Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

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

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

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

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He really is that stupid.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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Reader Interactions

57Comments

  3. 3.

    Jibeaux

    Is this talk some sort of preview of what we can expect when the Romney campaign reaches WVa? I just hope he doesn’t sing any John Denver.

  6. 6.

    jnfr

    Have I told you lately that I love you
    Have I told you there’s no one else above you
    You fill my heart with gladness
    Take away all my sadness
    Ease my troubles, that’s what you do
    __
    For the morning sun and all it’s glory
    Greets the day with hope and comfort, too
    You fill my heart with laughter
    Somehow, you make it better
    Ease my troubles, that’s what you do

  7. 7.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    I feel better now. I wish I was by the crick in a pick-em-up-truck drinking a 40 when I was 18, but I’ll just pretend.

    I wish I was at a rave in San Francisco getting my groove on.

  8. 8.

    BGinCHI

    I can’t believe I’ve been holding out on bugging Cole via email all this time. I can’t believe people bug him for all that shit.
    __
    I’m starting to think I’m the only one not wearing pajamas and typing in a fully-carpeted basement.

  10. 10.

    jonnieb

    Well, I was 18, doing 16 ounce curls, sitting in a pickup truck by a creek, listening to these guys…and let me tell ya…

  12. 12.

    Steeplejack

    I am withholding my YouTube music-fu in protest over the previous post. Good night, sir!

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne

    I’m picking my new bike up this weekend, so I got a strong lock, a really strong lock, and the thickest chain they had at the hardware store.
    .
    If they’re going to steal my goddamned bike again, the least I can do is make them work for it.

  14. 14.

    srv

    Just one question. Why do you have fucking email? I’ve commented here for 7 years and never thought once to email you. Not even when I won that six-pack.

    There are a dozen odd fanboi/fangirls here who would moderate this shit for free. Delegate, man.

  16. 16.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne:
    __
    That Trek Allant looks like it could be just the ticket for my brother.
    __
    The other two Web sites were horrible to navigate: floofy “design” with hard-to-reach content. I never could find a price for one of the goddamn bikes.
    __
    Thanks again. Happy trails on your new one.

  19. 19.

    handy

    @Martin:

    Why does this remind me of that scene in Trading Places where Billy Ray Valentine, after learning he’s been snookered by the Dukes, is trying to help the slovenly drunken Louis Winthorp while chasing him all over Philadelphia?

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steeplejack:

    No problem. There are at least two former bike shop owners who post here (and of course I’m blanking on who they are) who gave me some good advice. If you post questions in an open thread, I’m sure they’ll turn up.
    .
    The big thing is to find a bike shop that you can trust. This is the second bike I’m buying from Pasadena Cyclery — they’re not the closest to me geographically, but they have great service and they don’t make me feel like a idiot because I’m a gurrrrl like some shops are prone to do. If your brother can find a shop that advertises itself as “woman friendly,” that’s often a comfortable place for inexperienced male cyclists, too.

  22. 22.

    Steeplejack

    @Martin:
    __
    I don’t see how this gets at the problem. The list doesn’t contain socialism, and if Cole deletes cialis then apparently the tide of boner-pill ads would be unleashed upon us.
    __
    What am I missing?

  23. 23.

    Martin

    Oh, and Cole – don’t spend the 10 seconds for us. Spend it for you, to keep all of us out of moderation so that you don’t have to be burdened clearing us out of jail.

  24. 24.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne:
    __
    I know there are several good bike shops here in NoVa. I just wanted to get some idea of prices on line. And it is a pet peeve when manufacturer’s sites are long on “design” and short on info and actual usability.

  25. 25.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    Ah, it’s time to relax, and you know what that means.
    A glass of wine, your favorite easy chair and, of course,
    This compact disc laying on your home stereo.
    So go on, indulge yourself, that’s right,
    Kick off your shoes, put your feet up,
    Lean back and and just enjoy the melodies.
    After all, music soothes even the savage beast….

  26. 26.

    Martin

    @Steeplejack: Nah – akismet would catch it. That’s what it does, but it’s way the fuck smarter. The moderation list doesn’t do a fucking thing except chew up th FPers time clearing us out. Hell, just test it. Take the word out for 3 days and see if we get spammed. If we do, put it back in. But we won’t. Akismet is pretty good.

    Seriously, look at all of the other political sites out there where sociaIism is regularly mentioned – are they overrun with spam?

  27. 27.

    TooManyJens

    @Steeplejack:

    What am I missing?

    That the keyword filter isn’t the only thing keeping spam off the site. He’s also running a much better plugin called Akismet that will deal with the boner-pill ads. The keyword filter may improve performance a tad by cutting down on the stuff that has to get sent to Akismet’s servers to be evaluated (I’m guessing, but it seems likely), but some keywords are just more trouble than they’re worth.

  28. 28.

    kdaug

    Damn, I can hear the crickets and frogs right now. Laid out in the back of the pickup. Stars and the moon in the air, creek gurgling at our feet. Too much pollen in the air, but my girl laying next to me… man, I’m making plans for this weekend.

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack

    @Martin, @TooManyJens:
    __
    Ah, I get it now. The list is screwing things up before they ever get to Akismet.
    __
    I agree about deleting cialis from the list and seeing what happens for a day or two. It’s not like we haven’t survived before with various pieces and parts of the blog on the fritz (if that’s what happens).

  30. 30.

    Calming Influence

    So last night I clicked in to Balloon Juice, and I was actually scared something had gone horribly wrong. The font was 2 point, max. It went through my head in a flash: Cole has lost it. He’s read through a couple thousand comments regarding the site upgrade, and he’s lost it. He changed the font to “squint”, camo’d his face and tied on a bandana, and headed for the most convenient clock tower with a high powered rifle.
    .
    Then I realized I’d zoomed way out on the last site I was on. Reset the zoom, and it’s all good.
    .
    It coulda happened though…

  31. 31.

    handy

    So who here has been pestering Cole post-redesign about the spam filter? I’ve only seen the topic come up briefly in these threads. Hell, I pretty much have resigned myself to the fact that it’s never getting fixed. Besides, I like that people are forced to go with”soshulism”–it’s very much in the spirit of similar slackjawed conservative stupidity that gets mocked here, like “teh ghey” and “libruls.”
    __
    SAVE SOSHULISM COLE! DON’T LISTEN TO THESE HATERS!

  34. 34.

    handy

    Although I do think his plan about winning the Mega Millions so he can buy the A’s and keep them in Oakland has promise.

  38. 38.

    Anne Laurie

    I feel better now. I wish I was by the crick in a pick-em-up-truck drinking a 40 when I was 18…

    I wouldn’t want to be 18 again, not even if you gave me a large sum of cash money. Not even if I knew everything then that I know now, thereby gaining the chance to improve my diet & exercise habits, buy MS stock at its initial offering, and pull a Lee Harvey Oswald on every crawling CREEPster infesting the Oval Office including Dick “Darth” Cheney.
    __
    Call me selfish, but I’ll bet the spread that most women would agree with me, and most men would agree with Cole…

  41. 41.

    Hill Dweller

    I can’t believe Zimmerman’s father went after Obama in that Fox interview. Is someone feeding him talking points?

  42. 42.

    piratedan

    @Hill Dweller: well if Zimmerman’s father is watching Fox News for his information, I can see where he would be pissed. Granted, the President hasn’t said anything remotely about Zimmerman, only regarding the actual victim of the crime, but that’s not stopped Fox from a completely distorted reporting standpoint, they can make up whatever they please and indicate that it’s a crying shame that “he wasn’t brought to heel” sooner and praising Zimmerman’s son for making our streets safer for us all or some string of similar crap. Nodding and Tut-tutting in deep commiseration because they’re serious people.

  43. 43.

    Warren Terra

    @Hill Dweller:
    This is what the Wingers are marinating in. Newt denounced Obama’s carefully sympathetic but nonjudgmental comments as revealing implacable hatred of non-Blacks – and Newt wasn’t alone. Even without knowing Zimmerman Senior’s views from before the last month (though I can make dark surmises based on the son he raised), it would be surprising if he hadn’t spent at least the last fortnight (since his son’s murdering ways started getting national attention) eagerly latching onto any voices of support he could find – meaning basically the purveyors of hate on the Right, the people who insist Obama called for his son to be lynched.

  44. 44.

    Hill Dweller

    @piratedan: I avoid Fox like the plague, but it’s easy to imagine the nonsense and distortions they’re pushing. That said, the President’s statement was on camera for the world to see. Zimmerman had to have seen it. If so, he would know his son wasn’t even mentioned, much less subjected to hate.
    I bet he is being fed talking points and/or getting help with a media strategy.

  46. 46.

    wasabi gasp

    The comment section’s been looking a little banged up since your web mistress took all your monies and runned, so I wrote a quick userstyle to tweak it a bit. It doesn’t alter anything but the comments section.

  48. 48.

    amk

    @wasabi gasp: @PeakVT:

    I tried all three (not sure which is the one that is installed right now) and it looks much better now.

    No big ass comment no.

    The time line appears at the top.

    The posts are wider.

    No permanent reply button, only a hovering one.

    I don’t know if line breaks still work.

    ETA – yay, line breaks work.

    Thanks.

    How could cole fuck up such simple things ?

  49. 49.

    Gunga Dean

    John! I don’t know how you do it. You created a site (once upon a time) that you probably considered fun at the time.

    But your sensible ruminations attracted avid fans of your opinion in the comments, and then co-posters, and lurkers like me who love the viewpoints on this site.

    With popularity comes the slanders from those that regard you as an apostate, and yet you weather on. With your intellect, you could have done anything, but instead, I suspect reluctantly, became one of the sane voices in this public (and sometimes stupid) discourse called democracy.

    I thank you! Thank You!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!

  51. 51.

    Joey Maloney

    The new mobile plugin is much nicer-looking, but trying to reveal the comments on any post reliably crashes Safari on my iPod Touch.

  52. 52.

    danielx

    @Anne Laurie:

    Not me, I wouldn’t be a teen again for any amount of money. Too much angst and ignorance and too little knowledge of human behavior. Now, I’d do 30 again in a heartbeat.

  53. 53.

    rea

    I would in no way want to be 18 again, but I wouldn’t mind having my present brain in an 18-year-old body . . .

  55. 55.

    gumbo

    Love me some Allmans!

    One of the things that originally attracted my husband to me was the fact that his yankee self had never met a woman who really liked the Allman Bros.

    I told him that was one of the things to put in the “good things about the south” column.

    Wish there weren’t so many things in the other column.

  56. 56.

    rea

    The Allmans were pretty radical back in the day–a mixed race band from the South in the 60’s was awfully rare, and they had some antiwar lyrics, too. Not really a “pickup truck down by the creek” band, back before country boys started to grow their hair long and smoke dope.

  57. 57.

    kideni

    John, whether you’re raging or getting all mellow, you do good work. I’d offer to take you out for a few drinks if you ever come back to Madison, but I know you don’t like to meet your adoring fans. That said, if you ever do make it here again, I’d be happy to set up a tab for you someplace.

    And Anne Laurie, I completely agree. So much fear at being in the age of Reagan toying with nuclear war with the USSR and stirring up trouble in Central America, so much angst about where my life was going, so much anxiety about how to avoid getting pregnant but still have some fun with the boyfriend (and since he was also 18 and new at it, not actually having all that much fun). And the music was getting less great.

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