Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Second rate reporter says what?

Petty moves from a petty man.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

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

Stand up, dammit!

In after Baud. Damn.

“Alexa, change the president.”

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

No one could have predicted…

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

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

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Reader Interactions

18Comments

  1. 1.

    Yutsano

    Confession: never been a Tom Waits fan.

    You may commence with the pelting of the rotten nightshades at your convenience.

  3. 3.

    Martin

    @Yutsano: Yeah, I run hot and cold with him. But I should learn from that – most artists that I run hot and cold on, if I really give them a serious chance usually win me over in a big way.

    I was that way with Radiohead until I saw them on SNL in 2000 when they performed Idioteque and National Anthem. Fantastic performances. Bought Kid A. Proceeded to buy every other album they put out.

  8. 8.

    dance around in your bones

    I once was at a concert where some friends of mine were playing, and Tom Waits was the opener. I got to see him from the wings backstage where he leaned against a lamppost whilst smoking cigarettes and growling in a strange tone. I have to admit I didn’t get his thing then and really never have since.

    He was a pretty nice guy backstage, though. No demands for removal of brown M&M’s or whatever.

    I have liked him as an actor in various movies.

    Maybe I should give him another listen.

  10. 10.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @dance around in your bones:

    He was a pretty nice guy backstage, though. No demands for removal of brown M&M’s or whatever.

    Actually, that was a contractual trick by Van Halen to see if the venue had actually read the contract.

    They were concerned that the instructions on lighting and stage props were exactly followed (for safety reasons), so the trick was, put in the detail in about the brown M&Ms to see if the venue was following all the detail in the contract. It was a quick way to confirm that the venue had actually read the thing.

  11. 11.

    dance around in your bones

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    See now, this is one of the things I love about Balloon Juice. You put in a throw-away line to illustrate a point, and someone with more info comes along to set you straight.

    I mean that, no snark! I learned something new today, and I thank you Villago Delenda Est.

  12. 12.

    Mino

    Please tell me that was snark from Waits–what the hell would the military want with that song except to bury it in the memory hole?

  13. 13.

    Increase Mather

    I like the song he performs at the beginning of The Tiger and the Snow better.

    You Can Never Hold Back Spring, found on Orphans.

  14. 14.

    Finnigan

    @Mino: Tom Waits is not particularly known for being, shall we say, dedicated to the truth while giving interviews.

  18. 18.

    Jamie

    I love Tom Waits.

    Sure, he’s had some duds, but anyone with a career in music that long has. (Anyone want to defend David Bowie around Never Let Me Down? He’s still the best.)

    I think Waits puts people off because it is hard to tell when he is riffing off a private joke that you can’t know, someone obscure like where this song title came from, or something else.musically, it is the same – he’s really all over the map. I can see why some people are turned off.

    A friend of mine/former boss got lucky at a startup, and bought a place in the town were Waits lives. Les Claypool (Primus) and Lars Ulrich (Metallica) live there, too. My friend plays jazz guitar. They’ve tried to jam together in various combinations, and apparently it has always been a disaster.

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