Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This really is a full service blog.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

A consequence of cucumbers

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

T R E 4 5 O N

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

This blog will pay for itself.

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

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

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

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64Comments

  1. 1.

    Steeplejack

    Was out driving in the unseasonably mild–and energizing!–NoVa weather today and heard this chestnut: Bobby Womack, “Harry Hippie.” Good sunny-day drivin’ tune.

    I’d like to help a man when he’s down
    but I can’t help you, Harry, if you wanna sleep on the ground
    sorry, Harry, oh, you’re too much weight to carry around

  4. 4.

    Yutsano

    @efgoldman:

    They are awfully smart and sweet, though.

    They is that. But they do need a task to do and space to run or they will suffer big time. It’s why I won’t have one here.

  8. 8.

    khead

    Did you say musical travesty?

    I give you Oran Juice Jones.

    Don’t make me come back in here with more crappy 80’s videos and/or cat pics – Cole may have to get involved…..

    Khead +2

  9. 9.

    Violet

    In other news, I had to drive up to Austin today. Drove via Bastrop. You might remember the huge Texas wildfires that made the news this summer. Holy cow, it was bad. I had only seen it on the news when it happened in the summer, but seeing the evidence and remains of the fire is something else entirely.

    Charred trees are everywhere for miles. A bunch of them have been taken down and a huge area is cleared to be used as a dump to bring them in and mulch or chip them or something. There are parking lots full of big equipment–trucks, bulldozers, etc.–to use to deal with it. Charred buildings, bare foundations and lone fireplaces still dot the landscape. It’s jaw-dropping.

    Definitely a disaster for the folks affected. And it was a massive fire that lasted a long time. No wonder the cleanup is such a big project.

  12. 12.

    Raven

    @Steeplejack: Yea! I actually have the film on VHS. What’s funny is that Jackie Brown is set in an area of LA where my sis lives and she’s only a few blocks from 110th Street there.

  14. 14.

    Violet

    @khead:
    She’s on that new Brian Williams news magazine show, “Rock Center”. Didn’t she used to work for CBS or something?

  15. 15.

    khead

    @Violet:

    Dunno. I also wondered what the hell Harry Smith was doing at the NBC desk awhile back too – so maybe it’s just me. Maybe I need to get out more. Or change the channel from the local NBC affiliate after the 5 PM news.

    But…. I at least knew who the fuck Harry Smith is…. I’ve never heard of Kate Snow.

  16. 16.

    Violet

    @khead:
    Maybe it was ABC she worked for. I know I’ve seen her before, but can’t remember where. One of the “big three” networks, for sure. She’s not a dimbo blonde like the Fox bimbettes.

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    There was a poster named Jason asking about Michigan and Ohio with regards to Willard vs. the President.

    Politicususa has a piece out saying that the President is up 8 in Michigan right now. As for Ohio, well, I believe that the President is in good shape there, mainly because they were able to not only get the ‘ Let Detroit Go Bankrupt’ around Willard’s neck, but also, they can hang around his neck the support of SB5. The ads write themselves.

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rikyrah:

    they can hang around his neck the support of SB5. The ads write themselves.

    and wasn’t there some uniquely Willardian flip-flopping on SB5, as well?

  22. 22.

    geg6

    Been a bad day around here, what with saying goodbye to our Henry and it all happening on the 11th anniversary of my mom’s passing. But it’s improving slightly after about a half a bottle of pinot noir, a second bottle of cabernet on deck, a roast beef that is almost done and smelling wonderful, a great man beside me, and an HBO film I’m really looking forward to.

    If you love football and have HBO, watch Namath tonight. There are few football players that have a more compelling and interesting story than ol’ Broadway Joe or, as those of us who remember him when, Joe Willie. He’s a native of my Beaver County who started his legendary career at Beaver Falls High School (where he returned this fall to honor the 50th anniversary of their state championship and was escorted onto the field, not without trepidation on my part, by my niece, a BFHS cheerleader), went on to helm the Crimson Tide, and instantly gave credibility to the merger of the NFL and AFL when his Jets improbably won the Super Bowl. HBO always does a great job with sports docs and I expect this to be one of their most entertaining.

  24. 24.

    khead

    Sorry for your loss geg6. Did not get to that thread earlier.

    But Joe Namath is an asshole. Really.

  25. 25.

    Chat Noir

    @geg6: Thanks for the reminder about “Namath” on HBO. I saw the promos for it late in 2011 and put it on my to-watch list for the new year.

    And I was sorry to read about Henry. We had to put my husband’s Wheaten Terrier down in early November so we understand your loss. When I picked up Danny’s ashes, the vet included the story of the Rainbow Bridge, which caused me to cry heavily. What a lovely story and one to help those get cope with losing a beloved pet.

    Sending virtual hugs your way.

  27. 27.

    Raven

    We who choose to surround ourselves
    with lives even more temporary than our
    own, live within a fragile circle;
    easily and often breached.
    Unable to accept its awful gaps,
    we would still live no other way.
    We cherish memory as the only
    certain immortality, never fully
    understanding the necessary plan.
    — Irving Townsend

  29. 29.

    Calouste

    Politifact has now completely descended into farce. They claim that Romney’s statement that he never voted for a Democrat when there was a Republican on the ballot was “Half True” because of course there were no Republicans on the Democratic ballot that he requested to vote for Tsongas.

    In the Jacksonville debate, Romney said, “I’ve never voted for a Democrat when there was a Republican on the ballot.” Romney has been open about the strategy behind his decision, and we expect many voters would have done the same thing. We see two contrary interpretations as having merit. Romney has a point that the ballot he was handed didn’t include any Republicans. On the other hand, Romney had a right to request a GOP ballot that day and opted not to. We rate the statement Half True.

    Bonus points to them for using ‘We see two contrary interpretations as having merit.” instead of the old and tired “both sides do it”. It makes them so much more serious and believeable.

  30. 30.

    geg6

    @Raven:

    As far as I know, okay.

    @khead:

    No, he really isn’t. He has been a drunk and acted like one at times but he really is a good guy. He was very sweet to my niece this fall and I know that he’s been a wonderful son and a booster of his high school. He never forgot where he came from (a very small and close-knit town) and, I suppose if you don’t know him from anything else other than his drunken appearances on tv in the past, you might think he’s an asshole. But he’s not.

  34. 34.

    PanurgeATL

    @khead:

    I worked in a record store back then. EVERYBODY who asked for the record called him “Orange Juice Jones”.

  35. 35.

    khead

    @geg6:

    It’s not just the drunken TV appearances, it’s the cluelessness that accompanies a dumbass athlete who can’t quite understand that winning the Super Bowl in 1969 doesn’t really give you a pass when you want to talk shit about the Jets in 2011.

    I’m glad your niece thinks he’s sweet though.

  40. 40.

    khead

    @Raven:

    Maybe. But to be honest I suspect I’d feel much more chastised if this criticism didn’t come from someone who talked ridiculous shit to everyone that had the nerve to badmouth Georgia between Sept and Dec.

  42. 42.

    geg6

    khead @37:

    Don’t have the heart to follow your link, but if criticizing the Jets is enough to make you an asshole forever more, then there are a whole LOT of assholes who Joe Willie is going to have to line up behind. He’s a transformative player in the the history of the NFL. Don’t think any if the current Jets can or ever will be able to make that claim.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    anybody wanna speculate irresponsibly about this?

    Former President George H. W. Bush and his son Jeb made an unannounced visit to the White House on Friday, meeting in the Oval Office with President Obama.
    The White House released a photo of the meeting via Twitter Friday evening, with the elder Bush shown sitting in a wheelchair. The former president and the former Florida governor were in Washington for the annual Alfalfa dinner, an exclusive black-tie event. The meeting had not been on the president’s official schedule.

  50. 50.

    RossInDetroit

    @MikeJ:

    Some in-laws just got a Border Collie puppy for their 12 year old daughter. She’s active and at home now, but when she goes to college the dog will still be young. A pet like that is like being in a relationship with a needy genius.

  51. 51.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Raven: I guess I’ve missed it in the past, then. And I suspect it stays fresh for those whose losses are fresh.

  54. 54.

    becca

    @Raven:

    That reminds me of a short passage in A Short History of a Small Place by T R Pearson-

    A boy and his father leave their house for a walk. It’s getting dusky outside. A little distance down the country road the boy chances to look back at his house just as his mother switches on the farmhouse porch light. Along with a surge of warmth and love, he is overcome with the realization that that moment in time is gone forever and the porch light was ” shot through with melancholy”.

    Beautiful.

  56. 56.

    Mark S.

    @Calouste:

    That shit cracks me up. I can’t believe anybody would give a shit if someone voted for Paul Tsongas twenty years ago, but this somehow goes to prove whether one is A TRUE CONSERVATIVE!

  57. 57.

    Anne Laurie

    @RossInDetroit:

    Some in-laws just got a Border Collie puppy for their 12 year old daughter. She’s active and at home now, but when she goes to college the dog will still be young. A pet like that is like being in a relationship with a needy genius.

    By all means, encourage them to find a local dog-training / agility / flyball club. If they’re in MI, I should be able to scrounge for some names — depending on where they are, the 4H and FFA may even have groups specifically for kids. Getting the puppy off to the right start, giving the dog & the new family a common ‘language’ while they’re still upbeat & dazzled with their new living toy, will make a huge difference in the quality of the dog’s life later. Even a qualified individual trainer, someone who can get through to them what kind of a commitment they’re taking on, is better than nothing; but a group of people who are committed to enjoying the drive and intelligence of their dogs sets the best example!

  58. 58.

    smintheus

    @becca: The concluding sentence is especially striking. For some reason it makes me think of James Agee.

    “And I said to myself without really saying it but just knowing it right off, this is the sort of thing that sets me apart from Daddy and him from me and both of us from everybody else, not simply that I saw the porch light come on and he didn’t and nobody else would care anyway, but more that Momma could switch on a single bulb and switch on something in me with it, something of sadness and grief and shot through with the melancholy of twilight, something I could not be sure Daddy would know as I knew it, feel as I felt it.”

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    and wasn’t there some uniquely Willardian flip-flopping on SB5, as well?

    yes. in true Willard fashion, when it first came out, he came out in support of it. but, in the final week before the actual vote, he came to a GOP Call Center, where they were trying to drum up support for SB5, and then stepped outside of it and tried to say that he didn’t know what SB5 was. He was taken to the woodshed by the Tea Partiers, and whaddya know, next day, he’s out in full support of SB5, which went down to a rousing defeat about a week later.

    like I said, the ads write themselves.

  60. 60.

    RossInDetroit

    @Anne Laurie:

    Thanks for the suggestions. that’s the direction we were thinking in. The girl is a tomboy so something like utility dog training would probably make them both happy. Otherwise I guarantee stress and consternation in the house for all.
    They do have a large yard that backs up to a very large park, so space isn’t an issue thank Bob.

  63. 63.

    Schlemizel

    I was looking for the Gopher hockey game because the GD squeakball game was on. That means I was wading in the fetid swamp that is AM radio when I came across a real piece of shit I had never heard of before. This assclown was so over the top paranoid screaming loony that I had to stay and find out who he was. Any of you heard Alex Jones before – I had not & wish I could still say I had never heard of him.

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