Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

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

So many bastards, so little time.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

The problem people have with Biden’s age is the color of the VPs skin.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

The revolution will be supervised.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Cole is on a roll !

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

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

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

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

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100Comments

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    Did housework, baked off cookies, enjoying the much gnashing of teef cause of the WikiLeaks stuff. Other than that tomorrow is Monday and I’m two weeks away from my night shifts again.

  4. 4.

    sherifffruitfly

    Seems like when you grow up, your life becomes largely about hearing about people dying. :(

  5. 5.

    parsimon

    Aside from the news about Leslie Nielsen, the country is obsessed by football. Make of that what you will.

  8. 8.

    frosty

    @freelancer:
    Damned funny. True enough. And the funniest thing is that he started his career doing hard-boiled drama, but apparently he had this irreverent streak he kept under wraps until he did “Airplane.” Then he spent the rest of his career sending up the characters he played straight for the first part.

  11. 11.

    freelancer

    @frosty:

    And the funniest thing is that he started his career doing hard-boiled drama, but apparently he had this irreverent streak he kept under wraps until he did “Airplane.” Then he spent the rest of his career sending up the characters he played straight for the first part.

    Sounds a lot like my academic career if you were to track it from Kindergarten to Undergrad.

  12. 12.

    burnspbesq

    It’s a little creepy to wake up on a Saturday morning and read that the FBI arrested a guy for trying to set off a car bomb a block away from where you are sitting.

  16. 16.

    burnspbesq

    Looks like an old-school Big 10 vs. Pac 10 Rose Bowl is on. Stanford and Wisconsin are 4 and 5 in the latest BCS standings.

  17. 17.

    burnspbesq

    Did they actually play three high school games at Heinz Field on Saturday? What genius came up with that idea? Now all you need is a little bit of precip and the place will be a quagmire.

  18. 18.

    Roger Moore

    I’ve been cooking with leftovers all weekend. I successfully finished off the leftover potatoes and gravy (mmm, potato pancakes with gravy) and converted most of the turkey into turkey soup. I also futzed with my computer; /home is now safely on RAID1 again.

  21. 21.

    Brian S (formerly Incertus)

    @Yutsano: I rarely pay attention to college sports–the level of play just isn’t good enough for me (he types as Manning throws his second pick-six of the night)–but the people who are going to argue that a one-loss team, any one-loss team, will deserve a Championship game slot over TCU if either Oregon or Auburn stumble should be drowned in his own vomit.

    Just saw the replay–Manning got hosed on that one.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I remember getting the shock of my life a few years ago watching (don’t ask me why) the original “Tammy” movie (“Tammy and the Doctor” maybe?) and slowly realizing that Debbie Reynolds’ leading man was an impossibly young, gorgeous, and serious Leslie Nielsen.

  24. 24.

    burnspbesq

    I’m a big fan of irony, so I got a chuckle when I learned that the FCS (aka 1-AA) national championship game is going to be played in a soccer stadium.

  25. 25.

    J. Michael Neal

    Gophers beat Harvard 3-0 on Friday, and 4-2 today. Noora Räty took an ugly blow to the head in Game 1, and I thought she’d be out for the year. She was back today and played outstanding. Our best series of the season. The seiors on the team have a total of 9 points, and four of them are from Emily West, who’s knee exploded after four games and is redshirting. The freshmen have 16 goals and 33 assists. This team could be really dangerous by March.

    Bethany Brausen got her first goal as a Gopher, and Mira Jalosuo got her first two of the weekend. Both proved the value of just taking the puck to the net and letting it bounce around. Something strange might happen.

  26. 26.

    JAHILL10

    @SiubhanDuinne: He was such a sad case in that movie! With his PTSD and I swear any minute I expected him to send the whole thing up. It made for a very nerve racking cinematic experience.

  27. 27.

    BruceFromOhio

    It’s fun to determine which is more appealing: Manning getting sacked or Manning throwing an interception. Each has equal appeal.

    Good day in the AFC North.

    ETA: Gaia bless you, Leslie Nieslen. ‘Airplane’ set the standard, but a bit part in ‘Nuts’ opposite Streisand will always stand out.

  34. 34.

    suzanne

    I spent most of the day at home. Slept in, made a fabulous vegetable/herb/parmesan frittata for breakfast, cleaned my house, played with the dogs, etc. I got the ice cream maker attachment for my stand mixer for our wedding, but I haven’t used it yet, so I was thinking I would try making peppermint ice cream. Anyone have any recipes?

    Holiday weekends rock. Can I haz another one, PLEEZ?

  35. 35.

    Comrade Luke

    Anyone catch the Adam Carolla show from a couple of days ago, when he had Dr Drew on?

    They went off on a huge jag about how the government is this gigantic, inefficient entity that only exists to take your money (Carolla’s quote), and how yes, it’s great that they can now see the mountains in California due to how the government’s involvement in reducing emissions, but they’re just so anti-business and if they would just get out of the way and let private enterprise take over everything would be awesome.

    And then Carolla used the example of the Big Three automakers. He said (paraphrasing) you see what happened? They were producing shit, and had to adjust once the Japanese started kicking their asses, and they did it all without the government. Isn’t that great?

    The whole “milk SUVs and invest in your financial divisions until you go bankrupt, then have the government bail you out” was lost on them.

    I don’t think I’ll be listening to him anymore.

  37. 37.

    Bella Q

    A reader writes Sully:

    On Thanksgiving Day, the ONLY thing everyone agreed with is when my 80 year old feeble mother-in-law shouted, “Sarah Palin an idiot!” In a multi-generational gathering of 30 rural Ohio Republicans, Mom was almost applauded at the dinner table. From the men who were in the garage drinking beer and frying the turkey to the wives and girlfriends who were in the kitchen, Palin is over. I was surprised to see her lose this group of FNC viewers.

  38. 38.

    mr. whipple

    @Yutsano:

    The ugly I choose to blame on DelHomme

    I thought people had been a little hard on him. But by the end of the game I had to agree.

    Edit: the d STUNK, too. Also.

  40. 40.

    Yutsano

    @suzanne:

    Holiday weekends rock. Can I haz another one, PLEEZ?

    Ya gets another one in a month. In fact if you’re like me you gets two in a row. I think I’mma gonna be loving that. Plus we enter our massive slow period.

  41. 41.

    suzanne

    @Comrade Luke: Adam Carolla needs to be kept on level surfaces so the drool comes out both sides of his mouth.

    Comments like that make me think of the anti-vaccine people; they’re completely convinced that their chosen enemy has completely fucked them over, when they’ve been marinating in its benefits their whole lives.

  43. 43.

    Brian S (formerly Incertus)

    @Roger Moore: I went with Faulk, Sharpe, Deion, Roaf and Ray Guy. Faulk and Sanders were tough for me because the Saints faced them a number of times and get eaten alive by them. Roaf is my sentimental pick. But Ray Guy is, in my opinion, the most indefensible exclusion from the Hall. He changed the role of the player, and you can’t ask anyone to do more than that.

  45. 45.

    Comrade Luke

    @Brian S (formerly Incertus):

    His specific examples were Ford and Cadillac, but like I said, the bailout was completely lost on him. His example of “occasional” fraud was Enron.

    And earlier in the month when Dr Drew was on, his first comment about HCR was “You know, what we need to do is reign in the Medicare fraud.” Drew called him on it, but said that the real problem was that the government would fund the system up front and then quickly cut things, such that doctors would then have to work “for free, just like we do now”.

    Today Drew started the whole political conversation by referring back to that moment, because Limbaugh picked it up and broadcast it to the dittoheads. Dr Drew said “That’s not what I meant”, and then they proceed down the path I stated above.

    Just incredibly naive.

  47. 47.

    Dream On

    Adam Carolla’s advice is best suited for those living between Burbank, the Valley, Ventura and Riverside. Although he’s funny, his best work was with Loveline, and his personal views are shallow SoCal politics, all the way.

    Up next, Jim Rome explains the Public Option pros and cons!

  49. 49.

    MikeJ

    @rikyrah:

    had no idea what Black Monday was until a friend told me about it.

    Your friend told you “naked marketing trying to convince people that spending will make them accepted by society at large” I hope.

  50. 50.

    Roger Moore

    FWIW, England has just declared after a spectacular second innings in the First Ashes Test. They were down by 221 after the first innings, but came back 517-1(!) before declaring. It still looks like a draw is most likely, since it’s after lunch on the fifth day.

  52. 52.

    mr. whipple

    had no idea what Black Monday was until a friend told me about it.

    I thought Monday was cyber Monday, or something.

  57. 57.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Brian S (formerly Incertus): Shannon Sharpe, Andre Reed, Willie Roaf, Ed Sabol, and Don Coryell. Unless it’s only the players that are limited to five, in which case Lester Hayes and Ray Guy replace Sabol and Coryell.

    Running backs are overrated. There are probably 2-3 more guys I’d take before Bettis, who I think is the only RB on that list who should go in.

  58. 58.

    burnspbesq

    @Roger Moore:

    I thought England were dead after Hussey and Haddin had that 307-run partnership. They’re going to escape the Gabbatoir and go to Adelaide full of confidence. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck.

  59. 59.

    Kenneth

    Assange should be given the Nobel Peace Prize next year. He served humanity by his actions here more than any of the last five winners.

  61. 61.

    burnspbesq

    @Kenneth:

    Go soil one of the Wikileaks-related threads with your crap. Grownups are talking about important stuff in this thread. If you can’t talk intelligently about football or cricket, get the fuck out.

  63. 63.

    Darkrose

    You know how some folks here were insisting that the scan-and-grope wasn’t a big deal for them, and therefore shouldn’t be so for anyone else?

    Not so much. It seems as though the scanners or the people staffing them don’t know what to do with such strange and potentially threatening objects as a flannel menstrual pad. I hate to think about what they’d do if you were wearing a Diva Cup.

  64. 64.

    Francis

    I did a three-day dry brine (just salt and ground sage) on a heritage turkey. Then cooked it with aluminum foil on the breast until about 1/2 hour to go, at 325 the whole way.

    Best turkey evah!

    (of course, my father in law is going senile, so the weekend did have its downsides.)

  67. 67.

    danimal

    What a lovely way to end the weekend, with Peyton Manning grimacing as he watches the Chargers defense roll on by to the end zone.

    All Mannings have a special place in the hearts of us Charger fans. Enjoy your week, Peyton!

  71. 71.

    J. Michael Neal

    @burnspbesq: Or hockey. But, honestly, didn’t Hussey and Haddin demonstrate that this pitch can’t produce anything but a draw? This is turning out to be a boring test. The Poms’ openers were impressive, but still.

    Declaring yesterday would only have allowed Australia to score enough runs to win. Once it was apparent just how scarce wickets were going to be, the only way this match ended up with a decision is if Strauss had been criminally incompetent.

  72. 72.

    Roger Moore

    @burnspbesq:
    Cook and Trott topped that with 329. The BBC commentators say it’s just the second time there have been two 300 run partnerships in a single test. And any second guesser who thinks they should have declared at the beginning of the day is off his rocker. They were up by less than 90, which is way too thin a lead to declare on with a full day’s play ahead. Maybe they could have declared at lunch, but in any case they should be happy to come out with a draw.

  74. 74.

    Citizen_X

    @Yutsano: CURSE YOU, WORDPRESS!

    Anyway, I had put up a link to a Forbidden Planet scene on YouTube. Sigh. Leslie Nielsen’s gone and WordPress DOESN’T EVEN CARE.

  78. 78.

    Yutsano

    @J. Michael Neal:

    Slava Fetisov was the second best defenseman in hockey history.

    This sounds more like a good way to win a bar bet than anything else.

    EDIT: Did teh Google, and yeah, coming to the NHL at 31 and lasting 9 seasons as a bruiser is definitely worth notice.

  79. 79.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Yutsano: He wasn’t even a bruiser. He was strong, and could move a guy out from in front of the net, but he didn’t deliver huge hits or get into fights. He was just always in position. Most people aren’t aware of just how good he was before he came to the NHL. NHL players that played against him in summit tournaments in the 80s just raved about him.

    When I have a chance to look at his career with perspective, there’s a possibility I’ll move Nick Lidstrom ahead of him. Right now, though, it’s Fetisov. I have a replica of his Central Red Army jersey.

  80. 80.

    Yutsano

    @J. Michael Neal: All defencemen are bruisers. Trust me, I dated one. :) Even if they’re subtle about it, they still take the hits and deliver them right back. I highly respect him for changing countries and ices at an age when a lot of players are starting to mumble retirement.

  81. 81.

    Corner Stone

    @Darkrose:

    You know how some folks here were insisting that the scan-and-grope wasn’t a big deal for them, and therefore shouldn’t be so for anyone else?

    I did enjoy it when people decided for themselves that they were just damn fine with it, and couldn’t figure out that wasn’t really the point.

  82. 82.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Yutsano: The way that he and Igor Larionov (my all time favorite hockey player) challenged Viktor Tikhonov and the Soviet establishment, back when it *was* the Soviet establishment, demonstrated more moral courage than 98% of all sports stars are ever asked to show. When they told Tikhonov they were not going to play for him any more, that really could have been the end of their hockey careers. I don’t want to minimize what defectors like Fedorov or Konstantinov risked, but two legends like Slava and Igor calling the authorities out publicly was gutsy.

    As for defensemen, I agree overall. It’s not just a male thing, either. Friday night, a Harvard forward hit our goalie in the head with her stick. It was accidental, but knocked her out of the game, and I was worried about the rest of the season. She played today, and every time a Harvard player skated towards her after the whistle, the Gophers got really surly. Kelly Seeler (by a large margin our smallest defenseman) took a couple of roughing penalties for dropping Ivy Leaguers after the whistle. Megan Bozek used the cross-check as her attack of choice.

    Then again, we have a couple of defensemen that could push Aaron Ness (a defenseman on the men’s team) around at will. Mira Jalosuo and Bailey Gillanders are large women.

  86. 86.

    burnspbesq

    @J. Michael Neal:

    When I have a chance to look at his career with perspective, there’s a possibility I’ll move Nick Lidstrom ahead of him. Right now, though, it’s Fetisov. I have a replica of his Central Red Army jersey.

    You’re going to get an argument from me about putting Lidstrom anywhere above number five all-time. I’m old. I saw Doug Harvey play. I also saw Potvin and Robinson for their entire careers.

    For me, the top five is Orr, Fetisov, Potvin, Harvey, and Robinson.

  88. 88.

    JGabriel

    Ross Douthat on The Partisan Mind:

    It was the populist right that raged against body scans, and the Republican Party that moved briskly to exploit the furor. It was a Democratic administration that labored to justify the intrusive procedures, and the liberal commentariat that leaped to their defense.

    No links to any of the “liberal commentariat” defending the TSA, of course, because THERE AREN’T ANY.

    Fucking asshole.

    .

  89. 89.

    J. Michael Neal

    @burnspbesq: Harvey I’ll consider. Potvin, no. Robinson, no. Great players, but not Lidstrom.

    Lidstrom has the problem that he’s the most boring superstar ever. The epitome of his career was the 1997 SC Finals, when he and Larry Murphy smothered the Legion of Doom with a pillow. No highlights. No big hits. Nothing that could rouse Eric Lindros from his slumbers and give him something to focus on. Just constant, 60 minute smothering.

    All of the talk going into that series was about the monumental physical war that was going to be Lindros vs. Konstantinov (who, at that point, a lot of people other than myself thought was better than Lidstrom). I’m sure that Lindros and LeClair used all of that to motivate themselves.

    And then Scottie sent out Lidstrom and Murphy against them. Just about everytime on the ice. Instead of big hits to feed off of, all Lindros saw was sticks in passing lanes, and the puck bouncing away from him. No one tried to push him out of the slot, they just wouldn’t let him do anything.

    The quintessential Lidstrom play requires you to rewind and watch in slow motion to figure out what he did. If it even attracts your attention at all. Absolutely one of the best players of all time, but you have to watch for what doesn’t happen, rather than what does.

  90. 90.

    JGabriel

    burnspbesq:

    If you value your sanity, do NOT read Chunky Bobo’s Monday column.

    Too late, I already did. Ross Douthat writing on The Partisan Mind as if he were an impartial observer is like listening to Bernie Madoff lecture on the need for securities regulation.

    .

  91. 91.

    Yutsano

    @JGabriel: That wasn’t a column. That was a pure heaping helping of word salad. I still don’t have a fucking clue what his central point was, and I honestly don’t have the intestinal fortitude to read it again.

  92. 92.

    HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist

    I just want to win a walk-on role on Walking Dead.

    This is my contribution to this thread.

  93. 93.

    Suffern ACE

    @Yutsano: I think there is some point in there about how the natural tendency for conservatism is libertarianism and now that a conservative isn’t in the White House, conservatives are free to stand firm on libertarianism, although there is a benefit to partisanship in general in that it means that there is always someone willing to stand up against the party in power for the sake of liberty, so the partisan mind isn’t all bad. Of course, no one really has principals except those who are out of power…so that really does suck.

    See… it really isn’t that hard to figure out what the point is if one puts in a little extra effort and reads between the lines. It isn’t really the job of an opinion writer to make his or her opinions clear when one is given a section of the NYT editorial page. That is the job of readers. The hard work of reading and understanding is what makes us as readers more virtuous than the lazy opinion writers. I believe the Protestant Comprehension Ethic is what made us a great nation once.

    As an aside, are they still teaching a course called “Composition” in American high schools, or did that get thrown out sometime in the last 20 years?

  94. 94.

    JGabriel

    @Suffern ACE:

    As an aside, are they still teaching a course called “Composition” in American high schools, or did that get thrown out sometime in the last 20 years?

    More like 35-45 years ago.

    .

  95. 95.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Suffern ACE:

    I think there is some point in there about how the natural tendency for conservatism is libertarianism

    Probably captures Douthat’s intent.

    Which is why Douthat is a total fuckhead.

    These guys are authoritarian assholes, to the core. I refer you to Kim Stanley Robinson’s quote about “Libertarians”.

    Modern “conservatism” is about the last ditch defense of the old order from the terrible threat of egalitarianism that threatens to undermine the fragile egos of the aristocrat wannabees. These are the people who cannot enjoy their meals unless they know that others are starving.

    Conservatism used to be about preserving the fabric of society against the unintended consequences wrought by intellectual, economic, and technological changes, which tend to shatter the old ways of doing things. Heck, allowing people to travel more than 10 miles from where they were born is very fabric stretching.

    Now it’s about “I’ve got mine, fuck you!” and pulling up the ladders.

  97. 97.

    Kobie

    @J. Michael Neal:

    The quintessential Lidstrom play requires you to rewind and watch in slow motion to figure out what he did. If it even attracts your attention at all. Absolutely one of the best players of all time, but you have to watch for what doesn’t happen, rather than what does.

    Perhaps the best assessment of Nik Lidstrom I’ve ever read.

  98. 98.

    J. Michael Neal

    FWIW, my list of the top four defensemen of all time is:

    1) Orr
    2) Fetisov
    3) Lidstrom
    4) Harvey

    After that, it becomes a muddle, and I could put at least a half dozen different names at #5.

  99. 99.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    @PanAmerican: Clearly, the good folks here aren’t THAT much into football. A very good game; Calvillo is going to end up in the Hall of Fame I’m sure… plus he played while putting off surgery for his thyroid as a result of an injury earlier this year. I’m going to have to see if I can swing a trip to Mtl to catch the parade and party; one thing that’s completely true is that les Montreallaise know how to have a good time.

    Oh, and burnspesq; that may be the case but you aren’t one of them. I only regret that the guy who leaked those things apparently didn’t see fit to include any missives from Canada; it would’ve been awesome to get something to hang Harper and the rest of his wrecking crew from. I particularly hate Baird; I went to uni with him, and he was an asshole then too.

    And of course, as folks actually did notice in the news from Canada file, was the death of Leslie Nielson. Have any of you ever seen Men with Brooms?

  100. 100.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @burnspbesq: Hey, even if you are a Duke fan, show some respect — FCS has playoffs unlike that monstrosity the BCS. If all goes well, I will be in that soccer stadium in January cheering on William and Mary.

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