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

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Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

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We still have time to mess this up!

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FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

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

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

The lights are all blinking red.

I really should read my own blog.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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

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

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  July 11, 20119:41 pm| 44 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Settling in for a night of tv. Looking forward to that new show Alphas on SyFy, even though it still pisses me off they renamed that network to the new ridiculous name. And why did they changed the damned theme song for White Collar? I’m still pissed they changed the Monk theme song.

Get off my grass, also too.

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44Comments

  1. 1.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    July 11, 2011 at 9:44 pm

    When was the Monk theme song changed?

  2. 2.

    Southern Beale

    July 11, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    You know it’s bad when even David Frum tells you you’re full of shit.

  3. 3.

    Linnaeus

    July 11, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    So “White Collar”‘s theme isn’t “New York Groove” anymore?

  4. 4.

    beltane

    July 11, 2011 at 9:49 pm

    What will implode first, News Corps. or the Euro? http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/07/statement-by-eurogroup.html

    If Italy goes, the Wehrmacht German banks will not be able to withstand the collapse of their southern front.

  5. 5.

    MikeJ

    July 11, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    Syfy is pronounced like the start of syphilis.

  6. 6.

    plynch22

    July 11, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    Excuse for me asking a stupid question from the back, but if we had not agreed to the deal to extend the Bush tax cuts, would even need to be having this debt limit debate right now? Would the extra revenue be enough? Or would we still need to raise the debt ceiling now (meaning Republicans would still have the excuse to start the threats) but would simply have more and increasing revenue in the out years. ??? Just curious, for anyone that’s better versed than I am.

  7. 7.

    Lolis

    July 11, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    Hoyer is saying no Dem votes without revenues in the debt ceiling deal. I think Republicans are getting more fight than they were expecting from the Democrats.

  8. 8.

    piratedan

    July 11, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    In a bit of news that may have been overlooked thanks to our debt debacle…..

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/08/992750/-Pearce-Recalled!?via=sidebytagfeed

    So the guy that was the spearhead of the SB 1070 effort in AZ, now has to stand for a recall election, almost as if he was a Wisconsin Republican!

    Unsure what the real prospects are of giving him the boot are, but coupled with the crippling economy in AZ, the lack of anything done by the state lege (which has been gerrymandered RED), their inability to raise revenues that are fast tracking them in the direction of Mississippi when it comes to measuring things like schools, healthcare and life expectancy have hurt his chances. Also hurting Russell’s chances are that he ran the last session of the state lege like it was his own personal fiefdom which didn’t sit well when it became apparent he was getting payoffs and “gifts” while being tagged in the Fiesta Bowl scandal.

    He’s been so radically right, he’s starting to piss off the Mormons (supposedly).

  9. 9.

    JCT

    July 11, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    I think Republicans are getting more fight than they were expecting from the Democrats.

    The amazing (OK, stupid) thing about this is that the Republicans were ALWAYS going to need some votes from the Democratic side to get anything through. So instead of going halfway off the plank and getting something, they walked to the edge and gave the Democrats cover to say “oh no, we may be weak but we’re not fucking insane” . So now either they grovel or jump. Couldn’t happen to a bigger group of assholes.

    @piratedan — isn’t that just the way the Republicans “roll” these days? They are truly like naughty toddlers, no impulse control whatsoever.

    Sounds like “fun” out there in AZ, I’ll be joining you in January.

  10. 10.

    TaMara (BHF)

    July 11, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    Well, luckily you get to vote on the new theme song. I’ll find you the link in a few.

    EDIT – HERE: http://characterchatter.usanetwork.com/show.php?show=whitecollar

  11. 11.

    Martin

    July 11, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    You know it’s bad when even David Frum tells you you’re full of shit.

    The current GOP thinks Frum is a hippie.

  12. 12.

    Mark S.

    July 11, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    GOP frontrunner Crazy Eyes Bachmann thinks everything is the same as slavery, even apologizing for signing a statement that trivialized slavery in its first paragraph.

  13. 13.

    atlliberal

    July 11, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    John really should have some wine with his whine.

    Thanks for the chuckle.

  14. 14.

    Cat Lady

    July 11, 2011 at 10:09 pm

    I don’t know what’s going to happen with the debt ceiling and neither does anyone else, but I think with both the News Corps meltdown and the Republicans here, we’re witnessing the laws of physics taking care of overreaching. Is Fox reporting on Murdoch?

  15. 15.

    jl

    July 11, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    @8 Interesting article from Jeffrey Frankel, a Keynesian international monetary economist. Says if the debt limit is not raised by end of July, bond markets will start to freak out. The idea of paying some legally obligated payments, but not others will not fly with the fearsome bond vigilantes, even if payments to bond holders are not interrupted. And that will get corporate funders of the GOP to get them in line.

    The Federal Government Races to the Cliff
    Jul 11th, 2011 by jfrankel

    http://content.ksg.harvard.edu/blog/jeff_frankels_weblog/2011/07/11/advice-to-investors-as-the-federal-government-approaches-the-cliff/

    I was trying to think through the mechanics of exactly who will decide who gets paid when the money runs short in the previous thread. The House won’t be able to get any draconian spending cut legislation through Congress, even if Obama would sign it. And I think there is precedent from the last shutdown that the Executive decides. So… why would the GOP piss off Obama if Obama gets to decide who gets paid?

    Anyone know why Obama can’t wrap this up in a day or so, after he lets it be known who will get paid and who won’t?

    This makes no sense.

    Will booze be cheap in the post apocalyptic world?

    Bizarre that some in the national media can say that deficits will freak out the bond holders, but GOP congressmen can say it is OK to not pay all the legally obligated spending, and the bond markets will be just honky dory if they get their interest paid.

    I heard some goofball ‘analyst’ on the radio speaking in admiring terms about how firm the GOPper are, then discussed goofy plans to ‘strategically default’ and then talked about bond vigilantes will come for us if deficit not settled, because…well, how can we keep paying the bills?

    I do not know if you could pay me enough money to humiliate myself in front a national audience that way, and say, for example, 2 plus 2 equals minus pi. Yet, I hear and see grown ups talking nonsense nonstop these days.

    Edit: Yeah, probably could pay me enough, if I only had to do it once or twice, I guess. But not all the time.

  16. 16.

    MikeJ

    July 11, 2011 at 10:18 pm

    @jl:

    Will booze be cheap in the post apocalyptic world?

    I’ve got grandpa’s recipe for making it 60 gallons at a time.

  17. 17.

    Villago Delenda Est

    July 11, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    Obviously, Frum is a wild eyed bolshie out to turn our daughters into comfort women for the hordes of Eurasia.

  18. 18.

    bobbyp

    July 11, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    Hey! I just checked in to see ABL’s latest Obama worship after the presser this morning. Sheer fucking genius that….$4trillion in cuts (mostly) to satisfy Wall Street and the GOP…wow…more 14th dimensional political chess?

    But happy birthday anyway, ABL.

  19. 19.

    jl

    July 11, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    @16: Actually, that part was a joke. I learned how to make Swiss peasant souzer when I was a kid. It is a continuous process approach to getting rot gut wine, and after a few weeks, you bowels adjust to it and you can leave the house for hours at a time.

  20. 20.

    Sherean

    July 11, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    I chuckled at your grumpiness and read your post to my husband, an engineer, who asked: “who’s on his lawn? Is someone on his lawn?” Those darn linear thinkers!

    Also, what’s with the cucumber chick ad? Make it stop, please.

  21. 21.

    Bostondreams

    July 11, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    I could use some of that expensive Ryan wine. Trying to relocate to Raleigh NC and the job market at the secondary and post secondary level for educators is brutal. Ugh.

    This Alpha show seems good though. So that is something.

  22. 22.

    TooManyJens

    July 11, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    even though it still pisses me off they renamed that network to the new ridiculous name

    That’s not grumpiness; that’s just good taste.

  23. 23.

    eastriver

    July 11, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    JC, not to get all Dickensian on your ass, but you might want to think about respelling your name, to reflect your dark, cynical soul: John Coal.

    (It would also fit the whole West Virginny thing.)

    ((And bitching so much about teevee in general isn’t healthy. Or manly. But definitely ‘Merican.))

  24. 24.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 11, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    @Amanda In The South Bay #1:

    I think they changed the theme after the first season. But they occasionally brought in the original theme as background music in later seasons.

  25. 25.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 11, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    Am I too partisan if I have as little use for David Frum now as I did when he was shilling “The Right Man”? Smug, smarmy, patronizing, little prick.

  26. 26.

    Mark S.

    July 11, 2011 at 10:40 pm

    Gooper Congressional leaders say they’ve already compromised: by agreeing to negotiate at all.

    At his weekly press availability House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said the key Republican concession is “the fact that we are voting — the fact that we are even discussing voting for a debt ceiling increase.” He claimed this was a significant move. “What I don’t think the White House understands is how difficult it is for fiscal conservatives to say they’re going to vote to pay for a debt ceiling increase.”

    Sweet Jesus, I am almost in awe of what gigantic assholes these guys are. And our idiotic media never calls them on it.

  27. 27.

    JR

    July 11, 2011 at 10:41 pm

    Here, I think I’ve written the only show description you’ll ever need for any episode of any one of NBC Universal’s cable programs:

    “Someone learns that someone close is not who they appear to be, tonight on [Burn Notice/In Plain Sight/Covert Affairs/SG-U/Eureka/Warehouse 13/White Collar/Royal Pains/etc.].”

  28. 28.

    burnspbesq

    July 11, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Am I too partisan if I have as little use for David Frum now as I did when he was shilling “The Right Man”?

    Yes. You can pick your friends, but you take your allies as you find them.

    A memory hole is sometimes a good thing to cultivate.

  29. 29.

    burnspbesq

    July 11, 2011 at 10:48 pm

    Watching a replay of yesterday’s epic.

    Note to Bill Murray: you were right. Word from the US camp is that Sauerbrunn starts on Wednesday.

  30. 30.

    JCT

    July 11, 2011 at 10:48 pm

    @Mark S.

    Sweet Jesus, I am almost in awe of what gigantic assholes these guys are. And our idiotic media never calls them on it.

    I’m with you — my g_d, it’s a simple question. If this is such a massive sacrifice, why did you vote to raise it so many times when Bush was President? What exactly is different now? Speak up! What, the current President is blackity black? You don’t say, well then, that’s very different. Never mind.

    SIgh.

  31. 31.

    Michael Bersin

    July 11, 2011 at 10:56 pm

    Sweet Jesus, I am almost in awe of what gigantic assholes these guys are. And our idiotic media never calls them on it.

    It gets even better. Eric Cantor’s existential angst didn’t prevent him from voting to increase the statutory limit on the public debt in the past:

    Eh, what a maroon…

  32. 32.

    Steeplejack

    July 11, 2011 at 11:04 pm

    @Cole:

    Perhaps during one of the commercial breaks you could take a moment to address what is going on with the goddamn Reply button?! Since you brought it up yourself yesterday and then let the issue drop. I can’t tell that you even read that thread after you made the initial post.

    MonkeyBoy (a great American) has demonstrated that it’s a one-line code fix to cure the problem. Your Web jockey, you yourself or a nutless monkey (h/t Tropic Thunder) could make the change and test it in 10 minutes, given access to the site’s source files on your server. So what is the holdup?

    Even I, among the most mild-mannered of your commenters, am starting to reach Matoko/Hermione/Gonorrhea Atreides/Murbella levels of rage at your failure not only to fix the goddamn problem but to discuss the apparent delay involved, while you have time daily to crank out Mayor Tommy Shanks posts about workin’ in the yard, pickin’ tomatoes and tut-tuttin’ over what stupid thing some fish-in-a-barrel Republican idiot did or said today.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love the bucolic side of Balloon Juice, but, like it or not, you run a big-time blog now–1.4 million visits last month, supposedly–and allowing a trivial but crippling glitch to a vital (for many) component of the blog to fester for weeks is bush league. Please get your Web drone to fix it or at least let us know why it’s taking so long.

  33. 33.

    TooManyJens

    July 11, 2011 at 11:07 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Even I, among the most mild-mannered of your commenters

    Fuck you! I’m among the most mild-mannered of his commenters, you asswipe!

  34. 34.

    burnspbesq

    July 11, 2011 at 11:09 pm

    @Steeplejack:
    @TooManyJens:

    Get a room, you two.

  35. 35.

    Admiral_Komack

    July 11, 2011 at 11:09 pm

    “Settling in for a night of tv. Looking forward to that new show Alphas on SyFy, even though it still pisses me off they renamed that network to the new ridiculous name.”

    -I like SyFy better than Fox.

  36. 36.

    sukabi

    July 11, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    @ Michael Bersin

    Cantor’s just trying to make some money… he’s shorting the US… if we default he makes a killing…

  37. 37.

    Steeplejack

    July 11, 2011 at 11:14 pm

    @TooManyJens:

    That’s it! To the moon, Alice! To the moon! [Menacing fist shake]

  38. 38.

    Suffern ACE

    July 11, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    After running around for months screaming that the debt ceiling is a crisis, I wish they would take a vote and die if it pains them so much to do the country’s business.

  39. 39.

    JGabriel

    July 11, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    @TooManyJens:

    Fuck you! I’m among the most mild-mannered of his commenters, you asswipe!

    No, goddamn it, I am the most mild-mannered motherfucker out there, and if any cocksucker wants to fuck with me about it, I’ll bitch their shit up!

    .

  40. 40.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    July 11, 2011 at 11:39 pm

    .
    .
    Fortunately, raising the Social Security qualification age to 67 is not a benefits cut. You get exactly the same benefit. You just have to wait a couple more years to begin receiving it. IIRC, President Obama promised exactly that during his campaign, so CTFD. Without question, you will be able to purchase the exact same brand of cat food, after only two years of waiting, so consider the future won, and remember to vote for President Obama’s re-election with gratitude and good cheer.
    .
    .

  41. 41.

    Bnad

    July 11, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    What’s supposed to happen (and what the bond markets anticipate even today, from the looks of the 10 year T bill rate) is that the Democrats cave and gut Medicare. Social Security is an unanticipated side benefit now that Obama has put it on the table. Whatever happens, I’m just wondering: are the reporters fluffing the cutters, obscuring the facts, and horse racing the story really that secure in their finances that they are on the Galtian Overlord side even on this one? Don’t any of them have parents/grandparents in nursing homes paid for by Medicaid? Or have we thoroughly enough screened out the working class from our national reporting jobs that the reporters pretty much are themselves Galtian overlords?

  42. 42.

    Walker

    July 12, 2011 at 1:30 am

    Syfy is an actual word in Polish. It is the plural form of “crap”.

    I think the channel is aptly named.

  43. 43.

    Tracy

    July 12, 2011 at 12:52 pm

    SyFy = Failure to realize that sci-fi is a niche market and is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ‘trendy and relevant’. It friggin Science Fiction. The ‘cool kids’ are never gonna get it and you only piss off the rest of us who actually understand the genre.
    As far as SyFy being Polish for ‘crap’… I can’t argue with that for the majority of the programming. Especially anything produced by said network.

  44. 44.

    tonnes

    July 12, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    correct -they had to make sure none of the wrestling network fans thought it had any relation to Science Fiction.
    Next up – truck pulls…

    60 gallons of Old Rocket bourbon does sound good about now…

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