Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

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

…and a burning sense of injustice to juice the soul.

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

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

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

This fight is for everything.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

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

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

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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

Optimism opens the door to great things.

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Reader Interactions

166Comments

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    Oh good. I can’t deal with the whole generational wars thingie mostly because I was born three months after Nixon resigned and went to high school in the 80’s plus my perspective is the past will never be as exciting as the future. Plus I ate a late lunch/early dinner and cookies to bake. I realize this thread was probably automatic, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

  4. 4.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    If you haven’t seen Phineas and Ferb, DVR it and watch it. DVR it because it is the only thing on Disney worth watching.

    In particular, the episode “The Chronicles of Meep” has a universal translator in the shape of a mustache. All I could think of was “The Mustache of Understanding.”

  9. 9.

    General Winfield Stuck

    We are having a real winter here this year. Which only happens about every 4 or 5 years.

    I haven’t looked at memerandum or any other blog for 3 days now. What could be new in the news. Democrats being democrats with extra effort for drama lately is about par anyways. I think they will get something done fairly soon, but will leave the political and blogosphere stage with the wreckage of their aching drama that follows everything they do.

    It was easier with Bush/Cheney. It was only a question of what idea of evil shit they would dream up and then watch all the ponies fall in line. From the media to the dems sending memos and chewing their nails from powerlessness.

    But for all the heartache and political carnage left in the dems wake, I still like it better now than then.

  11. 11.

    Max

    Has anyone seen District 9? I’ve got it on the dvr and am trying to determine if I should watch.

  12. 12.

    Incertus

    @Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle: Which professional football team believes it can best the New Orleans club in a sporting match? They should be disabused of such a ludicrous notion forthwith.

    I thought I’d go in the opposite direction of the traditional Saints chant.

    And in the open thread spirit, I finally figured out what I wanted to say about the Supreme Court’s decision on Citizen’s United–I mean, other than the curse words.

  13. 13.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Max: Yes, you should. It is very good and very unique as syfy goes. The first half hour or so makes it not look promising and I almost quit watching it, but then it gets better as it goes along. 4 solid stars.

  18. 18.

    PaulW

    What if corporations spent billions of dollars on political candidates that never win? wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of their spending billions of dollars on political candidates?

    So all we gotta do is keep track of which candidates are on Exxon’s payroll, and we just not vote for them. Easy.

  23. 23.

    MTiffany

    The NASA guys keep up the hoax.

    Don’t forget about the “old Earth” “big bang out of nothing” evilution hoax.

  24. 24.

    jeffreyw

    District 9 is in my Netflix queue, prob get to see it next year. They just got around to sending Moon, and I’m happy I managed to dodge spoilers.

  26. 26.

    Darkrose

    Took Joxur, my 13-year-old Maine Coon, to the vet today. He’s developed a lump on his side, and while it doesn’t seem to bother him, I was worried. The vet said that it felt like he’s swallowed something, and his body healed around it, and that as long as it’s not causing him any discomfort, the least traumatic thing for the moment is to leave him alone.

    I may run him by the vet school teaching hospital at work, just because it’s there, but I can totally believe the dumbass ate something plastic that he shouldn’t have.

    Also, I’m deeply amused that from the time we put him in the carrier to the time we walked into the vet’s office, he was yowling his fool head off, but the minute we stepped inside, he was the most well-behaved kitteh evah.

  27. 27.

    Nicole

    @General Winfield Stuck: The correct term is “sci-fi.” SyFy is a network. And if you start using their network name as a general term for a particular genre, they’re going to change it again and then where will we be? Watching Caprica on Psy-Phi, that’s where we’ll be.

    (Seriously; I attended a seminar with one of the marketing people and they said they changed the name because they can’t trademark “Sci-Fi.”)

    And I agree with you that District 9 is a good flick.

  29. 29.

    Lurker

    This is an update for kay, in case he or she is reading this.

    I went to the insurance agent this morning and talked about setting up a general partnership between myself and my husband, in order to have access to guaranteed-issue health insurance. He set us up with the paperwork for the general partnership agreement, the free Tax ID for the business, and the DBA that needs to get filed. We have to sign and notarize the agreement, file/publish the DBA, and open up a business bank account under that DBA and Tax ID. We should be able to pick a group insurance plan in March.

    This setup is *not* a silver bullet to health care access. It works for us because we live in California, which has tighter regulations on employer-based health insurance than it does on private insurance. Insurers in California cannot charge more than 10% or discount more than 10% when offering the same guaranteed-issue plan to different employers. In Illinois, the spread is 100%. In Utah and Louisiana, the spread is 400%.

    We occasionally earned 1099 income as freelancers in the past. We’re going to redirect future pretax freelance income into the business checking account, so that it becomes income reported under the business Tax ID. The insurance agent assured us that our business does not have to earn a profit in its early year(s?) for us to have access to group insurance. However, I think the business supposed to earn *something* over time for it to count as a business.

    I think this solution may work best for married couples who use a CPA, occasionally earn 1099 income and live in a state with good regulations in place for employer health care plans.

  32. 32.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Today I made several very nice beef-meals. These are very good meals. Tomorrow one will go to The Facility with me. The other meals will stay in the refrigerator for the days to come. Rice is very inexpensive. There is a hottie in shipping who gives me gum.

  33. 33.

    Church Lady

    @Darkrose: We found a small lump on our lab, on top of his ribcage. Took him to the vet to have it checked out. Turned out to be a cyst, which they drained. Unless it comes back, nothing to worry about. If it does, surgery.

  34. 34.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @jeffreyw: Thanks I added that movie, I hadn’t heard of. But, of course, it got a “Long Wait” tag, as do most of my Que..

    I discovered a movie rental dispenser in the lobby of the local Walmart. Don’t know how it works but am going to try it soon. Seems like a lot of folks are using it, and it has current flicks.

  35. 35.

    madmommy

    @getsmartin:

    Ah, The Broke Spoke. A very classy establishment in Kiln, Mississippi where there are various articles of clothing hanging from the ceiling, including quite a few bras. For the uninitiated, the name of Brett’s hometown is pronounced “kill”, and is usually referred to as “The Kill”.

    Farve can wear a bra on his head tomorrow if he likes, it’s not gonna help him. Saints 35/Vikings 21.

  38. 38.

    Nicole

    @General Winfield Stuck: For god’s sake, man, think of the children! What will their future be? A lifetime of network name-changing and mispronunciations (not that I first read it as “see-fee” or anything). Oh, the humanity…

    I’m just saying, if the innocents miss the reruns of BSG because Psy-Phi has changed its name to Sigh-Fie, will you be able to live with yourself?

  40. 40.

    Paulie Chestnuts

    A social networking site for gun owners is just about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. Mere ownership of a gun seems like thin gruel to base a relationship. And if you spend so much time on the range you may as well make friends with the people there.

    (Before you ask, yes I’ve handled and shot guns)

  41. 41.

    getsmartin

    @madmommy:
    A trip to “The Kill” is akin to time travel. The “hooch” making industry is alive and well in them thar parts.

    I think it’s pretty touching that Favre will play his last game less than an hour from home.

  45. 45.

    PurpleGirl

    Max — if you’re still here — I saw District 9 in the theater and really liked it. The story is good and the film is well made. Yes, it starts slow but gets better.
    It’s worth the time.

  46. 46.

    madmommy

    @getsmartin:

    Yeah, it’s a pretty typical small town Southern watering hole. The owners of the Spoke have made a killing off their Farve connection.

    Fitting that Farve’s childhood favorite team is going to be the one to finish off his football career.

  47. 47.

    ominira

    @jeffreyw: Looks yummy. Anyone know where to get peppadews in a jar/can in Southern California? I had them in Durban and Cape Town/SA and they taste like a cross between a tomato and a mildly hot pepper. The Whole Foods near me offers them in the salad bar, but I need peppadews that can keep more than a week.

  50. 50.

    MikeJ

    @Persia: Glocks are sort of overpriced but look nice. It’s Apple v Windows for a different kind of geek.

    I’m a linux/long gun guy, no fan of Apple, MIcrosoft, or handguns.

  52. 52.

    SIA

    I’m thinking about buying a netbook for blog reading and instant movie watching. Does anyone have a recommendation?

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @BGK: Whenever I see a mention of Lillet, I always remember a story my sister used to tell from her days as a cocktail waitress. She was good at remembering the preferred drinks of favourite (rich) customers and would try to see them approaching the lounge so she could actually have their drink waiting when the customer arrived. So one day she saw a particular customer coming, hurried over to the bartender, and said “Quick, Dave, I need a Lillet on the rocks,” and without missing a beat the bartender said “What, n-now?”

  54. 54.

    MikeJ

    But speaking of guns, here’s a demo I saw today:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHhviD9gDSI

    Boeing is about to tear down the hanger I was in today. The employees are restoring a B-17, a B-29, and a Super Connie. I got to crawl through the crawl spaces, hop in the tail gun, use the Norden bombsite to line up on the hanger floor. It was incredibly cool.

    Right now, the plan for when the hanger gets torn down is to park these birds outside in the Seattle rain. The guy who got me in to look around spent the last few years taking every piece of the engines of the B-29 apart, polishing them up or building new parts when the old ones were shot. Those engines won’t last a year outside.

    I also talked to the pilot of the B-17. He told me about getting shot up over Germany. He went to the rear and found the waist gunners dead and a huge chunk of no airplane where the radio operator sat. Assumed the guy was dead. When the war was over he got a phone call from the luckiest SOB on earth, the radio op who had survived having his section of plane disappear around him.

  57. 57.

    AhabTRuler

    @Mary: Thank you, I will concede that the idea was “floated” just prior to the election, nut you also wrote:

    Rahm Emanuel was brought in to be White House Chief of Staff and was announced before the election because of the success of the “Obama as Muslim/Jew Hater” myth.

    The articles themselves don’t speak to specific motive, but Emanuel’s experience and connections provide a somewhat less tendentious explanation for his current position.

  62. 62.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Nicole:

    will you be able to live with yourself?

    Yesterday, I called our blog host a spastic Heather. So yea, I’ll be good to go:)

  65. 65.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @mclaren:

    Handguns are for wimps. Flamethrowers, boys. Flamethrowers.

    I’m a Bullpup man myself…

    Now… THAT’S some ordinance… heh.

  74. 74.

    CADoc

    @eemom–Wow, so that’s what I’ve been missing by avoiding FDL. But heartening to know that some Congressional Dems are beginning to catch a clue.

  76. 76.

    eemom

    @Jean:

    “The whip operation of Diane Watson (CA-33), chief Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was AWOL this summer when it came to lining up members of the progressive caucus to vote for only a public plan.

    FDL activists started calling her offices yesterday, and again we find out Rep. Watson is off the progressive reservation.

    Caucus whip Diane Watson’s office tells her constituents that she’s “willing to hold her nose and vote for a bill that had an individual mandate but no public option,” according to a FDL activist call report.”

    Hell, who even knows if anything these “activists” report is true. I just know that a screech of “BAD Progressive!” emanating from Janestown means that another elected representative will do the right thing.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    @ominira: Tried to reply 3 times with a link to where I buy my peppadews on-line, but the first two wouldn’t post and the third was marked as spam. I will try again without the actual link. Go to dibruno dot com and search for peppadews. They are wonderful!

  79. 79.

    Jean

    @eemom: Thank you. I hope that’s true. Sorry for Janestown, but for those of us outside that camp, it would be a huge relief if they PASSED it, just passed it.

  80. 80.

    Jean

    @eemom: Thank you. I hope that’s true. Sorry for Janestown, but for those of us outside that camp, it would be a huge relief if they PASSED it, just passed it.

  81. 81.

    Anne Laurie

    @Paulie Chestnuts:

    Mere ownership of a gun seems like thin gruel to base a relationship. And if you spend so much time on the range you may as well make friends with the people there.

    I would guess the question is, do you think of your gun as a tool? Or as a magical totem that will protect you from the threat of strangers, looters, hippies and/or fascists, grey aliens, agents of Tha Gubmint, the New World Order, people of incorrect religious affiliation, impure thoughts (one’s own or other peoples’), and other boogymonsters-under-the-bed?…

    People congregate around the strangest things. I’m a lifelong science fiction fan, so I really can’t afford to be too snotty about other peoples’ hobbies. Of course, I’ve always made fun of the ‘Science Fiction Is A Way of Life! ! !’ people, too.

  83. 83.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @Annie Laurie:

    I would guess the question is, do you think of your gun as a tool? Or as a magical totem that will protect you from the threat of strangers, looters, hippies and/or fascists, grey aliens, agents of Tha Gubmint, the New World Order, people of incorrect religious affiliation, impure thoughts (one’s own or other peoples’), and other boogymonsters-under-the-bed?…

    Ooooo! Ooooooo!

    ***waving hand in air…***

    Magic totem… magic totem…

  85. 85.

    rootless_e

    “off the progressive reservation”?

    Mighty white of them to say it like that, I must admit.

  86. 86.

    The Moar You Know

    @SIA: Netbooks (I’m on one right now) are great for traveling and bedtime web browsing.

    You can’t watch movies on them, though. No DVD unit, and even if it had one, between the slowness of the Atom processor and the use of an onboard video card, you get no movie love. Hell, this thing will choke on high-res You Tube clips.

    You need a small, real laptop if movies are to be an option.

    If movies aren’t a necessity, well, I have both the original netbook, the ASUS 701 (too small of a keyboard and too small of a screen) and my Dell Mini-9 (using it right now), which I love. Both are equipped with Linux and work great. I haven’t tried a Windows netbook, they fry solid-state hard drives but that is not a worry so much as most netbooks are now being supplied with standard hard drives.

    Dell makes a good one and they are cheap.

  88. 88.

    The Moar You Know

    I would guess the question is, do you think of your gun as a tool?

    @Anne Laurie: TMI here, but I think of it exactly the same way as I think of my dick – something I use for fun, but that can have tragic and life-altering consequences if I use it on the wrong person or lose my focus while wielding it.

  89. 89.

    MikeJ

    @Eric S: IMDB synopsis: “Rambo’s Vietnam commanding officer Colonel Trautman is held hostage in Afghanistan, and its up to Rambo to rescue him.”

    I might have to seek that one out. That’s from back in the day where the brave muj flocked to Afghanistan to fight the damned invading russians, not when foreign interference hindered progress is the establishment of a American style representative government.

  90. 90.

    Gravenstone

    @Mike G:

    Watching Red Dawn (“Los Jovenes Defensores!”) in Spanish on Telefutura.
    __
    CARCAYUES!

    That’s rather ironically amusing, given the “bad guys” are predominantly Cuban. I remember a bunch of us watching the video in college (and imbibing generously). After it ended, we had to physically restrain one of the freshmen who wanted to go down the hall and kick the asses of the two “Cuban bastards” roomates on the soccer team. One was a kid from East Chicago, the other a Spanish national. Milius’ propaganda piece was pretty effective on midwestern 18 year olds…

  92. 92.

    Gravenstone

    @RedKitten: Have a most pleasant and inebriated Day of Decantation celebration. Hopefully Mr. Red Kitten is applying the requisite number of spanks at some point during the festivities.

  94. 94.

    burnspbesq

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    I know what syfy is versus scifi. I will use syfy cause I like it, and you can’t stop me. :)

    Fuck. New polls don’t come out until Monday, and he’s already full of himself.

  96. 96.

    Mnemosyne

    @BGK:

    Only one (part) Maine Coon in this picture, but definitely full of cute.

    Have I mentioned that Charlotte (the kitten) is absolutely convinced that Keaton is her mommy even though he’s a neutered male? It’s a little weird.

  99. 99.

    Mary

    @AhabTRuler: Not tendentious at all or don’t you recall the Big Schlep campaign to Florida, the last minute Rashid Khalidi scandal, etc. It was about the Jewish vote in Florida and the I/P situation. If you read the comments at Ambinder’s site, you will see that many posters drew the connection immediately.

    In any event, I am waiting for Phil Weiss to get back to me. Hopefully, you will take his word that Rahm was floated because of the Jewish vote in Florida, if you won’t take mine.

    As for your friend, Task Force Ripper, he has called me a liar and a nut and I haven’t called him anything. But John has.

  100. 100.

    burnspbesq

    @SIA:

    I’m thinking about buying a netbook for blog reading and instant movie watching. Does anyone have a recommendation?

    I’ve been very happy with my Toshiba NB 205.

  102. 102.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @The Moar You Know #83

    I was told once by a former ROTC cadet that almost the first thing they learned (with appropriate gestures) was:

    “This is my rifle
    And this is my gun.
    This one’s for shooting
    And this one’s for fun.”

  103. 103.

    Yutsano

    @Cat Lady: Not quite. After watching it the location of the film is definitely no accident. It did lead to a fascinating discussion on apartheid among my family members. Very much worth watching but it is definitely not subtle.

  104. 104.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @burnspbesq: Did I mention that Kentucky walked all over Arkansas today and are still the only unbeaten team in Div. 1 college hoops. Yes siree, it is true.

    GO CATS!!

  105. 105.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Ooops, meant TMYK #85, not #83.

    Also meant to wish RedKitten the happiest of bithdays. Now I can do that (ahem). RedKitten, the happiest of birthdays! Have a great day and a great year.

  106. 106.

    burnspbesq

    Oh, and one more thing.

    Since my beloved Forest are out of the FA Cup (we will resume our rightful place in the Premiership next season), I am adopting Leeds for as long as they stay in. Any English team that has a former American college player (ex-Dookie Mike Grella), and can still take down Manchester United, is OK in my book.

    “Glory, Glory Leeds United …”

  107. 107.

    Cat Lady

    @Yutsano:

    worth watching but … not subtle

    Like Avatar. Everyone wants to express their thoughts on that one. That experience wants to burrow in.

  108. 108.

    burnspbesq

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    I was hoping Arkansas would show up. Would have been nifty to see the unbeaten start ended by a John Pelphrey-coached team. Oh well.

    Too bad for you that the SEC sucks the big one this year. Y’all will roll into the tournament untested and get cracked by somebody like Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen. Meanwhile, everybody in the ACC and Big East is going to war twice a week, and will be more than ready in March.

  110. 110.

    Something Fabulous

    Wow, too many things to respond to! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RedKitten! And those Maine Coon Snugglers are pretttttty cute. And Diane Watson is the rep I called in Tim’s whip action. I feel so… activated! And it is only 10:27pm on a Saturday night; why am I sitting here reading BJ? I belong on that previous thread, yelling at the whippersnappers, evidently.

  111. 111.

    Yutsano

    @burnspbesq: Not to mention the Pac-10 is a traditional bloodbath where every win could go either way. Methinks Kentucky will get a rather nice surprise come tournament time.

  114. 114.

    Jason Bylinowski

    @Max: Yes to District 9, just watched for the second time last night and it was still very good as an action movie, and I think the drama was better too, because the introductory stuff comes off better once you know how things work out.

    And a great big NOOOOOOOO!!!! to anyone thinking of watching 2012. I watched it due to the famous Cusack Sentimentality Quotient, which of course affects all people of my age group who watched One Crazy Summer back in the 80’s. And really, even though he didn’t do a bad job with his lines or anything, you can only polish a turd just so much. It was just a horrible, overly long, boring when it wasn’t absolutely overdramatic. It was your typical Roland Emmerich movie, turned up to 11. You can only see so many hundreds of people die horribly before you just go a little numb. But apparently you CAN ignore many hundreds of plot holes and still release the movie and expect
    it to succeed. I remember watching Independence Day at the theater when it came out, and it was the same experience, basically, only without Will Smith for charisma and Randy Quaid for comic relief. If anyone is thinking of watching it, I won’t say don’t bother, because what do I know, right?, but I will just remind you that you can never have those 150 minutes of your life back.

  115. 115.

    burnspbesq

    @Yutsano:

    The Pac-10 will be a bloodbath this year because every team sucks equally. Srsly: UW loses to SC by 25?

    The WCC will get more teams in the tournament than the Pac-10. Hell, the Ivy League may get more teams in the tournament than the Pac-10 (Cornell’s RPI is so inflated by almost beating Kansas at Kansas that it could get an at-large bid if Cornell and Harvard both finish 13-1 in the league and Harvard wins the playoff game).

  116. 116.

    Wile E. Quixote

    In light of the recent Supreme Court decision would it be legal for me to form a corporation that made pornographic films featuring actors who looked like and were cast as prominent politicians (and/or Supreme Court justices) and then show those films on prime time television as part of a campaign for or against a politician? I’ve got this great idea for a film featuring David Vitter, Newt Gingrich, Mark Foley, Larry Craig, John Ensign, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sarah Palin and Bucky, the Wonder-Stallion.

    I think I want to do a madcap, pornographic comedy where Clarence Thomas walks in on some hot Scalia on Alito action (which culminates with Alito receiving an onscreen stinky Hitler) and gets jealous. Hilarity, hi-jinks and general shenaniganry occur, a good time is had by all and at the end an important lesson is learned.

  118. 118.

    Yutsano

    @burnspbesq: And Wazzu beat USC. It all goes back and forth like that constantly. I’m more than used to it, having a conference with some balance in it. Don’t get me started on football though, Wazzu ended up tenth and most likely will end up there again.

  120. 120.

    Yutsano

    @bago: Wow. Even I have some interesting sexual proclivities, and I wouldn’t stoop that low. Some days I wanna just slap Eva for whatever the hell it is she saw in that man.

  121. 121.

    Wile E. Quixote

    @MikeJ

    @Persia: Glocks are sort of overpriced but look nice. It’s Apple v Windows for a different kind of geek.
    __
    I’m a linux/long gun guy, no fan of Apple, MIcrosoft, or handguns.

    Glocks are overpriced, and they’re ugly. I’ve got one, and it has all of the charm and beauty of a Duplo block. They’re decent enough pistols, but they don’t do anything that a Ruger or Springfield won’t do for about $400 less.

    A social club for gun owners sounds like a boneheaded idea but it could be kind of brilliant. A lot of gun owners are total fucking paranoids, and I say this as a man who has not one, but two safes full of guns in his basement. They’ll buy into any right wing conspiracy narrative, regardless of how stupid it may be, they’re a bunch of marks and suckers just waiting to be fleeced by the right buckraker. Get these guys together, serve them some warmed over birther nonsense combined with a dash of the Mexicans are coming and Obama is a socialist who wants a world government dominated by the U.N. that will come and take your guns away, and you could take every penny they have.

  124. 124.

    Emo Pantload (fka Studly)

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    Have you, are anyone else here, read the decision, or at least the dissent? I’ve read a lot of Stevens’ dissent, and folks, the news outlets — even the shrills like Eddie, Keith, and Rachel — have hardly scratched the surface as to what a reach(around) the majority’s decision is.

    Basically, you had Citizens United, a non-profit mostly funded by individual (non-corporate) donations, petitioning for the right to make their sleazy little Hillary hit-job flick available on an on-demand basis on cable TV w/in 30 days of a primary.

    And Roberts, et al., heard their argument and decided, Whoa, Nellie!, we gotta let *all* corporations air what they want, when they want, financed however they please!! (This, in spite of the fact that perfectly-legal corporate PACs had already funneled $1,000,000,000 into the last election cycle to “contribute to our political discourse.”)

    The minority’s opinion actually states, “Essentially, five Justices were unhappy with the limited nature of the case before us, so they changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law.”

    Stevens goes on to richly illustrate how heretofore near-unbridled corporate influence on elections was always viewed as necessarily checked by the legislature and the courts.

    Biggest naked power grab since Bush v. Gore, only it’ll likely take a lot longer to undo – if possible! – than it took to get Bush outta office.

    Yer there link: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf

    (Apologies if I’m harshing anyone’s Saturday night buzz.)

  125. 125.

    Yutsano

    @Emo Pantload (fka Studly): What gets me more than anything is that Kennedy signed on to that steaming pile of crap. I get the other four because they’re pretty much open Republican operatives, but what the hell is in this for Kennedy? BTW my brother and I were discussing this case last night, he actually suggested that judges are incapable of breaking the law and even if they do cannot be punished for it. I was slackjawed for a minute then burst out loud laughing.

  126. 126.

    Wile E. Quixote

    @burnspbesq

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    at the end an important lesson is learned.

    I am severely afraid to ask what that might be.

    Oh, I don’t know, maybe something like “originalists like to pretend they’re Constitutional tops but are really just a bunch of whiny authoritarian bottoms at heart”.

  128. 128.

    Yutsano

    @Emo Pantload (fka Studly): Heh. Here’s the funny thing about that. He’s an agnostic. He was an atheist until the fact that SOMETHING had to cause the Big Bang put him in the “undecided but leaning towards no” category. Basically God would have to give him a hand-written note for him to change that. I even put up examples of how judges get corrupted all the time and he insisted it never happens on the SC. He does have a brain to him that’s the thing that really gets me.

  131. 131.

    Yutsano

    @Jason Bylinowski: My brother is 32, single, overweight (but more like the ex-football player overweight than just pure fat), and my mom desperately wants to marry him off. Problem is he loves to argue, if you just agree with him over and over he gets bored.

  135. 135.

    suzanne

    So my daughter has her friend Emily over for their first sleepover tonight. Emily barfs all over my house. I take Emily home, and tell Emily’s grandmother what happened.

    Emily’s grandmother says to me, “Oh, yeah. That happens a lot when she gets hyper or excited. Guess I should have warned you.”

    Christ, what an asshole.

  136. 136.

    bago

    Good god DC sucks the soul right out of you. It took me 30 minutes to remember how to dance after 3 months out there. I was seriously stiff Whitey McNorythm there.

  139. 139.

    Mnemosyne

    @suzanne:

    Oh, geez. I remember being about that age and coming down with the flu while staying overnight at a friend’s house. Yes, I barfed all over the place. There is nothing more humiliating for a kid.

    Fortunately, it wasn’t my first time there — they were family friends so they knew me pretty well. It still sucked having to lay around feeling sick in Not My House until my parents could come pick me up. (IIRC, they were out of town for the weekend, which is why I was staying with friends.)

  141. 141.

    ruemara

    @Max:

    District 9 was 90% profanity, very strange in some areas, heavy handed with it’s metaphors and quite fun, actually.

    And since I missed the fireworks, ummmmm
    OLD PEEPULZ ROOL, XXXERS DROOOL!
    and vice versa, because I think the whole thing is silly. The battles are different, the wars are the same because we’re fighting an unchanged human nature, so cut it out.

  142. 142.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano #129: The Shana Tova jar? What a great gift! I would love one myself (and I’m only one-eighth Jewish). What colour are you ordering?

  143. 143.

    bago

    Actually I would argue that human nature does change, with respect to language and culture. The olds are accustomed to being broadcast at (generally), having grown up in the second generation of mass media. Their two way interactions tended to be face, hence the nostalgia for those “simpler times”, when you either knew something or you didn’t. The gen Y kids(or whatever name they get) grew up In a world where two way interaction with media is the norm, where if you don’t know something you google it, and you can copy paste every stupid thing someone has ever said. Catching contradictions is Jon Stewart’s bread and butter. Old polticians just don’t get it and keep saying stupid stuff, because they are accustomed to a one way broadcast, where they say and people listen. Old media plays right along and they transcribe, instead of question.

  145. 145.

    robertdsc-PowerBook & 27 titles

    Happy birthday, RedKitten!

    which of course affects all people of my age group who watched One Crazy Summer back in the 80’s

    LOL. My sister and I leave quotes from that and other 80s movies on each other’s Facebook pages.

  146. 146.

    Chuck Butcher

    @Paulie Chestnuts:

    A social networking site for gun owners is just about the dumbest thing

    Seems there are social networking sites for about every interest and hobby so I find it odd that this particular thing gets you. Since the range I belong to is about 15 minute drive and has every thing from a pistol range to a 1,000 yard range I can shoot anything I care to and meet people who probably compete in things I’m interested in at the range or meetings. That’s scarcely the case everywhere and I really don’t want to get into gun politics around here and wouldn’t see much of it anyhow. Seems to me you have an asshole point to make and you’ve made it. So?

    No, I am not a firearms expert, but I am widely experienced and broadly experienced. And I give a rat’s ass if you’ve ever even seen a gun.

  147. 147.

    asiangrrlMN

    Too…much…open…thread….

    Awwww to all the cute kittehs and the pup.

    Happy birthday to RedKitten.

    Every generation sucks equally.

    And, of course, TUUUUUUUNCH!

  150. 150.

    Chuck Butcher

    Not talking well at all. Speech therapy Monday. Took grandson’t mom to hospital Sat night then again Sun and then into surgery for gall bladder removal – at 17 yrs. Better, rode 30 mi south and back today, lots of clothes. Should be highs in 20s here this time of year, 45F today. Stuff leaks air at 70mph so that was the edge of comfort for distance with stop for coffee at the far end.

  155. 155.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Me, too. I worked a string of day shifts at the bookstore this last week and really had a hard time adapting my schedule. I got home about 5:30 p.m. yesterday after my last shift of the week, puttered around for a bit and then crashed about 8:30. Pretty much slept through with only a few interruptions until 5:00 a.m. ¡Caramba! I’ve got a similar schedule next week.

  156. 156.

    ominira

    @WaterGirl: Thank you!! Just got home from a party and decided to get a little BJ fix before bed. And there was my peppadew info. Now I can go to sleep happy :).

  159. 159.

    Paulie Chestnuts

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Chuck, my general observation was about the Mygunspot.com advertisement that appeared on the left side of this blog. Do you really feel my reasoning was beyond the pale?

  161. 161.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Feeling a little out of it on several levels. I had not realized how much I had internalized the previous schedule of being at home in the morning (or most of the day), working on my freelance stuff and doing chores, then going to the bookstore in mid- or late afternoon for the evening shift (not every night but most nights), then doing the night-owl thing when I got home. My schedule varied, but that was the general trend.

    Now (and for the next few weeks) my schedule is upended. This week I had two short late shifts and then three straight day shifts. Same thing next week.

    It has had lots of little effects. For one thing, it has screwed up my Balloon Juice reading. I end up getting behind on the threads, then reading them in catch-up mode when it’s too late to comment. Very frustrating. Right now I’ve got 11 other Juice thread tabs open, but I skipped up to this one to get a taste of real time. And I saw that you and Chuck were (still) up and about.

    Mostly, I have not figured out what to do with my evening time. It feels weird to work on the freelance stuff, but I have a hard time getting into the routine of fixing dinner, watching TV or whatever. And, especially with the winter darkness, it feels much later than it is. I have caught myself thinking, “Oh, it’s really late, I’m going to miss that show,” and then I check the time and it’s only 7:30. LOL.

    It does feel good to have gotten a long, mostly unbroken stretch of sleep last night. Of course, I might be crashing for a nap by 2:00 p.m.

  162. 162.

    RedKitten

    @WaterGirl:

    @RedKitten: Happy Birthday! Were you able to find perfume to buy yourself as a birthday gift?

    Not yet. I ordered a half-dozen samples from The Perfumed Court however, so I’m eagerly awaiting them. I like the idea of being able to test drive a few of them for a week or so before deciding.

  163. 163.

    Svensker

    @Mnemosyne:

    Fortunately, it wasn’t my first time there—they were family friends so they knew me pretty well. It still sucked having to lay around feeling sick in Not My House until my parents could come pick me up.

    Probably sucked even more for your friends’ parents, who had to deal with a barfer who wasn’t their own. Dealing with my own kids’ sick excretions was bad enough — someone else’s would have been really yucky.

  165. 165.

    Lurker

    @Chuck Butcher:

    An S-Corp might be better overall, but for now we’re keeping the setup, paperwork, taxes and fees as simple as possible.

    A general partnership is the bare minimum required to qualify for guaranteed-issue group insurance in California.

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