I thought the Reps just wanted Dick to slink gently into that good night. His daughter is helping him NOT do so.

    So, I’m asking in Wingnut world, is she a good guy or a bad guy?

  86. 86.

    asiangrrlMN

    @WereBear: I’m really sorry at the loss of your beautiful Puffy. As everyone probably knows by now, I love, love, love black cats. I will hug my two extra-tight tonight in memory of Puffy. Run swiftly to the other side, Puffy.

    @Some Random Chick:

    Bush (Jenna or her twin)/Cheney in 2012.

    I don’t think it’s a question of like or not like. It’s a question of name recognition, semi-attractive woman, and the fact that she talks tough.

  87. 87.

    Olliander

    Just finished watching the video and couldn’t help from laughing hysterically, and then being creeped out by it.
    That is to say, it wouldn’t be as funny if she had the White Album playing in the background, for example—it had to be early Beatles.

    I always knew the Japanese were nuts over the Beatles (I guess they still are), but not that they found it motivating enough to exercise to…

  88. 88.

    Zuzu's Petals

    I spent the day traveling over the Rockies by train…magnificent!

    Am tapping this out on my iPhone as we speed through the Utah night. Bumpy!

    Tomorrow over the Sierras and then home.

  89. 89.

    Yutsano

    That is to say, it wouldn’t be as funny if she had the White Album playing in the background, for example—-it had to be early Beatles.

    Are you sure it’s a woman???

  90. 90.

    Bubba Dave

    @WereBear:
    Deepest sympathies. From your blog, he seems like an adorable fellow who was extremely lucky to find a human family that could accept him, care for him, and then make the right (although tough) decision when his health required it.

  91. 91.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: I think he means the one giving the commands.

    The video creeped me out, personally. More Tunch!

    @Laura W: I gotta ask, how would Jillie Ginger have the same initials as John Cole? Is George his middle name or something? Gregory? Gavin? Gore? GOP?

  92. 92.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Some Random Chick:
    Oh yeah, Liz Cheney will be the silver bullet for the GOP all right. With absolutely no experience of elective office and packing almost as much charisma as her undead father Cheney is bound for glory. It seems like every two weeks some new jerk is identified as a Republican hopeful. Why don’t the Republicans just stage an American Idol – type reality show to choose their 2012 candidate? They would, of course, have to skip the talent part.

  93. 93.

    MelodyMaker

    Border collies rule, adopted declawed persians bite hard and tear your flesh.
    I’m gettin a Sheltie. That’ll make it better.

  95. 95.

    Yutsano

    I think he means the one giving the commands.

    There must be audio then. Couldn’t hear it at work, might have to peruse it at home if I can stomach a second viewing.

  96. 96.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @WereBear:
    To have a pet is to make your heart a hostage. I’d rather take another bullet than have something bad happen to our empty headed little dog. My sincerest condolences.

  97. 97.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    For all those who long for flags today, my dad, career military, is instrumental in the display of a city full of flags (I have no idea how many there are now, maybe over 1000). These are all flags that are given to families of service men and woman at their funeral. They donate them and they are displayed Memorial Day weekend. It’s heart-wrenching and heartwarming all at once.

    Many cities do it now, but when they started it, this little town of 30K was one of a handfull.

    Avenue of Flags

  98. 98.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Some Random Chick:
    How about a winger version of Monty Python’s “Summarize Proust Competition”? Rather than summarize Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu (Because it’s a book and it’s French, also.) they could see who could recite the most right wing talking points in a single breath. Extra points would be awarded for denouncing the ideological impurity of the other contestants as part of the recitation.

  100. 100.

    Some Random Chick

    @ Dennis-SGMM

    Ooh ooh! For the bonus round, the person to best demonstrate doublespeak, both saying two contradictory things and simultaneously showing a sincere belief in both.

    The keyword here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary. This demands a continuous alteration of the past, made possible by the system of thought which really embraces all the rest, and which is known in Newspeak as doublethink. Doublethink is basically the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.

    – Part II, chapter IX – chapter I of Goldstein’s book

    PS stolen from Wikipedia

  101. 101.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Some Random Chick:
    That’s even better because it opens the competition to demonstrating the well-worn and enthusiastic hypocrisy that characterizes today’s GOP. Any GOPer who can’t who can’t denounce government intrusiveness while standing for regulating whom we can marry, what consenting adults can do in the privacy of their own bedrooms or why it’s necessary to read our emails and tap our phone calls doesn’t deserve to be a contender.

  102. 102.

    Indylib

    @Some Random Chick:

    So now Liz Cheney may run for office

    As a Republican? Isn’t she just a tad lesbian to get elected by the wingnuts?

    She has a partner, it’s not like she could pull a Crist and pretend.

  103. 103.

    Fulcanelli

    Speaking of Liz Cheney, has anybody connected the dots yet on the information she’s been spouting on the cable TV shows?

    She was, as I understand it, a lower to mid level State department political appointee with presumably a lower to mid level security clearance. She’s running around defending her evil ghoul of a father’s policies, parroting his support of torture and boasting about all this valuable information that was obtained by using it.

    I’d bet my autographed Dick Cheney Waterboard her Daddy’s discussed the highly sensitive and valuable information that Blackwater, et, al. tortured out of those nathhssssssty tewwowists with her. In particular, the kind of highly classified intelligence that would DEFINITELY be far above the security clearance granted a lower to mid level State Department employee with little prior experience and expertise in such matters.

    I don’t claim to know her clearance level and what she would be authorized to see and know, but if she keeps running around with her Chickenhawk Little routine, odds are she’s gonna slip up sooner or later and blurt out something she knows but shouldn’t know and sink that loathsome fuck of a father once and for all.

    And then, seeing how it’s a matter of National Security we’d have to waterboard both her and her old man to find out the truth and the extent of the damage… Maybe then she’d come around to realizing it really is torture and it’s no fucking fun, is it Liz?

    Come To Daddy, Liz… {you’ve been warned}

  104. 104.

    Anne Laurie

    Gotta love dogs with a sense of humor. Here’s another border collie with “special talents”:

    Kate & Gin – canine freestyle

    Werebear, condolences on your loss… I’ve lived with & loved a few less-than-acute cats, but the “Perfect Love” companion who still brings tears to my eyes was a little (5lb) papillon called Candy (or Mousie, or Nezumi-kun). We called her our retired chorus girl — she was a show-ring washout and a broodbox failure who literally could not walk & chew biscuit at the same time, but she gave us a dozen years of Zen instruction-by-example in the arts of simple enjoyment: a stroll through the warm grass on a sunny day, a chewstick so boring the other dogs didn’t bother to steal it from her, a nest at the foot of the bed, whatever scraps and leftovers of attention our other dogs & cats didn’t monopolize. Amazing how large a hole in the household such a small & undemanding spirit can leave, isn’t it?

  105. 105.

    Some Random Chick

    @ Fulcanelli

    Now that puts a hopeful spin on what has become an ordeal that is somehow both mind-numbingly boring and absolutely infuriating at the same time.

    I don’t know how her TV appearances are able to incite both emotions in me at the same time, but they do.

    But . . . yes, let her keep talking, along with Dad, and hope they accidentally go off script. After all, neither are very practiced in the art of talking head gabfests, are they?

  106. 106.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Indylib: No, that’s her sister, Mary. Liz is married to a man.

    @Fulcanelli: Ooh, my fake hubby posted that video the other night. It’s great! As for Liz and Daddy Cheney, eh, what’s said in the family stays in the family, amirite?

    Some Random Chick, Daddy has already gone off-script a few times. He’s practically daring Congress to come after him. As for Lizzie, well, that apple certainly did not fall far from the tree. I can’t stand to listen to her.

  107. 107.

    hamletta

    IndyLib, with that amount of laundry, you might want to consider a Staber.

    They don’t sell ’em at Home Despot, but they’re tanks. Only thing is, if they do break, they’re designed so you can fix ’em yourself. There’s no lonely Staber repairman waiting for your call.

  108. 108.

    Some Random Chick

    Oh, and Werebear, sorry I haven’t added my condolences yet. When I had to put down my beloved shepard, the pain and guilt were unbearable. It’s been years, but now I can finally remember her with no pain, only love.

    I hope your good news, good memories, and your good friends here act as a cushion for this hard time.

  109. 109.

    Anne Laurie

    @John Cole:

    If you haven’t heard from me this weekend, could you check your spam filter for something from “Mathom Haul”? Kthxbai!

  111. 111.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Indylib: Yup. One shudders to think, but they have.

    I think both girls were deferment tickets for Daddy.

    /snark

  115. 115.

    Indylib

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Liz and her hubby both did very nicely off the nepostism of BushCo

    Well, hell. I do remember some mention of a male spouse now that I think about it, I just never put it together.

  116. 116.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Chuck Butcher: Hey, you! You keep posting the link to that gorgeous bike of yours. It’s making me jealous!

    Indylib, this is hubby:

    Cheney’s husband, Philip Perry, served as general counsel to the Department of Homeland Security during the Bush presidency.

  117. 117.

    AhabTRuler

    @Jess: Just a mutt-ish tabby point, but darling nonetheless.

    Currently, she is doing laps around the room, dashing across the desk, jumping up onto the sill, and then up to her shelf (& then repeat).

    This has been a MomoPhotoEssay(TM).

  118. 118.

    Fulcanelli

    Condolences WereBear, on your loss. Nothing sucks like the loss of a pet.

    My eyes still fill up and my throat closes (like right now) when I think of my boy Max, a 10 year old dobie/shepard mix we lost last August after a two year long bout with bone cancer.

    We kept him not just alive, but thriving and running around like a puppy for over a year and a half past the death sentence diagnosis with supplements, herbs, a home cooked, natural diet, a couple of surgeries and a little radiation (no chemo until right at the end), and the doctors were dumbstruck and couldn’t believe it.

    The emergency/cancer veterinarian we used, who is a personal friend, bawled like a baby with my wife and I when he passed. I would have given a body part for that dog. Again, my condolences…

  120. 120.

    Lesley

    Proof that dog is man’s best friend. (Any dog that will do squats with its human deserves a medal.)

  121. 121.

    Ninerdave

    @M. Bouffant:

    While crawling through, I kept thinking of Yossarian (Alan Arkin) talking to Snowden. Although now that I look it up, apparently that was a B-25, not the ones I crawled through.

    Catch-22 is still one of my favorite books of all time.

  123. 123.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    @WereBear:

    From another black cat owner, I offer my condolences and am sorry to hear of your loss. People refer to them as our pets but they are family to those of us who ‘own’ them.

    We may ‘own’ them but they own our hearts.

  124. 124.

    Zuzu's Petals

    Bostondreams @ 77:

    I was at Arlington on Friday…parents and grandparents are there.

    Noticed the dozens of soldiers with backpacks full of flags, placing them at the graves for Memorial Day. An impressive sight, and quite movng.

    Werebear, please let me add my condolences. Your kitty was lucky to have such a caring human.

  125. 125.

    WereBear

    Thank you all so much, from lurking, and then commenting here, I knew there were a lot of happy pets lurking in the background and interfering with the keyboard.

    @Some Random Chick

    the pain and guilt were unbearable

    I’m glad you have come to peace with it now. If we think of it as the last good thing we can do, it makes it better.

  128. 128.

    TR

    CNN announced that Obama is going to pick Sotomayor for the Supreme Court vacancy.

    Fuck you, Jeffrey Rosen!

  129. 129.

    Napoleon

    @TR:

    That is the first thing I thought. Of course you know his TNR piece will be waived around as proof she does not deserve it.

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