Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

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

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

The willow is too close to the house.

“woke” is the new caravan.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

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

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

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Reader Interactions

223Comments

  3. 3.

    kindness

    Well the smell of fresh baked/baking bread should relax you.

    Nice product John. Did you make enough for all of us?

  8. 8.

    Violet

    I’m going to make cherry clafoutis tonight. I can’t stop buying cherries and I got a cherry pitter for my birthday, so it’s time to put to use. Never made it before, so I hope it comes out okay.

  11. 11.

    replicnt6

    @jibeaux:

    I’d have to say you’re not exactly appreciating the peculiar charm of this blog, as it were.

    I think Derfred is part of the peculiar charm of this blog. He’s that crazy street person on the corner always yelling about the DJIA. You know the guy I’m talking about. He’s a local institution. An institution that smells like pee.

  13. 13.

    Elie

    @Josie:

    I hear that! I love bread but it immediately deposits in all the wrong places…

    Like they say: “Eat it today, wear it tomorrow”

  14. 14.

    ruemara

    why is WP eating my posts? is anyone else seeing them?
    FUWP.

    Pardon me for using this as an open thread, but I’m using precious work break time and have to buckle down and accomplish things. Plus this is a shitty situation, so a toilet thread is apropos. I don’t know if many people are aware of this situation, but a gay couple in SF are facing their marriage being split up by ICE, thanks to their interpretation of DOMA. If you’re of a mind to help out, I’ve written a set of letters you can send out with addresses on the top. You can copy them, add your name, & efax or print and mail. It would be most appreciated. advocacy letter

    It’s something to do besides bitching and it can be very effective. It took me half an hour to write and less than 8 minutes to print, pop it into an envelope and mail, so there, I’ve saved you half an hour. TIA!

  15. 15.

    Violet

    In good news, “Kate plus 8” is being canceled. I guess even going camping on Sarah Palin’s reality show couldn’t save the show.

  20. 20.

    Ash Can

    @replicnt6: Yes, part of the peculiar charm of this joint is having the Internet equivalent of the odd stew bum or vagrant show up here and there, I suppose.

  22. 22.

    The Worst Person In the World

    Taken in thru squinted eyes, Cole’s bread photo reads as an abstract, yeast-based portrait of a pair of sagging male glutes. Note the width of, and the dark invitation presented by the very wide CRACK between the loaves.

    Nothing happens by accident.

    Ergo: Additional evidence in support of my Cole Is A Closet Case and Screaming Emo Queen theory.

  23. 23.

    Monkeyhawk

    Nicely done.

    I’m a cook, not a baker. Cooks can add stuff along the way. Bakers have to get it right before it goes into the oven.

  24. 24.

    The Dangerman

    Can’t we have a 2 for 1 and bake while baked (this always involves brownies, I hear)…

  25. 25.

    waratah

    Bread looks looks great! Next step cinnamon rolls. Nothing better than home made cinnamon rolls and not much more work than baking bread.

  26. 26.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    Rick Perry wrote a book called F’ed Up? That’s funny because it’s true.

    I hope Ginni doesn’t write one called Coke’d Up. That wouldn’t be funny at all even though it’s true.
    .
    .

  27. 27.

    Josie

    @Elie: Exactly. I have learned to freeze it immediately after slicing and to limit myself to 1 or 2 pieces per day, max.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Baking relaxes me, I find.

    I find that kneading the dough is good for my soul. I just pretend to have a Republican neck in my hands and….

  31. 31.

    jacy

    @replicnt6:

    We used to have a guy like that who sat on the bench outside the public library, wearing a pith helmet and eating jello with his hands. At least he had a few more talking points than Derf.

    ETA – I forgot about “Crazy Apocalyptic Produce Guy” who used to stock veggies at the local Piggly Wiggly and mutter to passersby about how soon the “streets would run red with blood.” I guess he was too crazy even for the Piggly Wiggly and does not work there any more.

  33. 33.

    Kathi

    I’ve got a KitchenAid with dough hooks but I’ve never used them because I get so much satisfaction out of kneading dough by hand. By the time it’s baby-butt soft, I’ve (at least temporarily) worked out all my aggression about tea partiers and the economy. Agree with waratah about the cinnamon rolls. Also, when you’re feeling confident enough, try making croissants with brown sugar, cinnamon & chopped pecans mixed into the butter between the layers. A little more work but heaven!

  35. 35.

    Amir Khalid

    @ruemara:
    Um, you are in an open thread, actually. No need to apologize. Can’t join in a petition to help the poor couple since I’m not in America; but I did note from the story that their Congressional rep is Nancy Pelosi, and she’s taking up the cudgels on their behalf, which seems a good omen. My fingers are crossed for them.

    @The Worst Person In the World:
    Do I see T-roll with a yen for soft toys?

  36. 36.

    jl

    Nice bread.

    Cole is more disciplined than I am. That puny amount of fresh baked bread would not last long enough to be photographed.

    Has Cole eaten any of it yet? Is it edible as well as pretty?

    I could say that maybe Cole’s upcoming complaints about (Edit: even more) weight gain will tell us how well the bread goes down the gullet, but that would be uncivil. So I won’t say that.

  37. 37.

    Dee Loralei

    I made a great oregano and onion bread last night. It made two round loaves, we ate on one with our lasagna and I froze the other to later make a muffaletta. Was nummy good stuff.

    Also, I used the last of the fresh ricotta I made in the lasagna, and I’m telling you, it was a revelation. As God is my witness, I shall never use store bought ricotta again!

    ETA:And Dude, the upside down muffin tin used instead of a wire rack for cooling is both innovative and quite silly. I love it!

  43. 43.

    BarbCat

    The magic of image/text pairing: I read the ever-changing subtitle as, “Hot Air and Ill Informed Batter.” Yes, I’ve made bread with wayward batter before. It went a-rye.

  45. 45.

    quannlace

    Considering your views on the looooong, slow slog to the 2012 elections, I’m glad you’re compiling ways to relax.
    ******
    I’m an avid baker too. I sojourn on with my old Cuisinart even though it can only hold the dough for one loaf at a time.
    My favorites; Honey Whole Wheat. Oatmeal Molasses. Rosemary Foccacia
    And Cheddar Cheese Bread. The recipe is simplicity itself, but everybody goes wild over it.

    And Cole, you should try homemade dog biscuits. Your canines will call you blessed.

  47. 47.

    elftx

    Can anyone direct me to a site with a simple two loaf bread recipe ? It has been many many many moons since I baked any and just looking at Cole’s bread is sooo mouthwatering I would like to try again.

  48. 48.

    General Stuck

    This relaxes me

    “This used to be a Republican policy,” he told the audience. “Suddenly it’s like they’ve got amnesia.” Then, in a mocking tone he mimicked his critics: “Oh, this is terrible! This is going to take away our freedom!”

    And a candygram to the Supreme Court

    Obama was bullish about the chances of that element being maintained. “If the Supreme Court upholds precedent, it should be upheld without a problem,” he said. “If it does not, then we’ll have to manage that when it happens.”

    And if the Supreme’s rule against the mandate, al la the 11th circuit

    The President said that even if the individual mandate component was struck down, there would still be plenty in the bill to help ensure “insurance companies don’t jerk you around.” He listed “fine print” issues, the ending of “lifetime caps,” and the tackling of “preexisting condition” disclaimers as key “patients’ rights” that would stay even if the individual mandate was lost.

    We hear a lot around here about how the president is wimpy and “won’t fight”, and all the other little emasculating quips from our progressive betters on how they could do a better job that Obama. I plan to put up comments like this about everyday, to bury that motherfuckin” myth deep down.

    Anybody don’t like it, they can eat shit or ban me.

    Yours truly, Have a Nice Day

  49. 49.

    kideni

    I can almost smell those loaves. There’s nothing like whacking good bread dough around the board to release the tensions of the day. Freeform loaves are even more fun, since you can play around with shapes and sizes. The only way I stayed sane through my grad school prelims was making bread a couple of times a week; at least I was making something tangible during those months of cramming concepts, information, and literature reviews into my brain.

  50. 50.

    schrodinger's cat

    @elftx: Have you tried the no-knead recipe? I have tried many variations and it always comes out well. You do have to plan in advance though.

  53. 53.

    eemom

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Cole is like the best-kept secret in single womandom. The pickins iz awful slim out there when it comes to politically conscious, animal-loving, house-cleaning guys who like to cook. Dunno why some lovely lady ain’t snapped him up yet.

    Timmeh, this is where you come in…..

  54. 54.

    FlipYrWhig

    @kideni:

    The only way I stayed sane through my grad school prelims was making bread a couple of times a week

    I should have tried that. When I came home from one of my rounds of prelims, I put my fist through the drywall in my apartment.

  55. 55.

    Worked2Death

    My Dad’s (80) been baking bread for 40 years.

    There’s nothing like being a college student, poor, broke, and hungry, and opening your refrigerator to find 5 loves of your father’s experimental cheese bread that was forced upon you.

    Thanks, Dad!

  61. 61.

    Arclite

    Cooking in general relaxes me. And you get to consume the end result which is usually made to one’s exact taste.

  63. 63.

    TG Chicago

    Andrew Sullivan:

    If we had spent a fraction of time we spent debating non-existent WMDs worrying about credit default swaps, we’d be in much better shape today.

    Waaaaait a second, he’s acting like the WMD debate was a waste of time? Well, it kinda was. Because there wasn’t any evidence they existed, and that should have been clear to all.

    But suppose we had been widely debating credit default swaps. Want to guess how that debate would have gone?

    Some dirty fucking hippies would have said there was a potential problem that requires more regulation. The VSPs would have all trusted the mighty invisible hand of the market and would have said that the hippies were barking at the moon. And Sullivan would have agreed.

    In other words, it would have been just like the Iraq debate.

    But of course Sully now thinks that debate was a waste of time. The fact that he was on the side that was wasting the time never occurs to him.

  65. 65.

    scav

    HA! Just got to seriously play with a strongly teabagger-favorable push-poll. Decided to go with the peg the left-wing meter rather than the maximize the variance attack. Got the poor cubical-bound reader to giggle though when I gave my political affiliation as “Grumpy”. My second run at the Peach granita recipe I gave a few days ago is stellar AND I have a seriously clean stove. Today: I think I’ll keep it.

  66. 66.

    Elliecat

    @General Stuck:

    Then, in a mocking tone he mimicked his critics: “Oh, this is terrible! This is going to take away our freedom!”

    More please!

    I plan to put up comments like this about everyday, to bury that motherfuckin” myth deep down.

    Excellent.

  67. 67.

    TooManyJens

    @TG Chicago:

    But of course Sully now thinks that debate was a waste of time. The fact that he was on the side that was wasting the time never occurs to him.

    Motherfucker! After calling those of us who opposed his “war on which I believe the future of liberty hangs” fifth columnists, he has the cockhammering nerve to write this?

  70. 70.

    Dee Loralei

    @schrodinger’s cat: 2 qts whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat til instant read therm is 185. Take off heat. Stir in 3 TBL white vinegar for 30 seconds. Stir in 1 tsp salt for 30 seconds. Cover and let sit in pan for 2 hours at room temp. Line a colander or sieve with several layers of cheese cloth, overlapping the edges. Lift out curds from milk and put in cheese cloth, place over a bowl and wrap ends of cheese clothe and twist and seal with a rubber band.( I just dump everything into the colander and let the whey and water pass through, then I put the colander in the bowl. And you pat it to gently push out more of the liquid every once in awhile for 30 minutes or so, and then it’s ready to eat or refrigerate.

    Super easy and Oh My God, it is better than any ricotta you ever bought. It’s light and airy and smooth and has an entirely different mouth feel. Seriously, cold or warm or melted, it’s like eating a fluffy milk cloud.

    If you’re gonna use it for something sweet this recipe is perfect, if you want something savory, it needs a bit more salt, either in what you put it in or in the ricotta itself.

  71. 71.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @eemom:

    Cole is like the best-kept secret in single womandom. The pickins iz awful slim out there when it comes to politically conscious, animal-loving, house-cleaning guys who like to cook.

    Is that sorta thing in demand?

  73. 73.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @General Stuck:

    I plan to put up comments like this about everyday, to bury that motherfuckin” myth deep down.

    If you think that will help.. OTOH, you’ve got to consider practically every sentient human being on Balloon Juice (that isn’t already in yer cheerleading squad) already thinks yer damned near retarded based on your frequent episodes here and will therefore likely be unswayed by your hostile and petty boosterism on behalf of your preznit mancrush.

    You could prolly do better by the President by digging a hole and crawling in it until after the 2012 elections have passed.

  77. 77.

    geg6

    I hate baking. Too much like chemistry. All conditions must be right. And you have to measure!

    I’m a cook. My John will do some baking, but he doesn’t do bread (with the exceptions of zucchini bread or banana bread and the like). He also does the canning. Right this minute, he’s making sauerkraut from our cabbage. Yummy.

    Complete insanity at work. Athletes move in tomorrow. International and Puerto Rican students on Wednesday. Freshmen on Thursday. Upper classmen on Friday. And with the sole exception of the international students? Every. Single. One. Has. A. Student. Aid. Problem. I’m fucked all week.

  79. 79.

    JGabriel

    @Worked2Death:

    There’s nothing like being a college student, poor, broke, and hungry, and opening your refrigerator to find 5 loves of your father’s experimental cheese bread …

    Experimental? I’m suddenly imagining 5 loaves of talking mutant bread — bickering, giving dating advice, and complaining about the mold in wacky Hollywood sitcom fashion.

    .

  80. 80.

    gbear

    This talk about baking and kneading reminds me of a short film festival I saw on TV many many years ago. One of the films was called ‘Popin’ Death’. It started out with a woman slamming a container of pre-made dough on a counter edge in very slow motion with a look of total rage on her face. It then moved on to her kneading the dough also in slow motion with a face showing total sensual ecstasy. It finished up with a closeup of the window on an oven door and the sound of gas. Popin’ Fresh appears at the door trying to get someone’s attention to let him out. His pleas become more and more desperate but still the only sound is the gas oven. No one can hear him. It ends with poor Popin’ Fresh turning golden brown (just like John’s loaves) and falling over dead in the oven. It was so funny but so sad.

    Sorry for sounding so much like Brick Oven Bill…

  82. 82.

    trollhattan

    @TooManyJens:

    Jeepers, as rants go I think this one is just swell.

    (I agree, too, but simply can’t yell that well. Sully’s devolved into a waste of a bag o’ skin, giving him credit for the torture stuff that once made him useful.)

  86. 86.

    General Stuck

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    LOL, mental giant fuckhead chimes in. Like I said, eat shit. Walking all over your stupid ass is like walking on sunshine. You got nothing but hate, and a pack of crackers you couldn’t gather 2 working brain cells between them.

    Why don’t you sign up for your true heart republicans, fuckhead. Just think how proud yer momma would be seeing you finally become who you are. Fuckers like you get hard for a presnit Perry, then come here with the psycho bends that no one but you is a real dem so let’s show em and help the winguts win. Fucking whackjob.

  90. 90.

    JPL

    Since this is an open thread, the Sunday Magazine section had an article on search and rescue dogs who worked 9/11. Link

    I apologize if this has been mentioned before but since there are so many animal lovers, repeats are okay.

  91. 91.

    nellcote

    @trollhattan:

    I can’t imagine why a group of Republicans would call out Colbert,

    Any word on whether the PArry votes were included with the PErry votes?

  92. 92.

    Canuckistani Tom

    @JGabriel:

    Experimental? I’m suddenly imagining 5 loaves of talking mutant bread — bickering, giving dating advice, and complaining about the mold in wacky Hollywood sitcom Muppet fashion.

    Fixed

  93. 93.

    Worked2Death

    First day in Jazzercise: me, male, and 12 over-40 ladies.
    The instructor introduces me, “… and he cooks, can repair fences and vacuums, single…”
    12 ladies: “Oh, la la!”
    Me: “please, please, the instructor is my girlfriend.”
    12 ladies: “Phooey!”
    Once small voice from the back: “I’ve got a Jag, sweetie”

  94. 94.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @waratah:

    My DH loves my home baked cinnamon rolls and with a bread machine handy for making the dough they are no more difficult than the crappy Pilsbury ones. On Christmas morning as a gift to my neighbor (who has a posse of adopted kids) I bake up a huge batch of cinnamon rolls and freshly made doughnuts so she doesn’t have to think about breakfast. She loves it.

  95. 95.

    aisce

    @ stuck

    Anybody don’t like it, they can eat shit or ban me.

    who exactly is threatening to ban you? persecution complex much?

    does anybody think it’s funny that the president might be going with “country first” as one of his campaign themes? politics are silly.

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    @nellcote:

    I trust we’ll hear something tonight from the mighty Colbert Nation’s Iowa brigades or somesuch. That Des Moines station played into his hands perfectly, not accepting his ads.

  98. 98.

    Amir Khalid

    A school district in Virginia has banned Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes’ debut) over the depiction of Mormons in the flashback, which was deemed derogatory. They’re replacing it with The Hound of The Baskervilles.
    Haven’t read A Study in Scarlet since I was 12. But from what I remember of it, a ban seems harsh.

  99. 99.

    The Spy Who Loved Me

    He mops, he cooks and bakes, he cleans naked; someday, John Cole will make someone a wonderful wife.

  102. 102.

    aisce

    @ persecuted stuck

    you didn’t answer the question. who do you think is going to ban you? or are you just screaming into the void?

    or is it the pie filter you apparently dread? poor stuck, finding his mind so heavily burdened with balloon juice intrigue. you made a wise choice in preemptively striking back against all those nasty firebaggers who are out to get you and destroy you and ruin this site that you love so very much.

    just admit that nobody is gonna ban you or stop you from saying whatever you like as often as you like. you’re not persecuted, and there is no firebagger cancer that is killing balloon juice that we’re all looking to you to cure.

    shit, at least don quixote had an actual windmill. all you’ve got are pixels.

  103. 103.

    Cat Lady

    I’ve been thinking about this all day. Is it really possible that Michelle Bachmann had no idea when she started running for president that everyone but her would take one look at Marcus and say to themselves hey look at Michelle’s husband, he’s Gayest McGayee in his Do-Mi-Do-Duds and he spends his life trying to pray it away. She’s starting to run away from her own crowds now, and similar stories of her running away from random “threatening” people says to me that she is maybe the most unself-aware person on the planet. Wouldn’t Ed Rollins tell her, hey Michelle, Marcus strikes everyone as gay, and you’re going to hear that everywhere you go, so develop a strategy. Instead, she deep throats a corn dog. This is not going to end well for her.

  104. 104.

    PurpleGirl

    @Violet: Now they just have to cancel the Duggars. Let the Duggars pay for their huge family themselves and stop grifting. (I don’t want even a penny of my cable payment to go to them.)

  105. 105.

    cathyx

    I know I’m late to the thread, but if John is at all worried about his weight, he shouldn’t be making bread unless he’s giving it away to a soup kitchen.

  106. 106.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @aisce:

    shit, at least don quixote had an actual windmill.

    lolz

    Stuck can be a little dramatic but his heart is in the right place: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

  107. 107.

    General Stuck

    @aisce:

    or are you just screaming into the void?

    More like howling at the moon, with at least a dash of tongue and cheek, and you jumped from that to ‘who is threatening to ban me” and “persecuted”. Same shit as yesterday, reading things into my comments a couple of times, that I didn’t say, nor suggest. Stop it. And the smarmy mind reading of motive. You aren’t near smart enough for that.

  108. 108.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    @Generically Stuck:

    We hear a lot around here about how the president is wimpy and “won’t fight”, and all the other little emasculating quips from our progressive betters on how they could do a better job that Obama. I plan to put up comments like this about everyday, to bury that motherfuckin” myth deep down.

    I certainly hope that you find enough material each and every day. Up until now, those goshdarned firebaggers must have simply misinterpretated the language our fiercely advocative president has been positively haranguing the country with for the past three years.

    LOL, mental giant fuckhead chimes in. Like I said, eat shit. Walking all over your stupid ass is like walking on sunshine. You got nothing but hate, and a pack of crackers you couldn’t gather 2 working brain cells between them.

    You have a bit of the Fierce Advocate Against H-A-T-E about you, as your loving language attests to the world. President Obama must admire you above all his (p)sycophants.
    .
    .

  109. 109.

    elftx

    Thanks to Schrodinger and Jefferyw for the tips.

    Next goofy question is…what kinda mixers do you all use???
    I’m on a limited budget these days as are most (but would consider quality over price), which is why I am considering baking our bread..cuz I’m home all the time now and just sit on my bfa reading the intertubes.

  110. 110.

    General Stuck

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Maybe you could recruit aisce for your gang fuckhead, he is about as clueless as you are. Might even be one of those high brow “sentient beings” you are touting as enlightened souls on BJ. LOL, Clowns are funny, mostly.

  111. 111.

    Sko Hayes

    The problem with being single and loving to bake is that you have to start giving away your product or it gets eaten. I’ve turned to cooking to save (what’s left of) my figure.
    Those are some gorgeous loaves of bread, John.

  114. 114.

    moe99

    @Amir Khalid: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was reacting to real world events in A Study in Scarlet . Mormonism took hold in England and there were many more converts there than in the US, causing hard feelings as families broke up and the converts emigrated to Utah.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/immig_emig/england/south_yorkshire/article_1.shtml

    Plus events such as the Mountain Meadow Massacre were part of Mormon history that they are as sensitive about as the Turks about the Armenian genocide.

  116. 116.

    p.a.

    I’ll add this link for no-knead bread, fully aware that for John the kneading my provide psychological and not just culinary benefits.

    p.s. Nice loaves.

  117. 117.

    Dee Loralei

    @Elie: It’s incredibly easy, takes max 3 hours from start to finish, and that’s only if you have to run to the store for the whole milk, heavy cream, cheese cloth and thermometer. LOL

    First night I served it as an appetizer, bruschetta with tomatoes and basil and garlic. Next time I’m gonna serve it with lemon peel and honey and heat it for a bit.

    And next pasta I’m gonna make is either stuff it in ravioli or tortellini and make a sauce with oven roasted tomatoes and…. I haven’t gone further than that with my planning.

    And I’m definitely going to use it to make either a vegetarian lasagna or a white lasagna sometime when it gets cooler.

    Dear lord, I sound like a fanatic.

  120. 120.

    TooManyJens

    @cathyx: I’m sorry, but that just seems really unnecessary. I get that some people’s bodies don’t process carbohydrates all that well, but a) that doesn’t mean everybody’s like that and b) the man is learning how to make nice things for himself — why do you have to piss on that?

  121. 121.

    Amir Khalid

    @Cat Lady:
    I suspect that this is true of most or even all of the remaining Republican presidential field (other than Spineless Romney and Huntsman Who?). In any other year the Tea Party Pack would all be fringe candidates. None among them seems able to withstand serious scrutiny of their qualifications. While I wouldn’t expect their personal lives to look quite as comically suspicious as Bachmann’s, I suspect there’s still a lot more strangeness yet to be turned up in the other candidates.

  122. 122.

    eemom

    I am told there is a Broadway show now playing called The Book of Mormon. So why aren’t there mass hysterics over that?

    (why no, I don’t get out much — why do you ask?)

  123. 123.

    aisce

    @ stuck

    did you or did you not tell people that they can “eat shit or ban me?”

    what’s the point of lying about that? it’s a simple question, who do you possibly think would “ban you?” freddie de bore?

    have you ever met a firebagger worth your time or effort? of course not. they’re all racists like uncle clarence thomases, permanent protest people and disaffected leftist loons, and hillbots like corner stone.

    in short, losers. but here you are, making an ass of yourself on a daily basis. but go on, keep thinking we just get handle your righteous fury. you’re just too hot to handle.

  124. 124.

    Calouste

    @Amir Khalid:

    I have read it more recently and the Mormons are pretty much described as a totalitarian state.

    Reading between the lines “banned” seems to be rather sensasionalist journalism. It looks more like they moved it from a mandatory reading list to an elective reading list.

  125. 125.

    bemused

    @Cat Lady:

    Assuming he is gay (I’d be really shocked if he isn’t), she probably knows and has known from the start but nothing is impossible with God in your corner.

    I think it’s very funny that it didn’t seem occur to either of them that they would be asked questions over and over on his orientation or any of the other many discrepancies in their lives as if God gave them a holy shield

  126. 126.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @elftx:

    Get thee to a thrift store. Bread machines are routinely bought by people and then used once and donated, or are bought as gifts for people who use them once and then they get donated. You can routinely get $100.00 bread machines for $5.00 or $10.00 at any local thrift store. Right now I have three, one that I use regularly and two back ups that I store in the garage. (They are not really built to be used more than a couple of times a week so they tend to die after being exhausted by really regular use). When the one I am using dies I get one of my back ups and then go out to the local thrift stores to buy my back up back up. I have all sorts of fun with them, as really there is no end of things that you can bake or cook with them. One of my DHs favorite things is a Ham and Swiss Roll Up (almost like a home made Hot Pocket), I have made the same thing using beef, mushrooms and cheddar, Chicken, mushrooms and smoked gouda, and even pepperoni, mushrooms and mozarella as a sort of Stromboli. The possibilities are endless.

    PS) OT The Quitta from Wasilla is Quittin again!

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61435.html

  131. 131.

    TooManyJens

    @cathyx: No, I’m not new here. I just thought that was rude. (Which, now that I think about it, makes me sound like I’m new here.)

    Low-carb evangelism annoys me just like any other kind of evangelism. People’s bodies are different, and what works for one person might not work for another. I lost 45 pounds and I didn’t have to give up bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, any of it.

  133. 133.

    cathyx

    @Litlebritdifrnt: It sounds to me like Sarah isn’t getting the media attention she wanted, or thought she would get. She has to go home and regroup. Except, I thought she moved to Arizona.

  134. 134.

    General Stuck

    @aisce:

    in short, losers. but here you are, making an ass of yourself on a daily basis.

    LOL, maybe you should look into the mirror there, grasshopper. Another boorish scold. Jeebus, one leaves, and another pops up.

    edit – no mo nice guy after this comment.

  138. 138.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @cathyx:

    At some point people who donate to her PAC are going to realize that she is simply taking family vacations on their dime. Each time the bus tour begins the fanz over at C4P are all “OMG this is it! She is going to announce!” and then they are crushed once again when she does not. I suspect the next bus tour will be an island skipping trip of the US Virgin Islands. At some point those sad saps over at C4P are gonna stop donating when they realize that they could have paid for a vacation for themselves with everything they have donated to SaraPac.

  140. 140.

    JPL

    @cathyx: Well she’s a grandmother again so maybe she wants to spend time bonding with the new baby.

    Litlebrit.. Maybe her grifting days are coming to an end.

  143. 143.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @General Stuck:

    edit – no mo nice guy after this comment.

    What does that look like Stuck? You started out by launching a preemptive attack on the enemies in your imagination, loudly telling them to eat shit or ban you, followed up by a profanity laced assault on me for pointing out you are retarded (call me Captain Obvious), continued with attacks on several other commenters and now yer the motherfucking victim that’s gonna have to resort to meanness?

    Jesus man, go take yer meds and play with a hummingbird. You’re a motherfucking trainwreck.

  145. 145.

    WaterGirl

    @Jenny: Love the second photo! Yeah, that Obama is stiff and humorless, all right.

    Edit: he really is too good for where our crappy country is right now.

  151. 151.

    NobodySpecial

    Is this the part where we start mocking Stuck for his embrace of the bully pulpit?

  152. 152.

    Davis X. Machina

    One of the reasons that I’m running for president is I want to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of the United States respects highly the president of the United States. Rick Perry.

    In 2008, Mark Penn went there, but Hillary didn’t — mostly; John McCain mostly didn’t — but his surrogates certainly did.

    We’re all gonna go there again, though.

    No black man can tell a white man what to do.

  153. 153.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    These people are Palin fans because they’re natural marks. They won’t realize this, they can’t. People who frequent this site saw through her instantly, and knew precisely what she is. Peggy Noonan saw it at the RNC, and in a moment of open mike candor, conceded the election to Obama.

  154. 154.

    General Stuck

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    See you are a mind meld with the twit aisce. And it wasn’t a preemptive attack, it was a moment of truth on the ongoing river of bullshit plopped down from fuckwits like you. And if you don’t like it, you can just eat shit, like I said. Which apparently you don’t like it. And it was nice of you, and uncle clarence, the aisce, to grab the fucking bait and run with it. And in doing so stamped the stupid sign on your rear ends. Now go back to pining for Obama to lose and the wingers to win. That is all you are about on this blog, fuckhead, that and swallowing flame bait whole, and making it yours, and getting all butthurt about it. Like I said, Clowns are funny, mostly.

    edit – and now you can add Nobody Special to the list of morons coming out of the woodwork.

  157. 157.

    Worked2Death

    Two Loaves (apol. to Lord Alfred Douglas)
    Then sighing, said the other, ‘Have thy will,
    I am the loaf that dare not speak its name.’

  161. 161.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @JPL:

    Each bread machine uses different recipes for bread but for dough (when the machine just does the hard work of making the dough without all the kneading) I think that you can pretty much use any dough recipe, here is my Cinnamon Roll recipe:

    1 Cup water
    2 Tablespoons marg or butter (I use smart balance)
    1 egg (I use eggmates)
    3 1/3 cups bread flour
    1/4 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon salt
    3 teaspoons yeast

    Margarine (I use Smart Balance again)
    Sugar
    Cinnamon
    Powdered Sugar
    Water

    Place ingredients into the bread pan in the order listed (liquids first) hit the “dough” button on the machine and let it do its thing until it goes “ping”. Sprinkle flour on your rolling surface. Flour rolling pin. Empty risen dough onto rolling surface and roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2″ thick. Spread butter (I use Smart balance) all over dough. Sprinkle sugar evenly over dough and then sprinkle cinnamon on top of sugar (or you can just use cinnamon sugar). Roll up jelly roll style and then slice into 1″ slices. Place on baking pan cover and let rise (my recipe says for 1 to 1 and 1/4 hours but if I did that I would have rolls the size of small cats, I generally let mine rise for about 30 minutes). Heat oven (I use a toaster oven) to 375. Bake rolls 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Mix some powdered sugar with water enough to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls. Serve.

  163. 163.

    General Stuck

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    That was a comment to aisce, you dumbshit. Because i basically like aisce, and don’t want to get ‘mean”, as you say, for following me around the last couple of days, reading shit into my comments that isn’t there and scolding me about it.

    As far as you go, it is all open hostilities, all the time, as you once said, “that we hate each other”. That is a bit strong from my side, because I think now there is just something very wrong with you. And who launched the preemptive attack on this thread? Why it was you, or course. From a comment that was not directed at any individual, but you raised your hand and launched another half baked attack, that was pure fuckheadian, and personal, then deny that is what you did. That is why I think there is something very wrong with you. you seem to have no self awareness whatsoever.

  164. 164.

    askew

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Ben Smith at Politico made a comment recently about soldiers not respecting Obama. So, I expect we’ll be hearing more of this come election time. It’s the same crap they pulled against John Kerry.

  166. 166.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Davis X. Machina:

    I saw that yesterday and about had a fit. That dog whistle was so damn loud my dogs had a fit. Of course the damn facts be damned, the troops donated to Obama 3 to 1 over McCain.

    Sad news Larry O’Donnel’s mom died yesterday, she was 93. I’d like to think she took great pride in watching her boy on the TV every day fighting the good fight.

  167. 167.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @askew:

    Like a sniveling little sack of never served Villager shit knows anything about how the military views Obama.

    This crap that military people feel “a special affection” for the Commander in Chief that the Bushite vermin were pushing in reference to the deserting coward is just that, crap.

  171. 171.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @General Stuck:

    because I think now there is just something very wrong with you.

    That is why I think there is something very wrong with you. you seem to have no self awareness whatsoever.

    lmfao

    You do the preemptive bullying bit, curse everyone, pretend you’re gonna be banned then follow up with your shrieking harpy bit, fall on the fainting couch for a few minutes, go back to cursing and carrying on, threaten to trot out Badass Stuck and I’m the one that lacks self-awareness?

  172. 172.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    OOOps I forgot to say that the break in the ingredients was to differentiate the dough stuff from the filling and topping stuff. Not sure what would happen if you put EVERYTHING in the machine all at once and then made it. Hmmmm might have to try that for grins and giggles.

  173. 173.

    aisce

    @ “eat shit or ban me” stuck

    Because i basically like aisce

    sigh. well, now i need to reevaluate my life. didn’t see that one coming.

  177. 177.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @aisce:

    sigh. well, now i need to reevaluate my life. didn’t see that one coming.

    You don’t have to give it too much thought as it has nothing to do with you as a person. Stuck bestows blessings on those he judges to be sufficiently loyal to his preznit mancrush.

  179. 179.

    General Stuck

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    You do the preemptive bullying bit, curse everyone,

    Saying I was going to write something positive about Obama on this blog is bullying? And you went fucking crazy and went pure butthurt emoprog, and took it personal. The eat shit and ban me remark was mostly tongue and cheek, and you know it.

    Now if you can, be still and listen to these words of truth.

    I did not attack you personally, until you attacked me personally. My comment with the ‘eat shit” and “ban me” was a howling at the moon thing, I have done many times here, and you know it. Now untwist yer knickers, and go fix your face fuckhead. You started this shit with over the top emo personal attack. Deal with it.

  184. 184.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    @General Stuck:

    Can I still bring out the crazies from the woodwork, or what? Which one will parachute in next for a go? odds?

    Translation – “I’m not going to address the truth of the references to my lies and hypocrisy because they prove that I am a truly bad person – but a hell of a balloonbagger.”
    .
    .

  185. 185.

    Kristine

    @jeffreyw: Those look wonderful.

    I finally made hummus from scratch. The regular stuff with the raw minced garlic was fine, but the batch with the roasted red peppers, zucchini, and lightly sauted garlic was wonderful.

    Another thing that I will never buy ready-made again.

  187. 187.

    licensed to kill time

    @Worked2Death:

    Two Loaves (apol. to Lord Alfred Douglas)
    Then sighing, said the other, ‘Have thy will,
    I am the loaf that dare not speak its name.’

    Gawd I love the BJ commentariat :)

  188. 188.

    aisce

    @ jsf

    he judges to be sufficiently loyal to his preznit mancrush.

    this isn’t helping.

    do you want to know why blogs are so acrimonious? because one side is genuinely in the wrong. yours.

    am i the kind of guy that fingers myself to pictures of the president, like some people in this thread? no.

    is barack obama the finest president we’ve had in my lifetime? unquestionably. unquestionably. those who can’t see it are genuinely wrong. just dead wrong. he is our teddy roosevelt, in the way he will shape the century to come. when they put his monument on the national mall, i hope it’s in sight of the lincoln memorial and the new mlk one, for all that he means to this nation. that people simply refuse to appreciate here in the moment, because of temporary monetary distractions, is disappointing, but better judgment will ultimately prevail. is the president perfect? nope. but every mistake he’s made, one of his predecessors has also done, but 10x worse.

    the president deserves better support than the blogs have provided. especially from those who claim to be his biggest fans. hi stuck.

  189. 189.

    General Stuck

    the president deserves better support than the blogs have provided. especially from those who claim to be his biggest fans. hi stuck.

    Ever body got an asshole and opinion. Yours is nothing special. And neither is mine. Life goes on.

  190. 190.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @aisce: My side? Which side is that? The one that doesn’t write long and passionate paeans to the finest president we’ve had in my lifetime?

    Ya got me there.

  191. 191.

    Anne Laurie

    @Amir Khalid:

    Haven’t read A Study in Scarlet since I was 12. But from what I remember of it, a ban seems harsh.

    Ha! When I was around that age & first reading Study in Scarlet, I thought the Mormon flashback was an over-the-top attempt to attract the penny-dreadful crowd. I didn’t learn about the actual Mountain Meadow Massacre until years later — it’s one of the shameful incidents in American history that was successfully “repressed” for more than a century. Nice, “religious” white people killing other white people… it wasn’t usually an official banning, just One of Those Things Polite Historians Chose Not to Discuss.

  192. 192.

    Elie

    @Dee Loralei:

    Dee — You are singing my tune, girl friend. I am all over that…

    Fresh, natural ingredients that speak for themselves — that is the ticket and the heart of all good cookin…

    I truly believe that if we took time to savor the food that we eat, and enjoy the process of preparing it and the pleasures of eating it, we would not have time for the mountain of bullshit we so often have in life. Food is not only nurturance and appreciation of the senses, but actually spiritually important. Sometimes for example, having a slice of fresh, ripe tomato is like going to heaven by itself — if you take time…

    We live in heavy dairy country and its really a gas driving by the fields where I see “the girls” hanging out, chewing their cuds in prep for the milk they produce. Golden Guernseys make this fabulous sweet milk and their yogurt is to die for.

    Anyway, I go on so cause I get upset by reading all the conflict so remembering the “important things” makes me babble a bit.

    Thank you for sharing your ricotta recipe. I will let you know how it turns out….

  193. 193.

    aisce

    @ jsf

    a while back, i was browsing this site’s archives during the 2008 campaign just to see what it was like back then, and this stood out at me.

    My wife and I celebrated our twenty year wedding anniversary today. Got married August 28, 1988. Can’t tell you what we did the last 19 anniversaries but we’ll always remember what we did this one. Wow. Just wow.

    https://balloon-juice.com/2008/08/28/speech-open-thread/#comment-1012696

    poor fuckhead. obama broke your heart, didn’t he?

    oh well, at least you’ll always have that magic anniversary.

  196. 196.

    aisce

    @ fuckhead

    you and stuck are basically the same person. when confronted by your own words, call somebody an obot/firebagger and an idiot and then flee.

  197. 197.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @aisce: You don’t see how the remark you made was simple, the product of Obotty binary thinking?

    Flee? Not so much.

  198. 198.

    eemom

    @aisce:

    ok, so now Fuckhead thinks you are Stuck, and you think Fuckhead is Stuck, and Stuck likes you, and you like Obama.

    SO glad I’m a girl and immune to all this crazy repressed homoerotic man-shit.

  199. 199.

    aisce

    what binary thinking?

    you tried to be too cool for school in saying it’s totally lame and fanboyish to say nice things about the president. and yet clearly your jaded cynicism wasn’t always so.

    bummer for you that not everybody is bitter and frustrated and ready to give up on obama. i can see how that would be hard to face.

  200. 200.

    aisce

    yeah, that’s right eemom, i think stuck and fuckhead are the same person playing a schizophrenic game. totally.

    or, maybe, i was saying that they were intellectual equivalents. who can tell?

    how’s your disappointment with obama’s bully pulpit working out, by the way? you’ve been on quite the firebagging bender lately.

  202. 202.

    Caz

    Then may I suggest, Mr. Cole, more baking and less blogging? You seem to be pretty good at one of them!

  203. 203.

    eemom

    @aisce:

    oh sure. I’m a firebagger now.

    Lessee — from what other Hannibal Lecter-wannabe have I heard THAT lately? hmmmmm…..

    Oh.

    So I guess if Cornered Stone told you to jump off a bridge you’d do that too, amirite?

  204. 204.

    aisce

    @ stuck

    oh come on, mr. faint of heart. i’m just howling at the moon. if you don’t like it, you can eat shit or ban me.

    @ eemom

    last i heard, you were upset the president hadn’t used his magic words to force congress to do stuff. magic words thinking is the gateway drug to firebagging.

  205. 205.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I should point out that for all his many flaws, Stuck isn’t much of a flee-er either. Would God that he would.

    As far as the nuance of whatever yer trying to hang on me, I’m not getting it. I can both enjoy a historic Democratic nomination and offer up cynical political opinions (although I did neither here.) I’m pretty complicated like that.

    You appear to have zeroed in on the comment about Stuck falling all over himself to hug on whomever he deems sufficiently loyal to Obama. That’s not me expressing any sort of opinion about Obama, but rather simple observable knowledge of Stuck. It’s his raison d’etre here: embrace team ObamaStuckRahRah, attack The Others. Ask the lovely and talented eemom how that works.

    ETA: After yer done attacking her for insufficient loyalty to President Obama.. lol.. can’t make this shit up.

  206. 206.

    Anne Laurie

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Christ, are all the Obots simpletons?

    No, some of them are just mean as skunked yard dogs and looking for easier targets. Hey, that bristly rodent over there, peacefully chewing an old axe handle, he looks like a pushover, dudes…

  207. 207.

    aisce

    After yer done attacking her for insufficient loyalty to President Obama.. lol.. can’t make this shit up.

    getting upset with the administration for being rendered impotent in the face of the house of representatives is pointless and ignorant.

    what would you have them do? open up criminal investigations on a couple dozen house members for financial improprieties and abuse of office? send a swat team of irs investigators after darrell issa and the entire florida delegation? threaten to throw boehner and cantor out of air force one?

    getting more stimulative help out of congress will not be done by force of rhetoric. it will require slow and sustained groundlaying that’s more about 2012 than anything that’s going on now, and then some odious deal making this winter. might as well deal with reality.

  208. 208.

    General Stuck

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    What are you babbling about now fuckhead, I haven’t attacked eemom for whatever her position is on Obama, and her criticisms. That are well within any bounds of good faith and nuanced critique. I don’t agree with her on many of those criticisms, but you are a lying sack of shit, trying to pull this crap and gin up conflict where there isn’t any, to detract from people who are all hate on Obama all the time. Nobody is buying your bullshit in this regard. You are an malevolent presence on this blog, making everything personal, and trying to pit people against each other.

    My loyalty is to keep a goddam democrat in the WH, Obama, or whoever, period. And I will continue to fight against folks who lie about Obama’s record here and elsewhere, and never say one damn thing positive. And claim to be good democrats. Fuckers like you, who offer nothing but lies and scorched earth criticism of the current sitting dem in the WH, going into a tough election to keep that office out of wingnut hands, are either idiots, or just nihilistic assholes that are fine with letting the wingers win and bring it all down.

    You can try and paint it as some kind of specific loyalty to Obama, the person, but you would be full of shit. Something that has been apparent for a long time.

  209. 209.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    eemom, I believe aisce is talking to you in 208. Stuck, I don’t think anyone is talking to you. You can go take a breather while aisce is on OPatrol.

  212. 212.

    eemom

    this is some fucked up shit. If it were earlier in the day I could sort it out more properly, but I’m getting too old for late night acuity.

    Suffice it to say, this aiscehole or whoever the hell he is appears to be making a feeble attempt to play off perceived “obots” against perceived “firebaggers”, just as though there is no place in the universe for subtlety, or shades of gray, or nuance, or evolving opinions, or any of that sort of THINKING shit.

    (Which again begs the question — has Cornered Stone decided to fight Nicks with Nicks? But I digress.)

    The other thing is, my good General is still my friend — just as I still support my President even as I, um, presume to gently disagree with him on occasion. Decent and honorable people don’t cast off loyalties like used socks at the slightest trace of disappointment.

    I believe it has always been an article of faith here and among anyone else who has any sense that it IS possible to respectfully disagree with the President without being a Hamsher/Greenwald/Aravosis/Riverbend/whoever the fuck else type republitard-enabling asshole. Well, the respectful disagree-ers are US and we are HERE. Deal with it.

  217. 217.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    @eemom:

    it IS possible to respectfully disagree with the President without being a Hamsher/Greenwald/Aravosis/Riverbend/whoever the fuck else type republitard-enabling asshole

    So, you agree that if one judges the president himself to be a republitard-enabling asshole, then it is perfectly fine and they have your permission to disrespectfully disagree with him. Good to know – everyone can now use you as their role model and authority on the subject. This could be your 15 minutes, better do your hair and nails.
    .
    .

  218. 218.

    aisce

    @ eemom

    unless you’re “gentle disagreement” comes with an ability to count to 217 and 60, respectively, it’s not worth the bandwidth it’s conveyed on.

    what republican officeholders are “persuadable” on the economy without paying a hefty ransom on the bush tax cuts? name names or admit you’re just mindlessly and unproductively blowing off steam.

    whatever mistakes the administration made to get us where we are now, pretty much none of them happened here in 2011.

  220. 220.

    eemom

    @Uncle Clarence Thomas:

    “better do your hair and nails”

    ok, asshole, you have now officially outed yourself as a Jane Hamsher sockpuppet.*

    Though I must admit, as tedious as you are, you are still a degree or so above her demonstrated imaginative capacity. Probly she hired some Grovequist media drone to think up a good disguise.

    *See Hamsher blog posts on the possibility of Caroline Kennedy replacing HRC as NY Senator, winter 2009.

  221. 221.

    NobodySpecial

    @aisce:

    unless you’re “gentle disagreement” comes with an ability to count to 217 and 60, respectively, it’s not worth the bandwidth it’s conveyed on.

    Considering how cheap a forum post is to make, you may be correct, but your act is weak. You sound like Burnsie without the law degree assholishness. Granted, you still sound like an asshole, but you haven’t claimed to be a lawyer for the ages yet.

  222. 222.

    The Worst Person In the World

    The content and tone of the above group of flaming, bile-filled posts is an excellent illustration of why my team of therapists and psychiatrists have advised me to cut way down on Intertron discussion boards. :P

  223. 223.

    Ruthless

    Between the baking, the wine chat, the small dogs…I’m beginning to think JC is an 80 year-old lady.

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