Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

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

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

This fight is for everything.

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

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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Reader Interactions

166Comments

  2. 2.

    The Dangerman

    It’s an all-star crew, but they missed that Pick 6 (I thought the pass interference on the Broncos was a good call). Was a really strange first 6 minutes or so of the game; perhaps everyone will settle now and play some football.

    ETA: Perhaps betting the under in this game was a bad call.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    Normally when you trip a player, wouldn’t that be pass interference? Well the announcers are okay with it and we know the announcers are always right.

  5. 5.

    billgerat

    Up in Seattle we’re pretty used to being jobbed by the refs.

    I hope the Denver Mannings smear the snot out of the Ravens.

  6. 6.

    JenJen

    GO BALTIMORE! I only say that because I want very badly to win my Pick ‘Em league and it would appear I’m the only one who picked the Ravens.

  8. 8.

    Corner Stone

    That was a heck of a throw Flacco made earlier. I thought he overthrew him but it took some air out at the end.

  11. 11.

    Raven

    @cathyx: Really?

    “To be the victim of a conspiracy; to lose a seemingly fair contest because of deceit; to be guaranteed to lose. The term derives from the professional wrestling term “jobber”.”

  13. 13.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    I’m not thrilled with the officiating so far, but I’m not ready to go full WATB about it just yet because I don’t see the Broncos unable to overcome those calls this early.

    BTB, does this giant, orange foam finger make me look fat?

  14. 14.

    Bago

    You know that phrase “may your life be interesting”?

    Yeah. Walked in on my roommate’s corpse last night.

  15. 15.

    Jon

    Fuck right wing money giving Peyton Manning and his right wing pizza fascisti buttboy. Bob fucking Corker. He gives money to Bob fucking Corker!

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Bago: Jaysus. I hope you mean that figuratively.

    If you mean it literally, how terrible and I am so sorry.

  19. 19.

    Cacti

    Not a fan of either franchise, but I’ve found Peyton Manning insufferable since his days at Tennessee.

    0 national titles, 0 heismans, yet somehow gets a street named after him on campus.

    I used to love watching Florida beat him like a dirty throw rug.

  22. 22.

    Napoleon

    And in more proof that Obama is a complete fucking incompetent in negotiating the Treasury Dept has said it will not mint coins to avoid the debt debacle. What a fucking moron. He he doesn’t want to do it fine, but what kind of half wit tells their opponents something like that up front.

  27. 27.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    @Jon: Unless they’re involved in some sort of dead-girl/live-boy scenario (or Ted Nugent style fuckwittery), I figure I gotta give high-profile entertainers (actors, musicians, athletes, etc.) a bit of slack or it’ll just be me and my Neil Young tracks.

  31. 31.

    Cacti

    @efgoldman:

    suppose I should root for the Ravens, so the Pats would be at home next week

    I’d say root like hell for the birds.

    Denver has always been a tough venue for the Pats.

  33. 33.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    If the refs are truly screwing the Broncos, I am sure some suits from the NFL will straighten them out, because the networks want a Brady-Manning AFC championship.

  38. 38.

    cathyx

    @billgerat: No wonder I don’t know what it means , it’s in the urban dictionary. I only have a suburban dictionary and it wasn’t in there.

  39. 39.

    Heliopause

    Treasury says they won’t do the Coin Trick. That means the Admin has specifically ruled out both of the end-run solutions around the debt ceiling. Good, I say. I’ve been thinking, if the world economy can be crashed by an abstract concept then maybe it ought to be crashed.

  42. 42.

    Roger Moore

    @efgoldman:

    Is it salted? Otherwise its not on the official Balloon Juice approved snack list.

    Considering you’re supposed to eat a whole bag, I think that qualifies as a meal, not just a snack.

  43. 43.

    Cacti

    @burnspbesq:

    Suck my tiny, shriveled, white dick. Wuffies have no shot if Kelly is healthy. And you damn well know it.

    Go to hell carolina! Devils and deacs, stand in line.

  44. 44.

    Cacti

    @Heliopause:

    Treasury says they won’t do the Coin Trick. That means the Admin has specifically ruled out both of the end-run solutions around the debt ceiling. Good, I say. I’ve been thinking, if the world economy can be crashed by an abstract concept then maybe it ought to be crashed.

    If the Pugs want to shut it down, let them. Let them own their intransigence.

  49. 49.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    OMFG Comcast an emergency test in the middle of a fourth down play in the middle of the effing day! DIAFF twenty times already, you fawking salted-dick munchers.

  51. 51.

    RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    @Heliopause:

    I’ve been thinking, if the world economy can be crashed by an abstract concept then maybe it ought to be crashed.

    Kthug is all antsy to know what the WH will do. What’s the plan!1?
    I’m sure the GOP would like to know as well, so I’m fine with Obama playing those cards close to the gravy stains.

  52. 52.

    Steelers Wheel

    It’s nice that the refs keep letting Seyton Manning into their conferences so that he can tell them how to make the call.

  55. 55.

    Yutsano

    @burnspbesq:
    “But hold, give every man his due
    And every dog his day.”

    – Fourteenth Trump

    By the national poet of Australia, AB Paterson.

  57. 57.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @efgoldman: If Seattle and Green Bay wins, that will be a fun one. Are they fashioning goat horns for the Denver kicker? I wonder what motivation they gave the 49ers kicker?(speaking of which)

  64. 64.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Norv Turner will be the Offensive Coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. Well at least he can’t do any damage as a OC or can he?

  77. 77.

    Heliopause

    Sometimes a returner makes a good return and sometimes coverage is bad. The punt and kick return touchdowns were the latter. With all due respect to Holliday, running through gaps the size of the Bonneville salt flats isn’t the most difficult thing in the world.

  82. 82.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Raven: Well the Falcons are due for a playoff win,(and Chris Clemons being out is going to hurt the Legion Of Boom)we will see if it will be this year, and yes many Seahawks fans are talking a little bit more smack than they should.

  83. 83.

    David Koch

    speaking of snooozeeee fest, Zero Dark Boring.

    Don’t waste your time, it was a bore. They include every extraneous detail and stretch every scene that it bloats the film to a running time of 2 hours and 36 minutes. Its as if the film had no editor and they left in every frame they filmed. By the 2 hour mark I started to fall asleep and had to actively try to stay awake.

    I was puzzled to why it received positive reviews, and wondered what they saw that made me so drowsy. So I went home and looked up Roger Ebert’s review, and he confirmed my view, saying, “There isn’t a whole lot of plot — basically, just that Maya thinks she is right, and she is.” That was it. No plot. Just one long scene after another stapled together, until it sunk of it’s own weight.

  84. 84.

    Raven

    @efgoldman: Bah. The one and only Bear game I got to go to in Soldier was Walter’s last game (lost to Seattle). They got the seat cleaned off but the snow was still in the aisles and under your feet and it was about 10 degrees. We bbq’d before the game and hung in the lot for a couple of hours after. of course, I was NOT sober in those days!

  90. 90.

    Vanya

    Denver and Manning just got jobbed on that “fumble”. Although I’m sure Oakland fans will think the refs were correct this time, that sure looked like the tuck rule.

  107. 107.

    Badmoodman

    I played DB in college and that may have been the dumbest/worst coverage I’ve ever seen in that situation.

  111. 111.

    Bubblegum Tate

    Denver has evidently decided it has played enough football for one season and is packing it in.

    Goddamn Ravens.

  112. 112.

    weaselone

    Hmmm. Looks like playing too conservatively might actually be what costs the Broncos the game, not the refs.

  116. 116.

    PsiFighter37

    Refs are still busy screwing the Broncos over. And these are supposed to be the best refs from the regular season? What a fucking joke.

  117. 117.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    OK, I’m now officially pissed at the officials.

    Still doesn’t get Fox off the hook for running out the last 30 of regulation.

  120. 120.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    @Raven: I’m talkin’ ’bout the call against Bailey. The catch was a catch, & I didn’t understand where Dierdorf was coming from on expecting that call overturned.

  123. 123.

    eric k

    if they had called Stokley’s not a catch I think The Denver fans would have burned the place down

  135. 135.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    Double overtime. Looks like I picked the wrong weekend to stop biting the cats’ toenails.

  136. 136.

    Raven

    @efgoldman: UGH

    “Colin Kaepernick, the astounding young QB for the 49ers, is now being criticized for having so many tats on his arms — and they’re mostly Bible verses!”

  137. 137.

    PsiFighter37

    That was a real shit pass by Peyton. Something I’d expect Brett Favre to do, not him.

  144. 144.

    Cacti

    I knew if anyone could screw this game up it was Peyton Manning. Get the guy out of doors in the playoffs, and he wilts like a flower.

    Gator chomp for you Peyton.

  146. 146.

    PsiFighter37

    @Raven: Not a Broncos fan (had to put up with the stinker that the Jets threw up this season), but I do think the refs had some stinkers.

    That said, the loss is all on Peyton…he’s gotta know his limitations at this point in his career. He can’t rocket it on the run like Aaron Rodgers can.

  154. 154.

    Eric

    Peyton is on the hook for the last pass, but Denver’s secondary should get the blame for the loss, simply inept

  164. 164.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Where will Alex Smith be the QB, next year? At least he has a future unlike Tebow,did you see the diss that the Jags gave Baby Jesus?

  165. 165.

    Cermet

    Once more Cole acts out as a child – this thread should have been titled the Denver-Ravens Play-off but since the steelers lost out to the Ravens, once again Cole becomes a baby.

  166. 166.

    Dierderp

    The officiating was bad enough, but the hyperbole of Dierdorf was the worst crime against humanity ever, even including prehistory, when warlords worse than fifty Hitlers ate babies and gang-raped grandmothers to death every day. I switched it to spanish after he said a near one handed catch by a Raven was “a thing of beauty” .

    I guess it means something that everyone who hears him call a game is certain he hates their team, but I wonder why they think we want to hear his pathetic schtick.

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