Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Infrastructure week. at last.

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I really should read my own blog.

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

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

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

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

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

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

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

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Reader Interactions

70Comments

  2. 2.

    Richard

    Don’t let Cheney shoot you in the face. You know how much he likes undisclosed locations.

  3. 3.

    Jude

    Welcome to my little corner of paradise, you fellow misanthropic bastard. I’d say I’ll buy the next fat man I see a beer, but that would bankrupt me before I would be statistically likely to have you be the recipient.

  4. 4.

    the Conster

    I’ve kind of forgotten this is your blog. I guess I’m getting what I paid for.

  6. 6.

    Anne Laurie

    @jeffreyw: Dang, I would soooo love to fly out there and kidnap that teacup Chihuahua! (Although our 20lb rescue Papillon-mix Gloria would not agree — it took her weeks to adapt to the latest kitten.) Chis have a really hard time in shelters, because they’re been bred to be one-person dogs, even more than most toy dogs, so they just don’t do well in group situations. Hopefully there’s a Indiana John Cole looking for his own Lily out there…

    Also, your wife probably knows this, but Min Pins aren’t actually “miniature dobermans”… for one thing, they are much more hard-headed! :) Those guys won’t have any trouble at all making their mark on potential adopters…

  7. 7.

    jl

    ” I am safe and secure in an undisclosed location. ”

    Cole didn’t get locked inside that newfangled rebuilt bathroom, did he?

    If he needs some one to call the contractor to let him, out, I guess he can.

    And, thanks to Cole for cute godson pics.

  11. 11.

    Tony J

    @Jay C:

    You know, the guy whose cat ate him after he slipped in the shower and started enslaving dogs to work in its garden? It was a Hallmark movie special, wasn’t it?

  13. 13.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Anne Laurie: You have a new kitten? Photos plz, otherwise you are no better than Harry Reid and I will have to award you elbenty Pinnochios.

  16. 16.

    kindness

    Comrade Cole marches against the proletariat in Madison. The Revolution moves forward.

  17. 17.

    low-tech cyclist

    John – that kid IS cute. And since this is over the Interwebs, I don’t have to say that just to be polite.

    I think he may be cuter than MY son, and I don’t say that about hardly anyone.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Carter

    Madison is the second nicest area around here.

    Milwaukee is better. (Yes, it’s where I live.)

  27. 27.

    BGinCHI

    Cole, two suggestions.

    Buy a New Glarus Belgian Red (comes in large format “bomber” only). Best fruited beer in the world, and I’m not exaggerating. Not too sweet and not too sour, but oh so cherry.

    Since you’re such a huge fan of Little Feat (and the Band, presumably), you need to check out J Roddy Walston and the Business. Like Little Feat but with a bar fight going on during the recording. Just the album cover is worth checking them out for.

    http://www.amazon.com/Roddy-Walston-And-The-Business/dp/B003W95QR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344383691&sr=8-1&keywords=j+roddy+walston

    Enjoy Madison.

  29. 29.

    kdaug

    Just waiting for Cole to come out of hiding and post one of his blurry pics of himself and Tunch snuggling in the new bathtub.

  34. 34.

    Ash Can

    undisclosed

    Ur doin it rong

    @jl:

    Cole didn’t get locked inside that newfangled rebuilt bathroom, did he?

    “Hello? Do you have John Cole in the can?”

  35. 35.

    SlothropRedux

    Enjoy Madison. I would suggest a great Italian restaurant (Osteria Papavero), a lovely location for a good beer (the Memorial Union Terrace), a good beer for a hot day (Capital Brewery’s Island Wheat), an historical site to tour (the Capitol), and a yummy local ice cream place (the Chocolate Shoppe on State St. Or on Sherman Ave.), but I know you’ve got better things to do.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: Love the view from your window!

    Edit: What a great photo of Homer.

    I was looking for a file on my laptop when I came across homer and the bee. At the same time, i found “refresh BJ”, which I still think is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. You really need to find an excuse to post that here once in awhile.

  39. 39.

    jl

    OT, or maybe not. This is a Cole post. Who is to say what is on or off topic, least of all the supposed ‘Cole’? The physical existence of Cole, a semi mythical folkloric character of the early 21st century blog era (the mid Cambrian age of blogdom) was reclusive, outrageous and implausible. The supposed Cole loved animals and young children, did not like anyone else.

    In honor of ‘John Cole’

    ‘Kittycam’ study finds cats are virtual killing machines
    By Eric Pfeiffer Yahoo! News
    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/kittycam-study-finds-cats-virtual-killing-machines-214018851.html

    Maybe if a TunchCam happened, I would believe that Cole exists. Until then, count me skeptical.

    Edit: My fiendish plan is that TunchCam tapes will reveal evidence of some real phenomena that can be interpreted as ‘existence of John G Cole’. I admit it’s a long shot, but why not give it a try.

  45. 45.

    schrodinger's cat

    @jeffreyw: He has the digniteh and the authoriteh, love the dot on his nose. Well that just leaves out Bea and the doggies. Also too, thanks for Bitsy and Homer pics!

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Make sure you hit La Baguette for bread and pastries while you are here. Oh, wait, they are closed until the 16th. Oh, well.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    My godson and his parents and I all went to the airport and went our separate ways. Little kid is damned cute.

    He’s the cutest thing ever, but he’s just too damned young to be going his separate way in an airport.

  49. 49.

    urlhix

    @BGinCHI: From what I hear they do. I found out about them after they blew the doors off a club in Athens. A friend of mine was tending bar and couldn’t stop talking about the show. And rock club bartenders are the most jaded people about music around.

  50. 50.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: I always laugh out loud when I look at that.

    And yes, of course I recall the origin. That’s part of what makes it so clever.

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    In John’s absence, will the pets take advantage of their numerical superiority to stage a coup and declare the independent domain of Tunchistan?

  55. 55.

    eco2geek

    So, apropos of the latest news, here’s a question for any legal eagle out there. Jared Loughner had to be medicated and given psychological help until he was mentally competent to stand trial.

    So why are they accepting his guilty plea? If he was too crazy to stand trial right after committing the crime, doesn’t it follow that he was crazy when he committed the crime?

    Of course, in a country where they allow mentally retarded folks to be executed (see: Texas), I’m not sure anybody gives a shit.

  56. 56.

    martha

    @SlothropRedux: So, you must follow us around… :)

    Welcome to my world John…back from a client meeting in Minnesota. What a gorgeous day in the flyover.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @eco2geek:

    So why are they accepting his guilty plea? If he was too crazy to stand trial right after committing the crime, doesn’t it follow that he was crazy when he committed the crime?

    Short answer: No.

    There are different standards. Being incompetent to stand trial basically means that you are unable to understand the proceeding and/or help with your own defense. Legal insanity more or less boils down to not being able to recognize that what you did was wrong (Note: this is waaaayyyyyy simplified). One can pretty much drive a truck between the two standards.

  58. 58.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SlothropRedux:
    @martha: Have you guys tried Naples 15 yet? It is new and right across the street from my office. When a coworker went over to get a menu, they sent samples back with her. Pasta was good. The pizza was very authentic. It is worth a try.

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    @asiangrrlMN: The way I remember it is jeffreyw posted this when we were mercilessly mocking the former half term governor of Alaska for writing stuff on her hand for the debates, I believe.

    She was so stupid that she would have had to write “refresh BJ” on her hand.

  65. 65.

    kideni

    Welcome to our fair city, John. We even turned down the temperatures for you for the next few days. If you’re still here at the end of the week, you should check out the Old Sugar Distillery on E. Main St. — they make their own whiskey, rum, ouzo, and honey liqueur, and they give tours and free tastes. They’re only open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, though.

  66. 66.

    eco2geek

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Being incompetent to stand trial basically means that you are unable to understand the proceeding and/or help with your own defense. Legal insanity more or less boils down to not being able to recognize that what you did was wrong (Note: this is waaaayyyyyy simplified). One can pretty much drive a truck between the two standards.

    The NYT article paints a picture of Loughner that indicates he wasn’t merely unable to understand the proceedings after the shooting. It says he was off his meds, depressed, and suicidal at the time; he hadn’t even been diagnosed with schizophrenia until after the shooting.

    I guess I’ll do some more reading up on the difference between the two standard. Seems to this layman that Loughner had a pretty good shot (no pun intended) with an insanity plea.

  67. 67.

    SlothropRedux

    @Omnes Omnibus: I have not yet been to Naples15. Looks intriguing! Of course putting Osteria Papavero’s Tuscan cuisine up against Neapolitan cooking is a rough and tumble competition. Although wasn’t it Wallace Shawn who once said, “Never go in against a Neapolitan when pizza is on the line!” or something….

  68. 68.

    Anne Laurie

    @eco2geek:

    Seems to this layman that Loughner had a pretty good shot (no pun intended) with an insanity plea.

    What they said on the teevee news — take that for what it’s worth — is that pleading guilty means Loughner “will spend the rest of his natural life in jail”. But if he’d gone to trial, and pleaded insanity, he could still have been found guilty and executed. Telling a now-medicated schizophrenic that (a) he did a terrible thing, whether or not he was capable of understanding that when he did it; (b) that he can take the certainty of life under restraint, or run a risk of being put to death; and (c) that he’ll probably need a support system for the rest of his life if he’s going to stay on his meds, but the only way “we” can guarantee that support system is through the prison system, not OMG SOCIALIZED MEDICINE… it’s not a good choice, but it’s an understandable one.

  69. 69.

    Mnemosyne

    @eco2geek:

    I guess I’ll do some more reading up on the difference between the two standard. Seems to this layman that Loughner had a pretty good shot (no pun intended) with an insanity plea.

    The insanity plea is very, very tricky to pull off, especially in a “law and order” state like Arizona. The standard is generally whether the person understands the difference between right and wrong and that what they did was wrong according to the law, which is not a terribly useful standard when dealing with a delusional person who knows that they’re breaking the law but thinks they have a higher purpose in doing it.

    See also Andrea Yates, who was initially found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison despite having a long history of psychotic episodes and behavior.

  70. 70.

    eco2geek

    @Anne Laurie: Agreed, especially, as Mnemosyne said, in a state like Arizona. And the NYT article says that he feels like he’s doing something useful, working in jail (although the cynic in me finds that hard to believe).

    To Mnemosyne: Glad you’re not pissed off at me any longer (you probably don’t even remember). And I was actually a police dispatcher/9-1-1 calltaker for over 15 years.

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