This time I am out of here for reals. I swear:
I knew I should not have surfed the web this afternoon.
BTW- there was a massive earthquake in Haiti, and once again I feel guilty, because every time an earthquake is reported I start singing the Beastie Boys, which is a totally inappropriate response.
AhabTRuler
Is Tunch on the nod?
It’ll be another dozen posts by midnight, easy.
slag
This is not news.
Punchy
You got yourself a pot-bellied pig, eh?
Svensker
You crack me up, Cole.
SIA
New chair for Tunch?
General Winfield Stuck
The Tunchster, King of the Realm.
gwangung
John needs a naked Gina Bellman.
CaseyL
Sure. I totes believe you.
[laughs uncontrollably]
Darryl
I think everyone at balloon juice should locate a few bloggers who promoted the Going Galt idiocy, and email them, asking them “Why haven’t you Gone Galt yet? Could you please Go Galt and spare us your ideas?”
Midnight Marauder
After this post, I plan on leaving for 10 minutes, coming back to my computer, hitting “Refresh” and seeing at least 4 new John Cole threads on the front page.
At least.
And don’t think people are going to be fooled because you slipped a picture of the Tunchinator in there this time. WE ARE ON TO YOUR SCHEME, JOHN COLE!
Edit: Can you slap a post with the “Going Galt” tag, even though said title of post is “I Still Suck At Going Galt”? It would irresponsible not to speculate?
handy
LOLz self awareness for the win!
valdivia
you just cant quit us.
Tunch!!
Colette
Hey! Tunch stole my grandma’s favorite chair!
See you in five minutes, Cole.
beltane
Than you for not going Galt. This place has become a refuge of sanity. Can you believe there is a front page story on GOS that claims the health care bill will be better if Coakley loses her Senate race? I fear the crazy has spread from FDL and is infecting all the other “progressive” sites.
General Winfield Stuck
Charlie and the worry stick
HRA
awww! You have to enter that one in a photo contest, General.
All of you with these classic photos could open up a screen saver site.
RedKitten
Well, even if John does wind up going Galt for reals, at least his last little fit of blogging left us a bunch of shiny new threads to play with.
moe99
Thank you to whoever did it first. I resigned from FDL spam and listed Grover Norquist as the reason.
Damn straight.
ulee
The long goodbye.
CaseyL
@General Winfield Stuck: D’awww. What a cutie.
beltane
One of my cats has not left her spot by the wood stove in over a month. She’ll get up a couple of times a day to eat, drink, and relieve herself, but other than that she’s been curled up in the same exact spot. I’ve never know a cat to hibernate like this.
You Don't Say
@General Winfield Stuck: He’s a sweetie.
jl
Thanks for the pic, Tunch. You look great.
That blog character, John Cole, you and DougJ created is great, what a riot.
PeakVT
What’s the holdup? Galt is waiting for you with open arms.
RedKitten
@General Winfield Stuck: Awww…lookit the little bum on him! Too cute!
Mnemosyne
Great, it looks like the compromise for dropping the tax on “Cadillac” plans is that the employer mandate will be dropped, which means that Wal-Mart will continue to get to use taxpayer dollars to fund their obligations to their employees.
I can’t see any possible way that could go wrong!
RedKitten
BTW, somebody is now on solids, and it’s going quite well.
beltane
@Mnemosyne: Seems unfair to mandate that individuals buy insurance while their employers can continue exploiting at will. But, hey, what do I know.
Notorious P.A.T.
There’s worse things to suck at John-o.
valdivia
@RedKitten:
the cuteness is killing me. Also. Beautiful beautiful eyes. :)
General Winfield Stuck
@RedKitten:
LOL and saved some for later.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Shorter John Cole: GBGBGBGBGB … CW.
GReynoldsCT00
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
GReynoldsCT00
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
jeffreyw
@General Winfield Stuck: You da Man! Charlie is da Dog!
handy
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
“I’m really going this time. I mean it! You’ll be sorry! Okay here I go. This is it. No, this time for real. I’m going. GOOOD BYE!!! No turning back. Nothing you can say will stop me!…”
etc.
burnspbesq
@Mnemosyne:
Wow, that’s really fucking stupid. With no mandate, the whole structure is unworkable. What genius came up with that idea?
valdivia
@burnspbesq:
This is an AP article that seems to me to be speculating. I have not seen anything on this from the reliable blogs that do health care reporting. So better take this report with a grain of salt.
Mark S.
@Mnemosyne:
From that article:
Wait, the national exchange got stripped in the Senate? Wasn’t that a pretty important component? What the fuck is still in the Senate plan?
James K. Polk, Esq.
A week without Cole?
Naaaah.
Chyron HR
Darn those fat cats. Always trying to abolish the Death Tax.
Leelee for Obama
@General Winfield Stuck: What a cutie!
Annie
@General Winfield Stuck:
Daaaaaad. I gotta pee. Love, Charlie.
Darryl
@Mark S.: Yeah, the senate bill provides for state exchanges. Not as good as a national exchange, but not terrible. Kinda what Massachusetts has.
Darryl
If you want the smartest health care blogging, get thee to Ezra Klein’s site, posthaste.
Tax Analyst
John, what you need is “No Galt” Insurance. Do they offer that in W.VA?
Keith G
@RedKitten: My Lord, that is the cutest “kid” expression I have seen.
A thread with Tuncher, Charlie, and Sam. If Lily would show up, I would collapse into a cuteness coma.
Note: Lily would be necessary since cute is not Tunch’s bag.
burnspbesq
Did y’all know that there is a major management consulting firm called Galt & Company?
valdivia
@burnspbesq:
John should hire them. Obviously he is Teh Fail on the quiting thing. Which is why we love him.
Mark S.
@Darryl:
Huh, I missed that one. But I’ve kinda gone Galt on HCR the last couple months. My blood pressure has gone down because of it.
Darryl
Lots of bloggers advocated Going Galt. None of them ever wound up doing anything remotely like what John Galt did in Atlas Shrugged. This is because what John Galt did only works in badly-written fantasy novels. In the real world, it would be an incredibly stupid thing to try to do. If the Galt tards are asked, often enough, why they didn’t actually do anything like John Galt did, well, maybe they wouldn’t face that fact, but maybe fence-sitting observers would see the light.
ETA: this shouldn’t be construed as any commentary on Mark S.’s use of Going Galt, I was more referencing my original comment in this thread.
burnspbesq
The dumbest thing I have ever read in a publication for tax professionals appeared in Tax Notes Today yesterday.
Did you know that Amity Shlaes is opposed to a VAT because she thinks it will turn us all into Eurotrash?
Srsly.
I will see if I can find a link that doesn’t run into a subscription wall. Must be seen to be believed.
HRA
@Mark S.:
Until today I was not afraid of a national insurance exchange and/or a state by state approach.
A little past history needed to help see the current problem. My son-in-law passed away 3-4 years ago from ALS. My daughter’s employer does not provide health insurance. She has coverage from the state for her 2 children. My grandson needs counseling and his meds. The payment for the insurance to the state is $15. Last month the bill was 0. They said she had overpaid. This month she received a notice of the children being dropped from the insurance. Pending is a call to advise her of an appointment with a new psychiatrist and the meds have to be changed. I can step in and pay for the office visit and the meds. Can everyone do it?
kommrade reproductive vigor
Plus, weren’t the Galters intelligent, talented and vital to society?
ondioline
ALL HAIL HIS TUNCHNESS
2th&nayle
@RedKitten: Sam, Son of Red Kitten. What a beauty!
MattR
I think my favorite thing about the Tunch pics are the file names.
ondioline
@beltane:
Sounds like it’s time for a trip to the vet.
arguingwithsignposts
Since it’s pet picture time, here’s Smudge with “her” toothbrush.
Martin
@RedKitten:
It’s all downhill to knocking up teenage girls and getting a neck tattoo now.
Darryl
top marginal tax rates, US, last 95 years.
Demo Woman
@RedKitten: What a cutie and what great brows.
John, Where’s Lily? Did she survive your absence last weekend?
Tax Analyst
burnspbesq said:
I couldn’t find it under the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) site she posts on, and that has a current post from today.
Maybe it’s a piece she wrote a while back that was just published in that “Tax Notes” pub.
Darryl
@kommrade reproductive vigor: In the book they were. In real life, advocating Going Galt pretty much means you’re a moron.
Lee Hartmann
John, have a good break – but come back because we need to read you.
daryljfontaine
Damn, Cole’s in a Galt Spiral (going Galt from going Galt from going Galt from…).
Nice Tunch pic, thanks for obliging us.
Stuck, Charlie is a handsome pup. So’s yours, RedKitten. :-D
D
Toast
OK, I’ve got every Beastie’s album, and I’m not getting the earthquake connection.
jeffreyw
@arguingwithsignposts: I linked to this one the other day, I’ve since cropped it a bit. No clue as to what causes the “stars” to shine, but I’m stunned by the result.
Annie
With pictures of Tunch, Lily, Charlie, Smudge (with the beautiful smile and well cleansed teeth), and Sam (the cutest child everrr), plus Raven, Shadow, Chompers, the 5 black and white kitties, and all the others, I think we are prepared to survive our forced withdrawal from John.
All we need is for Tunch to upload some rescue stories — coupled with copies amounts of alcohol — and, we will all be here, bright and eager, when John returns to us.
daryljfontaine
@jeffreyw:
O mai Ceiling Cat, is full of noms!
@Annie:
I will laugh when we get threads accompanied by “Tunch +4”.
D
Chat Noir
@General Winfield Stuck: Goodness but that dawg is full of cute. And he wears a blue collar. Does that make him a Democratic Dawg?
Seriously, he’s beyond cute.
mistersnrub
Just tuned in for a few mins of Mr. O’Loofa (yes, yes masochistic, I know). Oy vey. Palin still ain’t ready for primetime. Falafel was handling her with kiddie gloves and she was stammering and looking at her notes like a high schooler giving a presentation.
Annie
@daryljfontaine:
LOL….it may change the nature of what Tunch decides to upload…
Chat Noir
@MattR:
Totally. Half the fun of John’s pix are the file names.
Tunch rules.
CaseyL
Oh, and another thing. Tunch is on a different piece of furniture than we’re used to seeing. Has His Tunchness decided to move his Favorite Lounging Spot to a different room? Does he now have a different view of his realm – and where does Lily figure into it?
How are they getting along these days, anyway?
Chat Noir
@arguingwithsignposts: Smudge! You had a pix of her in another thread where she looks really sleek and similar to an Oriental breed. Regardless, all of your pix of her are teh cute.
John Cole
@Toast: Do It.
robertdsc
Tunch iz king!
valdivia
@mistersnrub:
more info, please!
Delia
John, you can’t go Galt til you post the pic of the little dog in the bucket. That’s probably what’s holding you up.
Cain
God.. what a fat cat. The pattern on that chair is not helping either. Hey Cole, when did you get a whale for a pet?!
j/k John! (well not really.. )
cain
SiubhanDuinne
@Red Kitten #27:
Your little Sam is adorable with the messy mouth, and he’s suddenly looking a liitle bit less like a baby and more like a boyperson, but RK: you seriously need to have him wear a different bib or he’ll get all confused and never learn his holidates. There’s no Hallowe’en in January! Lessee, the next big holiday is . . . Groundhog’s Day. Get him a bib with a picture of Wiarton Willie and have a Bill Murray fest for a few days (over and over and over again). Or skip right to Valentine’s Day, dress him all in red, and embroider his bib with lots of little hearts. But *no pumpkins in January!*
Pasquinade
@mistersnub, here’s a FReeper comment from their very short “live” thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2426953/posts
wasabi gasp
Sarah Palin just confirmed what we, America by God, all believe. Everything everybody has ever said about her is untrue. All lies. The bad stuff only. Everything.
SiubhanDuinne
@James K. Polk, Esq. #40
A week without a Cole is like a Tunch without a futon.
SiubhanDuinne
@Demo Woman #62
You can’t ask John any questions for a few days. Didn’t you hear? He’s mad as hell and he isn’t going to take it any more. Or something like that.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@Cain: Moby Tunch.
AkaDad
Cole is going Galt perfectly. He’s producing all these threads now to show us all what we’ll miss when he’s gone.
mistersnrub
@valdivia: Well, first off, Billy boy was asking her toughies like, “Is Pelosi further to the left than Obama?” and “Why is Obama so hesitant to protect us from terrorists?”
A typical Palin answer: “Most Americans are feeling unsafe and we need commonsensical common sense, in order to buck up the common sense of the people who are yearning for conservative commonsense principles.”
mcd410x
ESPN reporting Lane and Monty Kiffin going to Southern Cal.
I’m sure there’s a going galt joke in there somewhere!
Tattoosydney
@ asiangrrl a few theads ago
Hello. Still in lisbon. This is the holiday that never ends apparently. Sorry for intermittent posting – internet access is sporadic.
@ all
Hello. Best wishes to all. Lisbon beautiful as ever. Having Portuguese lessons every day which is scary to say the least. Drinking too much good cheap red. All good.
valdivia
@mistersnrub:
Thanks for watching so I don’t have to. I could never watch but happy to hear she is still her incoherent self.
SiubhanDuinne
@Pasquinade #83:
I read a bunch of those comments. It sounds as though one very good thing about the Palin-on-FOX gig is that the bloom is off the O’Reilly rose. Those FReepers really don’t like BillO.
Annie
@mistersnrub:
Sadly to many teabaggers the typical Palin response would make sense…
RedKitten
@Martin:
Gee, thanks. I think I’ll just go to my happy place now.
RedKitten
@SiubhanDuinne:
When we’re trying out sweet potatoes, it’s any port in a storm when it comes to keeping the stuff off of him. Half the time I just tie a receiving blanket loosely around his neck, kerchief-style, to catch the splatter when he decides that a fun trick is to go “pbbbbtt!” right after taking a mouthful. Of course, then he smiles like an angel. Damn kid already knows how to play me like a violin. He puked in my hair this morning, and then smiled with his thumb in his mouth and the most innocent, “aren’t I adorable?” look in his eyes.
General Winfield Stuck
@RedKitten:
Best time in life when you can get away with anything. Too bad we don’t remember it later on.
valdivia
@RedKitten:
At least he is not running after girls sans pants throwing toilet paper at them ;-)
(Sorry I *so* enjoyed that story I had to use it again!)
NoFanOfAyn's
@Haven’t you heard? “going Galt” is what the bloggers think long-term unemployment is.:
NoFanOfAyn's
Haven’t you heard? “Going Galt” is what conservative bloggers think long-term employment is.
Cats are the only Republicans I can love: selfish, demanding, limited vocabulary, and just know the world exists to serve them. I have two.
cheers!
Montysano
@mistersnrub:
I fear that Sully may not survive this.
TooManyJens
@RedKitten: What a beauty!
Comrade Mary
Aww! SamKitten looks wonderful! (I’m ignoring the pukes-in-hair part. Don’t ruin my crushes with reality.)
That picture of Tunch looks like a Renoir, I swear. Soft kitty on a soft couch with everything in soft colours. Love.
asiangrrlMN
@Keith G: Tunch is SO cute! You take that back!
Tuuuuuuuunch! Looking as sleek and svelte as always! And, Cole, I like the way you go Galt–especially when it includes a picture of my beloved Tunchie.
AWS, GWS–Smudgey with her toothbrush and Charlie with his worry stick are the cutest things evah!
@RedKitten: SamKitten is one of the healthiest, handsomest, happiest babies I’ve ever seen!
This thread is full of teh cuteness!
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I thought I could hear you squeeing! Now sit still so I can say howdy proper to you.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Hi, hon. Wow, the honeymoon that never ends. Nice!
@Yutsano: No can do. Gotta keep moving, hon. I’m stalking you through the threads!
EdTheRed
@Toast:
licensed to kill time
Thank Dog it didn’t last, JC!