Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

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

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Petty moves from a petty man.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

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

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

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

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Republicans in disarray!

People are complicated. Love is not.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

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Reader Interactions

77Comments

  1. 1.

    max

    I can’t figure out the point of it.

    ‘We’re fucked. Basically, we earned it.’

    max
    [‘Endof column: ‘Nope. Still fucked.’]

  3. 3.

    demkat620

    I think only a crackhead could figure it out. Jesus, Insects to congress to hurricanes to Clinton.

    Doesn’t he have an editor?

  4. 4.

    Some Guy

    Seems like a poorly conceived existential meditation. The man has the blues and his right brain is putting all together as one great cosmic unity.

    Eating bugs, manufacturing, natural disasters – that is a pretty tall order to make sense of.

    Bigger question: did anyone OK that? Doesn’t seem like the best use of online real estate.

  9. 9.

    Some Guy

    I realize the “poorly conceived existential meditation” is actually a pretty apt bumper sticker for Ron Paul. Did you see his comments about FEMA? Steve Benen highlighted them.

  11. 11.

    serge

    Sorry, I can’t help you. I got sidetracked early with the eating bugs shit, and all I could focus on was the time I ate, inadvertently, exactly one half of a palmetto bug. Residents of, and visitors to South Carolina, know of the palmetto bug. Not a beastie you could develop a taste for.

    It’s the state flower, bird, tree and the reason we’re all barking mad here from exposure to insecticides. Hence Nikki Haley…

  13. 13.

    Tom Hilton

    It means one of two things: either he skipped his Prozac and he’s bummed, or he skipped his anti-psychotic meds and he’s incoherent.

    Maybe both.

  16. 16.

    cathyx

    All he had to do to make it a little bit coherent was to sum it up at the end by saying that maybe there are more recipes for insects in the news now because people are looking for ways to save on their food bills with this terrible economy.

  19. 19.

    gogol's wife

    @Tom Levenson:

    Worse than Dowd? Who I know from reading Connecticut Magazine is the best friend of the new editor Jill Abramson? Look for her to be featured even more nauseatingly than she already is.

  21. 21.

    Mark S.

    Ugh, it’s kinda like how I wrote when I was a freshman in college. I’d write something like:

    But none of that changed the symbolism — or the symbol. We were one vowel shy of what we used to be.

    and be like, “Damn, that’s deep!”

  22. 22.

    JPL

    All I got is …those that wrote the highlighted comments in the NYTimes did not read the same article I did. Also, too..
    All I got is something about going down and leading from behind and those are not terms I’m going to google.

  24. 24.

    Norwonk

    Add to this that Nick Kristof has suddenly discovered that you have an unemployment crisis, and I would say that the NYT is having an off-day.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    @Norwonk:

    Add to this that Nick Kristof has suddenly discovered that you have an unemployment crisis, and I would say that the NYT is having an off-day.

    I thought that Kristof article was simply amazing. In a purely dumbfounding kind of way.

  30. 30.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Translated:

    “We were downgraded and this led to a downturn, and these two words containing the word down nonetheless doesn’t mean that we’re headed for a soft landing. The S&P thing was utterly meaningless but that doesn’t mean it was without meaning; here I am writing about it for instance. Drought, flood, earthquakes, hurricanes, and to top it off I saw a recipe I didn’t like.

    The fact that Bill Clinton wrote about his diet means nothing either, except that it means that he’s a neutered vegetarian now and so are we. Apple Computer now has the same problem as the rest of the economy; plenty of profits but no Jobs.”

    I think that’s what he was trying to say.

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    @Elizabelle:

    Although he lost me at “mealworm pilaf”.

    Which pretty much tells me he’s trying to sound smarter than he is. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows that insects are an important part of many diets across the globe. But Bruni decides to aim for the cultural chivarism. Like we’ll all eat bugs for breakfast tomorrow or something.

  32. 32.

    Chris

    I think he’s just saying he has a sad because America doesn’t feel Exceptional anymore.

    Loved this nugget though –

    We lent a hand of sorts in Libya, helping to effect the outcome we wanted, but we were “leading from behind,” as one of the president’s advisers so memorably put it. Leading from behind? What a concept, and what a perfect expression of America’s conflicted, befuddled new role in the world: still wanting to feel exceptional, less and less able to act that way.

    Only in America. How can you possible have a sad that you “led from behind” in somebody else’s revolution? Libya wasn’t ours to lead, anymore than the American Revolution was France’s to lead.

    And America seriously needs to drop this “wanting to feel exceptional” shit. It’s not exceptional, it hasn’t been for decades, get over it. And making government policy based on your desire to feel special is the kind of immaturity you’re supposed to grow out of long before the eligible age to run for president. Certainly at their age the average teabaggers should know better.

  33. 33.

    Commenting at Ballon Juice since 1937

    I only read two paragraphs and could only conclude that its August and you can drink when writing a column because the editors are on vacation.

  35. 35.

    Sharl

    Adam Serwer:

    Dear NYTimes, when you hired Bruni, did you know you were ordering the word salad?

    TBogg:

    @AdamSerwer To paraphrase Bull Durham: Bruni writes like he fucks, kind of all over the place.

  38. 38.

    bleh

    Re TBogg tweet, there DOES seem to be a bit of “the little death” in this ramble, doesn’t there?

    But it IS August…

  39. 39.

    Cermet

    Does make sense and is a unified piece – the bug start was just a ‘fun’ way of pointing out that the world has absolute limits and eating bugs is one way to deal with that issue relative to food as well as other resources (like peak oil we are at or mostly at) and finally, his main point – that includes peak economics for us; he highlights these concepts and adds color and detail with our failure to use a proper stimulus package and our inability to take change in any area, anymore. If he added NASA he’d had hit all bases for a touch down home run. My take or else I need to maybe consider drugs …

  40. 40.

    brendancalling

    I kind of feel for Frank Bruni here, and I despise his writing. This word salad could be titled “I have a deadline to meet, and nothing really to say this week, so i will try a sort of end-of-summer wrap-up, oh fuck it’s not working.”

    Basically he has too many topics for one column, but not enough on any on topic. And he’s having a focus problem.

    I have faced that monster myself, and it’s an awful beast.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    @Yutsano:

    Was about to discuss potential texture of a cooked mealworm and whether it would make for a good pilaf, and decided to spare us all.

    OK, will try to read Bruni again. (Agree the editors are out to lunch.)

    But I skimmed a sense of foreboding.

    And that reminds me of summer 2001, the “summer of the shark” and “Close to Shore” about the 1916 shark attacks in New Jersey. (Which themselves happened the summer before America, on the heels of all its progressive fervor, was dragged into the Great War.)

    And all those shark attacks seemed so scary until an even more horrible fate struck on a beautiful September day.

    Maybe turmoil in the political and physical climate, and being 2 weeks out from September 11 ? ….

    Plus Annie Laurie’s blogpost yesterday, with language like “save for some unspeakable tragedy, Obama will be the Democratic candidate.”

    I don’t even like to go there.

    Lots of existential dread to go around.

    EDIT: This is even worse “Bruni-esque” writing.

    But maybe unease that we’re on the cusp of some hinge of history again?

  47. 47.

    nancydarling

    Don’t know anything about Bruni except I tried to read the link and couldn’t make hide nor hair of it.

    Apropos of nothing, I miss SoonerGrunt.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    The Summer of the Shark has its own wiki entry.

    The Summer of the Shark refers to the coverage of shark attacks by American newsmedia in the summer of 2001. The sensationalist coverage of shark attacks began in early July following the Fourth of July weekend shark attack on 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast, and continued almost unabated—despite no evidence for an actual increase in attacks—until the September 11 terrorist attacks shifted the media’s attention away from beaches. The Summer of the Shark has since been remembered as an example of tabloid television perpetuating a story with no real merit beyond its ability to draw ratings. …

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_of_the_Shark

    http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20010730,00.html

  51. 51.

    Big Baby DougJ

    I expected him to break out “I am the Lizard King” about halfway through that.

  52. 52.

    scav

    Shit. That boy could be one of the less coherent trolls here, and he’s apparently well paid for it both in cash and esteem. On the upside, he made me remember the guy in my HS English class who’s goal was to have a worm farm. Even had the Chocolate Chip Worm Cookie recipe ready for the endeavor. That boy read dictionaries for fun so must have been one of the intellectual elite. ‘f course, a year or so after that another of the intellectual elite in my English class was convinced that the red pingpong ball he carried around was the bad kind of kryptonite and would actually fall down when we threatened him with it. My brand of intellectual elite made submarine-diving noises every so often in AP English so take our status for what it’s worth.
    (and, by the by, I’m waiting to be right well paid for that stream of consciousness NYTimes).

  53. 53.

    arguingwithsignposts

    When Bruni was appointed to his latest post as lord high chancellor of dumbfuck punditry at the Times, someone posted a link somewhere about his admission in his food column that he and his friends were faux hipsters. They didn’t do a lot of the things they said they did, but said so because it was the cool thing to do. I think it was Harry Potter-related.

    I doubt he’s ever eaten an insect.

  55. 55.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Elizabelle: IIRC, SG had some heart issues a few months back (surgery?) and has been staying away for the sake of his blood pressure.

  56. 56.

    different church-lady

    I think he’s saying it’s almost Labor Day, he’s got the end of the summer blues, and nothing to write about.

  57. 57.

    Yutsano

    @arguingwithsignposts: He’s been back but haz new gig (ebil gubmint worker like me!) and has been busy as hell. He does pop up every now and again though. Says the ticker is running great too!

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    re SoonerGrunt: Is it because of personalities here, or the Eeyore vibe on BJ too many days, or because the news in general is so dispiriting?

    Who in their right mind WANTS to read about Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry if you have a choice to do something else?

    From Bruni column: made me laugh because it’s so true:

    A cash-strapped school district in Pennsylvania was saving $15,000 a year by entrusting the landscaping to livestock. (“Nothing says ‘21st century global superpower,’ ” wrote Rachel Maddow in a Twitter message, “like schools turning to sheep” because they can’t afford lawnmowers.)

  59. 59.

    nancydarling

    @Elizabelle: Nothing with that Okie that I know of, except I almost never see him here anymore and I miss him, being a neighbor (Arkansas) and all.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle:

    Is it because of personalities here, or the Eeyore vibe on BJ too many days, or because the news in general is so dispiriting?

    My impression is that Soonergrunt lurks more than comments lately, so he may jump in an answer you himself. IIRC, it’s more the vibe here than it is the news being dispiriting.

  61. 61.

    Sharl

    The last time I saw Sooner here, he had returned from a nice vacation break to visit the in-laws in San Diego. IIRC, the man is busy on a mission: to put in his time, get some good performance reviews under his belt, and ultimately transfer to San Diego. Here’s hoping he accomplishes the mission; he’s certainly paid his dues, and he deserves a respite from stuff like this.

  64. 64.

    eastriver

    Bruni is being a little too creative and experimental for his own good. I thought the piece was fun and a breath of fresh air. The fact that JC didn’t get it is proof of something.

  65. 65.

    celiadexter

    Your very first commenter had it right — but Bruni can’t use the obvious language in the NYT so he filled up the column with examples for us to draw the 2-word conclusion. What a waste.

  67. 67.

    fuckwit

    Are you serious?? This incoherent, egotistical, Bush-ass-wiping choad is replacing FRANK RICH, the only voice of sanity the Times has other than Krugman??

    What the screaming fuck?

    Please, please tell me Frank Rich is still around.

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @fuckwit:

    Please, please tell me Frank Rich is still around.

    Wasn’t he going to New York Magazine sometime this summer?

  71. 71.

    Scamp Dog

    I read it once (and refuse to waste time reading it a second, never mind third, time). It seems to amount to “you know, some bad stuff is happening out there, but I’m too cool to, like, worry about it or anything, because I’m just too well-connected to have to face any consequences that the little people have to deal with, and don’t feel the need to actually care, either. Bye now!”

  72. 72.

    Bob

    Bruni and Mark Bittman move to the editorial page from the food section. ???? At least MB seems to have the good taste to restrict his offerings to food related stuff. Bruni, I wish him and his readers well.

  74. 74.

    master c

    Thanks Balloon Juice, I no longer have to read that nyt opinion stuff. So bad now, so much has changed in the last 5 years.

  75. 75.

    Marc

    Bruni is deeply superficial, and he’s trying desperately to be puckish and adorable. Basically this is a guy who read Maureen Dowd as an example to emulate, not a danger to avoid.

  76. 76.

    Anne Laurie

    @M. Bouffant:

    The point is that Bruni replacing Frank Rich is excellent evidence of our decline.

    You, sir, win tonight’s internets.

    @different church-lady:

    I think he’s saying it’s almost Labor Day, he’s got the end of the summer blues, and nothing to write about.

    Yeah, by about the third paragraph I could actually hear Young Frank whining, “But I don’t wanna give up my flip-flops and go back-to-school shopping!”

    @fuckwit:

    Please, please tell me Frank Rich is still around.

    He’s at New York magazine now — says he got tired of the restrictions of column-length journalism & is happy doing more long-form reporting.

    That’s when I switched my daily-hipster bookmark from the newly-unreadable Gawker to Daily Intel.

  77. 77.

    Dead Earnest

    @nellcote: Oh Nell, screamingly sublime.

    …and from #18 to here, …just ‘crickets’, as in Pearls before …well, before them that don’t know from pearls. Not as in What’s for Dinner.

    Still smiling – thanks.

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