Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

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

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

So many bastards, so little time.

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

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Reader Interactions

172Comments

  3. 3.

    Triassic Sands

    It gets harder and harder to get up every morning knowing there are Republicans out there. And each day they seem to be worse than they were the day before.

  4. 4.

    LLeo

    Why is it that only States with Republican Governors are Broke. I’ve heard the Govs of Wisconsin and Ohio claim they have to break the unions because their governments are broke.

    So why are Republican Governed states all BROKE?!?

  6. 6.

    LGRooney

    Apropos of several of the union posts below, and thinking about the referenced Kevin Drum article, my big hope is that Obama is holding his fire for a second term, i.e., he plays footsie now in order to get re-elected and, when there is nothing left to lose, he lets loose with both barrels – and propelling a D coalition now people-powered – including prosecutions (even though the shit precipitating the ’07 collapse may be beyond the statute of limitations at that point, you know they’re still at it and a dossier can be built), public shaming, tax hikes on the top 1-10%, massive military cuts, hikes to ed budgets, dollars for science and ecology and other new technologies, etc., etc.

    A man can dream…

  7. 7.

    Suffern ACE

    I was looking earlier today for an article/opinion piece I read in the Times of India when I was there in September regarding parents pulling their kids out of public schools and sending them to unlicensed private academies, but I couldn’t find it. At the time, one of the state governments was trying to either get the schools licensed or close them. Basically, the piece made the same arguments we’ve been hearing – parents pull their kids from schools because public school teachers are bad…but didn’t bother to find anyone who was sending their kids to these schools to see why they were doing what they were doing.

    Anyway, this was a headline story.
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/news/Over-500-Indian-guest-workers-sue-US-company-for-human-trafficking/articleshow/7548222.cms

    HOUSTON: Lawyers for a group of Indian guest workers, trafficked to the US from India to work in shipyards after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, have sued an American company, Signal International, along with its co-conspirators and other entities for human trafficking and racketeering.

    Just found it interesting considering this is an open thread.

  10. 10.

    Lavocat

    I see the DOW is currently tanking thanks to the chaos in Libya. We were in line for a major “correction” anyway.

  11. 11.

    Evil Parallel Universe

    Since this is an open thread – a little book whoring is in order (at least I think so).

    My friend Gretchen’s book “Possess” will soon be published by Harper Collins. She is very excited b/c the cover art has been officially released, and wants some help with some buzz/viral/word of mouth marketing by her friends, b/c the book will shortly be on sale.

    Gretchen is a really talented writer (she is being published after all, so that isn’t just my biased opinion).

    The book is aimed at the teenage market (girls in particular), so if you have any, please keep it in mind, b/c I am sure they will like it (and plus, you can get them to read a BOOK!!!!!).

    You can see the cover art and a synopsis of the book here http://gretchenmcneil.blogspot.com/2011/02/possess-cover-revealed.html

    (btw – if this is too much whoring, please let me know, I am fairly shameless, but will defer to community stantards if requested).

  12. 12.

    Lavocat

    @LLeo: NYS is broke so Mario’s little boy, Andy, has decided to run it like a Republican. I can’t wait until the CSEA and SEIU start marching on the capitol. I’m there, dude!

  14. 14.

    jl

    So, is there a ‘Godwin’ equivalent for invoking fascism?

    Because the TeaBaggers, their corporate sponsors, and the grotesque corporate media hacks are showing their true rabid face now.

    I hope it is becoming clear to ordinary people that they are all about authoritarianism, intimidation and force, not democracy, not liberty, not freedom.

    Note that with health care reform, it was OK for them to show up to meetings carrying guns, shouting down real debate and discussion, and claiming the right to stop based on wild assertions and fearmongering lies.

    Now the WI Teabagger governor resorts to lies, bad faith ,and overtly punitive measures to shut down debate. No compromise, no discussion, and protests are to be demonized and subject to dire threats of mass layoffs based on a patently dishonest premise. The protesters are portrayed as union thugs.

    It is a good thing the WI protesters have the good sense not to swagger around with guns, but if they had done so, you would have seen another display of massive hypocrisy, as alarm bells spread around the hackosphere.

  15. 15.

    Cris

    Has anyone noticed that some Libyan diplomats are throwing around the word “genocide” in reference to the brutal military crackdown? This strikes me as a pretty clear signal that at least some people are hoping for UN intervention.

  16. 16.

    fraught

    There’s something screwy about Scott Walker’s face. One eye is higher than the other and there’s a blank space in the middle there just to the left of his nose. I think he’s been listening to voices for too long. Voices that tell him he’s the one who will save his people from the nefarious other. He is definitely not ready for prime time. He’s this close to putting his foot in it and is terrified that his voices peaked too early. Watching him scan the crowd as he speaks is like watching R2D2 swivel every time the firing starts. His sell-by date is coming up and he knows it.

  17. 17.

    Studly Pantload

    @Evil Parallel Universe:

    EPU! I entered the acronym for your name on UrbanDictionary.com for one who habitually posts on the end of a thread after the discussion has moved on to another thread. = )

    (I don’t have any teenage daughters – thank FSM – so I can’t comment on your friend’s book.)

  18. 18.

    Southern Beale

    Okay well that cartoon answers my question:

    And here’s another question: if industry can unite and push their agenda under the aegis of groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ALEC, the American Enterprise Institute, etc., then why can’t workers unite and push their interests in the form of unions? I mean, if you’re going to say unions are bad for democracy (though no one has ever adequately explained that one to me) then isn’t the U.S. Chamber bad for democracy, too? If you want to get rid of one, shouldn’t you get rid of the other?

    Thanks Anne Laurie for reminding me that I’m not crazy. Republicans really are greedy assholes.

  19. 19.

    PaulW

    This is the point that I wish the media would focus more on: Gov. Walker never campaigned on getting rid of the public unions, merely on cutting back on their benefits. He basically lied about what he was going to do once he got into office.

    What’s more shocking, I’m reading up on Walker’s past history as county executive in Milwaukee. How the hell did that guy ever get elected Governor with his track record?

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/19/AR2011021904205.html?sid=ST2011021705923

    I’ve read up on the recall system in Wisconsin. The state can’t start one on Walker for one year of his term, meaning he’s untouchable (barring scandal or impeachment) until 2012. However, it’s not stopping either side from going after the state’s Senators…

  20. 20.

    Cris

    @jl: I refudiate Godwin. It was amusing when it was about threads that have nothing to do with Hitler. But when a conversation explicitly about right wing mobs, fanatical nationalism, or triumphant corporatism naturally turns to mentions of fascism, and some clever commenter goes “LOL GODWIN” it’s just annoying.

  21. 21.

    Evil Parallel Universe

    @Studly Pantload:

    If you are the one who entered that in the Urban Dictionary – I thank you, sir or madam. I lurv it being in there. I even ordered the mouse pad with the defintion for EPU’d on it.

    I still wish I could get it in Wikipedia, but when someone (not me) tried that, they kept deleting it, the bastards covered in bastard sauce.

  27. 27.

    Evil Parallel Universe

    @PaulW:

    Perhaps it isn’t shameless?

    @Studly Pantload:

    When I first saw that you could order products with the EPU’d definition printed on them, I laughed for a bit. Then ordered it. And I like to think I am an Interet tradition – helps on those down days, that hey, at least I got that going for me. ;-)

  29. 29.

    Studly Pantload

    Speaking of Evil Parallel Universes, am I the only one here that’s noticed that the facial hair of choice of those on the Right who choose to sport facial hair is what I call the Evil Spock beard? I’ve noticed this among the punditry class as well as among fellow employees.

  30. 30.

    Dennis SGMM

    Isn’t it about time that we looked at cutting the pay and benefits of Congress? After all, they get paid very well for only working half of the year and they rarely accomplish anything worthwhile. If performance + days worked is the criterion for pay cuts then these bozos are way overdue.

  33. 33.

    PaulW

    @Dennis SGMM:

    Isn’t it about time that we looked at cutting the pay and benefits of Congress? After all, they get paid very well for only working half of the year and they rarely accomplish anything worthwhile. If performance + days worked is the criterion for pay cuts then these bozos are way overdue.

    But… but… if we didn’t pay them their fair share, they might not have incentive to do their jobs!!!

    …

    Yeah, the hypocrisy of it is lost on them. The whole Beltway can’t see past their own damn noses.

  35. 35.

    Alwhite

    @Evil Parallel Universe:
    In the early aught’s I was reading a Wikipedia link on the term sociopath and it contained a note that asked for examples for each trait. I supplied those examples for each trait using actions of Commander Codpiece. The post stayed up for about 2 or 3 days until Bartcop linked to it. The old post asking for examples returned. I changed it back every day for about a week but they were on it right away each time so I gave up.

    I wish I had a mouse pad with that on it

  36. 36.

    Gin & Tonic

    May have already been covered, but I read where Anonymous’ threatened takedown of the Phelps cult was just ginned up by the Phelps cult to a) keep themselves in the news, but more importantly b) harvest IP addresses of those trying to DDOS them so they can sue some more. Litigation factory indeed.

  37. 37.

    PaulW

    @freelancer (itouch):

    These fucks better not shut down the government.

    My last boss kept telling me “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The current Republican leadership seems to have forgotten that people blamed Congress more than the President for the last series of shutdowns in 1995-96, especially since Newt constantly overplayed his hand.

    I think the only thing the Republicans think they have to their advantage is that this time FOX Not-News is on their side. But if the government shuts down, it won’t take long for a lot of Americans, even the Teabaggers, to realize just what they’ll be losing if the GOP has their way…

  38. 38.

    Royston Vasey

    NZ Govt to hold cabinet meeting at 9.30am to decide to call National State of Emergency. Currently 9am

    MISSING PEOPLE

    Red Cross has set up a dedicated telephone number for those people concerned about the whereabouts of friends and family missing following yesterday’s Christchurch earthquake.

    Callers to the line will be asked to provide details of those missing, including the location they were thought to be at the time of the earthquake, police said in a statement. Red Cross will be able to say if they have registered with Civil Defence.

    The number to contact is 0800 RED CROSS (0800 733 276).

    People enquiring from outside New Zealand should call +64 7 850 2199.

    Tony in NZ

  39. 39.

    Dennis SGMM

    @PaulW:

    I think the only thing the Republicans think they have to their advantage is that this time FOX Not-News is on their side. But if the government shuts down, it won’t take long for a lot of Americans, even the Teabaggers, to realize just what they’ll be losing if the GOP has their way…

    If the shutdown results in Medicare and Social Security payments being stopped then the GOP will have cut their own throats. The same teabaggers who are demanding austerity include a high percentage of SS and Medicare recipients. “No money and no medicine for you,” is going to be tough to spin.

  40. 40.

    Evil Parallel Universe

    @Alwhite:

    Go to Zazzle, who do the Urban Dictionary ones, and I’m sure you can make one with your examples on it.

    I have no clue what Wikipedia’s policies are, but apparently some level of thought policing is going on over there.

  42. 42.

    Royston Vasey

    For the geologists out there

    Preliminary indications suggest the Christchurch quake (6.3, 5k deep, 10k from city) was a strike slip with oblique motion, meaning the earth moved side to side but occasionally up and down.
    The September 4th quake (7.1 10k deep, 40k from city) was a combination of reverse fault and strike slip, meaning the earth shifted horizontally and was thrust up vertically.

  45. 45.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @jl:

    I wish the protestors had shown up with guns. That and money seem to be the only thing the GOP respects.

  46. 46.

    Laertes

    On the mobile site, I see two posts entitled “The parent trap” and “Going to war with fools.” I don’t see them on the regular site.

    Anyone else seeing this?

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’d like to bet 50 Quatloos that we see a picture of this guy with Marco Rubio in the next 24 hours

  48. 48.

    Whomever

    Speaking as a sailor (as in, sailboats), Jet Skis are universally considered by the sailing community worthy of destruction on sight. They attract total dicks who don’t understand the rules of water, or for that matter anything.

    The aquatic version of ATVs, though even ATVs theoretically have real uses other than being driven by obnoxious destructive assholes.

  50. 50.

    Betty Cracker

    @Whomever: Can confirm, even though I’m mostly a motorboater. Many don’t seem to realize other boats don’t have BRAKES.

  51. 51.

    Dangerman

    Carefully superglued swimsuits? Very carefully since injuries suffered from attaching the Jewels to a Jetski would be hard to explain.

  52. 52.

    Yutsano

    I suppose one could admire his ambitions. But unless that 90 miles is smooth as glass, that jetski ain’t gonna even come close to making it to Cuba. Plus jetskis are massive fuel hogs. There’s no way he could have carried enough gas to make it especially with a passenger.

  53. 53.

    TaMara

    @Betty Cracker: Funny, I was just doing research on jet skis for a plotline and they come in very expensive 2, 3 and 4 seat options.  Mostly seen on super yachts.

    I’m betting they had one of those, but still that seems…risky.

  54. 54.

    Elizabelle

    Happy to see this Daily Beast story is not behind a paywall.

    ETA:  Maybe they were going to meet another watercraft.  90 miles on a jetski, for someone who has recently received $2 million?  Anyway, glad to hear these guys were caught.

  55. 55.

    Salty Sam

    @Whomever: Jet Skis are universally considered by the sailing community worthy of destruction on sight.

    We used to sit on the deck of our sailboat in the evening enjoying sundowners, and pantomime shooting passing jet skiers with imaginary rifles.  No, I never once felt guilt or ashamed.

  56. 56.

    Salty Sam

    @Yutsano:  I read a story some years ago about xtreme sports types who made sport of crossing the Gulf Steam from Florida to the Bahamas on jet skis  They’d have support boats following with fuel and support, but DAYUMN! I’ve crossed the Gulf Stream, and it’s not smooth.

  57. 57.

    The Moar You Know

    Ever been on a jet ski? I have, and I’m trying to imagine riding one across 90 miles of open water…with a passenger. The mind reels.

    90 miles would be brutal.  I’ve got a friend of mine who used to routinely take his out to Catalina Island from Long Beach – just about 30 miles each way – so it can be done, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

  59. 59.

    gvg

    30 years ago in my speech class a jetski salesman did a presentation on Jet skis and explained how the powerful motors could cause internal injuries due to how powerful the water jet streams that were powering them were, if you fell off the wrong way. He thought most of the people buying and renting them did not understand how to use them. I decided not to get one. He was young, somewhere between 18 and 20 which normally thinks they are invincible but he thought they were dangerous. Haven’t heard of many injuries though. Maybe they made them safer.

  60. 60.

    Mike in NC

    We were in Key West a year ago, and yes Jet Skis are mostly operated by idiots.

  62. 62.

    Quaker in a Basement

    I’m trying to imagine riding one across 90 miles of open water…

    Maybe he planned to meet up with someone?

  65. 65.

    Keith P.

    I have, and I’m trying to imagine riding one across 90 miles of open water…with a passenger.

    Kenny Powers could do it

  66. 66.

    Betty Cracker

    @gvg: My dad had a jet ski back in the day, and we used to do the stupidest damn stunts on it. No one ever got seriously hurt, but not for lack of trying!

    I see jet skis on our river sometimes. I always wonder if they have to get off to get the weeds off the vents like we had to do with ours. If so, I’d be worried about gators on this stretch of river, but maybe there’s a mechanism to clear the vents that we didn’t have back then.

  67. 67.

    Mike in NC

    Just read a New Republic article online (dated October 2020), called “Inside the Republican Plot for Permanent Minority Rule” by David Daily. He gets into how GOP-controlled legislatures have done such an impressive job in gerrymandering and enacting various voter suppression schemes all over the country.

    An excellent example is North Carolina, where registered voters are almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, yet 10 of 13 Congressional districts were drawn to favor the GOP. The odious Mark Meadows makes an appearance, where he attended a 2012 Tea Party rally in NC-11 where the pre-MAGA mob demanded he investigate President Obama’s place of birth. He laughed and said, “We’ll send him back home to Kenya or wherever it is”.

    Gerrymandering and voter suppression gave us Trump in 2016 and we’re damn lucky we dodged that bullet in 2020.

  70. 70.

    Ruckus

    @Whomever:

    So nothing has changed since I owned a sailboat 4 decades ago.

    Assholes are still assholes and most of them seem to have to be assholes louder and faster than the next asshole. Here in the wonderful part of SoCal I live in we have HD riders, mostly straight pipes/no muffler whatsoever and they obviously can’t ride with out a proper, minimum 1000w stereo to drown out the straight pipes. Also the bike can’t be heard far enough away with out blipping the throttle when they are stopped, you’d think they could at least blip to the time of the music. But no, that wouldn’t be asshole enough.

  71. 71.

    Anyway

    @Mike in NC:

    The strategy worked in WI too where the D-R share of the statewide vote changed little but the composition of the House seats from the state became overwhelmingly R.

  72. 72.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Your’ moment of American surrealism

    Karen Amsden, mom of alleged Patriot Front member and Springville, Utah resident Jared Michael Boyce, said on Monday that her son has struggled to fill “a void” in his life ever since his father left the family years ago and came out as gay.

    Gay bashing because dad is gay.

  74. 74.

    The Moar You Know

    Here in the wonderful part of SoCal I live in we have HD riders, mostly straight pipes/no muffler whatsoever and they obviously can’t ride with out a proper, minimum 1000w stereo to drown out the straight pipes. Also the bike can’t be heard far enough away with out blipping the throttle when they are stopped, you’d think they could at least blip to the time of the music. But no, that wouldn’t be asshole enough.

    @Ruckus: Ever since the restaurants moved seating onto the sidewalks due to COVID, the numbers of these assholes that SPECIFICALLY pick out the 101 restaurant strip and zoom up and down it has skyrocketed.  Equally enraging is that it is, full stop, a violation and the cops will not touch those fuckers –  although in fairness as far as that goes the cops here in San Diego seem to have stopped enforcing anything entirely.

  75. 75.

    trollhattan

    @Whomever: HATE them, hate being anywhere near them, consider them satan’s aquatic spawn although there’s room in that clan for ginormous ski boats with 2,000-watt amps driving stadium speakers, for all to enjoy.

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    Just skimmed both of these, but they are a good antidote to all the blame Biden all the time shit that is floating out there now.  The first article:

    Jonathan Chait, NY Magazine (paywall): Why Biden Is Getting More Bipartisan Laws Than Anyone Expected

    I was skeptical he could convince Republicans to support anything. I was wrong.  [Ya think, Jonathan??]

    … The Biden presidency has seen many surprises, most of them negative. But one positive surprise has been the Republican Senate’s willingness to work with the administration on areas of common ground.

    … Less than a year and a half into Biden’s presidency, the list of bipartisan measures includes:

    —Investing more than half a trillion dollars in infrastructure, which includes funding not only for traditional bipartisan categories like roads and bridges, but also broadband and green priorities like public transit and rail, electric vehicles, and electricity transmission.

    — The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which creates new technology hubs and invests more than $100 billion in advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, and biotechnology. (This bill has passed the Senate, but not the House …)

    — A ban on companies using forced arbitration to bury sexual-harassment claims.

    — The creation of a national holiday to commemorate Juneteenth.

    — Reform for the Postal Service that eliminated its burdensome requirement to prefund employee pensions for 50 years.

    —An updated renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. Republicans stripped a provision from this law that would have restricted gun sales to domestic partners convicted of stalking or domestic abuse (the “boyfriend loophole”). But the gun-safety compromise agreed to by the Senate would restore that provision.

    … So what has changed? I have a few theories, which are not mutually exclusive.

    McConnell wants to keep the filibuster

    McConnell wants to preserve the Senate’s current rules, which he helped shape and which benefit his agenda, because they allow his highest priorities (tax cuts and judges) …

    McConnell wants to block Biden’s social agenda

    By giving them some smaller bipartisan wins, he sates their appetite to pass partisan bills.

    McConnell hated Obama and likes Biden [!!]

    A backhanded response to Trump

    McConnell and his allies loathe Trump but are reluctant to do anything to stop him. Unable to bring themselves to impeach Trump, endorse his Democratic opponent, or even to support the January 6 committee, they have instead channeled their institutionalist impulses into proving that the system works. Passing a series of bipartisan bills will prove democracy can still function and undercut the appeal of angry populists like Trump.

    …. One notable thing about the larger bipartisan initiatives is that they have drawn at least some opposition on the right. The pattern of Republican support for the gun-safety bill is indicative. Of the ten Republicans who endorsed, four are retiring, five do not face reelection in either of the next two elections, and the tenth is Mitt Romney.

    … Biden also deserves some credit here. [Jesus, Jonathan!] He promised during the campaign that he could turn down the temperature in Washington and that his Senate experience would make him a more effective negotiator. That has not always proven true when it comes to negotiating with his own party, but it very much has when it comes to negotiating with Republicans. Many of us dismissed Biden’s claim that he could bring the parties closer together as delusional. To an extent we didn’t expect, he’s managed to do it.

  77. 77.

    SpaceUnit

    90 miles is a long way to go whooping and hollering.

    At least with a passenger you could take turns.

  78. 78.

    The Moar You Know

    Every time I’ve been to Catalina it’s been pretty rough waters.

    @SFBayAreaGal: I’ve had one mellow trip where doing it on a jet ski would be exhausting but nothing more.  I’ve done several others where doing it on a jet ski would truly be risking your life.  I fortunately don’t get seasick.

    When I was a little kid they used to run seaplanes out to Catalina but they don’t do that anymore.  Damn shame.

    The best experience on Catalina were the Scout camps – 10 days on that island just up above the coast.  I don’t think I’ve ever been any place prettier.  I hope they are still there.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @Salty Sam: Wonder if putting out marker buoys flagged “Paintball range” then giving everybody on board a gun with a different color would work? First to fifty wins!

    We can dream.

  81. 81.

    Butch

    Yes, I’ve been on one, and it ran out of gas about a quarter mile from shore on Chesapeake Bay because someone had forgotten to fill the auxiliary gas tank. I had to swim the stupid thing in.

  82. 82.

    Cmorenc

    I would be more impressed had the crooks attempted the crossing to Cuba on stand-up paddleboards.

  83. 83.

    TriassicSands

    @Whomever:   The aquatic version of ATVs, though even ATVs theoretically have real uses other than being driven by obnoxious destructive assholes.

    I despise both ATVs and Jet skis for recreational use. Undoubtedly, there are some who use them semi-responsibly, but the overwhelming majority of users are irresponsible, rude, and destructive. I view them from a sea kayaking perspective.

    However, even jet skis have legitimate uses. For example, assisting in rescue efforts. Others can decide about the legitimacy of their use in big wave surfing.

    Otherwise, the world would be better off without them. Just an opinion.

  85. 85.

    raven

    @Ruckus: My sis’s husband and his chopper were on the cover of “Choppers” in the early 70’s! Big Daddy Ed Roth started that rag!

  86. 86.

    TriassicSands

    @Yutsano:  There’s no way he could have carried enough gas to make it especially with a passenger.

    Unless it is a 100-foot jet ski borrowed from a Russian oligarch.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    Second article is not behind a paywall.
    David Masciotra in CNN, Opinion: The surprising reason for Joe Biden’s low approval rating

    about the author: David Masciotra is the author of “I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters” and “Mellencamp: American Troubadour.” He has written for many publications on politics, music and literature, including Salon, No Depression, the Progressive, CounterPunch and the Los Angeles Review of Books. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.

    His premise: It’s leftwing fan fiction, which depicts Democrats as weak, lacking will, prisoners of corporatism, yadda yadda yadda, and ignores the very real constraints and obstacles Democrats face.

    Considering that its fabulists so consistently and aggressively ridicule Democrats, they are operationally right wing. The impact of the fan fiction left, irrespective of intention, is to dampen voter enthusiasm for the Democratic Party. As a consequence, it helps Republicans capture and hold power. Judging by popular social media accounts, millions of young progressives believe that, if he only wanted, Biden could cast a spell, and by wizard’s fiat, transform the United States into Finland.

    … The fan fiction left is not without precedent. George Orwell, a socialist, came to believe that the left of his era had no real desire in holding power and for them political thought was nothing more than a “masturbation fantasy in which the world of facts hardly matters.” Ernst Thälmann, the leader of the Communist Party of Germany from 1925 to 1933, believed that the center left presented a greater danger than Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Needless to say, that analysis didn’t turn out so well.

    It’s not much, but it’s a start. And yes, in the interest of “balance”, Masciotra slams Democrats. Still, seem to be lots of good links in the article. Might find some worth sharing with persuadables.

    The Democrats certainly have flaws. They are rhetorically passive, disorganized and seem to base their strategy on how not to lose rather than how to win, which usually guarantees failure. The party is also worthy of harsh criticism for taking a bashful approach to punishing Trump and his allies for insurrection. Despite sizable weaknesses, they do have the advantage of not being racists, sexists, homophobes or hostile to the foundation of democracy. Residents of the real world should vote accordingly.

  88. 88.

    Elizabelle

    @debbie:   Took a hard pass on that one.  Figure I will eventually learn through you all and websurfing what Trump yorked up.  Sounds like it was a rehash of his greatest hits.  Now with footnotes.  Yuck.

  92. 92.

    geg6

    My ex and I had jet skis.  I cannot imagine riding one almost 100 miles.  In the actual ocean (we kept ours to the Ohio, Beaver, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers).  Hope they word cups.  Waves and wakes are a bitch.

  95. 95.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    I rode a six pack full out for about an hour to an hour and a half in open ocean to a dive site in southern Belize and would have welcomed death by the time we got there. That genuinely fucking sucked.

    When they said “we can do the Blue Hole one day this week if you want, but it takes over two hours to get there”, I politely passed.

    I can’t even imagine what as much as an hour on a jet ski is like. Now multiply that by at least 7….

  97. 97.

    ant

    we have wave runners.

    They can go 100 miles on the 18 gallons of gas that they hold.
    However, wind and waves can reduce these numbers, as well as a passenger, or stuff.
    I imagine they had an extra gas tank installed on the unit. It’s not hard to do. Some people just strap on gas tanks, and take more gas along with them, but it is very tricky to add gas to a jet ski while bobbing up and down in the waves – you’ll get water in your gas tank – and that is no good.

    going out into the open water -ocean or otherwise – far enough out that you cannot swim to shore without some one else to help in case of trouble is asking for a Darwin award. These machines are not reliable.

  98. 98.

    geg6

    @TriassicSands:

    As a former owner of a SeaDoo, I beg to differ.  There are many more boat owners around here that are assholes than SeaDoo owners.  Big boating region, what with the Three Rivers and Lake Erie nearby, so I have plenty of experience with both.  Also a boat owner of various sizes from a 19 foot ski boat to a 36 foot “yacht” (technically, but not what most people think of a yacht).

  99. 99.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @TriassicSands:

    …the world would be better off without them. Just an opinion.

    I tend to agree; I prefer waterways and slopes without gas powered vehicles. The noise is off putting to humans and wildlife. But I think we are in the minority as over time their popularity has increased. Back in the 80’s, I remember a lot more Sunfish rentals.

  103. 103.

    raven

    When Andrew Clyde ran for his 9th District seat in Congress in 2020, he won fans and critics alike with his campaign yards signs, which featured his name alongside an image of an AR-15 rifle.

    Now a year and a half into his first term in office, Clyde has become polarizing at the national level, but remains popular in his pro-gun conservative district, where he won his primary last month with 76% of the vote.

    He is one of the loudest voices in Congress against any new gun restrictions, including proposals that have followed the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 students and two teachers.

    But Clyde is no ordinary policymaker. Along with his seat in Congress, he has maintained his role as the owner of Clyde Armory, a business that not only includes two Georgia gun stores, but also a sprawling government contracting business that sells weapons and ammunition to the federal government and state governments across the country.

    Why do we care about any of this?

    ADVERTISING

    Because Clyde’s role in the gun debate should be processed by voters as both a congressional representative who argues against new gun restrictions and someone who personally profits off of the success of the industry.

    The congressman’s dual roles were on display last week during a House committee hearing that featured Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grader at Robb Elementary. In videotaped testimony, the 11-year-old described smearing herself with the blood of her dead classmate to convince the shooter that she, too, had been killed.

    When the time came for Clyde to question other witnesses, he made the case that AR-15-style rifles like the one used by the shooter in Uvalde, made by Georgia gunmaker Daniel Defense, are not to blame for mass shootings in America.

    “Have mass shootings or school shootings been carried out with other weapons other than AR-15′s?” Clyde asked a different witness. Yes, she said.

    As Clyde spoke, the Facebook page for Clyde Armory prominently featured an ad for a gun from Daniel Defense.

    When Clyde questioned the Buffalo police chief about the weapons police used to take down a shooter with an AR-15 there, Clyde noted that the handguns police had were more than enough to get the job done.

    “It’s all about shot placement, isn’t it?” the congressman asked.

    Clyde’s office did not respond to requests for details of his day-to-day role with Clyde Armory, nor which steps he’s taking to ensure he avoids conflicts between his role representing 9th District voters and his job running Clyde Armory as it supplies arms and ammunition to states and the federal government.

    In its 2022 filings with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, Clyde Armory lists Rep. Clyde as both CEO and CFO.

    And Clyde’s most recent personal financial disclosure report with the U.S. House Clerk’s office shows that the business, which he began as a hobby in 1991, is thriving. He lists the value of his share of Clyde Armory as between $5 million and $25 million.

    Before he was elected, public records showed Clyde Armory had received at least $3.7 million in federal contracts since 2010.

    Since he became a member of Congress, documents show the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior continued to purchase weapons from Clyde Armory, with the latest transaction in May of 2022. Sales to the agencies included shotguns, handguns, rifles, pistols, miscellaneous weapons, and accessories.

    At the state level, Clyde Armory has lucrative contracts selling semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and accessories to several states through 2024.

    I reached out to a Washington lawyer with extensive experience in House ethics rules to find out about any federal laws that would prevent Clyde from serving in Congress while also running a federally regulated business that sells weapons to agencies he oversees.

    The attorney said that although federal law prevents members of Congress from contracting directly with the government, a carveout typically exists for contacts with companies themselves, especially if the member began the company before being elected.

    But he also asked not to be named as a source because he feared death threats against him based on previous experiences.

    It’s no surprise that Clyde, once in Congress, has been a staunch opponent of new gun controls. But as voters watch him navigate the debate about guns, citizens’ safety, and the government’s proper role in both, they should ask themselves if Clyde is speaking for his constituents, his business, or his vendors, like Daniel Defense.

    It’s possible he’s speaking for all three at once.

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    @The Moar You Know:

    Scouting on Catalina. That was good stuff. We once got our troop to do a 2 week camping trip in the High Sierra. That was good as well. Except for the one dad that took his younger, idiot son with us. He got out of the car once and the kid, sitting in the middle of the front seat, took it out of park, which of course you used to be able to do without a foot on the brake. Did I mention the road was slightly down hill and we had a small trailer as well? As I was driver side back seat I had a clear view of the road and the turn up ahead with a very nice drop off.  Fortunately I knew what to do and managed to do it. Between dad and kid, I think the IQ police had a problem.

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    I know some who like them.

    But I have over 1/2 million miles on motorcycles over 5 decades and can not think of a better way to fuck up the experience for me than an HD. I’ve known dealers who were great people, still didn’t want to ever ride one. I had to do that once. It was not my favorite experience.

  113. 113.

    JPL

    @NotMax:  Back on after a hour.   I have a little water mister for the grand imp, and it does cool down an area when you are outside.  A car snapped a pole in half and from the pictures, I do hope that whoever drove it is okay.   It was near a DOT camera.

  114. 114.

    raven

    @JPL: We’ve got sweet neighbors and their three girls in Yellowstone and the had to evacuate because of floods!

  115. 115.

    NotMax

    WT-ever lovin’-F?

    The City of Kent [Washington state] announced on Friday, June 10, 2022 that it will pay more than $1.5 million to former Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell, who was disciplined for posting a Nazi symbol on his office door and joking about the Holocaust. Source

  116. 116.

    Turner Hedenkoff

    Food, water, special fuel for extended trips … and a case of Preparation H.

  120. 120.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh my hell, such a great movie! I haven’t seen it in ages and had forgotten all about the snowmobile scene, but I love the premise of the story, and Brooks, Streep, Rip Torn, et al., were fantastic in their roles.

    It’s so weird that you brought that movie up today because I was talking to a friend this morning — a guy I saw that movie with at the theater when we were dumb young’uns! — and he made reference to a long-ago incident that he said would be in our “life review.” LOL!

  121. 121.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Elizabelle: ​
     

    His premise: It’s leftwing fan fiction, which depicts Democrats as weak, lacking will, prisoners of corporatism, yadda yadda yadda, and ignores the very real constraints and obstacles Democrats face.

    Where does one run into these leftwing fanfic types, and how many Dems actually see enough of them to be influenced by them?

    My WAG is that the mainstream media have continued with the hatchet job they’ve been doing on Biden ever since the Afghanistan withdrawal, and I’d expect that to affect Dem-leaning voters’ perceptions way more than any bunch of far-left characters.

  124. 124.

    MisterForkbeard

    @lowtechcyclist: I mean, I see a lot of this kind of left-wing fanfiction all over comment threads and communities that should know better. And there are some prominent leftwing voices that explicitly talk about this all the time (Ryan Grim, Nina Turner and their media fans) and it’s also breathlessly fanned by a lot of conservative trolls.

    Hell, you see this even on Fox news. When you want to, you bring in an anti-democratic person and pretend everyone hates Biden.

  125. 125.

    Leto

    Speaking of frauds and hucksters never forget that a company owned by Doc Oz’s family, Asplundh Tree Services, faced the largest fine in ICE history for repeated, systemic undocumented hiring practices.

    Dr. Oz says he’ll fight to end illegal immigration. A business owned by his family, in which he is a shareholder, faced the largest fine in ICE history for hiring unauthorized workers.

    The tree-pruning company Asplundh Tree Experts Co., a business for which Oz is listed as a shareholder on regulatory documents, settled with US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in 2017 after a six-year investigation and audit revealed a systemic effort to hire unauthorized workers.

    “Asplundh Tree Experts, Co., one of the largest privately-held companies in the United States, headquartered in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, (‘Asplundh’), pleaded guilty today to unlawfully employing aliens,” an ICE press release about the settlement said, “in connection with a scheme in which the highest levels of Asplundh management remained willfully blind while lower level managers hired and rehired employees they knew to be ineligible to work in the United States.”

  126. 126.

    J R in WV

    @JPL: 

    Our power went out last night around 8 or so. The whole house generator supports lights, the fridge, etc, but not the A/C nor the well, so not much water after the power goes out. Also not so much internet as the neighbor on the ridge where the network center resides doesn’t have a whole house generator.

    It’s been back on for a couple of hours now, cooling off, the house got up to 78 after a cool night last night. Will be filling up water containers that have sat empty for months after the last power outage. My bad! Glad we didn’t need all of them!

  127. 127.

    James E Powell

    I’ve been holding off on saying anything nice about Liz Cheney – I can’t forget or forgive the destruction & deaths caused by her father – but this right here is pretty damn good.

    NB – I rejoined twitter to follow some people covering the war in Ukraine. Then started following the Jan 6 committee. Trying hard not to let it get out of hand.

  128. 128.

    Baud

    @Leto: 

    Speaking of frauds and hucksters

    I have to admit, I held my breath for second until I saw your comment was about Oz.

  131. 131.

    Betty Cracker

    @raven: Yes! Most memorable scene: when the wife was forbidden to use the words “nest” and “egg” ever again! :)

  132. 132.

    Elizabelle

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I find The Guardian gives a lot of these fanfic types lots and lots of oxygen.

    You could also check out the FTF NYTimes’ story over the weekend about how many Democrats hope Biden won’t run in 2024. The reader comments … were atrocious. Big turnout of the fanfic crowd.

    How do you NOT see this crap? I am serious. I don’t dwell on it, but it’s all over the place

    ETA:  FWIW, I think you have a lot of trolls and sock puppets in newspaper comment sections.  One can get a feel for who is authentic.  To some extent.  And can get a sense of when someone has put out the bat [shit crazy] signal.

  135. 135.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Elizabelle:

    You could also check out the FTF NYTimes’ story over the weekend about how many Democrats hope Biden won’t run in 2024. The reader comments … were atrocious. Big turnout of the fanfic crowd.

    So which had more influence, the FTFNYT story itself, or the fanfic voices in comments?  (I rarely look at comments anywhere from the WaPo to YouTube, I know how high the noise-to-signal ratio is going to be.  Hell, I only started looking at comments here after the Dope changed to its current miserable format in the summer of 2020.)​

    And the Guardian, asking for money of course, says I’ve looked at 18 articles there in the past year. So I’m obviously not seeing a whole lot of it.

  136. 136.

    J R in WV

    @lowtechcyclist:

    …I only started looking at comments here after the Dope changed to its current miserable format in the summer of 2020.

    Could you translate this for those of us to whom it is literally a foreign language? “the Dope”? for instance!

  138. 138.

    Elizabelle

    @lowtechcyclist:   Don’t you think a lot of the impetus for that FTF NYT story WAS the fanfic types?

    And, trust them, Kamala Harris is a disaster.  She is unelectable.

    Anyway, when I saw the article, I figured the powers that be at the Times realized it was a bad week to go trawling diners for GOP man on the street interviews.  What with the first J6 hearing and all.

    So:  bright idea:  let’s talk to some Democrats (real or purported) about what a disaster Biden is.

    FWIW, Dean Baquet is gone.  Believe Joseph Kahn took over the editorship in recent days.

  141. 141.

    Brachiator

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I mean, I see a lot of this kind of left-wing fanfiction all over comment threads and communities that should know better.

    What do you mean by “fanfiction” in this context?

  143. 143.

    Eunicecycle

    @J R in WV: my daughter who lives south of Dayton is still without power. Duke Energy is saying it will be another 24 hours. It is sweltering down there.

  146. 146.

    prostratedragon

    @NotMax:  Every risk has its downside. But seriously, though it might be a mistake all round, I wonder whether they thought that the rallying effect of a prolonged trial could be worse. Clearly they and we are now on notice that a better set of policies is needed, now.

  147. 147.

    germy shoemangler

    Nothing beats National Grid.  Last winter they announced they’d be doing a planned outage on the coldest day of the year.  And of course their monthly bills have almost doubled.

    We often lose power for no apparent reason.  A sunny day, mid-70s temperature, no wind.  And the power flickers on and off, and then is out for an hour.

    A street light went out last year, so I called to report it.  They sent a tech over who immediately started trying to take apart the electrical meter on the side of our house.  Good thing I was home.  He thought our house was without power.  I told him “No, that streetlamp over there is out.”

    About a month later they came and replaced the bulb or whatever it was and now it’s working. Until the next outage.

  148. 148.

    eversor

    I don’t know what “jetski” they are using. But there are military ones, or ones close to it, that have up to like three seats on them and are nothing like people think of usually.

  150. 150.

    lowtechcyclist

    @J R in WV: ​

    Could you translate this for those of us to whom it is literally a foreign language? “the Dope”? for instance!

    Good point. “The Dope” is the Straight Dope Message Board, aka the SDMB or ‘the Dope,’ an online offshoot of Cecil Adams’ long-running column, The Straight Dope, which used to run in weekly alternative newspapers back when they were a thing. It was my online home for more than two decades.

    It had been in vBulletin format for just about forever, but that format wasn’t being maintained I guess, so the board wasn’t working so well in the late teens. So in 2020 they switched to Discourse, the same format that comments over at Talking Points Memo are in.

    It’s an OK format IMHO for dropping in a comment or two, then going on to something else, but IMHO a lousy format for trying to follow an extended discussion, and such discussions were the strength of the Dope. I tried to like it, but eventually just gave up. So here I am.

  152. 152.

    Bill Arnold

    @lowtechcyclist:

    So which had more influence, the FTFNYT story itself, or the fanfic voices in comments?

    The fanfic voices in comments are a small subset of the people who opine to all their friends or to anyone who will listen, really, that the Democrats are essentially the same as the Republicans. Since they help to suppress or divert the not-Republican vote (away from the Democrats), they are on team Republican, and should be treated as being on Team Fascist. IMO. If we had proportional party representation it’d be OK, and it’s OK if there is ranked choice for all levels of election, which there is not.
    Yeah, I’ve talked with some such young-people-of-voting-age F2F in the last year or three. Not a particularly social person either. They exist, and they are a significant factor in close elections.

  154. 154.

    Bill Arnold

    @lowtechcyclist:

    And the Guardian, asking for money of course, says I’ve looked at 18 articles there in the past year.

    Curiously, they said that (18) for me too. I use multiple browsers on multiple machines and have various script blockers, ad blockers and privacy and other plugins, so they may simply be making up a number.

  155. 155.

    CaseyL

    Hey, remember that PAC that took down Madison Cawthorne?

    They’re back, and they’re aimed at Lauren Boebert this time. The stuff they say she’s done is… well, it’s something all right:

    1. She got into a bad ATV accident that hospitalized her then-SIL. She ran off from the scene, leaving her son and dog and badly injured SIL (who she then paid a large sum to shut up about it). This was shortly before her first primary.
    2. She was a sex-worker who met Ted Cruz at some kind of Koch-funded cock fest. He was apparently impressed enough with her (?!?) to encourage her to run for Congress, and gave over $125K to her campaign.
    3. Oh, and she’s had two abortions.

    I mean, we already knew she is a human-shaped pile of shit, but this is the kind of juicy dirt that could put her on the outs with the GOP.

    (And, they don’t make much of this, but WTF was Ted Cruz doing at a Koch-funded sexfest??)

  156. 156.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Elizabelle: Don’t you think a lot of the impetus for that FTF NYT story WAS the fanfic types?

    Hell if I know, I refuse to pay to read the FTFNYT, or even give them my personal info for whatever sort of limited access that would give me.  And being unfamiliar with the fanfic types, I probably wouldn’t have any idea even if I *had* read the FTFNYT story.

    In general, I almost never see any of the ‘so far left they’re right’ crowd.  Every now and then I’ll see someone quote GG if he’s said something unusually stupid even for him, in order to point and laugh.  I used to see someone or other retweet Ryan Grim occasionally, but last time was months ago.

    I don’t think I’ve even filtered out anyone on account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although that would act as a useful filter: anyone who bothsides this war, or even worse, favors Russia, is someone I would shut down without hesitation. I gather there’s a number of far-lefty types who would be caught in that filter, if they were getting through to me in the first place. But they’re not.

  158. 158.

    Ken

    @lowtechcyclist: Interesting example of how explaining one term ends up introducing a half-dozen others which may need explanation.  I encounter that in technical documentation all the time, to the point where I sometimes start with the glossary and work backwards.

  159. 159.

    Ken

    @CaseyL: WTF was Ted Cruz doing at a Koch-funded sexfest??

    Hopefully it wasn’t a Cancun vacation getaway with his family.

  160. 160.

    Betty Cracker

    @lowtechcyclist: Whoa, The Straight Dope! I remember reading that when it was a column in an alt-weekly! Anyhoo, glad you’ve fetched up here. I always appreciate your comments, even on the rare occasions we disagree.

  161. 161.

    lowtechcyclist

    @MagdaInBlack: I was RTFirefly over there. Who were you?

    Still am, actually. I show up in the Wordle thread there once or twice a week, and I lurk in the Death Pool thread, where I’m doing kinda so-so this year, so I don’t have much to say.

    I really miss it as it was, and I thought I’d eventually get to like the new format, but just never did.  The reading is so much more awkward, and without pagination, there’s no more internal geography to a thread: no more “I remember there was something I wanted to get back to on page 7 or 8′ mental cues.

  162. 162.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @CaseyL:

    but WTF was Ted Cruz doing at a Koch-funded sexfest??)

    Hoping someone would explain this “sex” thing to him? Just a guess

  164. 164.

    UTLiberal

    When I was in Guantanamo Bay in the 90’s as part of Operation Sea Signal (detention and processing of Hattian and Cuban migrants) I watch 6 migrants paddle out to sea (in a southernly direction) on a port-a-potty.  If they are willing to row a port-a-potty around the Southern end of Cuba to try and get to Florida a jet-ski seems quite sensible.

  165. 165.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Betty Cracker: Thanks!  I’m glad I wound up here.  It’s become my main online hangout over the past couple of years.  And I definitely enjoy reading what you write.

    Yeah, the Straight Dope, “Fighting ignorance since 1973 (it’s taking longer than we thought)”.  I’d been reading the column in the DC CityPaper for years, then tripped over it online in 1999, shortly after the message board started up. Good times.

  166. 166.

    FelonyGovt

    So two guys are standing around a pickup truck across the street from my house bitching about “minorities” and Democrats. My husband had to restrain me from going out there. The kicker? They’re there to do work for my neighbor, a Black homeowner.

  167. 167.

    Bill Arnold

    New Donald J. Trump Grifting “Fundraising” email. It starts out like this. Bold of amusing/false bits mine, not theirs.

    Our nation is SUFFERING. Our economy is in the gutter. Inflation is rampant. Gas prices have reached an all-time high. Ships are unable to unload cargo. Families cannot get needed baby formula. We are an embarrassment around the world. Our withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disaster that cost us precious American blood, and gave $85 billion worth of the best military equipment on earth to our enemy.[1]
    Millions and millions of illegals are marching to the border and invading our country.

    It goes on, but the whole thing is behind a “email.win.donaldjtrump.com” tracker link (unique to the email/me) so I will not click on it.
    This is a day after being called out on very-watched TV for grifting.

    [1]
    FACT FOCUS: Trump, others wrong on US gear left with Taliban

  168. 168.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @FelonyGovt: You might wanna tell your neighbor.  If they haven’t signed a contract yet, they might wanna hire somebody else.

  171. 171.

    eversor

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    CAWTHORN WAS RIGHT!!! FREE MADISON!  THERE WAS COCAINE AND ORGIES!!!!

    I’d rather have Cawthorn in congress than Boebert or MTG.  He just seems like a dumb creepy kid compared to those too.

  172. 172.

    Geminid

    I caught a CBS report on the radio, about Congressional primaries in South Carolina. Incumbent Nancy  Mace was up 55-45 in the 1st CD, andincumbent Tom Rice was down 45-26 a multi-candidate race for the 7th CD nomination.

    Rice was one of the 10 Republican Impeachers. Four others are retiring. Mace’s opponent is Katie Arrington, the tea party dingbat who knocked out Mark Sanford in 2018 on the strength of trump’s endorsement. Arrington went on to lose the seat to Joe Cunningham, who was the first Democrat to win that district in decades. Mace retook that seat in 2020. Cunningham is running for Governor this year.

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