Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

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

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

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

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

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

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Giving up is unforgivable.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Optimism opens the door to great things.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

People are weird.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Reader Interactions

50Comments

  1. 1.

    wobblybits

    I like the bass line and I could see this song growing on me.
    ETA: Thanks for the link to the indie music site. I look forward to browsing and picking up a few new groups to add to my summer music collection.

  2. 2.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Since this is a music-related open thread, i highly encourage everyone who gets the chance to catch the band Cloud Cult live. I saw them last night with The Somebody, and they were scary tight, energetic, and upbeat. The calendar on their homepage is out of date, but they’re on tour now with Wilderness of Manitoba. If you like music with cellos, horns, banjos and loud banging drums (and an artist on stage painting during the show!), this is an act to see.

  3. 3.

    eemom

    John Edwards breaks out the jackhammer and drills down to new depths of slime.

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/05/john-edwards-meets-privately-with-bunny-mellon-potential-witness-in-cover-up-case.html

    yeah I know, who cares? But after all it’s Friday, and this is an open thread, and this really does kind of cause the word “chutzpah” to weep in despair at its own adequacy.

    Oh wait…..he probly just wants to get the old lady on board with his latest “Two Americas” fix…..yeah, that’s it.

  9. 9.

    kay

    @eemom:

    I’d like them to investigate the foundation. It may be useless: it seems as if non-profits can skim a lot and still stay on the right side of legality, but that to me is the sensible place to look next.
    Because he’s dishonest and self-serving with donor money. That much is obvious.

  10. 10.

    TBogg

    It’s the most heavily played single in the country right now. I must hear it ten times a day on the radio. My daughter just bought the CD last night. Thinks the boys in teh band are “adorable”.

  12. 12.

    Cat Lady

    I’m really interested in seeing Tree of Life. Days of Heaven was so beautifully filmed – there are images in that I’ll never forget. I wonder whatever happened to Linda Manz, the storyteller in that? She was great.

  13. 13.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    This is a ridiculously good-looking band.

    I also like the song — the kind of juxtaposition of the summer-fun-and-bubble-gum tune with the rather darker lyrics (“You better run, better run, outrun my gun…”) — and I heard the drummer on NPR the other day and thought he sounded like an altogether reasonable and talented guy, but I’ve never clapped my eyes on them before.

    And they are a ridiculously good-looking band.

  15. 15.

    Lavocat

    This song, and the artist, got a big plug on NPR yesterday morning.

    But I have to agree: catchy beat; stupid song.

  16. 16.

    Comrade Mary

    I like it! (And yeah, the band members are most pleasant to gaze upon.)

    Music is so fragmented these days: I think I keep up fairly well with new music, but I had no idea this band was big on the radio because I listen to very little music radio these days. I get almost everything from blogs, tv commercials (Patrick Watson: The Great Escape), and the CBC.

  17. 17.

    El Cid

    This is pretty cool. (TPM via the Great Orange Satan.)

    Chalk up another Democratic win this week: Alabama State Rep. Daniel Boman, who entered the legislature as a Republican in November, is switching parties to become a Democrat after he says the GOP went too far in attacking teachers in the state.
    __
    From the Tuscaloosa News:

    Boman, a 36-year-old lawyer from Sulligent, said Wednesday’s vote on a bill to change the state’s tenure and fair dismissal laws for educators convinced him he was in the wrong party.

    At a press conference today, Boman said that the law was just one of many that went too far and eventually forced him out of his Republican home.
    __
    “During this current session I have seen this legislative body pass bills that I feel adversely affect what my people back home want, need, and deserve. … I will never choose the Party over the people again,” he said.

  18. 18.

    Third Eye Open

    Since we are pimping friend’s bands, here is an amazing group from the North Florida area, by way of Brooklyn and other points elitist. Kilometers.

    Listen to ‘Q&A’ and turn it up to eleven!!!!1!111!!

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Help me out here, is this weirder if it’s a prank, or a sincere attempt at being friendly? And if it’s a prank, what’s the point?

    Mitt Romney pulled a prank on the Obama campaign last night. But I confess I’m not even sure I get it. On a campaign stop in Chicago, Romney had deep dish pizza and then had the leftovers sent to Obama campaign headquarters.

  20. 20.

    PurpleGirl

    @Trinity: Over at Pandagon, a commenter gave it the perfect caption:

    “Don’t even think about it, you old perv…”

    Another caption was:

    “Don’t. Michelle will rip that hand right off.”

  22. 22.

    cleek

    @mistermix:

    BTW, would you have pegged the bar in the cover pic as the Bug Jar?

    shit. i was trying to figure out where that was taken! can’t say i often looked out the Bug Jar windows in daylight, though!

    oh, and a disclaimer: Muler’s current bassist is an old friend of mine. so maybe i’m a little biased :)

  23. 23.

    TBogg

    @mistermix:

    Just a bouncy fun song about shooting up your school:

    Robert’s got a quick hand.
    He’ll look around the room, he won’t tell you his plan.
    He’s got a rolled cigarette, hanging out his mouth he’s a cowboy kid.
    Yeah he found a six shooter gun.
    In his dads closet hidden in a box of fun things, and I don’t even know what.
    But he’s coming for you, yeah he’s coming for you.

    [Chorus x2:]
    All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you’d better run, better run, outrun my gun.
    All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you’d better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

  24. 24.

    Comrade Mary

    Oh, wow: another fresh find from CBC (Q): Eno is calling Anna Calvi the biggest thing since Patti Smith, but she sounds more like the love child of Eno and kd lang to me, with Fripp somewhere in the mix.

  26. 26.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: My guess: remember how Romney’s spokesman said recently that the auto bailout was a Romney idea first? And then the whole thing about the Mass. healthcare plan being a template for health care reform… The joke has to be “you sure like our leftovers.” And the intention has to be to earn some sarcastic/dickish cred.

  31. 31.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    So, I have an unlocked iPhone with a T-Mobile pre-paid sim card in it. This morning, I tried calling the automated line and adding 15.00 to the account. After I entered my credit card number, the automated system told me it couldn’t process my request, and sent me to a very unhelpful CSR who kept repeating a script over and over. I immediately checked my online statement, and saw indeed that 15.00 had been deducted from my account.

    So…I am pissed. What kind of fucked up system charges a customer’s credit card first without making sure that the entire transaction could be completed? I’d think at the very least we’re talking about some very incompetent programmers here…

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    Memorial Day weekend. Champions League final, lax final four, crappy summer blockbusters, long walks with the pooches.

    “I cloud nine when I want to …”

  33. 33.

    RossInDetroit

    @cleek:
    Atrios posted a Wye Oak live clip a few days ago and I was immediately captivated. I whipped through all of the stuff on Youtube and ordered 2 of their albums. This is my kind of music.
    Christgau is kinda ‘meh’ on them but I know what I like.

  35. 35.

    Legalize

    Yeah, it does nothing for me either. Way too glossy for my taste. No urgency. No danger. No crunch. I don’t know who the band is, but they strike me as a group of trust fund kids who got together and formed a band. Trust me, I know guys who are in bands like that. Their tepid sound is a result of never having wanted for anything.

  36. 36.

    R-Jud

    @Legalize:

    they strike me as a group of trust fund kids who got together and formed a band.

    This is how I feel about Vampire Weekend.

  38. 38.

    burnspbesq

    @Legalize:

    Yeah, it does nothing for me either. Way too glossy for my taste. No urgency. No danger. No crunch. I don’t know who the band is, but they strike me as a group of trust fund kids who got together and formed a band. Trust me, I know guys who are in bands like that. Their tepid sound is a result of never having wanted for anything.

    What a load of hot, steaming crap. If you don’t like the music, fine, but bad amateur sociology adds nothing to the analysis.

  39. 39.

    RossInDetroit

    @cleek:

    I have The Knot on the way. I’ll probably also order If Children. Listening to the tracks from the older 2 albums I think Civilian is more my taste but I want all three anyway.

  40. 40.

    Chasseur

    I don’t know who the band is, but they strike me as a group of trust fund kids who got together and formed a band really like spoon.

  41. 41.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    Okay, Fuck T-Mobile with a rusty, bloody pitchfork.

    Seriously, ARRGH

  43. 43.

    Legalize

    @burnspbesq:
    Totally. When was the last time anyone ever looked at a band’s background to draw a link to its sound? I mean, how totally unheard of.

  45. 45.

    burnspbesq

    @Legalize:

    It comes across as irrational hatred for anyone who grew up in comfortable circumstances.

    Or are you excluding, for example, Liz Phair from your critique?

  47. 47.

    Legalize

    @burnspbesq:
    I didn’t say that their (possible) “growing up in comfortable circumstances” has anything to do with anything. I said they sound like a group of guys who never wanted for anything. Liz Phair didn’t write tepid wuss pop songs, and her sound wasn’t glossy at all, until – wait for it – her life became more comfortable later in her career. She was on her own for years in Chicago, and recorded Guyville basically on her own until Matador gave her some money to complete it. This stupid video probably cost more than Guyville. And what do you know – Guyville sounds like a gritty rock record, with bad-ass songs, performed by a bad-ass chick.

Comments are closed.