Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

In my day, never was longer.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

We still have time to mess this up!

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

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

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

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

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Let there be snark.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

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

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

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

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

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

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

You are here: Home / Music / Sunday Morning Open Thread

Sunday Morning Open Thread

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Since the Rapture has failed us, again, guess we’re stuck dealing with Mississippi flooding that will last “well into June” — just in time for melting “record snowpacks” to potentially flood the West “from Montana to New Mexico and California to Colorado”. Welcome to the New Normal, a/k/a “The Century of Disasters“!
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Soooo… now that we’re all properly chastened, what’s on the agenda for this Sunday morning?

Reader Interactions

61Comments

  4. 4.

    Yutsano

    Tomorrow I may just finally clean my kitchen good. Or nuke it from orbit. Either option seems viable to me at this point. And I wish Sea-Tac would stop bringing in the really big planes so damn low.

  6. 6.

    Yutsano

    I should random search on YouTube more often. I tend to find the most interesting things. No one tell Mnemosyne however, her bosses might not approve of this. Thank the FSM for the parody exception to copyright laws.

  7. 7.

    Spaghetti Lee

    On the balance, I’d prefer natural disasters to war and genocide. Of course, I speak as a Midwesterner living on a stable part of the earth’s crust and a very large supply of fresh water.

  8. 8.

    Xenos

    I had never heard this cover before – thanks!

    It is a bit strange that I appreciate The Ramones more now than I did back when they were around… punk just seemed so played out by the mid-80s.

  9. 9.

    Nick

    Daniels out. Palin has a decent path… IF she’s got Ailes backroom dealing for her and clearing out Huckabee/Gingrich. It could get ugly. Odds:

    1. Pawlenty 2. Palin 3. Perry.

  10. 10.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @Nick:

    That would fit the whole “last VP candidate gets this year’s nod” pattern. I think she’ll overpower Pawlenty by pre-existing fame alone if it came down to those two. I think it will end up being Palin vs. Newt for President, with the super-crazies getting a bone with Bachmann/Cain/etc. for Veep.

  11. 11.

    Xenos

    @Spaghetti Lee: What, you count Romney out? If it is Romney versus the crazies, he will have a ginormous pile of cash to spend, and will easily take NH, and rack up a lot of second places on super tuesday… Are the GOP primaries all winner-take-all still?

    Yikes, time to head to Nate Silver’s for a re-education.

  12. 12.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @Xenos:

    I’m not an expert, so make of it what you will, but it hasn’t been the crazies bowing out and choosing not to run, it’s the relative moderates: Huck, Daniels, etc. In Romney vs. the Crazies, the Crazies win. They’ve got the magic conch in the GOP right now. Romney’s like Hunstman in how different he is from them.

  13. 13.

    Xenos

    Nothing useful at the NYTimes version of 538. Did find this write-up:

    Going into 2012, one of the Republicans’ key changes was to have winner-take-all elections take place in April. Proportional contests would be allowed to take place in March. Republicans do not appear to want a repeat of 2008. [where McCain won a high delegate count in spite of >40% of the primary votes]Despite these changes, however, there has been speculation that winner-take-all states, regardless of when they take place, could help a divisive nominee achieve the Republican nomination, — one popular with a relatively narrow base of the party, but not a strong general election candidate.

    You would think an alternate voting system would help the GOP out of this problem, where that not already determined to be anathema back in the Clinton years. Political correctness is increasingly boxing in the GOP and limiting it going forward.

  14. 14.

    Rick Massimo

    We just avoided a Rapture and NOT ONE PERSON has posted a YouTube of Barry Manilow’s “Looks Like We Made It”?

    Or “There’s Got to Be A Morning After”?

    And you call this a BLOG?

  15. 15.

    Suffern ACE

    I was going to ask whatever happened to John Thune, but I see he “dropped out” in February and didn’t bother to alert me.

  17. 17.

    Calouste

    Interesting time for Daniels to announce. Saturday midnight is not really a common time.

    What is alsointeresting is that there is no GOP Senator that is within a mile of being mentioned as a candidate at this point.

  18. 18.

    Nick

    @ Spaghetti. Yep, 57 mill voted for her once. Did you catch the takedown of Newt last Monday? Literally every single right winger in a well-oiled 6 hrs… Ryan first, then “concerned Iowa citizen” played on Fox all day. Limbaugh, drudge, WSJ et al. hammered for 4 hrs. Hume pronounced Newt dead in the evening.

  19. 19.

    Amir_Khalid

    No rapture for me, but I had another kind of incident on Saturday afternoon: I was crossing the street and got hit by a motorcycle. I woke up in the ambulance. Three broken front teeth (my smile is forever ruined, alas) and an upper lip that needed three stitches. Still sore all along my left side. But no broken bones. Luckily for me it was a glancing blow, or I’d be in much worse shape.

    Only my second trip to the casualty ward at Kuala Lumpur Hospital. The first was when I had the heart attack, five years ago. These people took good care of me both times.

  20. 20.

    Carol

    Ow, Amir! Hope you are recovering nicely somewhere.

    This latest action leads to my belief that Sarah may jump in as a sacrificial lamb to rile up the base against Obama. While she’s a longshot, the reddest of the red are her fans, they can’t risk her running third party, and none of the other candidates look very electable, and then there’s Mitt Romney who managed to lose to John McCain. All the presumably heavier hitters are sitting things out until 2016 (assuming no Republican runs) when they hope to face a weaker Democrat than Obama.

  21. 21.

    Anne Laurie

    @Amir_Khalid:

    Three broken front teeth (my smile is forever ruined, alas) and an upper lip that needed three stitches.

    Owwww! I hope your recovery is swift & uncomplicated! And don’t give up on your smile… the Spousal Unit broke a front tooth off several years ago, and not only did the dentist fit him with a replacement that’s indistinguishable from its perfect neighbors, she even cut out the corner he’d broken off the original at the age of seven. (His request; his mouth ‘didn’t feel right’ with that little gap filled in.)

  22. 22.

    Maude

    @Amir_Khalid:
    Ouch. It will hurt. I am so sorry you were hit. I read about the landslide. How awful.
    I hope you got good drugs.

    Edit: spell fail.

  23. 23.

    Geoduck

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    I speak as a Midwesterner living on a stable part of the earth’s crust

    You, or anyone who lives in the Midwest, might want to Google “New Madrid Earthquake”.

  24. 24.

    Amir_Khalid

    @Nick:
    Did those millions vote for Palin, or for the Republican ticket? I recall that she was the hot new celebrity in 2008 but a singularly unimpressive VP candidate. That McCain chose her put a good umber of people off voting for him.

    Now that a majority of Americans see her as unprepared for high national office, I just don’t see the Republican party establishment throwing its support behind her, or its big donors being ready to put money on her. Mitch Daniels’ pullout fits the emerging pattern: the serious candidates are pulling out of 2012, aside from a token candidacy or two, leaving the Tea Party bunch to crash and burn and discredit themselves. If the same happens in the House elections, the establishment can then regain control of the party while keeping the Tea Party around for decoration.

  25. 25.

    R-Jud

    @Amir_Khalid: OW. I’m glad you’re here to tell us that the injuries were superficial, even though it sucks to lose teeth. My Dad got an elbow in the face during a basketball game about twenty years ago. When the swelling went down and the wounds had healed, he was able to replace the two front teeth he’d lost.

    I was supposed to be running the Edinburgh Marathon today, but a variety of crappy things have nipped that in the bud.

    I’ll be making a lattice-top strawberry pie instead. It’s not quite the same.

  27. 27.

    Quiddity

    I still think Romney has a good chance of getting the nomination, but I’m also wondering about Rick Perry of Texas. On paper, he looks like a good fit for today’s Republican party, but does he have some big weakness? I’m not talking about his occasional gaffes (secession, pray for rain), but can he perform well in a hostile media/political environment? In other words, is he a dim bulb of some sort? I’ve not read anything to that effect, but like George W. Bush before him, maybe he’s not been tested much. Anybody know?

  29. 29.

    Joseph Nobles

    My money’s on Herman Cain, because the GOP electorate is just that nuts right now.

  33. 33.

    gene108

    General End Times Question: Which God wins?

    Christianity isn’t the only religion to have an End Times scenario.

    Hinduism has Kalki the 10th and final incarnation of Vishnu coming to save the world.

    Jews have the coming of the true Messiah.

    Other religions probably have their own End Times savior. I’ve taken the opinion that they’re all correct and we’ll have a “Clash of the Titans”, as each deity decides the fate of the world.

    So if the world was to end, which God wins?

    My money’s on Kalki, because Vishnu’s had more practice, given that he’s had 9 other incarnations on Earth to battle evil.

  34. 34.

    kdaug

    @Amir_Khalid:

    These people took good care of me both times.

    Special place in my heart for those who care for others. Docs, nurses, veterinarians – easy to get lost in the industry side of it, but there are real people there who want to heal.

    They have my admiration, and support.

  36. 36.

    amk

    So with mitch ditching the game, will the witch(es) swoop in and snatch the rethug nomination ?

  37. 37.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    Working on the motorcycle in a bit and then handing off a laptop to a customer at 3:30, which will be followed by more working on the motorcycle. The weather today is supposed to be windy (up to 25 MPH), partly sunny and around 60 out.

    Plan on playing some Team Fortress 2 with the kids this evening, maybe even some L4D or L4D2. Right now it’s off to the kitchen for some steak and eggs, then a Sunday morning nap and then on to the motorcycle work.

  39. 39.

    bemused

    Since this is an open thread, I have kitty litter and litter boxes questions. If we decide to add a couple of kitties to our 2 dog family again, I want the best cat litter and litter box recommendations in place before we even bring them home.

    Some use Feline Pine and others say you can substitute wood stove pellets/bedding pine pellets w/o chemicals. If these are favorites, then what is the best type of litter box?

    Werebear, expert in all kitty issues, if you are lurking, I’d love to hear your advice.

  40. 40.

    Opie-jeanne

    Amir, I wish you a speedy recovery and restoration of your smile, soon. Glad it wasn’t worse, but I know this isn’t much fun for you.

  41. 41.

    Opie-jeanne

    Today we will call all the animal shelters and put up Lost Cat posters while we tear apart the house and continue to scour the neighborhood. You’d think that if it was a coyote there would be signs of a struggle, a big pile of fluff somewhere. I don’t think 15 pounds of tomcat goes quietly.

  42. 42.

    Nick

    @amir glad you’re ok. Palin’s base (5-7 mil) thinks she’s on a mission from god. The other 50 mil voted for her once. More importantly, Palin currently has Fox/Limbaugh/WSJ on her side and their lying and propaganda skills are astounding, controlling another 15-30 million. Palin’s path is very plausible.

  43. 43.

    Scott

    @Quiddity: I’m a Texan, with a large number of Republican Texan relatives. And Rick Perry is not well liked here, including by other Republicans. He’s a damn lucky SOB — he got the teabagger benefit from the last election, and the one before that was a circus, with two independent candidates, including Kinky Friedman, gumming up the ballot.

    He’s an arrogant gaffe machine. He isn’t the teabaggers’ first, second, third, fourth, or fifth choice for a national election. He’s been dogged by rumors of homosexuality. And the “Texas Miracle” is about to become a Texas Nightmare after he lays off hundreds of thousands of teachers and state employees.

    I say he has no shot, and I hope like hell I’m not wrong…

  44. 44.

    Poopyman

    @Opie-jeanne: Hope all works out well. How’s the weather doing? This time of year with the first warm nights is when we’ve had cats go walkabout for 24 or 48 hours, inducing untold amounts of anxiety on our part, but they always ended up sauntering home in their own time like no big deal. It was a rare thing, but I guess something catches their attention, or triggers ancient memories. I’ll never know.

    Take all appropriate steps, but remember that sometimes they’ll do this, even though they’ve never done it before.

  45. 45.

    Poopyman

    @Amir_Khalid: OMG! Now they’re coming after BJers!

    Seriously though, Amir, rest easy for a couple of days. And yes, teeth can be restored. Just be glad you don’t live around here where you’d also have to fight with your insurance company.

  46. 46.

    Poopyman

    @bemused: I’m not werebear, nor do I play her on the internets, but we once tried to change from the clumping kind to the recycled newspapers one time and the pine type another time. The cats would not make the change from what they knew to another type. Just a heads up that once they become familiar with one type it will be difficult to change.

    That, obviously, doesn’t answer your question, but depending on the age of the kittehs you get, you may just find it easiest to go with what they’ve been using.

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    @Opie-jeanne: Replied in the last thread, but if there are local veterinary hospitals open on Sunday, try calling them too — people drop “strays” off at the vets even if they’re not injured. And your police department, if they’re like ours, may let you report a ‘lost pet’ even if they don’t have a specific Animal Control officer/department.

  49. 49.

    Irving

    When I saw the Rapture had not come this morning, I did the good Hindupagan thing – I bowed to my little statue of Ganesh, the god of beginnings, in thanks, and spent the rest of the morning appreciating all the good things in a day that was a gift – my family, coffee, and sunshine.

    Then it occurred to me that I really shouldn’t have a preacher threatening Rapture to enjoy a day this.

    On the subject of elections, if Obama really is going to be too strong to take down, then the Republicans should run someone exciting enough to fire up the base and focus on winning the Senate.

  50. 50.

    RossInDetroit

    Going back to work today off the clock to strip and wax a 6,000 sf cafeteria floor. I’m doing this on my day off because if I don’t I’ll have to hear bitching that it’s not shiny enough for high school graduation. This will take 6+ hours and be exhausting. I’m seriously wondering if I could stand to pull off the kind of mammoth fu*kup it would take to get fired from this ridiculous job.

  53. 53.

    jwb

    @Quiddity: Perry is not well liked by a significant chunk of the monied Texas Goopers. I really see him getting the nomination either for president or VP only if the the Republicans go into complete free fall and need someone to lock down the South, because that’s really all he’s good for. I also predict that the budget that is just coming out of the Texas legislature is also going to turn out to be a major disaster for him.

    The Republican politics in Texas has been fascinating to watch this spring, as all sorts of fault lines have been appearing in unexpected places.

  54. 54.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    just in time for melting “record snowpacks” to potentially flood the West “from Montana to New Mexico and California to Colorado”

    Don’t worry. Nevada & Arizona will use it all to keep the golf courses green.

  56. 56.

    cckids

    @Irving:

    if Obama really is going to be too strong to take down, then the Republicans should run someone exciting enough to fire up the base and focus on winning the Senate.

    But that would require a Republican base that is focused and dedicated to something beyond hating on Obama and all things Democratic. They are convinced, against all evidence, that there is a huge, unspoken group of “real Americans” out here that feel the way they do. They are so wrong.

  57. 57.

    gbear

    @Calouste:

    Interesting time for Daniels to announce. Saturday midnight is not really a common time.

    He had to make the announcment when a drinking game didn’t quite work out for him. He shouldn’t have made that bet…

  58. 58.

    Quiddity

    Scott & jwb: Thanks for those insights. I didn’t know those things about Perry.

  59. 59.

    ruemara

    @Amir_Khalid:
    Oh my gosh! Get better soon and any smile after something like that will be beautiful. Besides, they can probably fix it. Let us know how things are going.

  60. 60.

    opie jeanne

    @Poopyman: Thanks.

    He disappeared on the last warm night, Friday. It has been rainy and gloomy since. I’ve just printed a bunch of flyers to take around the neighborhood, and I’m going to walk a larger area than I did yesterday. Also posted his picture on craigslist and a couple of other lost pet sites.

    He used to be an outdoor cat. When we rescued him 12 years ago he had been living rough, came to us because we put cat food outside for our other cat. He may have gone walkabout, but he also may be shut up in someone’s shed or garage. The first warm weather we’ve had was last week and everyone was out doing stuff in the yard.

  61. 61.

    opie jeanne

    @Anne Laurie: Thank you. I saw that and tried to call every one within a ten mile radius but every one of them is closed today; we will call them tomorrow morning. I still need to call the emergency vet. That was good advice.

    In the meantime we have opened every closet and drawer that could possibly hide a cat and even some that couldn’t. mr opiejeanne just came out of the crawlspace and we checked the attic. The garage still needs a more thorough search, but he isn’t answering our calls…. which means that he may just be listening to us.

    In the wee hours, about 3:30 am, I heard him do the “lost kitty” yowl just as I was drifting off to sleep (I wake up at night sometimes because my bladder is 61). Just once. My husband rushed to the front and back doors, but no cat. It sounded like he was in the room with us, in the attic or in the dresser, but he’s not. I don’t think I dreamt it but now I’m not sure.

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