Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Hot air and ill-informed banter

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

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Consistently wrong since 2002

I really should read my own blog.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

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

This blog will pay for itself.

The willow is too close to the house.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

We still have time to mess this up!

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89Comments

  5. 5.

    MikeJ

    This morning I had a pileated woodpecker at the bird feeder pissed off that three rock doves were there at the same time. This afternoon, three or four Stellar’s jays and red shafted flickers.

    The pileated has been coming by most mornings, and I can hear him a half mile off. Nice to have the warning he’s coming.

  7. 7.

    THE

    I have a perfect front page topic for ya John Cole:
    This.
    We are on the edge of an energy revolution that will sweep away the world as we know it and transform human possibilities.

  10. 10.

    Martin

    I guess I really can’t be calling people luddites when less than 24 hours ago I was asking for help texting.

    Well, you can, but we’ll mock you over it.

  12. 12.

    scav

    @PeakVT: Be fair, I’ve not heard people en masse griping about the technological change in itself, at worst (from a purely technological view of the issues) I’ve seen people griping it doesn’t provide the quality (and a few other attributes, captioning, etc.) they want and that’s a fair criticism. If it’s not doing what they want . . . or is not being happy about being handed the latest and greatest screwdriver when you want a salad spinner out of line?

  15. 15.

    andy

    As far as I am concerned you can’t call it REAL telephony unless the device you are speaking into is attached to a larger infrastructural grid by a wire. Only the purest such adherents graduate to the rotary dial. Such is the Deep Knowledge of the form…

  17. 17.

    Bruce S

    Robert Reich – who has been a vocal critic of the Prez on economic policy recently – was on O’Donnell and graded the budget plan an “A-” (because he’d like to see a bit broader hit at the very top of the income pyramid), saying “This is the right President at the right time and he’s done the right thing – morally and politically.”

    Democrats who have any principles are uniting around the President and are energized by his reaching out to the country with his agenda and further isolating the GOP – but I’m sure some folks here can keep finding reasons to persist in attacking the Dem’s loyal “left-wing,” rather than recognizing that – if anything – they’ve played a useful role in raising their concerns over the past months of the “deficit debate” and, if they haven’t been “heard,” it simply appears that they are on the same page as the Prez. Perhaps he made these political and policy choices in a vacuum, but I doubt it…

  18. 18.

    pattonbt

    I follow US politics too closely. I am definitely a lefty, but one who doesn’t get too much caught up in the left civil wars because I am fine with my “lesser of two evils” vote for D knowing the current D party will never give me the left ponies I want, but wont actively try and destroy the country and world economy just because they are petulant. I want so much more from D politicians, but know my expectations will never be remotely met.

    I’ve lived in Aus for the last 8 years and married an Aus woman who has almost no desire to follow any politics (but votes consistently left). We watch the news every night (local, national and international). She knows where I stand and normally doesn’t want to “get me started” railing on the R party in the US. So last night on the international news they had the back and forth sound bites on the two Obama proposals. And then Ryan and McConnell came on and blathered away. And, unprompted, my wife says “how does anyone believe such obvious lies?”. So I tried to explain to her the state of play right now in the US, and she just couldn’t fathom how anyone could follow the R party.

    Which brings me on to tangent two, the Liberal (read Republican) party here in Aus. They are being infected, to a smaller degree, by the tea bagger way of things, and like in the US, it is working. The labor government (while pretty inept) is imploding and head tea bagger, Tony Abbott, is primed to be Australias next PM if things hold for the next 12 months.

    It’s quite scary, but they use the same playbook as the tea baggers. Hate everything, no compromise, scare the elders, pretty sound bites over any policy, etc. And just hate, hate, hate, hate, fear.

    I really want the Aus people to see through this before we end up like the US, because I think the US has a decade or two coming up which will not be pretty (economically or politically). And much of that is self imposed.

  23. 23.

    JGabriel

    @pattonbt:

    … I tried to explain to her the state of play right now in the US, and she just couldn’t fathom how anyone could follow the R party.

    Hell, I live here and I can’t fathom how anyone can follow the GOP. Makes no damn sense to me at all.

    .

  27. 27.

    JGabriel

    @pattonbt:

    It’s quite scary, but they use the same playbook as the tea baggers. Hate everything, no compromise, scare the elders, pretty sound bites over any policy, etc. And just hate, hate, hate, hate, fear.

    How much of that is supported by Murdoch-owned media? Enough that one can say it wouldn’t work without Murchoch’s propaganda distribution outlets?

    .

  29. 29.

    Comrade Mary

    .. and after I get some stuff done for a client, I’m playing Kingdom Rush, which will solve no scientific puzzles whatsoever, but it will make me very happy.

  32. 32.

    General Stuck

    I guess I really can’t be calling people luddites

    After being called everything but a milk cow on this blog, I don’t mind the luddite charge, especially since I have no idea what it means, nor do I care to know.

  33. 33.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    I saw the magic number again: One of the evening news programs reported that 72% +- 3% of the country wanted to see taxes raised on those making over $250K. So 28% said no.

  37. 37.

    khead

    @Comrade Mary:

    Yup. puppy + earlier kitties = death by cuteness

    Also, protein modeling sure has come a long way since my days in biochem (get off my lawn!). That story is pretty cool.

  38. 38.

    Some Guy

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent): Also too, Kung Fu Monkey is a genius.

    But if we take it as axiomatic, it is really scary that nearly 3 in 10 people are basically stark raving mad.

    Mad on any issue at any time, which means its not the same 3 in 10. Wouldn’t that mean that most of us are kind of 27% on some issues at least?

    Maybe we need a new test, sort of like a personality inventory, to see what issues on which we become the 27%’er?

  41. 41.

    gwangung

    Mad on any issue at any time, which means its not the same 3 in 10. Wouldn’t that mean that most of us are kind of 27% on some issues at least?

    Yes.

    And the REALLY stupid don’t care and won’t stop to think.

  43. 43.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Some Guy: Well, I’m pretty sure most everyone – except for the guy from the surrender planet – has some lines they won’t cross. But what we’ve got is a group of people who would drink bleach if Obama said not to.

  46. 46.

    Loneoak

    @MikeJ:

    I’ve had hummingbird feeders for awhile, but only recently decided to hang a seed feeder. I figured that since I live in an ecosystem that is fairly sparse on song birds (coastal redwoods—the big guys outcompete anything that would feed a songbird) I wouldn’t be constantly refilling it. FAIL. They’re emptying the 1-lb feeder once a day. So now I have to decide if I get a 5-lb feeder or tell them to find their own damn food once in awhile.

  47. 47.

    Halcyan

    It’s good to see you have the capacity of self-reflection. Probably a big factor in why you could no longer be a Republican in this day and age.

  52. 52.

    Some Guy

    Apropos of nothing, I am watching the original Gamerra, which I love, and I am really surprised at the bowel/bladder control of people suddenly confronted with giant reptile monsters. Shouldn’t there be a lot of embarrassing moments under such circumstances? Who keeps it together with a 200 foot turtle (with giant fangs no less) getting its rampage on?

  55. 55.

    jeffreyw

    @Gin & Tonic: It is a dandy. The transition from the D90 was pretty painless. Still exploring the 3D auto focus, some time spent the other day at the hummer feeders tells me that magic is not yet gone from the world.

  59. 59.

    The Dangerman

    @MikeJ:

    At least the Devil Rays have 5 games against FTFY left.

    If I were the FY, I would consider fielding my scrub team and sit everyone of consequence (incredible rash of minor groin pulls amongst the starters, etc.)…

    …though the Rays might be a dangerous playoff team with their rotation. More dangerous than the Red Sox lineup though?

  62. 62.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    Chipper loses a ground ball in the lights!

    And with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th the Braves lose on a walk off.

  63. 63.

    MikeJ

    @The Dangerman: I think (and hope and pray) that the Sox will not quite collapse far enough to be out of it. They *will* go through. Of course then they’ll have to play the FY, but anything can happen then.

    But I’m a sucker. They’ve got me thinking it’s possible, and I know in my heart of hearts that they disappoint.

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @PeakVT: Good lord. My wingnut and gun nut cousin in Phoenix is a member of Arpaio’s volunteer posse. The groups sound like little volunteer militias. Did I mention that my cousin out there is a bit nuts? Well, she is.

  69. 69.

    RareSanity

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    I will not let the Braves break my heart again
    I will not let the Braves break my heart again
    I will not let the Braves break my heart again
    I will not let the Braves break my heart again

    Ah, who am I kidding? I’ve always been a sucker for the Bravos…

    On a side note, if you didn’t see the 30 Rock “premiere” on Comedy Central, it was awesome. The pilot and the first three episodes, all in a row, “with limited commercial interruption”. One of the most beautiful sentence fragments in the human language…”with limited commercial interruption”.

  72. 72.

    Some Guy

    @superluminar: Badumching! Can Mitch eat fire, though? I think he is prehistoric and immune to nuclear weapons, but I want to see him fly with jets from his arm and leg holes. As opposed to his usual flatulence-powered flight capacity.

  74. 74.

    Evolved Deep Southerner

    I will not let the Braves break my heart again
    I will not let the Braves break my heart again
    I will not let the Braves break my heart again
    I will not let the Braves break my heart again

    As far as I’m concerned, the Braves haven’t been worth a damn since Sid Bream, Jeff Blauser, Mark Lemke, Otis Nixon and David Justice were on the roster.

  76. 76.

    KCinDC

    David Brooks is very disappointed in Obama, after years of supporting him (which is news to many of us). This is yet another indication that Obama is doing the right thing, but alas also an indication that the media are going to be flaying him for incivility and partisanship.

  78. 78.

    Perfect Tommy

    Xeon E3-1235 Sandy Bridge, Asus P8B WS, 8GB ECC RAM and I’m ready to start building… at least I came out of this disaster with a slight upgrade.

  79. 79.

    El Cid

    Either Roosevelt’s commie New Deal is still haunting us, or the federal government has wrapped its totalitarian hand around the throat of yet another patriotic small business.

    It’s all confusing.

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal authorities seized more than 1,200 firearms and nearly 2 million rounds of ammunition when they raided a family-run gun shop in New Mexico last month as part of a multi-agency investigation into illegal gun sales and smuggling…
    __
    …Federal agents last month arrested Rick Reese, 55, his wife Terri, 48, and sons Ryin, 24, and Remington, 19. They all are accused of conspiring to falsify paperwork recording gun sales, to launder the sale proceeds and to smuggle weapons into Mexico.
    __
    All four have pleaded not guilty.
    __
    Rick Reese, his wife and Ryin Reese remain in federal custody while Remington was released to the custody of his grandparents. A call to the family’s attorney Sunday wasn’t immediately returned.
    __
    A federal indictment alleges that Ryin Reese sold 18 weapons last year to an individual who had the weapons smuggled into Mexico where they ended up in the hands of drug cartel members.
    __
    Several weapons sold by the New Deal Shooting Sports gun store to a straw buyer — a person who buys a gun on behalf of someone else in violation of federal law — were later recovered in Mexico, according to an affidavit filed by a Department of Homeland Security agent.
    __
    Those weapons included an AK-47-type weapon recovered in Sinaloa, Mexico, in July 2010 and other handguns recovered in Ciudad Juarez in January, February and March.
    __
    After authorities were tipped off to the gun sales last December, federal agents, working undercover and with the aid of confidential informants, made six undercover buys from the Reeses between April 20 and July 29. The purchases included 16 firearms, among them powerful .50-caliber rifles, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
    __
    The Reeses were arrested in Las Cruces, where they were opening a second gun shop.

    The real victim here is, of course, the 2nd Amendment.

    Papa Reese was able to make this view known real clear to the poh-lees. This from the 7th of September:

    LAS CRUCES – “I said, ‘I hope my guns go to Mexico … I hope they use them to shoot those crooked (expletive deleted) federales in the (expletive deleted).'”
    __
    That was one of the potentially damning statements made by gun store owner Rick Reese, now under arrest for illegal gun sales, the U.S. Attorney’s Office claimed during a detention hearing for Reese on Tuesday.
    __
    U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth denied supervised release for Reese, 55 – who allegedly made the statement in July to a confidential informant wired for audio and video – his wife Terri Reese, 48, and their son Ryin, 24. However, Wormuth said he could allow son Remington Reese, 19, to be released to his grandparents under a $10,000 bond, a decision that is being appealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office…
    __
    …The government is seeking not only the forfeiture of the Reeses’ more than 1,000 firearms, more than 2 million rounds of ammunition and proceeds, but also the New Deal gun shop property, assets and licenses and a monetary judgment of at least $36,000.

    OMG OBAMAZ FINALLY COMING TO GITCHER GUNS N BULLITS!

  82. 82.

    suzanne

    @Yutsano:

    You need time away from the kidlets.

    Yes.

    Next long weekend I could hop a jet and go visit and shtuff.

    Any time!

    What I really need is another drink and the fuckwit’s insurance company to fix my car without hassling me too badly. What are the odds?

  83. 83.

    Yutsano

    @suzanne: I have other friends in the Valley of the sun. Every now and again my old roommate bugs me to go see her. Last trip was for her wedding. But flying into Sky Harbor…root canals are more enjoyable.

    What I really need is another drink

    Doch.

    and the fuckwit’s insurance company to fix my car without hassling me too badly.

    Wanna borrow a lesbyterian lawyer? She’ll work for free since she can’t charge because of her day job. And she’s really good at being mean when called for.

  84. 84.

    burnspbesq

    So I walk into the CFO’s office at a client this morning, and instead of being greeted by an admin I am greeted by 120 pounds of bull mastiff.

    Portland is a different place.

  85. 85.

    burnspbesq

    My dentist loves Cokie Roberts. Every time I listen to her, I grind my teeth uncontrollably. She reallllly outdid herself this morning talking about the Obama tax proposals.

    Kills me. She just makes shit up (outlandish shit that can be debunked in a matter of seconds), and Inskeep never calls her on it.

  86. 86.

    Amir Khalid

    @KCinDC: There’s one accurate assessment in David Bobo’s column, you gotta give him that: he keeps admitting, “I’m a sap.”

  88. 88.

    RossInDetroit

    @suzanne:

    Water may be the universal solvent, but alcohol is the universal analgesic.

    Alcohol is the perfect solvent for the veneer of civilization.

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