• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

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

75% of people clapping liked the show!

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

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

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

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

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

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

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

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

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / #OWS / Open Thread: Occupy the Highway

Open Thread: Occupy the Highway

by Anne Laurie|  November 14, 20115:38 pm| 126 Comments

This post is in: #OWS, Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)

The Washington Post has a blog on Occupy the Highway:

Last Wednesday, 21 protesters left Zuccotti Park, the center of the New York protests for Occupy Wall Street, and set off down the highway — on foot. The protest pilgrimage hopes to arrive in Washington on Nov. 23, the day Congress will vote on extending Bush-era tax cuts. Elizabeth Flock joined the group in Elizabeth, N.J. She’s been with them as they battled fatigue and injuries, rumbled with Princeton students, enjoyed the largess of supporters along the route and attempted to articulate why they walk in protest…

Historians now tell us there was no such thing as a Children’s Crusade — just a bunch of dispossessed serfs wandering the highways demanding some kind of ill-defined redress, for which they were dismissed by their social betters as “pueri” (boys), irresponsible wastrels. The Supercommittee and its supporters are using a very old template.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Deep thought
Next Post: Monday Night Football Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

126Comments

  1. 1.

    Poopyman

    November 14, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    The name Occupy the Highway conjures up images of roadkill, sorry to say. Dunno if there’s a better one – not off the top of my head, but there it is.

    Also: Stay classy, you Princetonians! For they certainly are the One percenters, and that will be reckoned against them.

  2. 2.

    Brian S

    November 14, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    I’m planning on occupying the last of the Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout I have in my refrigerator when I get home.

  3. 3.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 5:47 pm

    When the Tom is right, he’s right.

  4. 4.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    @Brian S: You’ll probably have more luck with that than I did with Occupy Monica Bellucci.

  5. 5.

    Zifnab

    November 14, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    See, I think of it as something of a good sign that people have been peacefully marching for so long. Hasn’t always been the Dark Ages. People marched, institutes were reformed, and things got better.

    The Super Committee is flailing, because they know their between a very conservative rock and an increasingly liberal hard place. The last three elections have been major wave elections. People have been getting increasingly politicized. Every smart politician should be fearing for his or her political career right now.

    Whatever happens, these protesters are blazing a trail. They won’t march in vain.

  6. 6.

    kgc16

    November 14, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    This being an open thread and all, can anyone tell me why the two lovers are always in separate bathtubs at the end of those commercials? What am I missing? Apologies in advance if it’s something totally obvious!
    ETA: Oh wait, is it supposed to be after the fact? Still seems less than romantic.

  7. 7.

    catclub

    November 14, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    @kgc16: me too. The cartoon is even more subtle to me ( I don’t get it. I don’t even know what the point is or who the villain might be.)

    after a second look, my guess is that the democrats would love to make beautiful music cutting medicare and doing the catfood commission’s work, but there is no partner in crime.

  8. 8.

    Brian S

    November 14, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    @kgc16: You’re not alone. I mean, I like the occasional soak in a tub, but it seems to me that water would get cold pretty quick, and the tub would get uncomfortable soon after.

  9. 9.

    Violet

    November 14, 2011 at 5:59 pm

    I’m off to occupy the gym.

  10. 10.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 5:59 pm

    @Zifnab:

    The Super Committee is flailing, because they know their between a very conservative rock and an increasingly liberal hard place.

    That’s fine. I’ll take the defense cuts and cuts to Medicare providers. The burden is entirely on the GOP to not fuck this chicken. The Dems can say ‘no’ all they want. Yeah, they don’t want the trigger to fire either, but they won’t get punished by it. The GOP will.

  11. 11.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    I always hoped those ads were made by older women as a strategy to keep horny old dudes and their 3-hour boners contained.

  12. 12.

    handsmile

    November 14, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    @BGinCHI: (#4)

    Ah, to be part of that 1%! Breathes there a man more to be envied than Vincent Cassel?

  13. 13.

    kgc16

    November 14, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @catclub: The Democrats want to get all cozy with the Repugs, but the Rs are missing in action (again), so it’s another cold shower for the Ds?

  14. 14.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @handsmile: In short: no.

    He’s one of my favorite actors, too. I hope the Bond movies bring him back.

  15. 15.

    Citizen_X

    November 14, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    @kgc16: Hell, I’ve always thought that two-bathtubs-outside made for the least conducive environment to spontaneous sex:

    “Hey, come on over.”

    “Heh heh, sure thing…[thunk] Ow! My knee!…[slip] Ouch! My shin!”

    “Ow, watch it, that’s my leg!”

    “Sorry!”

    “Um, looks like the moment’s gone…”

    “Well, what the fuck do you expect? It’s freezing cold out here!”

    “Fine! Forget it, then!”

    “Hey, I’m sorry I yelled! Really, come back!…Please?”

  16. 16.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    @BGinCHI: That was always my thinking too. “Yo, I want 2 layers of cast iron between me and that thing!”

  17. 17.

    cat48

    November 14, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    The Bush Taxcuts don’t expire until 12/2012. It only seems like 2 yrs since they were extended. The Payroll tax cut & unemployment benefits both expire in December….Maybe they can work on the extension when they get to DC.

  18. 18.

    Montysano

    November 14, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    Historians now tell us there was no such thing as a Children’s Crusade—just a bunch of dispossessed serfs wandering the highways demanding some kind of ill-defined redress, for which they were dismissed by their social betters as “pueri” (boys), irresponsible wastrels.

    Anyone who still doesn’t “get” OWS is being willfully ignorant. The OWS message could be boiled down to something as simple as By The People, For The People. Who could be against that? Apparently a sizable portion of the populace, eh? Apparently those who are hooked on the cheap buzz of cynicism. No wonder Lee Atwater had a deathbed repentance for what he helped set loose.

  19. 19.

    The Dangerman

    November 14, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    @kgc16:

    …why the two lovers are always in separate bathtubs…

    Wait; they are lovers in those commercials? Slightly more serious, these pills are marketed to people like Rush Limbaugh … and one would need a wee bit bigger tub.

    I may win the Prude Award in this thread, but I’m so tired of V1agra, C1alis, etc., commercials when I’m watching a ballgame; this would be doubly so if I had children (which probably most accurately explains the 2 tubs).

  20. 20.

    RossinDetroit

    November 14, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    I don’t get the cartoon. Is it a TV thing? I’m not a TV watcher.
    I assumed it was a Norquist reference and the elephant declined to be drowned.

  21. 21.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 14, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    @kgc16:

    can anyone tell me why the two lovers are always in separate bathtubs at the end of those commercials?

    IIRC they used to have the whole concept reversed, so that the sitting in bathtubs was what you’d do because you _couldn’t_ get busy. Wasn’t there even a line like, “When you’re ready to get out of those tubs…”?

    But somehow, like the Life cereal “Mikey” commercials going from “He won’t eat anything” to “He’ll eat anything,” the whole thing got switched around.

  22. 22.

    boss bitch

    November 14, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    There’s a vote to extend the Bush tax cuts? I thought they just expired at the end of next year?

  23. 23.

    cat48

    November 14, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    @Montysano:

    I’m with OWS in spirit as long as they are nonviolent and are not LaRouchies who demand Obama’s impeachment or Anarchists who want to overturn the government & enjoy provoking police. Also, not with the Squatters/Anarchists who tried to take over private property, a vacant Car Dealership in NC.

  24. 24.

    Redshift

    November 14, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    @kgc16: I dunno, it never made any sense to me either. I’m always amused, though, by the fact that C!-lis ads always feature men and women, but V!-gra ads are just (rugged) men. Makes me wonder what their target market really is.

  25. 25.

    AB

    November 14, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    More Cain comedy at TPM. Someone had the nerve to ask him his thoughts on things that have happened. Librul media strikes again. Best passage:

    “Okay, Libya,” Cain said — then paused, looking downward. “President Obama supported the uprising — correct? President Obama called for the removal of Qaddafi. Just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say, yes I agreed, or no I didn’t agree.

    “I do not agree with the way he handled it, for the following reasons — No, that’s a different one. (Pauses) I gotta go back, see. (Pauses) Got all this stuff twirling around in my head. Specifically, what are you asking me, did I agree or not disagree (sic) with Obama?”

    I’m sure we’ll be seeing the rest on the Daily Show soon.
    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/cain-chokes-on-libya-question-got-all-this-stuff-twirling-around-in-my-head.php?ref=fpblg

  26. 26.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    @The Dangerman: Actually, it’s pretty funny when you have kids. Not many things make a kid blush (girl) and crack up (boy) like erection jokes. When one comes on TV we often yell across the house to our middle school age son something like “You know 4 hour erections are bad, right!”. Do stuff like that with the girl too.

    The only way for them to be able to talk/feel normal about this stuff is to be normal about it.

  27. 27.

    cat48

    November 14, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    @boss bitch:

    They do expire in 2012.

  28. 28.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 14, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @RossinDetroit: It took me a long time to get it too. There’s a b0ner-pill commercial whose visual signature is the partners each sitting in a bathtub out in the wild somewhere (why? who knows). So here the Donkey is distraught because he can’t find his partner… i.e., there should be an Elephant in the other tub, but there isn’t.

    First I thought it was about how the Republicans can’t find a candidate, but now I guess it’s actually about how the Democrats are rarin’ to go but the Republicans aren’t being receptive. Bipartisanship as pharmaceutical-aided sex? I guess that’s a step up from Norquistian date-rαpe.

  29. 29.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @Redshift:

    Makes me wonder what their target market really is.

    I think you figured out what their target market is. You’re just too polite to say it.

  30. 30.

    smintheus

    November 14, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    Herman Cain, cringe comedian extraordinaire:

    Herman Cain struggled to explain his position on President Obama’s handling of Libya in an interview with the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee released Monday, at one point asking if Mr. Obama supported the uprising and suggesting he was having a hard time articulating an answer because he has “all this stuff twirling around in my head.”
    Video of the interaction is at left. Asked if he agrees with the president on Libya, Cain looks up and says, “OK, Libya.” He then pauses for a moment.
    “President Obama supported the uprising, correct?” he asks, speaking carefully. “President Obama called for the removal of Qaddafi – just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say yes I agree, or no I didn’t agree. I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason – nope, that’s a different one.”
    Cain then pauses for about five seconds.
    “I gotta go back and see – um, I got all this stuff twirling around in my head,” he says. “Specifically, what are you asking me. Did I agree or not disagree with Obama?”
    Told he was being asked if he agreed with how Mr. Obama handled the uprising in Libya, Cain said, “I would have done a better job of determining who the opposition is. And I’m sure that our intelligence people had some of that information. Based upon who made up that opposition, OK, based upon who made up that opposition, might have caused me to make some different decisions about how we participated.”
    “Secondly, no I did not agree with Qaddafi killing his citizens. Absolutely not. So something would have had to been – I would have supported many of the things that they did in order to help stop that. It’s not a simple yes/no because there are different pieces and I would have gone about assessing the situation differently, which might have caused us to end up at the same place, but where I think more could have been done is what’s the nature of the opposition.”

    As is traditional with Cain, things then go even further downhill from there.

  31. 31.

    kgc16

    November 14, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @Citizen_X: Ha! Very nice.

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    November 14, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    Somewhat surprisingly, the “We Are the 99%” lawn sign that we put up on Saturday is still standing.

  33. 33.

    handsmile

    November 14, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    Like RossinDetroit (#20), Toles’ cartoon brought to my mind that poete maudit of today’s Republican party, Grover Norquist.

    Among his charming bon mots apposite to the image would be “Bipartisanship is another name for date rape,” as well as his desire to shrink government “to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”

    I did like it that the National Erection was featured in the cartoon.

  34. 34.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    @Martin: FTW, parent-wise.

    Instead of warning you to call your doctor about an erection lasting more than 3 hours it should probably tell those old dudes to call their friends to brag.

    “Hey Bob, you aren’t gonna believe this…..take your oxygen mask off, I can’t understand you.”

  35. 35.

    evinfuilt

    November 14, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    @cat48:
    I’m sorry, but with the comment above yours about calling the doctor if it lasts more than 4 hours.

    “Yes doctor, my Bush Tax Cuts just won’t stop, it’s embarrassing for me to be seen in public sporting this.”

  36. 36.

    Joel

    November 14, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    The Princeton guy in this linked story is a dead ringer for an 80’s movie villain.

  37. 37.

    kgc16

    November 14, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: Well, that’s interesting. I must have missed the first version. It’s apparent that the tubs mean different things to different people, so would that be a feature or a bug? It’s good because, even if your audience is confused, at least they’re paying attention?

  38. 38.

    scav

    November 14, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    Beeb is reporting that Joe Paterno’s name is being removed from the Big-10 trophy. Provided as an antidote or cat-toy for those not wishing to embarrass their children with erection jokes or election rants.

  39. 39.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    @Joel: A young Christopher Walken.

    His name is Whitney, though, so he’s probably an experienced bar fighter.

  40. 40.

    The Dangerman

    November 14, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    @Martin:

    The only way for them to be able to talk/feel normal about this stuff is to be normal about it.

    I suppose I’d be cool with it with older kids; by that time, the, um, genie is, um, out of the bottle.

    I was picturing having a younger child and having to explain some things I wasn’t ready to explain to them.

  41. 41.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    @BGinCHI: The whole sex/parenting thing hit when my son was about 9 or so, and we were watching Dirty Jobs and Mike Rowe looks down and says “Hey, that looks like a reservoir tip” which triggered the obvious “Daddy, what’s a reservoir tip?” So, there was a conversation.

    A season or so later Mike Rowe had his arm up to his elbow artificially inseminating a horse and jacking off a bull or a pig or some damn thing. It just got more humorous as we went along. I think with the horse I looked over to him (with an incredibly puzzled expression on his face) and said, “Just so you know, on your wedding night, don’t expect to get in there up to your elbow”. My wife laughed so hard she nearly peed. My daughter ran out of the room and wouldn’t look at me for about a day. My son turned the most amazing shade of red and hid under a blanket for half an hour.

    I’m definitely the dad you don’t want showing up with your friends around.

  42. 42.

    Joel

    November 14, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    @BGinCHI: I was going to go with Billy Zabka.

  43. 43.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    @The Dangerman: Just so you know, you’re always explaining things you’re not ready to explain to them. I think it took about 3 hours after we got my son home after he was born that I realized the only thing that would ever run on my schedule ever again was my own death.

  44. 44.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    @Martin: This is gonna come in handy when ours gets older. I can see this getting you out of a lot of babysitting/group outings duties.

    I owe you one.

  45. 45.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    @Joel: Holy blast from the past.

  46. 46.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 14, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    @handsmile: I just wanted to toss out an appreciation, as I can’t think of another blog’s comment section where I’d find someone using the word “apposite.”

  47. 47.

    Not Sure

    November 14, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    Feel free to steal this idea. Here’s how you Occupy the Interstate Highway System. The minimum speed limit (yes, there is one) is usually 35 MPH. You all get in your cars and set your cruise control to about 38 or so (for leeway) in the RIGHT LANE ONLY. It is actually illegal to drive slow in the left lane, and you’ll give the state troopers an excuse to rain on your parade. The outsides of your cars, minivans, pickup trucks, etc., are festooned with the usual Occupy signs.

    Again, and I can’t stress this enough, be sure to obey all traffic laws – to the letter. For example, no one is to be riding in the back of a pickup truck waving a sign. That is both illegal and dangerous. Likewise, signage should not block any of the windows. It is also illegal for pedestrians, bicyclists, operators of farm machinery, etc., to use the Interstate Highway.

    The idea is that people will want very much to go around you, with varying degrees of success depending on the time of day (I suggest making a daily inter-city trip during morning or evening rush hour). You will get noticed.

  48. 48.

    jl

    November 14, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    Not to worry, Newt, the GOP new chosen one, and the next president of these great United States, will have new ideas, and he will find some innovative solution for the misguided OWS children wandering through traffic.

    The fact that Newt is not popular with the readers of this blog shows how their minds are ossified in old liberal habits of thought. Newt will see the intersecting and interlocking relationships reaching down through multiple levels. His sweeping vision will see synergies and elegant simplifying solutions to all problems. Let one hundred Newthoughts bloom!

    (Edit: sorry, I slipped up, Newt and ‘elegant’ cannot be related in any way. Excuse me, I am still practicing for a job with the Newtmentum team, I hear they are hiring.)

    And, he was the Fanny/Freddie official historian.

    My Newtmentum theme song. (They will love it and hire me right away, huh?)

    Mr. NewTon Risin’, Mr. NewTon Risin’
    Mr. NewTon Risin’, Mr. NewTon Risin’
    Got to keep on risin’
    Mr. NewTon Risin’, Mr. NewTon Risin’
    NewTon Risin’, gotta NewTon Risin’
    Mr. NewTon Risin’, gotta keep on risin’
    Risin’, risin’
    Gone risin’, risin’

  49. 49.

    Not Sure

    November 14, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    Oh, and if you are using a toll road, such as the New York State Thruway, you are to pay your tolls in cash only, preferably with $100 bills. No EZ-Pass allowed.

  50. 50.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    @jl: One more line for your poem, He is Newt who weighs a ton.

  51. 51.

    Redshift

    November 14, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    @Martin:

    I think you figured out what their target market is. You’re just too polite to say it.

    Well, thinking about it, it’s pretty clever. They can use the same ad to appeal to gay men and straight men who are thinking about themselves more than their potential partner (which probably covers a lot of the straight market other than people with a real medical need.)

  52. 52.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 14, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @kgc16: I just went looking for answers — apparently the premise is supposed to be that taking a bath is relaxing, and this is a drug you can take without feeling like you have to rush to Make The Beast With Two Backs. So you soak in the tub for a while, and then when you’re ready, you get out and boink, all romantic-like.

  53. 53.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @BGinCHI: Oh, totally. My daughter has sworn she never wants to have her friends over for a sleepover, EVER! I’m clearly the person of last resort to take her and her friends anywhere. She’d rather walk, if it’s walkable.

    Thankfully, my wife is pretty much on the same page as me with this stuff. Drives the kids crazy. Somewhere along the way we figured that if we waited until we were ready to talk about stuff, we’d probably be too late, so we agreed that whenever it came up, we’d cover it.

    We had a similar pact about Santa/Tooth Fairy/etc. that we would never discuss them, encourage/discourage that belief, etc. If they got it from TV, so be it, but we never once mentioned Santa to them. In around 3rd grade or so my son finally expressed some concern about it, around the same time he was struggling with whether he believed in God or not. So I took him aside and made a deal with him: He’d need to tell me honestly what he believed, and I’d confirm/reject it truthfully. No matter what he said or what I said, his Christmas would come out the same – if there was a Santa and he lost his privileges with the fat guy, I’d get him the gifts. So there was no risk to him. He finally declared that he didn’t believe in Santa, and I confirmed there wasn’t one, and then he was really pissed at me and accused me of being part of a grand, global conspiracy of adults to lie to kids. I thought about that a minute and said “Yeah, I guess you’re right – but we never talked about Santa, so we didn’t perpetuate it. We merely failed to stop it.’ I thought it was a good defense and then he said something about Nuremberg or Darfur or some grand moral failure by some public at large that he’d already learned about, and then I was stuck. I muttered something in my defense that I was pretty sure not many people died from believing in Santa, but that moment did make it quite a bit easier to be forthcoming on all of the awkward conversations later.

    Edit: I should mention that part of the pact with my son was that he couldn’t let on with his sister, or else I’d make sure he lost his privileges. We then recruited him into the whole gift hiding thing for his sister, which he really liked doing.

  54. 54.

    Calouste

    November 14, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    @smintheus:

    At least we’ll know that if Cain ever gets asked which newspapers he reads, he will honestly answer “None of them!”.

  55. 55.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    @Redshift: Yeah, basically Via is marketed to men, Cia to women. There’s a good sociological study in there somewhere.

  56. 56.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 14, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    @Martin: I’m impressed that your 3rd-grade son knew about Nuremberg.

  57. 57.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Might have been 4th grade. They read a number of Holocaust-related books in 4th grade. I make the kids watch the news with me with some regularity, and he lost interest in cartoons somewhere around 2nd grade in favor of documentaries and shows like Mythbusters. He knows a lot of weird shit for a kid, and doesn’t know a lot of stuff you’d expect a kid to know. The girl is a bit more typical.

  58. 58.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 14, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    @Martin: 3rd, 4th, whatever. There are lots of adults who have no idea what it means.

  59. 59.

    Gex

    November 14, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    Can I just say that I am sick and tired of the tendency to associate pedophilia with homosexuality. Apparently NPR had a guy on to discuss gay adoptions and just couldn’t help himself but bring up Sandusky. Sure, he was saying gays can be better adoptive parents than Sandusky, but is that our measuring stick? And it still leaves the fact that a lot of anti-gay people deliberately link the two, we don’t need allies helping them. Surely there are non-pedophile examples of bad straight adoptive parents.

    If everytime someone thought of you, they also thought of Rush Limbaugh, you’d be worried about how they really feel about you, wouldn’t you?

  60. 60.

    scav

    November 14, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: The smallest ones especially seem to come pre-equipped with a legal bulldog approach to negotiation and argumentation. Erupts practically before they manage multiple syllables.

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack

    November 14, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    DVR Alert

    TCM is showing The Blue Angel (1930) at 8:00 p.m. EST tonight. Marlene Dietrich in an iconic role, directed by Josef von Sternberg. And followed at 10:00 p.m. by another of their collaborations, Shanghai Express (1932).

  62. 62.

    harlana

    November 14, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    @kgc16:

    This being an open thread and all, can anyone tell me why the two lovers are always in separate bathtubs at the end of those commercials? What am I missing? Apologies in advance if it’s something totally obvious! ETA: Oh wait, is it supposed to be after the fact? Still seems less than romantic.

    don’t overthink it, it’s just fucking stupid is all. all those ads are stupid as hell. if you don’t have insurance, by the way, you can get free See-aliss, i won’t put the link up for moderation purposes

  63. 63.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Its one of the things I like about his school district. This year (8th grade) they read pretty much nothing but books from the banned book list. I thought that was especially cool.

  64. 64.

    John Weiss

    November 14, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    @The Dangerman: I don’t think that “medicinals” of any sort should be on the tee-vee. Unless, of course they show liquor commercials as well.

    And cigarette commercials.

  65. 65.

    RossinDetroit

    November 14, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    TCM is showing The Blue Angel

    Man, that was hard to watch. Great film making but sooooo depressing and grim in the last reel.

  66. 66.

    John Weiss

    November 14, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    @Gex: Yes, you can say that. I’m sick of the association (imagined) between teh gays and pedophilia. Two entirely different behaviors. The former being entirely normal, the latter an (as of yet incurable) psychosis.

  67. 67.

    harlana

    November 14, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    i’m sorry i made a ref to the drug that cannot be mentioned lest you be stuck in moderation hell, i just wanted to say it is of interest that if you don’t have insurance, you can actually get the stuff for free – i hate those stupid ads

  68. 68.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 14, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    @scav: Well, sure – been there, done that, have the scars. Just that bringing up Nuremberg when you’re 10 sounds, I don’t know, atypical.

  69. 69.

    harlana

    November 14, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    @jl: a curse be upon you for conjuring up an image of a Newt-Jim Morrison hybrid (vs. the Cain-Gingrich hybrid favored by Perry)

  70. 70.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 14, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    @Gex: Unfortunately, though, and I’d be happy to be proven wrong, I think that non-familial pedophilia tends to be more man-on-boy than man-on-girl, simply because, as a practical matter, it’s easier for a man predisposed to pedophilia to be around boys than around girls. It arouses less suspicion, it can be sports-related, it can be “just horsing around.” Whereas if he were hanging around ballet class, people would look askance much sooner.

    Lest I be misunderstood, I understand that pedophilia has nothing to do with adult sexual development.

  71. 71.

    gbear

    November 14, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    I’m off to have a girly-man pizza at the Davainni’s on Grand Avenue. It’s only going to have three ingredients, two of which are vegetables.

    More power to everything ‘Occupation’. It’s going to be hard to keep things going over the winter, but once March arrives, there’ll be no stopping it.

  72. 72.

    lacp

    November 14, 2011 at 7:19 pm

    @harlana: Yeah, I’m sick of them too. If you really need a drug with potentially very serious side effects to put some giddyup in your pony, maybe you ought to consider hanging up your spurs.

  73. 73.

    Steeplejack

    November 14, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    @RossinDetroit:

    Yes, it’s not the feel-good movie of the year. But it is a classic! I haven’t seen it in years, so it’s going on the DVR. TCM showed Shanghai Express just a month or two ago, so I’ll give that a miss.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 14, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    @BGinCHI: I’ve seen commercials for his tv show.

  75. 75.

    scav

    November 14, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Could very be. I rather thought it came pre-installed as part of the initial boot-dataset. Might just be the ones I was out-maneuvered by — although now that I think of it, the information available in their house hasn’t been toddler-proofed/dumbed down either. All sorts of tactical advantages readily available for hoovering up.

  76. 76.

    Suffern ACE

    November 14, 2011 at 7:40 pm

    @gbear: Yum. Used to live one block from there on Grand and Fairview, back when I was a student at one of those small but lively liberal arts colleges that they have around there.

  77. 77.

    baldheadeddork

    November 14, 2011 at 7:43 pm

    Apologies in advance if this is crossing into granite countertop territory, but I was piqued by the Princeton gentleman who berated the marchers for not having any marketable skills, like himself.

    He is Whitney Blodgett, who appears to be the son of Mark W. Blodgett. Blodgett pere made his bones in M&A during the 80’s. He started on the M&A desk at Citigroup in the late 70’s, then moved to Drexel in 1980, when Michael Milken was turning it into the top merger shop in the world.

    In eight years at Drexel he rose to Corporate VP, and during this period Drexel undertook several massive insider trading scandals that resulted in criminal convictions against Milken, Ivan Boskey, Dennis Levine and others. Rudy Giulianni was working on a RICO indictment against Drexel in 1989 when the firm agreed to plea no contest to six felonies and pay a then-record $650 million fine to avoid prosecution.

    Blodgett bailed out of Drexel sometime in 1988 and bought a majority stake in Stocker & Yale, a manufacturer of laser products. He avoided charges from his time at Drexel (as far as I could find) but in 2005 he and the company were charged by the SEC with issuing misleading press releases that Blodgett traded on for his own personal gain.

    Welcome to your 1%.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexel_Burnham_Lambert#Downfall

    http://www.prophotonix.com/investors/Corporate-Governance/Board-of-directors.aspx

    http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp19236.pdf

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stocker-yale-inc-to-pay-sec-fine-over-press-releases

  78. 78.

    Martin

    November 14, 2011 at 7:46 pm

    @scav: No, I think it’s in the lizard brain. I remember my daughter, who couldn’t have been more than 2, throwing a tantrum, tears, the works, threw herself face down, pounding little fists and feet into the wood floor, then easing back on the tears, looking up at me out of the corner of her eye to see if it was working, and then deciding I needed more, went back to the tears and tantruming.

    I think I said aloud: “Oh, so we’re going to have one of those relationships then.”

    But yeah, they come pre-wired. And yeah, we give them ammunition. We know it. My kids know that I try and deceive them and I expect them to learn the deceptions as they get older. I’ve told them from as early as they’d understand that the world is going to try and take advantage of them. We started by testing them with TV commercials. “What are they really trying to sell you? What are they really saying?” I’ll make deals with them that are strongly to my benefit, and then point out what they gave up, and what they should have done differently.

    I don’t know if the media/marketing/politics they get is really that much worse than when we were young, but they certainly get a higher volume of it. I don’t want them rushing out into the world as young adults and getting their ass handed to them. They’re going to make decisions on their terms, not anyone elses. At least that’s the hope.

  79. 79.

    Brian R.

    November 14, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    Did a Princeton freshman named Whitney Blodgett the Third actually lecture the protesters on how you’ve got to make it in this world on your own talent?

    What a fucking asshole. With such a punchable face.

  80. 80.

    4tehlulz

    November 14, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    This is the best movie trailer in human history.

  81. 81.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    November 14, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    .
    .
    Fortunately, Greece and Italy decided to follow President Obama’s wise example, and have placed their governments in the hands of Goldman Sachs.
    .
    .

  82. 82.

    Anon

    November 14, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    @Poopyman: F**k off. One person doesn’t speak for 5000 students. The guy is from the local prep school (Lawrenceville for those who know the area) and near as I could tell is a freshman. Not the smartest of combinations, as evidenced by his listing the Groppenator as his personal hero.

  83. 83.

    Litlebritdifrnt2

    November 14, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: we are representing a guy who is accused of raping his 13 year old daughter right now. Not his adopted daughter or anything but his biological daughter. I have no words.

  84. 84.

    Lojasmo

    November 14, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    OT: vi-gra is covered by insurance for ED but not for pulmonary hypertension.

    Boner for more than 4 hours, and they stick a big-ass needle in your penis. True story

  85. 85.

    scav

    November 14, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    @Martin: My big clue that they were having us on was the barely able to talk one’s interaction with his father. “Who am I?” “Mah Mah” “HehHeh, Who am I Mikey?” “Maah Maaah” and on and on and just at the finely gauged paternal lift-off moment: “DaahDaaaaah”. (It also amused me no end that Dad continued to fall for it and really get wound up.)

    All for not giving kids safety scissors and expecting a fair fight.

  86. 86.

    The Dangerman

    November 14, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    @Martin:

    …and shows like Mythbusters.

    Good, he’s learning at a young age that blowing shit up can be cool (matchheads in a barrel is one of my favorites).

  87. 87.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 8:05 pm

    @Martin: Wow. You’re my hero.

    You need to write a fatherhood book.

    Love the Santa Claus Pact.

  88. 88.

    Lojasmo

    November 14, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    Comment #84 in moderation. FYWP

  89. 89.

    harlana

    November 14, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    Fuck Newtmentum. You’re telling me I’m going to have to listen to this bag of flab and wind and all the media fluffing for the next few weeks or however long it lasts? I thought we were done with Newt a long time ago, he’d been a footnote, and now this? I had to suffer through this fucking asshole in the 90’s.

    Just fucking shoot me.

    Well at least I’ll enjoy witnessing the implosion which should be a sight to behold.

  90. 90.

    lamh35

    November 14, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    Ughh, just ughh! I get that it’s a news story, but let’s jut be a “defense attorney” for a mintue, why would giving an interview be a good idea???

    Jerry Sandusky to Bob Costas in exclusive ‘Rock Center’ interview: “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”

    DEVELOPING: Former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky admitted to showering and horsing around with young boys but said he is not a pedophile in an exclusive interview with Bob Costas for NBC News’ Rock Center airing tonight at 10 pm/9 CT. “I say that I am innocent of those charges,” said Sandusky in a phone interview with Costas. When asked by Costas, “Are you a pedophile,” Sandusky responded “No.”

    “…I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact,” said Sandusky.

    When pressed by Costas about what Sandusky was willing to concede that he’d done was wrong, Sandusky said, “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”..

  91. 91.

    Southern Beale

    November 14, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    I don’t get the cartoon. What does the bathtub mean?

    In other news, I have a kitten update!

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    November 14, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    Can I get an “amen” from the usual BJ noo-cue-lar fanboi drop-ins?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15691571

    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20111115_03.html

    Have to say, our own NRC was a lot more correct on the Fukushima situation than the Japanese regulators. Best not to even mention TEPCO.

  93. 93.

    EIGRP

    November 14, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    @Martin: 4 hours is abnormal when you’re 15?

    Eric

  94. 94.

    Suffern ACE

    November 14, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    @lamh35: Pretending for a moment that the coach was clueless that naked soap wrestling fights with the kids in the shower would be considered problematic, hugging them in the shower while naked would be considered inappropriate, playing “let me massage you” in his basement would be considered threatening if parents were aware of it, giving children clothing and asking “change in front of me”…o.k. no one is that clueless.

  95. 95.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 14, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    @RossinDetroit:

    Thanks, RossinDetroit. I was just about to post that (catching up with numerous threads after a day on the road; writing this from a restaurant in Roanoke, VA if anyone is interested). I immediately took it as a refernewnce to Grover Norquist’s infamous line.

    P.S. What commercial?

  96. 96.

    Samara Morgan

    November 14, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    nice JAFI reference, AL.
    the childrens crusade– did you mean this?

    an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity;

    a kind of early Bush Doctrine using impoverished children?

  97. 97.

    Chuck Butcher

    November 14, 2011 at 8:31 pm

    @Southern Beale: I don’t get the cartoon. What does the bathtub mean?

    Boner pill commercial, no sex partner for the Donkeys…

    We do know who is actually going to take a f–king, don’t we?

  98. 98.

    Southern Beale

    November 14, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Oh wow. I can’t believe I don’t watch enough TV to get it.

  99. 99.

    Mnemosyne

    November 14, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    One of the reasons I love living in the future is that I have Shanghai Express on my iPod Touch right now (I tried to watch it on a plane trip but the noise of the plane overpowered the dialogue).

    I really do want to work on my Pre-Code blog, but other projects keep getting in the way. I do have most of a post worked up about the Carole Lombard/Clark Gable No Man of Her Own, and I think I could segue from there to A Free Soul. I just have to sit down and, like, write it.

  100. 100.

    lamh35

    November 14, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    ok, so NBC has Sandusky, ABC has Gabby Giffords and Fox News has Gloria Cain. I refuse to watch Sandusky or Cain, so I guess it’ll be Gabby story tonight.

    I hope other people also ignores NBC’s interview too, even if it is to watch Gloria Cain.

  101. 101.

    Origuy

    November 14, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    A better analogy would be to the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.

  102. 102.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 14, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    @Lojasmo:

    Boner for more than 4 hours, and they stick a big-ass needle in your penis.

    Funny how they never mention that in the side effects disclaimers.

  103. 103.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 14, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    In other news, I have a kitten update!

    “My kitteh has a first name,
    It’s O-S-C-A-R. . . . “

  104. 104.

    Loneoak

    November 14, 2011 at 8:54 pm

    I CAN HAZ MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL THREAD?

    Go Pack Go!

  105. 105.

    jeffreyw

    November 14, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    Our puppeh is learning! Huzzah!

  106. 106.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    November 14, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    @Loneoak:

    They’re going, so far.

  107. 107.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 14, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    @lamh35: The ick factor is very strong, but props to Costas for getting the interview.

  108. 108.

    Mnemosyne

    November 14, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    @lamh35:

    You should probably keep the kleenex handy. Just the excerpts from the book in People magazine (1) were making me tear up.

    (1) Not my fault, my co-worker buys all of the glossy gossip magazines and leaves them in the lunchroom.

  109. 109.

    BGinCHI

    November 14, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    @jeffreyw: Come on, Jeffrey. We can see who is and is not learning in those pictures.

  110. 110.

    magurakurin

    November 14, 2011 at 9:10 pm

    @lamh35: Jesus, what’s next? Is Sandusky going to start a fund to hire private investigators to find the “real child-raper?” I get the folks who defended the innocent until proven guilty basis of the US legal code. And they are not wrong to do so. The indictment is just that and indictment not a verdict. Sandusky has the right to the presumption of innocence in the justice system. No question about it. But in this little side-chamber that is the BJ comment section, for fuck’s sake, the guy is guilty a sin, right?

  111. 111.

    MikeJ

    November 14, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    @Mnemosyne: When you show up late for a thread and skip around to skim you get Martin at 41:

    A season or so later Mike Rowe had his arm up to his elbow artificially inseminating a horse and jacking off a bull or a pig or some damn thing. It just got more humorous as we went along.

    and Mnemosyne at 107:

    You should probably keep the kleenex handy.

    And really wonder if you want to read the inbetweens.

  112. 112.

    Raven

    November 14, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Try the Hotel Roanoke dining room if you can.

    http://hotelroanoke.com/

  113. 113.

    hildebrand

    November 14, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @BGinCHI: Gah! You mean that Ms. Bellucci is not waiting patiently for me? My hopes of a fair and just world have been completely shot. Hmph.

  114. 114.

    Suffern ACE

    November 14, 2011 at 9:20 pm

    Well, at least the Vikings aren’t going to blow a big lead this week.

  115. 115.

    Raven

    November 14, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    @magurakurin: And because a thousand drunk morons “rioted” all Penn State students are pedophiles too.

  116. 116.

    Steeplejack

    November 14, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    One of my favorite sayings: “I love writing; it’s the paperwork I can’t stand.”

    Good luck with the blog piece. It sounds interesting.

  117. 117.

    El Cid

    November 14, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    @Suffern ACE:

    Well, at least the Vikings aren’t going to blow a big lead this week.

    Who should they blow instead?

  118. 118.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 14, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    @Mods: just saying, my #102 has been in suspended animation for close to an hour. Just because I block quoted a banned word.

    ETA: Never mind, and thank you. That was fast.

  119. 119.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 14, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    @Raven:

    Thanks, Raven. Maybe on the return trip, if my travels bring me back this way.

  120. 120.

    magurakurin

    November 14, 2011 at 9:46 pm

    @Raven: So, you think there is a chance that Sandusky is innocent? I don’t. Now, I do admit that there is a chance that the DA doesn’t have enough to convict him and that a jury might see reasonable doubt. OJ was acquitted. And in this case McQueary’s testimony may be isolated by the defense and they may be able to paint him as a liar for some reason. Or perhaps just create enough doubt about his memory of what he actually saw. That’s why Sandusky is admitting to having showered with the boys. But some old men rape little boys in the ass. That is a sad, sad reality of life on Planet Earth. And Sandusky is clearly (to me) in their number. If for some reason you can look at this situation and see the chance that no little boys were ever raped, well, I envy your optimism and faith in your fellow man.

  121. 121.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 14, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    @jeffreyw:

    I’m intrigued by all the glowing lights in the background of the photos. Are those all critter eyes, like a scary scene in “Bambi” or “Snow White,” or are they a line of car headlights approaching your home like the final scene from “Field of Dreams”? Or a crocodile of mendicants with lanterns, like the Ave Maria scene in “Fantasia”?

  122. 122.

    jeffreyw

    November 14, 2011 at 9:57 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Nothing near as grand as any of those – they are solar powered marking lights, meant to light a walk coming own from the patio. As the days shorten and the nights grow longer their magic fades before the dawn breaks.

  123. 123.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    @jeffreyw: Is your kittehs learning? How are Bitsy and Homer?

  124. 124.

    jeffreyw

    November 14, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Those two are having a good time together now, sparring and chasing up and down the hallway. Bitsy goes in for her “procedure” tomorrow. She will be sore for a few days.

  125. 125.

    khead

    November 14, 2011 at 10:25 pm

    I wish I wrote articles for The Atlantic so I could excuse this heaping pile of dung from Megan and then sleep peacefully at night.

  126. 126.

    Julia Grey

    November 15, 2011 at 12:50 am

    So now I’ve heard the “explanation” for the pair of bathtubs in the Cheeallis commercials, that they are supposed to evoke relaxing and taking one’s time and all that.

    But I ask you, who the hell could relax in a bathtub OUTDOORS?

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Image by MomSense (5/10.25)

Recent Comments

  • Another Scott on Late Night Open Thread: #TSLA Troubles (May 21, 2025 @ 1:18am)
  • sab on Late Night Open Thread: #TSLA Troubles (May 21, 2025 @ 1:14am)
  • prostratedragon on Open Thread: Creativity Is inherently Non-Conservative (May 21, 2025 @ 1:07am)
  • cain on Late Night Open Thread: #TSLA Troubles (May 21, 2025 @ 1:06am)
  • cain on Late Night Open Thread: #TSLA Troubles (May 21, 2025 @ 1:05am)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!