Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

In my day, never was longer.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

The willow is too close to the house.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

How stupid are these people?

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

75% of people clapping liked the show!

This chaos was totally avoidable.

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

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

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Reader Interactions

143Comments

  3. 3.

    onlymike

    I had heard about this and suppose I should have known better than to follow that link but I guess I thought it was going to an article that mocked McCardle (something I can relish.) As soon as I got there I realized what I had done and got right the f*** back in the boat.

    I’ve been bugging people about this for a couple of days so why stop now: Can you do a post on the Michael Mann v National Review lawsuit? It seems like a subject rich with potential to me. Any possibility?

  6. 6.

    MattR

    @Yutsano: Thankfully I saw the tags which confirmed the sneaking suspicion I got while reading that sentence before I clicked the link. Not gonna go there. Y’all can’t make me.

  8. 8.

    gnomedad

    Which all goes to show that government funding of PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts is a great idea, amirite?

  10. 10.

    Judas Escargot, Bringer of Loaves and Fish Sandwiches

    “What’s the deal with Christmas? What with the egg nog. And the relatives. And the wasseling. And what is wasseling, anyway? Is it a drink? Is it a song? Is it something we do with our limbs? As I smear Bechamel onto donkey-shaped cookies (as we have done in my family for generations), I find myself wondering… why do I do this? Why do I bother?”

    relationships are wonderful in theory, but in practice, they inevitably turn out to be parochial and limiting and an endless amount of work.

    Ut oh. Suderman better lawyer up.

  11. 11.

    Allen

    I have a new desk (table) that the cats are intrigued by. The Tunch sized cat, Kitzel (her Rotundness) is playing underneath while T.C.(the Spawn of Satan) is sitting on top watching the crazy cat underneath playing away. What a better way to spend a Friday evening?

  13. 13.

    Arclite

    In the past I’ve been willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. But, My God, to swoon over an automatic hand soap dispenser, it’s just too much. Why does this women have a platform to spew this dreck.

  16. 16.

    Rock

    She reminds me of the vapid parents in Time Bandits…..

    Kevin’s Mother: Honestly, Trevor, if you were half a man you would’ve gone in there after the blender.

    …and…

    Announcer: Yes, folks… Moderna Designs present the latest in kitchen luxury. The Moderna Wonder Major All Automatic Convenience Center-ette gives you all the time in the world to do the things you really want to do… An infrared freezer-oven complex that can make you a meal from packet to plate in 15 1/2 seconds.

    Kevin’s Mother: Morrisons have got one that can do that in eight seconds.

    Kevin’s Father: Oh?

    Kevin’s Mother: Block of ice to Beef Bourguignon in eight seconds. Lucky things.

    Kevin: Dad, did you know that the ancient Greek warriors had to learn 44 different ways of unarmed combat?

    Kevin’s Father: [Ignoring Kevin] Well, at least we’ve got a two speed hedge cutter.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: Yeah, whenever I am first, I know the thread is likely to go nowhere. Or my comment will be really dumb and 93% of the subsequent comments will be devoted to mocking me.

  18. 18.

    BGinCHI

    So there you are in the powder room, a couple of lines of coke scratched out on the vanity, and you realize you forgot to wash your hands after high fiving the Arab cab driver when the Nets won in overtime.

    What saves your pancetta?

    That’s right. Motion-activated soap dispenser.

  20. 20.

    sidereal

    Maybe the proles would shut up about stagnating wages if they all got motion activated cake dispensers.

  21. 21.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Wag: Truly it is. It’s a mild favorite of Mr. Q G*d only knows where he found it. I had got to watch it again yesterday; a downside of his getting serious about his music again. Inspiration in odd places and all that.

  22. 22.

    onlymike

    @Omnes Omnibus: Oh I have no ambitions to be first – I knew I wouldn’t be. I’m just glad I’m in early – so far I’ve spent a lot of time commenting on dead or dying threads.

    BTW I’ve had a great time commenting today. I’ve had a great day overall and expect to have a good weekend. As Jane2 said in an email “a weekend of cleaning, BJ commenting and kitty petting” and it’s going to be one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long loooong time. I want to say again how much I love the BJ community!

    (still want one of the FPers to weigh in on Mann v NR…someone? anyone? hello? is this thing on?)

  23. 23.

    Yutsano

    @MattR: What’s really sad is it’s about the most coherent sentence in that whole piece. I wish I was joking. I’d written better at 4AM right before the paper was due. Seriously.

    @onlymike: Front pagers rarely if ever take requests. A link to the source material helps.

    And I hadn’t said much about your particular situation, but I’ve been watching with great interest and concern. You’re on a good path now, we’ll do our best to keep you there. The rest is up to you.

  24. 24.

    JCJ

    @wag:

    Wow. That was quite a video. My daughter said it made her think of a Japanese version of “PeeWee’s Playhouse” on acid

  25. 25.

    Anne Laurie

    @freelancer: In decorator-speak, a ‘powder room’ is a closet with just enough room for a toilet & a small sink, used only by party guests. For that purpose, a motion-activated soap dispenser makes a certain amount of sense — doesn’t take much room, won’t dry out between parties, and lets your visitors know that you can afford commodity items even more frivolous than those dainty baskets full of oddly-shaped, strong-scented hand soaps still popular with home shows & your grandmother.

    Actually, marriage and/or prosperity seems to be softening McMegan’s shriveled soul; this column explains that economically inefficient gifting has worthwhile sociological benefits, while I seem to remember previous xmas columns whinging that it would be soooo much more FREEDOM if everyone just exchanged checks, preferably with a tally attached explaining the year’s upgrades and downshifts.

  26. 26.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @efgoldman: Thanks for asking! Both, though neither lately. We met when he was getting his masters in composition at CCM, long ago. he hasn’t played out in years, but has taken up the bass guitar, and may take advantage of my wide network of local players to find a combo with which to perform and perhaps write for. Web development keeps him (us)solvent. More than you asked, LOL.

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie:

    Actually, marriage and/or prosperity seems to be softening McMegan’s shriveled soul

    Objection! Assumes facts not in evidence. McMegan has a soul? Prove it.

  30. 30.

    onlymike

    @Yutsano: I really do feel so very much better – I expect the apprehension regarding Monday morning to start sometime Sunday evening but right now I’m not giong to worry about that (or anything else) right now – I almost feel giddy!

    Re the Mann v NR request – you mean non-stop pestering has no effect? Damn!

  31. 31.

    Anne Laurie

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m an animist. If I believe that even the smallest life forms and the more important inanimate objects have souls, why not assume McMegan — at least in theory — might as well?

  32. 32.

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

    Baby Jesus: “Frankincense? Cool. Myrrh? Just what I wanted! And what have we got here? GOLD?!?! How in the fuck am I supposed to get into heaven with that shit?!?! That’s it! No more birthday parties! Asshole!”

  33. 33.

    suzanne

    I know McMegan sucks donkey ass, but I must admit I love automatic soap dispensers. And Dyson air blades and the Enmotion paper towel dispensers. And when the restroom has a waste can by the door so I can grab the door handle with a paper towel. Because ewwww germs.

  34. 34.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yutsano: No, I simply suggest that no evidence has yet appeared that McMegan has a soul, shriveled or otherwise. If one wants to post that it exists, I suggest that it is incumbent on one to offer evidence. Shit, I don’t even need admissible evidence. I am open minded.

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    @Anne Laurie:
    I agree that the column seems to be moving a bit beyond her usual view that markets and money are everything. There’s still a serious incoherence; she seems to be arguing both sides of the issue. On the one hand, she’s arguing in favor of economically inefficient gift giving, both because the time and effort spent choosing a gift is part of its social value and because unexpected gifts may be better than something you would have bought for yourself if you had just been given the money. On the other hand, she praises Amazon wish lists for eliminating the economic inefficiencies by ensuring that people give gifts that the recipient has specifically asked for. I’m not going to say that those points are wrong, but they sure as hell don’t make a coherent argument.

  36. 36.

    suzanne

    @Anne Laurie: In real life, the powder room is where the slower half of the couple goes for their morning constitutional. First up gets the master bath.

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    @Jewish Steel:

    Absolutely no explanation offered by the seller.

    Why would they need an explanation? They obviously have a pet raccoon who they have trouble keeping away from the items they’re photographing. Even the most dimwitted oaf could figure that out.

  41. 41.

    onlymike

    @onlymike: I did put in the request in Soonergrunts “We (I) Get Letters – Open Thread” which was an appropriate venue but … I got in there late (of course.) It was’nt dead but it was gasping and coughing up blood.

  46. 46.

    Yutsano

    @Omnes Omnibus: Her employment can only be explained by contractual obligations regarding certain evil parties. It’s circumstantial but pretty strong on its own merits.

    (other than that I got nothin’)

    @Jewish Steel: You do have to admit, the raccoon is kinda cute. I’d never own one meself, but hey, diff’rent strokes and whatnot.

  49. 49.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yutsano: So, her soul exists but the title to it is possessed by someone else? I can buy that. It won’t automatically make a flawless bechamel but I can, nevertheless, buy it.

  50. 50.

    James E Powell

    I try to conjure a person who reads McMegan and thinks, “This woman is like so cool and I love reading her stuff.” I struggle to imagine such a person yet I know that they must exist or how else to explain her employment?

  53. 53.

    onlymike

    @Anne Laurie: Yeah. Okay. Sure – in theory – I guess I can see that…

    Aaaand since you’re here … Mann v NR? hmmmm? If non-stop pestering won’t work, I got nothin’ – I’m having trouble merely commenting and now I’m supposed to provide links?! Seriously though, if you google it, it all seems to be right wing gloating along the lines of “Hah! Mann took the bait!” Keeerist, I’d rather read McCardle! Surely we can get a different perspective.

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie: I am a rationalist and a lawyer. I don’t see it. Your faith is a testament to your beliefs, but let’s not test the limits of rationality. I posit that vampires have have more of a soul than that woman.

  58. 58.

    Steven

    Read through that entire vapid mess and the comments and not one mention of donating to charity for xmas gifts. I suppose that conflicts with McMegan’s Randian urges.

  60. 60.

    onlymike

    @James E Powell: Andrew Sullivan. As with a number of Balloon Juice readers I initially came here through The Daily Dish. I would start there and then come here and to Benen’s blog. But I grew increasingly disenchanted with Sullivan (won’t call him Sully) and the approving links to McCardle certainly didn’t help. I remember reading him one morning and coming across the link “Megan pounces!” and I just immediately left – that wasn’t the last time I read him but it was one of the last times.

    (When I quit him for good was right after the Gabby Giffords shooting – his reporting on it was actually very impressive – solid, informative and with a clearly established timeline of how everything transpired. Then within a few days of that he responded to right wing criticism of (if i recall correctly) a Krugman column about it, with a defensive “don’t lump me in with those liberals! I’m not like them!” kind of attitude that pissed me off so much that I have not read anything from him since. As I said I had been growing increasingly disenchanted with him and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I had quit reading him earlier during the early days of the Iraq war but started reading him again when he seemed to come to his senses about the Bush admin. But this time it’s final. I will not reading anything from him again – life’s too short and I’m too old.

  61. 61.

    Warren Terra

    RE Mann vs NR I googled it a few days ago, and almost the only thing I found was Wingers complaining about it. I suspect that both sides are following lawyers’ instructions to keep their gobs shut.

  63. 63.

    onlymike

    @onlymike: don’t know why the final part of that is in italics (?) Better than all caps I guess.

    To add though, before I quit reading him Balloon Juice had become the first blog I went to every morning. This is not likely to change.

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jewish Steel: One wondered how long it would take. Unfortunately, I took the over and am going to be out $100. Any possibility of you holding on until the new year? I’ll cut you in on the profits.

  74. 74.

    MattR

    @Anne Laurie: How do you know that no raccoon is included? Maybe this is all a stealth plan to get rid of the raccoons that have taken over the seller’s house.

  76. 76.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MattR: I assumed the raccoon was included and would have bid on it just so I could have seen my brother’s face when the little beast leaped out of the X-mas box.

  77. 77.

    Yutsano

    @Omnes Omnibus: I could guarantee my older brother never visiting again simply by getting a pit bull. He was bit in the face by one as a kid and has issues with them. And since I have issues with him, it has been considered in the past.

  78. 78.

    MattR

    @Omnes Omnibus: How would John injure himself if someone sent him one? I assume it would involve one of the critters somehow (Most probably Tunch followed by Rosie and Lily)

  79. 79.

    Anne Laurie

    @onlymike:

    Can you do a post on the Michael Mann v National Review lawsuit? It seems like a subject rich with potential to me. Any possibility?

    Oh hai!

    Not DougJ (or Soonergrunt), but when you brought up the topic I tried googling. Looks like the original suit was filed in late October — when all us political types were lathered up about the election. It’s a hot topic on the Rightwingosphere right now, either because Rich Lowery wasn’t paying attention either, or because he’s hoping to get some extra end-of-year munnies from donors who hate climate scientists even more than they love the NR cruises. But there doesn’t seem to be any actual “news” on the suit right now, unless there’s something my weak google-fu missed.

    TBogg did a most excellent Point&Mock already, it’d be hard to top that!

  80. 80.

    opie_jeanne

    @Yutsano: My brother-in-law was chewed up pretty badly by a neighbor’s pet raccoon. It was full grown so it did a lot of damage to his knee and lower leg.

    It’s a wild animal, they don’t make good pets.

  81. 81.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yutsano: My bro’s previous house had a separate garage and garbage disposal location. One night as he took out the garbage he was accosted by a raccoon who stood up threateningly and hissed at him.

    I once came across wolves in the wild.

  82. 82.

    MattR

    @Yutsano: Bill Burr has a few good bits about his put bull but my favorite is his description of people’s reaction when he takes it for a walk in Manhattan. He loves having a sidewalk to himself as people cross the street as soon as they see his dog.

    @Anne Laurie: I don’t know that Mann will have much luck if he is considered a public figure. I think the biggest problem will be proving that the right wing pundits actually knew that what they were saying was not true. They should have known better, but based on the run up to the most recent election it is easy to see how a jury might believe they got so caught up in their own hype that they really did believe it was the truth. OTOH, the Penn State/Sandusky comparison was so bad that it is very hard not to see it as maliciously over the top. (Which reminds me that I love the right wingers are convinced that Mann stepped into their brilliant trap because now they will be able to get him on the witness stand where he will have to admit to all his deceptions and fraudulent behavior when confronted by the avalanche of “evidence” they have)

  83. 83.

    onlymike

    @Anne Laurie: I did read about it at TBogg’s. But, much as I love TBogg (and his commenters)I had hoped to see something on it here. Of course, the real fun hasn’t actually started yet, so….

  84. 84.

    onlymike

    @MattR: Yes! They seem to think that in the discovery portion of the trial they’re going to be able to disprove the “theory” of climate change! They really do believe their own BS – it’s amazing!

    What’s the line from Scarface? Never get high on your own supply?

  85. 85.

    onlymike

    @opie_jeanne: I find that hard to believe. I saw a Disney movie when I was a kid about a pet racoon – I can’t remember now if the kid in it was played by Ron Howard or Bill Mumy and I can’t remember the title but he had a pet racoon and everything worked out fine. It has to be true if it was in a circa 1970 Disney movie, right?

  86. 86.

    Jewish Steel

    There is a family of raccoons that live in the sewer close to my house. They reek plus they are brutes. Like little bears. Of course the basenjis always strain to go tangle with them when they sense they’re about.

  87. 87.

    bmaccnm

    @Jewish Steel: I am occasionally viisted by a family of raccoons who still remember when I kept the cat food on the back porch. Brute doesn’t begin to describe an urban racoon. Filty, fanged and fearless. I will confess to pitching a pot of boiling water on the mama in attempt to make her back down. She didn’t. I always make a lot of noise before I go out there. I’m scared of raccoons.

  92. 92.

    NotMax

    @Raven

    Hey, Raven. Have a good holiday. Hau’oli Makahiki Hou.

    Norway rats, cockroaches the size of Buicks, scorpions, foot-long centipedes and the occasional mongoose here.

    Luckily they tend to stick to the cane fields and/or outdoorsy ground cover and only noticeably come around the domicile when drought happens.

  97. 97.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    McMegan has a soul? Prove it.

    Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but in this case it comes pretty damn close.

    I see McMegan’s mugshot & my good hand begins to involuntarily clutch at the tire iron it earnestly hopes someone will place there…

  99. 99.

    JPL

    In the olden days there was a magazine called Newsweek that was worth subscribing to.

    @Raven: I had to look that up and fortunately, I just have bunnies.

  101. 101.

    hep kitty

    I am sitting here next to the cutest kitty in the world. I’m sure many of you kitty owners would beg to differ, however. Anyway, whutup with the Fiscal Cliff Claven? Other than the $450,000. I don’t know anything since I have been on a news sabbatical. I’m watching CSPAN and listening to a lot of unhappy and stupid ppl

    How much more talking can we do? I want to hear some Senator blasting out like Ted Kennedy “WHEN DOES THE GREED STOP?!”

  103. 103.

    hep kitty

    I don’t care how impractical or letting purity be the enemy of the good, whatever, it is. This is what I want from a senator or some Democratic leader at the moment. (4:42) – go over the cliff, but not before shaming them first.

    Oh well, can’t expect the mice to roar.

    Otherwise, I’m bored stiff with the whole thing, punctuated by gun violence and murder throughout the US.

  105. 105.

    NotMax

    @Raven

    Yup. Axis deer.

    Did hit one with an auto about 3 or 4 years ago when conditions were very, very dry and they had migrated down the mountainside. Leaped right over the unmowed tall stuff on a hillock at the side of the unlighted road in the countryside at night. No way to avoid it.

    Not bad damage (airbag did not deploy). Had to replace the hood, one headlight and a side light. $175 total from the junkyard. Labor by moi.

  106. 106.

    JoyfulA

    @MattR: @CatFoodBreath often tries to sell a vacuum cleaner or a rocking chair on eBay, and throws in the family dog as a bonus. So why not a raccoon?

  107. 107.

    geg6

    @hep kitty:

    GOS has the best coverage I’ve seen of fiscal speed bump over the last day or so. If you’re interested in where we stand, I suggest swinging by there.

    If you’re not interested, you would do much better (than CSPAN commenting idiots) to turn your tv to Up with Chris Hayes. Best show on the toob.

  108. 108.

    hep kitty

    @geg6: Used to watch Chris but cannot work myself up to it right now. I can’t seem to work myself up to msnbc right now, which is odd.

    Probably b/c I am focused on the fact that my employers are now actively trying to kill me. Well, that’s probably an exaggeration. The important part is that now I know where I stand.

    So comes the time that I have begun to look at them as mere psychological specimens, do the best I can and fuck the rest. They are neither friend nor foe, merely specimens to be navigated amidst a vaguely defined environment populated by transplanted Ohioans who are suspicious of southern charm or warmth of any kind.

    I think they despise the fuck out of us but they just can’t seem to stop themselves from moving down here in droves.

  109. 109.

    hep kitty

    Oh gosh, I think I’m going to vomit. 30 minutes of the fiscal cliff and I’m ready to switch back to old movies.

  110. 110.

    geg6

    @hep kitty:

    Well, they are talking about what the “new” workplace is all about and it might interest you.

    If it’s the Ohioans who are bugging you, I will defend them by saying that pretty much anyone who lives above the Mason Dixon line are suspicious of southern charm. I know I am. I know too much history not to be totally skeptical of it. Bless those southerners’ hearts!

  111. 111.

    Comrade Jake

    I occasionally wonder if McMegan isn’t simply trolling the universe for page hits. But no, she’s not that bright.

  112. 112.

    Elizabelle

    @Anne Laurie:

    There was a raccoon quote in the Big Lebowski?

    Just saw that movie for the first time this week on Encore, and loved it although I did not watch closely enough.

    Here’s a Big Lebowski quiz. I think I can answer one of the questions.

    2013 New Year’s Resolution: to watch all the Coen Brothers movies. Have missed too many, and they’re always good.

  113. 113.

    Elizabelle

    @hep kitty:

    I lasted 3 minutes watching Washington Journal.

    First dude that came on talking about trashing ObamaCare and eliminating fifty percent of government funding for everything? I was gone.

    ETA: Got a gas fire on, the Christmas tree is lit, mug of good coffee, and the day is just beginning.

    Why do I want that a-hole in my living room?

    You dear ‘holes are a different matter.

  114. 114.

    Raven

    @NotMax: junkyard on Maui! I got into a great conversation wit the gearheads at the funky car rental joint and had no idea there was racing there too!

  116. 116.

    Ken

    @Anne Laurie: economically inefficient gifting has worthwhile sociological benefits

    A valuable insight, although about 10,000 years tardy, since this is something that most human cultures figured out about the time they stopped being nomads and started accumulating stuff.

  117. 117.

    Amir Khalid

    One of these days Suderman and McArdle are going to have, as a dinner guest, someone who can’t figure out how not to activate the dispenser by inadvertently waving at its motion sensor.

  118. 118.

    hep kitty

    @geg6: Sure, I know everyone thinks we’re stupid, and we are. But I’m not.

    And I’m sincere. I love everyone until they give me a reason not to. I’m sure it doesn’t come across here, but I do.

    I don’t “use” southern charm and warmth. It is infused in my veins through my mother. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to turn it off. If that makes me appear to be stupid southern fuck, so be it. This is my home and this type of behavior is all I know.

    One of my dearest friends is from Manhattan with a very strong accent, btw, and I regularly console her about the prejudice against her, not only for being so obviously New Yorker, but for being Jewish.

    She’s never been suspicious of my warmth and eagerness to find positive things to say about ppl.

  119. 119.

    gene108

    @Elizabelle:

    I’m watching the Moon Machine series on Science right now. It’s about the engineering NASA had to do to make the Apollo program possible.

    Interesting stuff about the problems faced and how they were overcome.

    The space suit design, for example, was awarded to a ladies undergarments manufacturer, because they had experience in stitching clothing that needed to flex and stretch, i.e. bras.

    I’ve tuned out Washington Journal recently, after watching regularly for years. I need to detox from the news cycle.

  120. 120.

    bootsy

    I wonder if Megan McArdle is filled the Christmas Spirit with when she thinks of all those little human bullet shields who sit on Santa’s lap and thus protect him from the 2nd amendment rights of Mall Shooters.

  122. 122.

    bootsy

    I wonder if Megan McArdle is filled with the Christmas Spirit when she thinks of all those little human bullet shields who sit on Santa’s lap, protecting him from the 2nd amendment rights of Mall Shooters.

  123. 123.

    hep kitty

    I’m from SC so you know, I realize how stupid we are. My parents, whose southern roots go way back, talk about it all the time.

    If you are from SC and minimally sentient, you know just exactly why the rest of the country views you as a bunch of stupid fucks.

    And you know why. Because you’ve been here all your life.

    And you understand, from a very early age, that we deserve it.

  124. 124.

    gene108

    @hep kitty:

    When I moved to New Jersey, after college and growing up in North Carolina, I had to force myself to stop saying “hey, y’all” or “how y’all doing” because it got funny looks, even though I don’t have a Southern accent.

    As far as Southern charm goes, it is making eye contact and saying “hey”, when you see a stranger that I think Northerners find so disconcerting.

    I don’t know why.

    I find it relaxing to have strangers not seem like they’re on edge around me.

  126. 126.

    geg6

    @hep kitty:

    I’m not saying that you are stupid or even that the vast majority of people in the South are stupid. Not at all. And I sympathize with those of you who don’t buy into the prevailing attitudes there. Hell, I live in a part of PA that is NOT a blue county in a blue state. It used to be but the olds/bigots have prevailed here. But I can always count on Pittsburgh and Philly to mitigate the stupid around me. Sadly for smart Southerners like you, you don’t have those sorts of Dem strongholds that can keep the stupid at bay.

  129. 129.

    Maude

    @hep kitty:
    They make jokes about NJ all the time.
    I went to school with two women, one from NC and one from SC. They were great. I never thought of anyone was stupid because they were from the south.
    You should see some of the stupid people around here.

  131. 131.

    quannlace

    Actually, this would be a great thing for the kitchen. How many times my hands have been covered with sticky dough or other edible goo and made a mess trying to wash it off.

  132. 132.

    Walker

    @gene108:

    I have never dropped my NC y’all, even after spending over a decade in NY state. Because we need a you-plural, dammit, and the Southern version is superior to anything else up here.

    That, and our barbeque.

  133. 133.

    Citizen_X

    @NotMax:

    Axis deer…hit one with an auto about 3 or 4 years ago

    So I’m assuming you painted a deer silhouette with a swastika (or rising sun, if you’re on the west coast) over it on the side of your car, right?

  135. 135.

    Steverino

    @onlymike: I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ll bet it’s based on the book Rascal by Sterling North. He took in a baby raccoon, but released it when it was a year old and feeling “urges”. Good read: I got it for my grand-niece, who loves all animals.

  136. 136.

    catclub

    @Walker: The barbeque goes without saying.

    I go to ‘Barbeque Dinner’ in Vermont. They are serving grilled chicken. Not the same.

  137. 137.

    Tehanu

    Dammit, DougJ, you could have warned me not to get out of the boat but nooooo…. McMegan reminds me of my niece who, at the age of about 6, refused to thank her grandma for an Xmas present consisting of two pairs of socks and had a tantrum over not getting her 14th Barbie. She’s grown up since then and become much nicer; Megan, not so much.

  138. 138.

    different-church-lady

    “I am probably not the right person to answer this question…”

    KNEE-SLAPPER MEGAN!

  139. 139.

    different-church-lady

    @James E Powell:

    I try to conjure a person who reads McMegan and thinks, “This woman is like so cool and I love reading her stuff.” I struggle to imagine such a person yet I know that they must exist or how else to explain her employment?

    I could probably introduce you to a couple of hundred thousand of them in one affluent suburb of Boston alone, simply by stopping cars at random. Upper middle class/lower rich people live this crap every day — “Oh, my, I have so much idle time to ponder things… perhaps, might my life be more empty than it seems due to my ability to consume?”

  141. 141.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @James E Powell:

    I try to conjure a person who reads McMegan and thinks, “This woman is like so cool and I love reading her stuff.” I struggle to imagine such a person yet I know that they must exist or how else to explain her employment?

    More than that: she has a coterie of glibertarian sycophants (Yancey Ward, I’m looking at you) who have spent perhaps a decade tonguebathing her as she fails ever upward.

  142. 142.

    greenergood

    @Anne Laurie: My mom has a powder room which is only ‘facility’ on the ground floor, and the thing that drills my teeth is that she’s got a little basket with little ‘guest towels’ in it, and she goes ballistic if you dry your hands with one of the fancy guest towels, despite the fact that a non-family member actually uses the powder room maybe ONCE a year. Whoever invented guest towels belongs in McMegan’s circle of hell. There, rant over.

    Also too, McMegan is still a tool, and I hate motion-activated paper towel dispensers even more than soap dispensers.

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