Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

“But what about the lurkers?”

He really is that stupid.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Bark louder, little dog.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

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

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

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Reader Interactions

252Comments

  3. 3.

    demkat620

    10 days till opening day. Little over three weeks until I get to go to my first minor league game of the year.

    Batter up. I am so ready for baseball season.

  4. 4.

    Warren Terra

    I like the title-bar tagline that’s just departed – “Shock Troops Of The Unitarian Jihad” but I’ll point out that the Lexicon contains “United Pastry Jihad” but does not contain “Unitarian Jihad”, and I’m unclear as to the relationship between the two.

    I’m also moving this week – the movers who will be shipping all my worldlies cross-country just showed up today, leaving me with the empty shell of an apartment (and the promise of a huge bill on the other coast). It’s a real pain in the butt. I think next time I’ll just make everything is well insured and commit arson.

    … well, not really. The neighbors might complain, there’s a deductible, I’d lose some (low-to-zero-dollar value) irreplaceable artwork and mementos, and what arson would do to my carbon footprint I don’t want to contemplate. Still, it’s all been a major pain in the keister – and if you asked me a fortnight ago, I’d have said I didn’t own much of anything, other than a metric fnckload of books, and books are easy to pack, being rectangular solids. Turns out, the books were only half the boxes – counting the ten boxes that went to Goodwill.

  5. 5.

    PeakVT

    I have no plans to move anytime soon, but I’ve been disposing of stuff so I don’t have to deal with when I do relocate. Some of it I don’t know why I bought in the first place. A full set of A/UX manuals? WTH was I thinking?

  7. 7.

    Mike Kay

    9 days. Baseball starts on Sunday night in Fenway, as the Sox take on the mercenaries.

  8. 8.

    schrodinger's cat

    How does Tunch like his new digs? Hopefully you have moved with the Tunch futon. Some Tunch photos please. His fans miss him.

    ETA: How is your shoulder, moving must have been hard with an injured shoulder.

  10. 10.

    mattH

    One of the best things about moving, getting rid of the accumulated detritus of life. Besides, all you need are a good knife, good set of cookware, the dog, cat and a computer.

  11. 11.

    MikeJ

    No kidding, this drought between the Super BowlWorld Series and Opening day sucks (The olympics were a welcome respite, but still)

    fixed

  12. 12.

    Warren Terra

    @freelancer:

    this drought between the Super Bowl and Opening day sucks

    I’m not a sports fan, so I don’t care, but I’m pretty sure that organized sports league other than Baseball and Football, and exist, and hold competitions during the interval you describe that are open to the ticket-buying public and to the television viewer.

  14. 14.

    demkat620

    @MikeTheZ: Oh yeah. You should duck.
    Let’s go Phil-lies!

    Jamie Moyer is a hundred and five years old and still pitching.

    Do you remember Charlie Hough? Listening to Harry the K call a game with him pitching was hilarious.

    God, I love baseball.

    And FTFY!

  15. 15.

    schrodinger's cat

    @mattH: You are forgetting something important, the mop. Long time Juicers know how important mopping is to John.

  16. 16.

    NobodySpecial

    @Mike Kay:

    9 days. Baseball starts on Sunday night in Fenway, as the Sox mercenaries take on the other mercenaries

    Fix’d.

  17. 17.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    @demkat620: Praise be. The Church of Base-a-Ball will be open for business.

    edit == meantime, GO CATS!! beat them Mountaineers in the Hillbilly Shootout.

  22. 22.

    KDP

    I helped my sister move about a month ago. We had everything planned and orchestrated. Then, she came down with H1N1 the day before we were to load the truck. She kvetched, I oversaw the loading and then the unloading while she remained in the old apartment taking Tamiflu. Happily, she has fully recovered and is now residing in her new home. For her (on SSDI and finishing her master’s through VocRehab), the housing crisis was beneficial as she was able to get a nice Craftsman era bungalow in Stockton for less than 150k.

    I am so happy for her. John, I wish you the very, very best in your new home!

  23. 23.

    R-Jud

    I’m just filling garbage bags and chucking them in the dumpster.

    My preferred approach. Sell what you can, take some bits and pieces, buy new stuff elsewhere.

    We could really use new living room furniture, but we’re planning to move back to the USA in a year or two, and I don’t wanna fuck around with renting space in a shipping container. Shifting the cats overseas will be tough enough.

    ETA: And much happiness to you and your aminals [sic] in the new place, Cole.

  24. 24.

    asiangrrlMN

    @jeffreyw: Your series on the shelter animals both breaks my heart and warms it, at the same time. All those poor babies waiting for their forever homes. Sigh.

    As for your sandwich, WANT!

    I really need to cull my crap. It’s overwhelming.

  31. 31.

    BethanyAnne

    So, I was over at Rod Dreher’s blog the other day, and he was lamenting the lack of civility in our media culture. And Jake Tapper’s visit here spawned tons of talk about the press not doing their job. I’m *so* not a political / news historian, but hasn’t it always been awful? I mean, even during the vaunted Cronkite years, wasn’t there a default storyline that only sort of matched reality? I totally believe that news coverage is awful, but I’m just unconvinced that it’s worse. I’m thinking there’s a bit of wishful remembering going on. I could be wrong, and at 39, I might just be too young to remember good reporting, but at least for my lifetime, the mainstream media has always been dreck.

  33. 33.

    John Cole

    Tunch has not been to the new digs yet. He goes tomorrow in the Uhaul with me. He has never been anywhere but this place, so I expect it will be interesting.

  37. 37.

    gbear

    Betty McCollum gets mail:

    Another letter contained a shredded American flag drenched in gasoline along with a note that reads, “It represents Obama and your liberal filth. Open the bag, it’s covered in the stench you’ve brought to our government … Because of you, we are now a country of dirt, shame, corruption and slime.”

    She’s probably getting a lot of it from fans of Bachmann, who says that the democrats are hallucinating all this hatred.

  38. 38.

    Seebach

    @BethanyAnne: According to Rick Perlstein in Nixonland and Before the Storm, the mandarins of media punditry have always been wrong about everything.

    However, reporting used to be better, it seems. A few journalists seemed willing to buck the system.

  39. 39.

    lamh31

    For my fellow singletons:

    8 Reasons to Enjoy Your Single Status (For Now)

    Being single means doing many things on your own and having more alone time. Some people are less comfortable than others when it comes to being single or having alone time. They see it as a punishment. I don’t. As a half-introvert who spent much of her teens writing poetry and daydreaming, I will attempt to make the solitude thing palatable for the singletons who don’t care to look inward/play solitaire/shop alone. Here’s what’s awesome about stagging it through life:

    1. Your diet is your diet. You can eat what you want and chow down precisely when you feel hungry. You do not have to wait for your man to come home from work. You can also watch the movies you want. This is a real plus for me. I watch lame Rom-Coms over and over.

    2. You can do errands without the dead weight. I once had a roommate complain that she just wanted someone with whom to run errands on the weekends. I also had a boyfriend who begged me to stick around and watch while he cleaned his closet. Personally, I get antsy when I think I’m boring someone else. Also, I shop, run errands, and do chores much faster without a second voice chiming in.

    3. You will really get to know yourself. Okay. What does this mean, getting to know one’s self? I’m going to take a stab at this. If you’re someone who writes in a journal, you probably write down a lot of plot (e.g. “He called while I was in the shower”). But every once in a while, you’ll add a little commentary (e.g. “Why do I shower so much?” or “I wish I hadn’t overreacted. My bad.”). Maybe you’ll read old entries and discover a pattern in your behavior. Now, some people, when they are upset or stressed, will go mop the floor and re-varnish the table and won’t be able to recognize stress if it bites them in the face.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    @BethanyAnne:

    I think it’s kind of like police brutality. It’s actually a lot better than it was in, say, the 1950s or 1960s, but we’re more attuned to the potential abuses. Cases like the Sean Bell incident wouldn’t have even made the paper 40 or 50 years ago.

  41. 41.

    MikeTheZ

    Wow, just saw the video of the McCain rally. The ReThugs are actually EMBRACING Boehner’s “Hell No!” Its unbelievable.

  42. 42.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    Getting ready to Watch “The Men Who Stare At Goats”. Heard it was uber whacky, just my kind of flick.

  43. 43.

    asiangrrlMN

    @MikeTheZ: FYWP! I had a witty comment about McCain eated by WP. Oh well. Mike Kay’s is better. Obama has a really smart team around him.

    @gbear: Holy shit. HOLY shit! That’s MY rep with whom they’re messing!

    @John Cole: No good can come from this. VIDEO!

  44. 44.

    madmommy

    Sheesh, Baylor is opening a whole case of whoop-ass on poor St. Mary’s. What time does the hillbilly shootout commence? I so want to see W Virginia put a hurtin’ on Kentucky. It is the only thing that might salvage the smoking wreckage that my brackets have become.

  45. 45.

    lamh31

    4. You can be a good aunt. Since my friends have become new moms, I’ve been able to spend time with their babies. Hopefully the next generation will appreciate how cool/crazy Auntie E is.

    5. You can develop talents and take up hobbies. I have had the time to learn Italian, take surfing lessons, run a half-marathon, and go to ballet class. I’d also like to take up sewing and cooking (for real — cooking. I’m considering it).

    6. You actually get out of the house. It’s hard to motivate for a party when you’re sitting on the couch in your sweats, cuddling with your BF. It might also be hard to get him to care about your friends. Or vice versa. But being single makes your social life less complicated in a way. You’re more open-minded about going out.

    7. You can travel. Now’s the time to explore. You may not have the freedom later. Call up a friend and start packing!

    8. Loneliness hurts less. Feeling lonely when you’re in a relationship is much worse than feeling lonely when you’re single. And yes, married people do feel lonely at times (e.g. when he’s taking you for granted or going into his man cave).

  46. 46.

    schrodinger's cat

    @John Cole: I have moved three times with my cats in the last 5 years. From my experience, having their familiar furniture helps them adjust better for some reason.

  47. 47.

    Cat Lady

    @John Cole:

    My cats found the craziest places when they had to move- there was a small tear in the fabric under a box spring and one cat spent three days in the box spring – it took a whole panicked day to find him in there. Another one found a way to climb into the guts of a pull out couch, and I only tracked him down by hearing slight moving sounds. Cats are wicked good hiders.

  48. 48.

    Mike Kay

    @MikeTheZ: The gop has walked into their own trap.

    They can’t walk away from the base, and they can’t sell obstructionism to Indies.

    Well done, shit heads.

  51. 51.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    @gbear: Heard Sarah say earlier, never you mind those libtard lies, when we say arm yourself, we mean with votes. Ugh!

  52. 52.

    R-Jud

    @Cat Lady:

    My cats found the craziest places when they had to move- there was a small tear in the fabric under a box spring and one cat spent three days in the box spring – it took a whole panicked day to find him in there.

    We’ve got two, adopted two years apart, and both of them took a lap of the living room when we brought them home and promptly weaseled into the (disused) fireplace as soon as we turned our backs.

    This was particularly stressful the second time around, as Mr Jud swore up and down that he’d blocked the chimney off, so there was no way Quinn could’ve gotten up there.

    And, to be fair, he had blocked it. If by “block” you mean “stick some old telephone books in there”.

  53. 53.

    MikeTheZ

    @Mike Kay: Seriously, why don’t the Dems get someone with a pulse up in Arizona and just show the clip of McCain and Palin saying “Hell no!” then just say “Eliminate Pre-existing Conditions? [Boehner Vid] Eliminate Rescission? [Boehner] Eliminate medicare doughtnut hole? [Boehner] Are there any reasons we should elect Republicans and their obstructionist agenda? [Boehner]”

  56. 56.

    asiangrrlMN

    @lamh31: While I agree in general, I had to lift an eyebrow at some of the stereotypes she (and I’m assuming it’s a she) makes about being in a couple. Still. I love living alone eighty-three percent of the time. The only time I want someone else around is when I’m sick, when I’m horny, and when I need to clean. For all of the above, the person doesn’t necessarily have to live in the house.

    @MikeTheZ: I might have tried key words or some such thing (I do SEO for my brother), but the whole phrase? Probably not.

    @gbear: I gotta say, that never gets old.

  57. 57.

    CaseyL

    @John Cole:

    He has never been anywhere but this place, so I expect it will be interesting.

    “Interesting,” eh? Pardon me while I laugh until I drool.

    He is going to be mad as blazes. And he’s going to let you know it. Protect your shoes :)

    ION: Hiking season has started – a bit earlier than usual, because this has been a very warm winter in Seattle. So tomorrow I play hooky from my usual volunteer stint at the Aquarium to… “hike the Snoqualmie Falls trail.” I gotta remember tonight to make sure the battery in the camera is fully charged.

  58. 58.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck: I just finished it and I really wanted to like it (amazing cast) but I couldn’t. There’s a lot to like, it just didn’t gel for me.

    And I like wacky, loved Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, liked Being John Malkovich, hated Eternal Sunshine. I didn’t hate this one, just was lukewarm. Will be interested in hearing how you feel about it.

  61. 61.

    someguy

    Hey, don’t look now but the first salvo in the Corporate War on Healthcare Reform just got fired by AT&T.

  64. 64.

    lamh31

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Agree 100% with wanting someone else when u are sick. Last September I twisted my ankle. I had to drive myself home, dreive myself to the doctor the next day, and I lived in a 2nd floor, 2 story townhouse with the bedrooms upstairs and the kitchen obviously upstairs. It was a nightmare.

    As for being horny, well, I’m gonna just say that sometimes I do need a guy, and sometimes I don’t. Depends on how I feel!

    Btw, I actually think the author was being a little tongue in cheek with “coupledom”. Having said that, I sent this list to some friends who are all in relationships, and they pretty much agreed with the 8 reasons.

  65. 65.

    HRA

    @BethanyAnne:

    What they did back in the days of Cronkite, Severaid (sp), etc. is hold back on news that was deemed to be irrelevant by their overlords and/or too spicy for public consumption.
    Today you get everything.

  67. 67.

    asiangrrlMN

    @gbear: I replied to you on an earlier thread. I am going to buy some, despite the lack of black animals pictured.

    I just bought a little more BJ swag including the large DIAF mug and a Tunchie t-shirt (for, sigh, the death of winter). Wheeeee!

    @lamh31: Yeah, I thought the person might be tongue-in-cheek about being yoked, er, in a relationship. I would add that I don’t have to wake up without any blankets around me. Most sleep partners I’ve had hog the blankets. I hate that. And, I can sleep whenever I want. Actually, being an egotist, I can say the best part of being single is that I can pretty much do what I want when I want.

  68. 68.

    Fern

    @mattH: One of the things I love about moving is the illusion that this time – this time! – I will always put things away, that I will stay organized, and that I will never again leave dishes in the sink for four days.

    And I kinda like unpacking.

    But packing? Yech.

  69. 69.

    SIA

    When we moved with my cat (long ago) we only moved about 5 blocks away. Zipper (yes I know) kept running away to the old house. Every day I’d go back to pick him up, and then he’d skeddadle on back there, ad infinitum. Of course it helped that some cute chicks were feeding and adoring him.

    I am intensely interested in Tunch’s move to the new place.

    ETA: watching Countdown. Holy mother of Dog, forgot how deeply stupid Palin is. And is McCain passing a kidney stone? He looks like he is in pain.

  72. 72.

    MikeTheZ

    @Fern: Ugh. Now that I have a reprieve from getting booted off my parents insurance post-graduation, my #1 reason for wanting to get a job as soon as I graduate is so I can move to wherever the job is instead of home then to where the job is.

  74. 74.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    @freelancer: Will do, for you and BHF. Haven’t decided whether to watch it tonight, or save it for tomorrow night.

  76. 76.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    OMG, too funny. I just cooked an egg for my cats, thinking it would be a nice treat. Added it to their dry food. My calico took one bite, walked over to me and meowed while sticking out her tongue (trying to scrape the egg off, I guess). No doubts about her preference. They now have their normal dinner and I’ve learned my lesson.

  77. 77.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    @lamh31:

    As for being horny, well, I’m gonna just say that sometimes I do need a guy,

    I hear they have battery powered gizmos for that. And you don’t need to make them breakfast in the morn.

  79. 79.

    gbear

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Well there’s one dark grey kitty in there who’s pretty sweet, & all those pups are total cuties. I wish I hadn’t found the tab for the coffee mugs…

  80. 80.

    MikeTheZ

    I’m amused by Lawrence O’Donnell asking if the ReThugs will try to block the new arms treaty with Russia from being ratified. Like they wouldn’t?

    After all, today we have Michael Steele saying Hell no to a joint statement asking people to calm the heck down.

  83. 83.

    asiangrrlMN

    @gbear: Yeah, I see her/him. Very cute. Damn you. I didn’t notice the other tabs…until now. Awwww! The gray cat is called Willow, so I’m going to hazard it’s a she. British shorthair, I think. I just bought the DIAF mug and a Tunchie tile. Sigh.

  85. 85.

    Elisabeth

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    My Frannie, who will generally eat any canned food I plop in her bowl, will not touch the Fancy Feast with egg stuff.

    Sam, on the other hand, wouldn’t know if egg was in the bowl or not; he doesn’t chew.

  90. 90.

    lamh31

    @stevie314159:

    I’ve never watched an episode of “24” I just never got into it, but I wonder how soon before wingnut “24” enthusiats start to blame Obama for this cancellation, even though it’s a FOX show

  91. 91.

    Robin G

    Ooh, there is baseball and kittens in this thread.

    I just did my finances and realized that for the foreseeable future, I’m going to have to feed myself, my husband, and three cats on $100 a month. Oh, and we’ll probably need things like soap sometimes.

    Thinking baseball thoughts, thinking baseball thoughts…

  92. 92.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    Where tasty lettuce and good mustard aren’t elitist

    I’m going to have to keep more paper towels near the monitor with these tags. Did you just get good and drunk John and write down the craziest shit you could think of?

  96. 96.

    R-Jud

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Am I a bad person if I say I could never get into that show?

    We’ll be bad together. My ex couldn’t understand why I would suddenly need to do the dishes when that bilge came on.

    I fucking HATE doing the dishes.

  98. 98.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @SIA: Yeah, from now on they’re only getting cheap canned food with their very expensive dry crunchies. And the next time my calico licks my egg plate clean, I’m going to assume it’s the salsa she wants. Hrumph.

  99. 99.

    Mark S.

    I watch so little network TV I kind of thought 24 was already canceled. Until a week or so ago I would have sworn Lost had been over for years.

    What’s next, am I going to find out Friends is still on?

  101. 101.

    Jason Bylinowski

    @Bad Horse’s Filly: “loved Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, liked Being John Malkovich, hated Eternal Sunshine.”

    Oh my, looks like you obviously got those all backward. For a moment it was as though you said you hated one of the best movies ever.

  102. 102.

    asiangrrlMN

    @R-Jud: That’s fucking funny. Yeah, I gave it the old college try, but I just didn’t give a shit about the premise, about Jack Bauer, and I hated his daughter. I think I watched two eps.

  103. 103.

    SiubhanDuinne

    When I moved 25+ years ago from Battle Creek, MI to Atlanta with my two cats, Heather and HHamish, they hid for about four days when we arrived at our new home. Didn’t emerge to eat, drink. Use the lietter box or snuggle. They were purely pissed at me. But once they worked out that they weren’t going to die right away or anything, they were fine.

  104. 104.

    R-Jud

    @asiangrrlMN: Yes, the daughter was a moron. There is something about Kiefer Sutherland that sets my teeth on edge. I have no problem with Donald Sutherland, but Kiefer… I just want to punch him.

  105. 105.

    SGEW

    @John Cole:

    He has never been anywhere but this place, so I expect it will be interesting.

    Poor kittieh. Quite seriously: moving can be a very traumatic experience for cats. From what I understand, cats are extremely territorial (some have proposed that they’re actually more attached to their territory than to their “owner”), and that moving can, in some instances, cause serious behavioral problems (i.e., kitteh sad/confused). I don’t have any good advice, myself (my google-fu is weak, right now, but I found this and this, as far as what random internets advice is worth), but I hope that you do it carefully, and with great consideration for Tunch’s well-being (I know that you will, of course; just being overly-concerned for our beloved mascot, I guess).

    Great to hear that the move is going well, tho’.

  110. 110.

    Violet

    @Bob K:

    Har! Quote:

    And this, I believe, perfectly represents the attitude Democrats should now have in their dealings with the Republican Party: “Shut the fuck up while I slap your face for making noise — now pass a cap-and-trade law, you stupid bitch, and repeat after me: ‘global warming is real!'”

    Yep! Bring it on, GOP.

  111. 111.

    lamh31

    @R-Jud:

    agree about Keifer, every interview I’ve seen with him, to me at least, he comes off as pretty smug and entitled. Also, didn’t he a comtemprary of Robert Downey Jr and all the booze and drug dependency problem during the 80’s? Of the two, Robert Downey seems like the clearer more stable of the two.

  112. 112.

    Denny

    Curious, and not really a frequent commenter, but a question. Why is it a lot of liberal blogs are frequently covered with adds with very conservative views on them? Doesn’t the website have any power over this?

    D

  114. 114.

    lamh31

    @lamh31:

    Nevermind, responding to my own post, I don’t think I’ve ever liked Keifer Sutherland, even in the 80’s when I shoulda thought he was cooler.

  115. 115.

    Keith G

    I fucking hate CBS in Houston. Stuck watching Baylor handle St Marys by 16 with 11 min, while in the corner is a count down for a 5 pt OSU/Tenn game with under 4 left.

    Fucking hate them.

  116. 116.

    stuckinred

    What up? I’m stuck in a motel in Forysth, GA and the CBS signal has been trashed the entire game. I anyone else having issues with it?

  118. 118.

    Wayne T

    Ha – I thought the Times just issued a correction that they didn’t know what we was posing as or how he dressed because they never saw the raw, unedited video – guess the correction didn’t stick.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/us/politics/27orleans.html?hpw
    Mr. O’Keefe is best known for posing as a pimp and recording his conversations with workers for Acorn, the community organizing group, who advised him and a woman posing as a prostitute how to evade taxes on illegal activities.

  119. 119.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @John Cole: Ugh – aint going to be good John, cats HATE moving, there is an old wives tale of putting butter on their feet the minute you put them in their new home, not sure how this works, but apparently it does. (In an scienficic sort of thing it disrupts thier homing instincts which are on their feet, sort of thing)In any event, do not let Tunch outside for any reason, whatever, until he has got used to the new abode. If that happens and he goes off, go looking for him at the old place.

  123. 123.

    Calliope Jane

    @R-Jud: I could never get into it, either. I tried watching it twice and couldn’t even finish either episode. I gave it a second chance because my aunt said it was such a great show. I learned later that she loved it based on Rush’s recommendation. Blech.

    Does this mean Scalia will stop using it as a reference?

  124. 124.

    SGEW

    So it looks like Allawi’s bloc is declaring itself the winner in the Iraq election, btw. I have no real idea what the hell this means: or what anything in Iraq means, really, anymore; if I ever did.

    Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s bloc has achieved a surprise win in Iraq’s parliamentary elections.
    His coalition has two seats more than that of incumbent PM Nouri Maliki, who has vowed to challenge the results and said they were “not final”.
    . . .
    Just hours before the results were announced, twin bomb blasts in the town of Khalis, in Diyala province, killed at least 40 people and left more than 60 injured.

    Coincidentally, maybe, I ran into this quote today:

    Over Baghdad is stationed death’s loud herald—
    Weep for her, then, weep for time’s rapine there!
    Erstwhile, upon her stream by war imperilled,
    When in her streets its flames were briefly bated,
    Men hoped her happy fortunes reinstated.
    Now all their hopes have turned to dull despair.

    – Abu Tammam (788-845, trans. Gibb & Beckingham, from The Travels of ibn Battutah)

    Meanwhile, in this country, people are sending death threats to congresspeople over incremental increases in excise taxes. Sigh.

    SGEW + [redacted]

  125. 125.

    MikeTheZ

    @Keith G: That’s CBS everywhere. I got stuck with Duke’s blowout win last weekend. They showed us the last 30 seconds of the actual close games.

  126. 126.

    Svensker

    @stuckinred:

    I’m stuck in a motel in Forysth, GA and the CBS signal has been trashed the entire game.

    Further punishment for being in Forsyth GA.

  127. 127.

    SGEW

    @lamh31:

    I don’t think I’ve ever liked Keifer Sutherland, even in the 80’s when I shoulda thought he was cooler.

    I always thought that he was a poor shadow of the talent his father displays, myself.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Oh God. Is The Rachel Maddow going to play all of Palin’s rantings?

  130. 130.

    Malron aka eclecticbrotha

    John and Doug,

    I know you both have an aversion to Politico but I was wondering if you were aware of this bit of strategery from the DNC:

    The Republican National Committee has rejected a proposal from its Democratic counterpart to sign a joint “civility” statement, POLITICO has learned. Various members of the DNC — including Chairman Tim Kaine, Executive Director Jen O’Malley Dillon and Communications Director Brad Woodhouse — contacted their respective RNC counterparts this week in hopes of getting RNC Chairman Michael Steele to co-sign a document with Kaine that, in part, called for “elected officials of both parties to set an example of the civility we want to see in our citizenry.”

    “We also call on all Americans to respect differences of opinion, to refrain from inappropriate forms of intimidation, to reject violence and vandalism, and to scale back rhetoric that might reasonably be misinterpreted by those prone to such behavior,” read the proposed joint statement, which came at the end of a week which saw acts of vandalism and threats of violence directed at members of Congress from both parties, but mostly aimed at Democrats who voted “yes” on the health care bill.

    Republicans see the statement as an attempt to force them to either reject the statement — allowing Democrats to say the RNC finds the incidents acceptable — or to sign on to something that the DNC would later wield against them.

    Michael Steele, ya played yourself.

  132. 132.

    stuckinred

    @Svensker: When I went to ask about it the desk clerk said it was bad in every room and sent me to a “sports bar” in the Ramada up the road. I went in and there were 3 drunk rednecks watching the weather channel!

  133. 133.

    MikeTheZ

    @Malron aka eclecticbrotha: Michael Steele: “Not only am I going to not sign this call for tensions to ease, I’m going to explain exactly why its stupid for me not to and show the Dems exactly how they can exploit my idiocy. I’m Michael Steele, and I approved this act of stupidity.”

  135. 135.

    Morbo

    Well, darn, looks like the Big 10 is not guaranteed a Final 4 team now… State and Purdue, do your jobs.

  140. 140.

    FlipYrWhig

    @stevie314159: I still defend 24 because I think it has a message that’s much more complex than either its defenders or its detractors tend to suggest.

    In essence, I think the show is about how Jack Bauer is the only person who can do what Jack Bauer does, and it has cost him the ability to have any kind of meaningful human emotion, which is a frightening prospect for anyone else, and he knows it. When he cares about someone, he tries to keep them the hell out of his life, because he’s toxic. So while it is a show that does ludicrous things with plot and character and has never properly explored the notion that sometimes people who are tortured provide incorrect information, it’s not mindlessly ubermensch-worshipping.

  141. 141.

    Cain

    @demkat620:

    10 days till opening day. Little over three weeks until I get to go to my first minor league game of the year.
    Batter up. I am so ready for baseball season.

    In the meanwhile I suggest you watch some cricket. IPL baby..

    http://www.youtube.com/ipl/

    live cricket! Woo!

    cain

  142. 142.

    stuckinred

    @SIA: I’m actually at a conference in Barnesville but there was no room at the inn. Athens, on the other hand, has everything I need. It’s a good thing since I’ve lived there for 25 years!

  143. 143.

    SIA

    @stuckinred: Been to Barnesville too. There’s a good country cookin’ restaurant on the square. Don’t mind the fact that everything is deep fried. Mmmm.

    Athens is my alma mater, great town, great DFHs. Is the Last Resort still there? Saw some great music there, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Waits, Greg Allman (drunk as shit and 2 hrs late), and many others.

  146. 146.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @stuckinred #115: OMG you’re in a motel in Forsyth (I assume Forsyth County?) GA? You do know how to live up to your handle!

    For those who may not know: Forsyth County, GA was notorious until the late 1980s for being an entirely white population. In, I think, early 1986, Oprah Winfrey — who wasn’t all that well known at the time — courageously came down and did a live broadcast from Forsyth, including interviews with a lot of the white-supremacist leaders. Post hoc ergo propter hoc and all that, but there are dark-hued people living in Forsyth County these days.

    Yes, I know that the town of Forsyth is not in Forsyth County. Not sure which you are stuck in.

  149. 149.

    Cacti

    Okay, since it’s an open thread, time for a little personal rant.

    My wife’s granddad, Republican in his 70s. Vehemently opposed to the HCR bill and “government healthcare”.

    Not withstanding that he has Congestive Heart Failure and were it not for his Medicare, would have been dead as a doornail several years ago.

    Shit just makes my head want to explode.

  150. 150.

    stuckinred

    @SIA: Yea, the Resort has been the best joint in town for years. There hasn’t been music there since it’s rebirth but the food is great. If you haven’t been back you probably wouldn’t recognize it. downtown is full of bars, mostly slop-chutes. I live in Normaltown and Allens closed a few years back and reopened on Hawthorne.

  151. 151.

    stuckinred

    @SiubhanDuinne: The town. Of course Forsyth County, as you know, has gone from klan hq to anytown USA, a faceless suburb. I guess that’s better but not by much.

  155. 155.

    WereBear

    @John Cole: I don’t know if you let Tunch out, but don’t do it for at least three weeks; six is safer.

    In any case, that’s when his homing device will kick in and it will feel more like “home.”

  157. 157.

    stuckinred

    You want ass kicking rock and roll? I saw these cats at The Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair in Snohomish (sp) Washington in Aug 68 on my way to asia!

    Blue Cheer

    None o that bubblegum crap!

  158. 158.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    @gbear:

    I have heard of them, but not listened till now. Not bad. I will say that after I gradeeated 6th grade, my musical taste went in other directions than the Cowsills. I was just time tripping a little. They do sound quite bad now, but not then.

  160. 160.

    stuckinred

    @gbear: While I am an Army vet I grew up in a Navy family and “slop chute” is a Marine/Navy term for a dive bar.

  161. 161.

    WereBear

    @R-Jud: Hmm. Is that the way men wrap up bread again by sorta folding over the plastic bag?

    All they have to do is discourage the air, because the air wouldn’t dare!

  162. 162.

    MikeTheZ

    @ellaesther: I do not think it has come up much today. But it is indeed awesome. She’s getting professional help to not run against Brown in a few minutes. Going to be fun.

    But first she’s talking about my fucking commencement speaker, Bob McDonnell.

    *grumble grumble grumble*

  163. 163.

    R-Jud

    @FlipYrWhig:

    In essence, I think the show is about how Jack Bauer is the only person who can do what Jack Bauer does, and it has cost him the ability to have any kind of meaningful human emotion, which is a frightening prospect for anyone else….

    So basically it’s The Hurt Locker, with the occasional mountain lion. Got it.

  164. 164.

    gregw

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck: Well in that case, …damn, there still is no excuse. sheesh. I mean I have seen this place turn into bad music city and this still sucks. the worst. you poor man. raging hormones. I still can’t get past how awful that song is. Hater indeed. Proudly.

  165. 165.

    SIA

    @stuckinred:

    I live in Normaltown and Allens closed a few years back and reopened on Hawthorne.

    Drank beer and played pool at Allens with the hippie-necks quite a few times. I lived not far from there. Good times. Glad they’re over.

  167. 167.

    Hal

    I always think of a particular Hitchens article when I think of Palin. It sums here up so well, especially:

    “What price the courageous frontier huntress now—an empty-headed echo chamber for rumor-mongers and freaks who shoots from ambush and then runs away? Some condescending right-wing intellectuals are calling her style “populist” and comparing it with Andrew Jackson and William Jennings Bryan. The true name for it is demagogy, descending from Joseph McCarthy, Robert Welch, and the nastier elements of the old Nixon gang—people to whom slander and defamation was second nature.”

  171. 171.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    @gregw: I was just getting even with Cole for posting that Abba drek a couple of days ago. That was the rock bottom to me.

    You just got caught in the crossfire is all.

  172. 172.

    Midnight Marauder

    So I’ve been having an exchange with a friend of mine about the Affordable Care Act over facebook this week, and he’s been revealing himself to be quite the wingnut. I mean, waaaaaayyyy more WOLVERINES than I ever imagined. After a lot of back and forth about a whole lot of facts (ed. note: Me.) and a whole lot of bullshit and feelings (ed. note: Him.), we finally got down to the brass tacks after he called him a Marxsonian devil and I told him his nonsense was the territory of whack jobs and loons. It led to him responding with this dizzying set of “facts”:

    Let me start from the begining, and after this I am going to let this go because we obviously could go back and forth on this forever, so this will be my last post on this for at least a month, I need a break.
    __
    Look no further than his associations my friend. His mother and father (father even taught communism in Africa) both associated with communists, his grandparents (who he lived with for sometime) went to the Red Door church, which was known for its communist beliefs, He was introduced to a guy named Frank Davis (self avowed communist and good friends of Bill Ayers parents), then we he gets back to Chicago he befriends Bill Ayers (friend of Frank Davis). And started his campaign for the illinois state legis. from his freakin house and your boy endorsed Bill Ayers book on education. Then of course there is Rev. Wright who was a follower of black liberation theology (based on marxist theory) and that guy baptized his kids for goodness sake. There’s Valerie Jarret (recruiter for Van Jones, and also had connections with Frank Davis). Van Jones (you want to talk about a loon?), appointed to green jobs czar, who is a self avowed communist and even named his son(whose only four) after a communist leader. Your boy even said in his own book! “I choose my friends wisely, marxists, radical feminists…etc.” Obama appoints Mark Llyod to head FCC who is a socialist and praises how Hugo Chavez for taking over the news media. Anita Dunn appointed to public relations coordinator, who claims Mao Tse Tung is one of her favorite philosophers. Andy Stern (23 meetings in the White House in the last month) who most definitely a socialist also said, “we will use the power of persuasion and if that doesnt work, we will use the persuasion of power” when referring to how senators vote. If you really research these people, my friend, you will see the beliefs of these people and how close they really are to communists, if they haven’t outright proclaimed it already. Finally, his new religious advisor (Jim Wallace) has described himself as a Marxist. The list actually goes on, but ill stop there. Do some research on these people and let me know if im mistaken.

    The only thing I asked him in response was this: Do you believe that President Barack Hussein Obama II was born in the United States of America, and as such, is an American citizen?

    His response was this:

    Here we go, anyone who brings up the clear proof of Obama’s socialist leanings, is a loon, racist, tea bagging fool. it was only a matter of time before that started…

    It was noted that he failed to give a direct response. It’s a yes or no question, man. Just answer it.

    +5

    EDIT: Holy shit, I totally forgot about the absurd fucking amount of moderation no-nos that quote from my friend contained. I haz a WordPress fail.

  175. 175.

    Comrade Mary

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck: Aw, man. My older sister had that on vinyl. I remember that while most of the album was just OK, that song never failed to delight me.

    Now I’m off looking for the rest of her collection ..

    The Five Americans – Western Union

    Every Mother’s Son – Come on Down to My Boat

    (I was obviously too young to be a hippie, and just the right age to be delighted by the cute boys singing bubblegum. In other words, suck it, hatahs!)

  176. 176.

    Mike in NC

    To anybody who’s moving I have one simple word of advice: eBay

    Seriously, you cannot believe what people will throw their money at. Been doing it for years and am amazed at the results.

  177. 177.

    Mark S.

    I find it sort of interesting that most Division 1 schools excel in basketball or football but not both. The most successful basketball schools, UCLA, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, all pretty much suck at football (maybe not UCLA).

    It’s not quite as drastic when you look at how the best football schools do in basketball, but your Alabamas, Oklahomas, and Nebraskas don’t have a lot of Final Fours between them.

  178. 178.

    stuckinred

    @SIA:

    Going down to Allen’s for
    A twenty-five cent beer
    And the jukebox playing real loud,
    “Ninety-six tears”
    We’re wild girls walkin’ down the street
    Wild girls and boys going out for a big time

    Let’s go crash that party down
    In Normaltown tonight
    Then we’ll go skinny-dippin’
    In the moonlight
    We’re wild girls walkin’ down the street
    Wild girls and boys going out for a big time

  182. 182.

    PurpleGirl

    Palin is coloring and highlighting her hair with blondish tones… it’s thought to make you look younger, ditto for a somewhat shorter cut of her own hair and augmentation by extensions (the curls). She looks to be using flesh-toned lipstick, again under the idea that it doesn’t age you as a colored lipstick would. I don’t know about that; she’s looking washed out and needs more color. I don’t think she’s getting good advice on the hair and make-up. But what do I know, I mostly don’t wear make-up very often and currently I’m letting my gray/silver show.

  184. 184.

    Svensker

    @stuckinred:

    I remember the name Blue Cheer, and i remember their logo, but what was their hit song? Can’t find it on the youtube lists and don’t recognize any of the ones they’re showing. I dunno. Just wiki’d and nothing there helps me — they sat it was Summertime Blues but I don’t remember that either. Too much of the name sake back in the day, perhaps.

    Far effing out, man.

  185. 185.

    mcc

    @Hal: I’d find it funnier if I could tell any difference between Sarah Palin and George W. Bush, who Hitchens loved so well…

  188. 188.

    mr. whipple

    I remember the name Blue Cheer, and i remember their logo, but what was their hit song?

    Remake of ‘summertime blues’.

  191. 191.

    JGabriel

    @stuckinred:

    I went in and there were 3 drunk rednecks watching the weather channel!

    Were they complaining about the liberal elite storm clouds?

    .

  196. 196.

    stuckinred

    @JGabriel: I bailed, they can smoke in that joynt and not only don’t I smoke, I haven’t had a drink in 17 years. I love the hoop but not that much.

  209. 209.

    gbear

    Damn, I just posted songs by Frigid Pink, The Music Machine, and Bubble Puppy, and it’s stuck in moderation. Gah!!

  212. 212.

    stuckinred

    @SIA: No, it’s around the corner from my crib. I didn’t do any program but whatever works is fine by me. I got lucky after 30 years.

  215. 215.

    Svensker

    @stuckinred:

    Would you let me
    walk down your street
    naked if I want to

    You hafta wait until July.

    (My best friend in seattle (old home) is a Norske. Her father, who really came from Norway, objected to our friendship because of my Swedish ancestry. NK.)

    I’m trying to link to Strawberry Alarm Clock, but am a failure. On the other hand, I’m not in a motel in Forsyth, GA, with the option to head down to a deserted redneck bar.

  219. 219.

    stuckinred

    @Svensker: I was married to a Swedish/Hungarian for 20 years. Great lady!

    The first time I did acid was that summer of 68. I was at Ft Lewis and we would take the bus to Seattle and hang on the Ave. We scored from Cowboy Bob, a Navy Vet hippie who had a soft spot for GI’s. We dropped and walked around for a while. After I got off we went into an ice cream joint and Omaha came on the juke box. You know how it starts with that sort of whine and the BANG! I jumped straight up and my cone hit the ceiling! That is my Seattle story. (Oh yea, that was the night Bobby got shot in LA) We heard it on the radio back in the barracks.)

  223. 223.

    Svensker

    @stuckinred:

    The first time I did acid was that summer of 68. I was at Ft Lewis and we would take the bus to Seattle and hang on the Ave. We scored from Cowboy Bob, a Navy Vet hippie who had a soft spot for GI’s. We dropped and walked around for a while.

    We may have passed each other on the street. The Ave was my hangout the summer of 68, especially near the Orange Julius.

    Speaking of hubsters, I better go pay attention to mine.

    ‘Night everyone. Thanks for the flashbacks!

  224. 224.

    Jeffro

    Minor league games…they rock! Just a few weeks now until the Blue Rocks take the field (and Mr. Celery makes his triumphant reappearance!)

  226. 226.

    gregw

    @Comrade Mary: What would you do if you fell into a vat of chocolate? Tommy: Yell fire!! Why is that? “Cause nobody would come if I yelled Chocolate.”

    Damn they were good. Also Cosby in the day.

  236. 236.

    SGEW

    @Tattoosydney: I second this what the fuck. Heartily.

    I’ve been complaining about the cleaned up language around this cockreaming mothershit fuckerific place for a little while now too. Also.

    Again: Why the relative downturn in good ol’ expletives on the front page, recently? Is it a reaction to the increased page views? Lily’s kind-hearted influence? Part of the SorosCommuLibSocialFascist conspiracy requirements? Or just happenstance?

  237. 237.

    SiubhanDuinne

    You all may find this hard to believe, but I saw the Smothers Brothers in 1960 or early 1961 at a little Rush Street club in Chicago with — are you ready for this? — with my *grand*mother! Looking back, I realise she was no older then than I am now, but it does seem like an odd thing to admit. For some reason, she and I were the only ones in the family who really liked the Bros (their humour bypassed my mom) — anyhow I remember that as a very special bonding night with my grandmother although I guess it was a nerdy kind of date :-)

    This was years before the SB got political, of course. Heard an interview recently on Fresh Air with the author of a new bio of Tom and Dick and their TV show and their fights with CBS. Can’t recall the title offhand buit I know it’ll be something I want to read.

  238. 238.

    SGEW

    @SiubhanDuinne: I worked a Smothers brothers show a few years ago (2004? 2005?). They were probably the nicest semi-famous people I’ve ever worked with; just great guys.

  239. 239.

    tesslibrarian

    My two cats moved a few times before we bought our house, and they pretty much adjusted within a few days. They were indoor-only, so maybe they were fine once the familiar smells of furniture and beds and toys showed up. But it wasn’t a problem.

  240. 240.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SGEW: I believe you. I have also worked shows, mostly classical music, and could tell you stories that would curl your teeth.

  241. 241.

    SGEW

    @SiubhanDuinne: As far as celebrity horror stories, my teeth are uncurlable:

    I. Worked. With. Bill. Cosby.

    Did his sound. Two nights, four shows (no matinee). No mezzo-soprano diva can compete. I still hate that motherfucker.

  242. 242.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    Midway through The Men Who Stare At Goats and it is outstandingly whacky. Without the great cast, I suspect it wouldn’t be.

  243. 243.

    Anne Laurie

    @FlipYrWhig:

    In essence, I think the show is about how Jack Bauer is the only person who can do what Jack Bauer does, and it has cost him the ability to have any kind of meaningful human emotion, which is a frightening prospect for anyone else, and he knows it. When he cares about someone, he tries to keep them the hell out of his life, because he’s toxic.

    Interesting. Never watched 24, but I have enjoyed Keifer Sutherland playing this character before. He’s the tragedy version of Michael Westen in Burn Notice — the guy whose only redeeming characteristic is that he knows he’s become a monster, and that being a monster, however “successful”, is a tragedy and a failure.

    (I first heard this argument made by Sandra Miesel, back in the early 1980s, concerning Gordon R. Dickinson’s Dorsai mercenaries… do the modern Jackboot Fanbois still idolize their concept of the ‘better-than-mere-human’ Dorsai, I wonder?)

  244. 244.

    Gwangung

    do the modern Jackboot Fanbois still idolize their concept of the ‘better-than-mere-human’ Dorsai, I wonder?)

    How could they not?

  245. 245.

    burnspbesq

    We’re not moving, but we’re trying to de-clutter. There is a dumpster in the driveway. I swear, any wedding presents we’ve haven’t used in 17 years of marriage are GONE! Gone, I tell you! Also all old computers, printers, TVs are going to be recycled. Srsly! However, I wish to remain married, so I will not be saying anything about closets.

  246. 246.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Anne Laurie: Sadly, I’m not getting the reference. But, anyway, I think that where rightwingers go wrong on 24 — and this error probably applies to the actual creator and producer of 24, Joel Surnow — is in seeing themselves as Jack Bauer. At least as the show has evolved, IMHO the whole point is that no one else can be Jack Bauer, and if you were, you’d hate every second of it.

    But they’ve still done a huge mindfuck to the American collective psyche by continually embracing the idea that torture provides useful information, and that every bad guy knows many details of the larger evil plot.

    And I’m not a huge tech geek, but their technobabble is very unconvincing.

  247. 247.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Anne Laurie: Re: 24, it’s not so much that Jack Bauer is a monster… but what’s the best way to put it… it’s like he’s exclusively driven by _duty_.

  248. 248.

    Nellcote

    @Mike Kay:

    They can’t walk away from the base, and they can’t sell obstructionism to Indies

    .

    Prez Obama warned them of just that thing when he did Q&A
    at that gooper confab.

  249. 249.

    Yutsano

    @Tattoosydney: How funny. My brother and I were discussing the comedy of Bill Cosby in the context of his work (gay employees causing drama, I guess there’s no fraternization rule there) and he said he was like the dad. He doesn’t want justice, he wants quiet. It was a decent dinner overall.

  250. 250.

    Mum

    @BethanyAnne:

    As someone who’s a couple of decades beyond 38, I can tell you that it’s not newstalgia. The quality of reporting was far superior to what it is now, in both visual and print media.

    Cronkite was amazing, but he wasn’t alone. There were many other excellent journalists and newscasters working in television. Things changed a lot with the advent of two things: (1) Cable news; (2) Expecting the news divisions to make a profit. Just the sheer number of cable news outlets, combined with the networks, required a significantly larger number of journalists to fill the spots. Watering down and cutting corners was inevitable. And when the news divisions of the networks were no longer held apart from and supported by the other network shows, in addition to being challenged by the cable news programs, things really changed. Serious journalism was ousted and replaced by infotainment and the “if it bleeds it leads” philosophy, which used to be strictly the purview of the tabloids.

    You may indeed be too young to remember when it changed. I can’t remember when CNN came into the picture, but I’m fairly certain that a lot of the changes occurred during the 1980s, and not just because I like to blame everything on Reagan (which I pretty much do). I know that the Fairness Doctrine was done away with in 1987 but things were already changing in the years leading up to that FCC decision.

  251. 251.

    Mum

    @Cat Lady:

    One of my cats, an exceedingly laid-back young male, crawled up into a convertible love-seat that the movers carried three floors down to a moving truck without realizing that they had a stow-away. After many agonizingly long moments of searching for him in the tiny apartment where he had been (so we thought) shut up in a bathroom with two other cats, we had the movers open up the love-seat, and there he was, chilling, looking at us like, “What? What?”

  252. 252.

    Mum

    @SGEW:

    I have two cats that travel with me and they’re happy as long as they’re with me. I don’t think a move would be traumatic for them. One of my other cats would only rebel or act out if he thought he wasn’t going to get fed as a consequence of moving. And another cat in the house would be severely traumatized by moving. I can’t even get her out of the house to go to the vet.

    My first cat lived in five different places; she adapted very easily and was queen wherever she was. Of course, she also went camping and canoeing.

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