Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

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

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

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

We still have time to mess this up!

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

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

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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72Comments

  3. 3.

    Paddy

    Spending all my nights
    All my money going out on the town
    Doing anything just to get you off of my mind
    But when the morning comes
    I’m right back where I started again
    Trying to forget you is just a waste of time

    Baby come back, any kind of fool could see
    There was something in everything about you
    Baby come back, you can blame it all on me
    I was wrong, and I just can’t live without you

    Jesus this reminds me of a guy and a van…. When a guy with a van was sexy, not a serial killer mind you.

    PS- I hate how the html works in these comments.

  10. 10.

    Roger Moore

    I don’t think John has gone Galt. Every time he says he’s going Galt, he winds up posting eleventy posts a day. Obviously his relative lack of posts on anything substantial is a sign that he’s deeply involved in the blog for a change.

  12. 12.

    kindness

    And I sure hope those Front Pagers are having a great time running loose.

    How’s the storm treating where you are?

  13. 13.

    Paddy

    @SensesFail: Worst part is that their basis for all this is laughable. Barack Obasma a gangster? They berate him over his goofy pants, wearing a helmet while biking, and playing too MUCH golf. They could try and make a case on the basketball and Chicago links, but even those are more suburban white boy than “gansta”. Idjits.

  14. 14.

    Roger Moore

    @SensesFail:

    When will these assholes grow some balls and just come out and say, “OBAMA IS A NIGGER”?

    How can you say such a thing? Obviously, you’re the real racist for claiming that their continual dogwhistle attacks on Obama are racist. After all, only a racist like you would be able to hear a racist dogwhistle.

  17. 17.

    Roger Moore

    @efgoldman:

    Did you scroll down the page and look at the “People… also bought…” titles?

    I thought the ratings were very interesting, too. The book got a 2 1/2 star rating, but somehow all of the “most helpful” reviews were very short ones giving it 4 or 5 stars. I guess since they can’t game the rating, the wingnuts are left to game the metaratings.

  18. 18.

    Roger Moore

    @kindness:

    How’s the storm treating where you are?

    It’s ignoring me in my Left Coast hideout. Unfortunately, The Heat seems to have finally remembered us and decided that a late arrival is better than none at all.

  20. 20.

    Paddy

    @Roger Moore: Speaking of wanting to set his hair on fire and run around yelling “N, N, N!!!!!!!!”, did you see Pat Buchanan’s latest?

    Pat Buchanan: “Our president might reflect on… the overrepresentation of white males — in the caskets coming home…”

    You know, I understand part of why they keep him around on MSNBC. When they talk straight politics, he is a font of knowledge of tactics etc, but the minute you get in the neighborhood of any kind of ethnicity, all bets are off. You would think someone with such a strong Irish Catholic connection would understand what prejudice does to a people. Hell, my mom was off the boat Irish and even in the 60’s she got pegged with the labels.

  23. 23.

    Mike E

    @efgoldman:

    Was it you told her, she looks fat in those jeans?

    Nah, nuthin’ but sweet talk, except I knew she was gonna break my heart anyways… One of the trees loosened here in Mayberry by Fran 15 years ago just fell over, blocked my street and cut off power until late tomorrow (or long enough to spoil my freezer).
    Bitch!

  25. 25.

    Karen

    @SensesFail:

    They always do eventually so fear not. But until then, implying and dog whistling is more affective since implying makes people think harder. Saying the actual N word can be and is tuned out by people because it’s an ugly word saying something blunt and no thinking is involved with it.

    It’s kind of how a date of mine went. Blind date with a guy and everything was fine until he mentioned a bad area of town with black people unit. He didn’t use the N word but actually said that some of his best friends were black, really cliched but a lot of racists use that excuse to lie to themselves.

  26. 26.

    Svensker

    @Mike E:

    Sympathies!

    I was listening to Prince tonight, too, enjoying his While My Guitar Gently Weeps solo.

    Was especially enjoying it because at the same time I was watching Tom Brady get tumped frequently and viciously by the DEEEETROIT Lions. Heh. And double heh. Patsies look ruff. Snrk snrk snrk.

  27. 27.

    Corner Stone

    This one goes out to ABL, John, and all the front-pagers who have gone Galt.

    Why? You prefer this thread gets closed comments?

  29. 29.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @kindness: How’s the storm? We’re so far to the west of the track that I have the windows open and I just told my wife “Usually in a hurricane, you don’t think to yourself “That’s a nice breeze.”

    We’re forecast for about 3″ of rain, which is a 2-year bankfull (stream) event here, not a real big deal. Might get gusts up to 35 mph. Not much worse than a winter nor’easter for wind and precip.

    At least I won’t have to shovel out the driveway tomorrow!

    ETA: South Pennsylvania, west of the Susquehanna.

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    @Paddy:

    did you see Pat Buchanan’s latest?

    I try to ignore Pat Buchanan. Wow. I guess he’s trying for the Republican limbo championship, though the rest of the party has upped (lowered?) its game enough that I doubt that kind of comment will be enough to make the finals.

  34. 34.

    Mike E

    Well, if it ain’t hurricanes, icestorms, an occasional twister, the odd occurrence of martial law, then it just ain’t Dixie now, is it?
    Spits

  35. 35.

    Yutsano

    I done totally fergot the Seachickens are playing. Mariners have a home game too. No wonder I-5 was nuts heading into downtown. I studiously avoided.

  37. 37.

    Mike E

    @efgoldman:

    Wouldn’t surprise me to find significant arboreal damage

    Pines snap at the top; oaks just fall the fuck right over if they’re not rotted from the inside

  42. 42.

    Svensker

    @efgoldman:

    but it was a freaking exhibition that means nothing.

    Anytime Tom Brady is getting tumped and looking miserable isn’t nothing. It’s a whole lot of something.

    Hey, I’m a cheap date.

  44. 44.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
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    This one goes out to the abominABLe snowlady – Compromise of core values to capitulate to conservative cavemen is only one reason to re-elect President Obama – but it fits on a balloonbagger bumpersticker.
    .
    .

  45. 45.

    Suffern ACE

    @kindness: I hope it gets here soon. Honestly, it’s times like these that I realize that I may have chosen the wrong partner. We are not TV compatible over long stretches of time. I’m actually hoping the power goes out here soon. I think we’re radio compatible.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @efgoldman: Heh. Are you a New Englander? If so, what’s the news up there? I saw a few hours ago that beachfront buildings in Rhode Island were being rocked by the wind with the eye still more than 300 miles away.

    on ABL: Anne Laurie said earlier she’s got a paying gig at another blog. I think that’s stage one of going Galt, getting paid for what you used to do for free.

  52. 52.

    SensesFail

    @Uncle Clarence Thomas:

    This one goes out to the abominABLe snowlady – Compromise of core values to capitulate to conservative cavemen is only one reason to re-elect President Obama – but it fits on a balloonbagger bumpersticker.

    Yeah, why doesn’t President Obama just use his Ultimate Presidential Powers to bypass the Congress and pass Single Payer Healthcare, legalize Gay Marriage and create Clean Energy and Education initiatives?

    BECAUSE HE’S WORSE THAN BUSH AND A SECRET CONSERVATIVE AND HE HATES TEH LIBERALS!!!!

  53. 53.

    Paddy

    @efgoldman: I cannot find the vid (It’s too late and I’m +3), but I vividly remember Rachel lamenting that speech as making her feel like a pariah when she was young, and feeling as if he was targeting her personally. I’m sure alot of people felt that way, it was a nasty, cold hearted rant.
    No clue how she can work with him, I’m too short tempered, I’d have cold cocked him eons ago.

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Paddy: Molly Ivins: I thought it sounded better in the original German.

    I don’t think Buchanan’s been on Rachel’s show since a few months after the debut (edited). I’ve always assumed that the MSNBC brass forced that set up for “balance”. I assume it was Rachel or someone closer to her than the top floor who came up with the “Uncle Pat” segment title, as in “your crazy, embarrassing, racist uncle”, and I suspect he didn’t like being there any more than she liked having him.

  58. 58.

    Gozer

    Gettin’ windy and lotsa rain at casa de Gozer. I gotta stay up in case the power goes out and Dr. Mrs. and I have to bail water out of the basement.

    Beer supplies are still good though.

  59. 59.

    Joseph Nobles

    @jeffreyw: That kitteh is on the wrong side of the keyboard for that string of letters, so I’m not buying it. ;-)

    And as wonderful as that cornbread looks, I really am a purist when it comes to cornbread. Mama made it in a cast-iron skillet with bacon drippings, straight up, no fillings. My stepdaddy married her because of that cornbread and I couldn’t blame him. Actually, she just made more, so it was all good.

    But the beans? OM NOM NOM NOM.

    ETA: On cutting cornbread into squares from a cast-iron skillet — slice it down the middle, cut perpendicular parallel lines from then on. Not precisely square, but it doesn’t destroy the middle of the bread. And if you’ve got enough time to admire the shape of your bread, you need a better recipe.

  60. 60.

    Neil T.

    It’s me from this thread:

    https://balloon-juice.com/2011/08/27/early-morning-open-thread-farewell-nash/

    Since a couple of you were wondering what else I could tell you about Nash, there’s this story:

    Nash was never purely an outdoor cat. For instance, when the temp dipped below 50 (the norm for about half the year here in Minnesota), he was perfectly content to stay in. Still, the duplex we shared has a wonderful garden area, and for many years no AC. So in the spring and summer, it seemed kind of cruel to keep him in.

    It helped that Nash had a healthy fear of cars, so I knew he’d never venture out to the front of the house, which faces a busy street. The other thing I tried to do was make sure he was inside by my bedtime. Usually he stayed close by, so I could go round him up if necessary, but he did wander some, leading to a handful of all-nighters.

    So in early October of ’98, when he didn’t come back one night, I was more annoyed than worried. But when he wasn’t there in the morning, I knew something was wrong.

    I looked around and posted some signs, but there was no trace of him. I knew cats sometimes go missing and eventually return. So I had hope. But as the days passed, my hopes diminished and my dread grew.

    This went on for exactly two weeks and two days. I was about at the point where I didn’t expect to see him again. Late that night I’m vegging in front of the TV (no home Internet for me back then), thinking I should have gone to bed about half an hour earlier. Then I hear this soft thud at the door.

    Most nights I’d ignore that innocuous sound. It could have been the wind or squirrels on the roof or something. But, I thought, just maybe…

    Yep. I opened the door, and there was Nash. He wasn’t injured, but he was filthy and clearly had had little or nothing to eat. Our reunion was a blur of me hugging/cleaning him off with damp paper towels as he buried his face in a mound of kitty food.

    I have no idea what happened over those two weeks and two days. My only guess is that Nash went in someone’s garage (lured there by an evil mouse), hid when people appeared and got trapped while said people went out of town.

    Over the years Nash had a couple other outdoor incidents — and numerous confrontations with neighbor cats — but nothing really serious. Then, about 4-5 years ago, he suddenly lost all interest in going out. His favorite spot became the cable modem next to my computer. If he wasn’t dozing on that heat source, he could turn right to get some sun and watch the birds and squirrels outside the window. Or he could turn left to get in my face and demand food and/or attention. So I guess I understand the attractions of my computer table for him. I’d tell people he retired to there.

    This hasn’t been a good day. Every corner I turn in this house I know I won’t see my cat, but I keep feeling like he should be here. Again though, I feel a bit better for sharing this, and I’m eternally grateful for all your supportive comments.

  61. 61.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    @Yutsano:

    You per thang. What will you do if/when he’s re-elected?

    I will continue to hold President Obama’s feet to the fire, rhetorically, as well as anyone else who acts against the interests of the vast majority of American and planet Earth citizens by enabling right-wing fascist/corporate assholes of any stripe. I invite you to join me if you have an interest in that sort of thing. Also too, cult of personality cultists should concentrate on footwear, fusion cuisine, and such.
    .
    .

  64. 64.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    @SensesFail:

    Yeah, why doesn’t President Obama just use his Ultimate Presidential Powers to bypass the Congress and

    Go to war with Libya? Assassinate American citizens without any legal authority? Spy on every American citizen’s every internet action? Maintain CIA “black sites” outside of Congressional review?

    BECAUSE HE’S WORSE THAN BUSH AND A SECRET CONSERVATIVE AND HE HATES TEH LIBERALS!

    In some ways, he is worse than Bush. He is also way too conservative and neoliberal to be considered a traditional Democrat. (So are the majority of sitting Democrats.) Finally, it is no secret that he does not like or respect liberals and progressives. However, please note that I myself have always maintained that he is a better president than George W. Bush, overall – one percent better. It’s my own copyrighted “One Percent Doctrine” theory/homage, so don’t wear it out.
    .
    .

  66. 66.

    Yutsano

    @Uncle Clarence Thomas: Your opinion is unimportant. As is your smug and condescending attitude to all those who just can’t see the pure light of righteousness that you can. You’re just RIGHT, and no fact will deter you from that. Certitude.

    (to everyone else: yes I’m bored why do you ask?)

  68. 68.

    LoudounLib

    @Neil T.: Glad that you shared. Take care of yourself, honor your feelings. Watch, and listen – Nash will make himself known to you again.

  69. 69.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    @Yutsano:

    Your opinion is unimportant. As is your smug and condescending attitude to all those who just can’t see the pure light of righteousness that you can. You’re just RIGHT, and no fact will deter you from that. Certitude.

    Yutsano, your opinion is unimportant. As is your smug and condescending attitude to all those who just can’t see the pure light of righteousness that you can. You’re just RIGHT, and no fact will deter you from that. Certitude.

    (Oh, did that sound lame and stupid for me to say?)
    .
    .

  70. 70.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
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    Last balloonbagger drubbing for the evening…

    On Tuesday, as Washington rebuilt itself after a less-than-apocalyptic earthquake, a joke started to circulate on Twitter and Facebook. The popular version went like this – There was just a 5.8 earthquake in Washington. President Obama wanted it to be 3.4, but the Republicans wanted 5.8, so he compromised.
    .
    .

  71. 71.

    Chet

    Brian Wilson/Beach Boys fans: Amazon has artwork and track listing for the forthcoming, monumental Smile Sessions box set up here.

    I’m drooling over this. Some of that stuff hasn’t been bootlegged or even confirmed to exist before.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @Neil T.: You are a braver man than me. I had one harrowing outdoor-lost-for-2-nights ordeal, and then it was indoor-cat-time or me.

    These once in a lifetime kitties break our hearts when they leave, but we are so lucky to have had them.

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