Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

White supremacy is terrorism.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

In my day, never was longer.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

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

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

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

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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Open Thread

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This post is in: 

Our first report from the Balloon Juice meet-up is in:

I’m with Kay in Minneapolis, and she doesn’t have her own computer and can’t remember her login to use mine. If you want an open thread for it, you’ll need to do it yourself.

Correspondent fail.

I bet Jon Stewart doesn’t have to go through this shit with John Oliver and Aasif Mandvi.

*** Update ***

This happens every time we let Tunch loose near the liquor cabinet:

The guy just does not know moderation.

Reader Interactions

87Comments

  2. 2.

    guachi

    I think if a pic of John appears she might suddenly ‘remember’ her password.

    Also, I always smile at Aasif Mandvi’s name. Aasif meaning ‘sorry’ in Arabic.

  4. 4.

    General Stuck

    Kay has a photogenic memory and nothing will be lost, or gained from intell gathered at this gathering of manic progressive wizards. I mean, how many ways can you say “Obama sucks” and need to type it into a computer.

    The video with Pfeiffer told me all I need to know. We could have bought a deluxe edit function with the money.

  5. 5.

    The Bobs

    “I bet Jon Stewart doesn’t have to go through this shit with John Oliver and Aasif Mandvi.”

    Yeah, because they are actually standing right next to him.

  6. 6.

    jl

    @4 General Stuck – June 17, 2011

    I interpret your comment as an offer to jump in your jalopy and run a quick trip over MN to fix it all up.

    But it’s possible I misunderstood.

  7. 7.

    Triassic Sands

    I bet Jon Stewart doesn’t have to go through this shit with John Oliver and Aasif Mandvi.

    Yeah, and Oliver and Mandvi are being paid in Tunch tee shirts and “Feed” coffee mugs. No, wait, that’s Kay.

  8. 8.

    lamh34

    I know this supposed to be a serious thread, but I just wanted to say that I’d love to “do something” with Aasif Mandvi. Woo, I think dude is so hot, but I imagine that he’s probably shorter than I like ’em…lol

  10. 10.

    lamh34

    ok, I’m watching a concert movie of Bette Midler’s Cesear’s Palace show, and I gotta say, I’m a little upset that I haven’t seen the Divine Miss M!

    I did though see Elton John at Ceaser’s and I must say that ole queen was fantabulous.

    Interesting thing, I kid you not though, my friend and I and I think one other woman, were THE ONLY Black people there…who were straight…lol.

    The other interesting thing is how many actual Elton John songs I actually knew and I’m only 34 so I’m not quite a long time Elton fan…although I’d bet cha you couldn’t find a Black person who doesn’t like “Benny and The Jets”

  11. 11.

    J. Michael Neal

    Kay has a photogenic memory

    It’s not *that* attractive. Her face is better.

  12. 12.

    Poopyman

    I just called Kay the Margaret Dumont of BJ. I suspect it’s even more appropriate than I know.

  13. 13.

    Jade Jordan

    Da** ** I paid my Firebagger Dues to this site and at the very least I should get a big REPLY button and regular updates from Netroot Disfunctional Democrats Central.

    John, I am going to need a refund. Membership does not have it’s privileges. This site has gone to the dogs. (Maybe it always belonged to the dogs).

  14. 14.

    General Stuck

    jl

    naw, just being my usual cynical smart ass self, that is also disappointed that the vaunted netroots I had so much expectation for good in dem politics, turned into a non stop bitch slap with our dem president. Some folks call it loyal dissent, but that description is lost on me.

    It could be fixed with a huge dose of anti anal retentive perspective, but I have no license nor desire to administer that medicine.

  17. 17.

    eemom

    look Cole, as Kay mentioned earlier, you’re going have to show the world something more than a pair of sprawled out legs pointed at a teevee and an elbow on a car door before you can be taken, like, seriously.

    Three dimensions, Cole. Evidence of corporeal reality. That’s all that’s standing between you and Jon Stewart.

  18. 18.

    beltane

    J. Michael Neal takes pictures just like my mother. Body parts and table clutter for as far as the eye can see.

  19. 19.

    Poopyman

    I must say that I took that picture, and I think it captures the essence of the meetup.

  20. 20.

    Cain

    @lam34

    Interesting thing, I kid you not though, my friend and I and I think one other woman, were THE ONLY Black people there…who were straight…lol.

    I know how that feels. I went to a ZZ Top concert and I was the only indian there amongst about athousand people. (it was at the county fair) That was an odd feeling.. hell they wasn’t even Latinos there. I had a big WTF.

    Of course, I regularly go into places most indians don’t show up. The best though was in Ireland where I walked into any pub and I had all eyes on me. Awesome. I never had so much female attention in my life. I know what it feels like to be a piece of meat. :P

    Then there was my buddy who is black and he goes to Armenia and is one of like 4 black people there. He never had so many proposals for marriage.. it was a risk just walking down the street because people would invite him over for vodka.

  21. 21.

    Poopyman

    What the hell kind of party is this where half the people are typing msgs to each other across the table that wind up on Balloon Juice?

  22. 22.

    J. Michael Neal

    beltane = I didn’t say that I *took* the photo. I’m just the messenger. For an example of *my* work, check here.

  23. 23.

    Mnemosyne

    I bet Jon Stewart doesn’t have to go through this shit with John Oliver and Aasif Mandvi.

    Given what happened in this bit, I suspect it’s more like Oliver saying, “Jesus, Jon, how you could you forget your password again?”

  24. 24.

    stuckinred

    I went to the JVC Jazz Festival in the ATL years ago. Miles, the Yellow Jackets, Dave Brubeck and many black folks in the crowd were going nuts over Michael Franks!

  25. 25.

    Tom Q

    Did anybody catch Lt. Choi on with O’Donnell tonight? What an embarrassment. He actually analogized voting for Obama over any 2012 Republican to people saying however bad Iraq was, it was better than having Saddam Hussein still in power. At another point, he described himself as feeling like an abused child. I can second him on the last word, anyway.

    What’s amazing is the zero credit he gives for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which, if I’m not mistaken, was kind of paramount to him until it happened. Now he’s moved on to marriage equality, and anyone not 100% in his corner on it — i.e., Obama — is essentially dead to him.

    Yeah, Dan: Barack’ll be encouraged put out full effort for you. Nothing motivates a president to do things for supporters more than the assurance they’ll be showing gratitude.

  26. 26.

    stuckinred

    Tom Q

    Did you see him on the light pole the night they got Bin Laden? Hey may be gay but he’s West Point Infantry till death.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    @ John Cole

    Couldn’t you send Kay an email with her password? If you can’t see what it is, you could surely change it to something else and then let her know what she has changed it to. Just a thought…

  28. 28.

    gbear

    Well if anyone saw a fat grey bearded bear on the front sidewalk at 6:30 walking around trying to find the group and gradually looking more and more panicked due to noisy crowd phobias, that was me. Sorry I had to split.

  30. 30.

    OzoneR

    What’s amazing is the zero credit he gives for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which, if I’m not mistaken, was kind of paramount to him until it happened. Now he’s moved on to marriage equality, and anyone not 100% in his corner on it—i.e., Obama—is essentially dead to him.

    Can’t imagine why Democrats wouldn’t want to spend political capital on the left.

  31. 31.

    Anne Laurie

    I bet Jon Stewart doesn’t have to go through this shit with John Oliver and Aasif Mandvi.

    I bet Jon Stewart is prettier, though.

  32. 32.

    Mnemosyne

    Something that Steve Benen found for us O-bots — watch to the very end of this week in review video to see yet another of the president’s unsung skills: soothing screaming babies.

    And, as Steve said, that look that he exchanges with the First Lady is priceless.

  38. 38.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    @Tom Q

    At another point, he described himself as feeling like an abused child.

    He said he felt like an abused child and a battered spouse because Obama didn’t support gay marriage.

    Lovely. Tell that to women who had the shit beat out of them by drunk husbands (think Nicole Simpson), and kids who were harmed by sadistic parents and pervert priests.

    But what I want to know is when did obama’s position on gay marriage become the new public option — the new single issue of the poutosphere?

  40. 40.

    Violet

    Dan Choi reminds me of Cindy Sheehan. Started out with the moral high ground and then descended into professional victim status almost to the point of parody. It’s sad.

  41. 41.

    schrodinger's cat

    Tunch FTW! That’s a fine vintage of Purrlot that you have there.
    Signing off for the night.

  42. 42.

    Violet

    Wow! That’s some liquor cabinet. I think that much liquor would last me the rest of my life and then some. Maybe I need to have more parties.

  43. 43.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    Holy shit that’s a lot of booze-I rarely have more than a single bottle of wine at home that I work my way through. Of course doesn’t help that I don’t like hard alcohol.

  44. 44.

    parsimon

    This happens every time we let Tunch loose near the liquor cabinet

    The little Tunch-sized rug there helps a lot, I expect.

  45. 45.

    Tom Q

    “But what I want to know is when did obama’s position on gay marriage become the new public option—the new single issue of the poutosphere?”

    In a way, it’s a tribute to what Obama DOES get done — as they continually have to find some new thing to complain about not getting.

    Gay marriage wasn’t supported by ANY Dem candidates in ’08 (unless Kucinich was for it; I confess to not poring over his campaign literature). The first term’s not over yet and suddenly it’s a requirement?

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I could buy the “loyal dissent” bit if the Firebaggers ever acknowledged any of the good Obama’s done, or at the very least the obstacles he and we face. But they seem to have never heard of Claire McCaskill or Max Baucus, it’s all about Obama and their own noble disappointment.

    From reading the TPM twitter feed and a few other things over the last couple days, they’re using a 1996 questionaire on gay rights as evidence Obama “broke his promise” on supporting gay marriage. If gay marriage passed and was signed tomorrow, they’d be back on the public option and/or the total withdrawal from Afghanistan that they swear Obama promised them.

  47. 47.

    Tim, Interrupted

    @ Tom Q #25:

    What’s amazing is the zero credit he gives for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

    It’s worth noting that six months later, Obama and the other bureaucrats who must do so still have not “certified” that the military is “ready” for the actual, real world end of DADT. Meanwhile, investigations and persecutions continue.

  51. 51.

    Citizen_X

    The guy just does not know moderation.

    Well, geez: look at him.

    Can we start calling him “Li’l Christie” now?

  52. 52.

    C.J.

    The whole NN thing prompted me to wade into some rec’d diaries over at Kos. My night is ruined.

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @TooManyJens

    I think it’s when you don’t drink but do entertain that you accumulate stuff

  59. 59.

    J. Michael Neal

    asiangrrl – Don’t worry. The party broke up and we’re all back to being miserable again.

  61. 61.

    Mara Magee

    Wow. I’d love to have a liquor cabinet like that. So far mine is only solidly stocked with Curacao blue and some sort of Banana Schnapps.

    Might get a decent storm in Minneapolis tonight! Minneapolis is a wonderful city.

  64. 64.

    karen marie

    @Tim, Interrupted: The guy who was discharged under DADT two, three weeks ago was subsequently reported to have requested the discharge on that basis.

  65. 65.

    WaterGirl

    I feel exhausted after just watching a 4 minute video of Obama’s week. President Obama disappoints me at times, but we are so lucky to have this man as our president.

  66. 66.

    Martin

    Liquor cabinets without variety are shitty liquor cabinets. Nice to see that Cole is doing in right.

  67. 67.

    kay

    Well if anyone saw a fat grey bearded bear on the front sidewalk at 6:30 walking around trying to find the group and gradually looking more and more panicked due to noisy crowd phobias, that was me. Sorry I had to split.

    I’m so sorry. I kept looking for people, but that place is huge and crowded and the host wouldn’t take a res or work w/me at all.
    I also know my password, John Cole; the problem was the log-in. I just can’t eat, talk, look for people and write, all at the same time, and I’m not bringing a laptop to dinner anyway.
    Anyway, I am sorry we missed you, gbear. At 6:30 we were sitting right inside the door, waiting.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    Night shift checking in. Three-day weekend starting now. Yee-haw!

    This is a new record for Balloon Juice, I think: not just two “Open Threads” clanging into each other, but both by the same person.

    Love the picture of Tunch.

  72. 72.

    kay

    It was a pleasure to meet everyone, and thank you for organizing it!

    Thanks for coming. It was fun. I’ll see you at the (remaining) NN activities and such.

  73. 73.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    @kay:

    I’ll see you at the (remaining) NN activities

    When do they burn Obama n effigy?

  74. 74.

    Kay

    When do they burn Obama n effigy?

    I don’t know. The whole Obama-professional Left conflict doesn’t affect me in any real way, due to my extreme shallowness, and the fact that I’m an amateur Leftist :)

    Mostly I run around chatting with the non-professional Left, drinking a lot of coffee and taking random photos of people I like, personally.

  75. 75.

    eemom

    ahem…..no pix of this historic BJ get together??

    Surely everyone can’t be of the Cole-esque 2 legs + 1 elbow persuasion….?

  76. 76.

    Kay

    ahem…..no pix of this historic BJ get together??

    They were reluctant to have their picture taken, so we agreed that until John does, we don’t have to, either.
    I think I mentioned that last part. The condition. Perhaps. I might have.

  77. 77.

    policomic

    Nice meeting Kay, Comrade Kevin, J. Michael Neal, The Poopymans, and Soon-to-Be-Lawyer Gal. The rest of you shoulda been there.

  80. 80.

    kay

    blond haired dude on Cole’s twitter account

    I’m jut skidding, Stuck, about the picture. I object to all this photo-coercion :)

    I don’t want any part of it. No how.

  82. 82.

    General Stuck

    I don’t want any part of it. No how.

    Don’t blame you, and am pretty much the same. anonymity has it’s own mystique. or something like that. :)

    Hope you are having fun Kay, and can give us a full report on the NN goings on.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I think it’s when you [. . .] entertain that you accumulate stuff.

    Yeah, because your dick guests drink your good single-malt Scotch and leave you their bottle of Crown Royal.

  85. 85.

    Comrade Kevin

    @Steeplejack: All I know is, I’ll be pissed off if, when I get back to California, my brother has helped himself to my bottles of wine.

  86. 86.

    wormtown

    That picture looked suspiciously similar to Father Jack from Father Ted.

    Good one. I loved that show!

  87. 87.

    Mara Magee

    @Corner Stone – Oh, probably should of mentioned that it’s because I *can’t* drink that crap. I’m not getting silly off of Curacao on a regular basis or anything. I swear.

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