Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Please don’t feed the bears.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

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

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

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

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

This really is a full service blog.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Westminster Open Thread

Reader Interactions

191Comments

  5. 5.

    ? Martin

    Security detail around the corner is still there. They had no details to share, but suggested they expect to get the call to leave any minute now.

    The person they are watching is former LAPD. Their former boss is on the list of targets, but they aren’t. Abundance of caution.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    wow I’m in moderation.. I wonder why.. this is my comment with dots in between

    I can’t st.r.e.a.m it unless j.u.s.t.i.n t.v has it.

  12. 12.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Trying to post downstairs just about killed me due to my puter problems but has anyone seen the David Tennant/Catherine Tate version of “Much Ado About Nothing” is is worth the cost of the rental/download? Would love some thoughts.

  15. 15.

    Comrade Mary

    I have to rely on liveblogs and streaming video to catch the SOTU and the doggehs. Not getting cable back. Nope.

    Also: Mohawk Guy!

  17. 17.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    Mohawk gut is hawt. The FLOTUS gets all the cool dudes.

    Westminster is a pretty tough time slot opponent. I’m a hound lover, so will never get better for me than the year we heard “Let me have the beagle,” and Uno won it all.

  18. 18.

    PhoenixRising

    Not watching the doggies.

    Even if you win, you’re still a Pomeranian. Best of breed, my ass.

    Going with the Spanish coverage of Pope on the Ropes. It’s sure to justify my tequila consumption. But let me know if the Prez indicates that Gabbi Giffords will be permitted to jump on her horse and round up Ted Nugent, Wayne LaPierre & any Opus Dei members sitting on the SCOTUS, under his proposed gun safety legislation. Because imma drop Univision for that.

  22. 22.

    Comrade Mary

    Ha! The feed I’m seeing at The Grauniad says that it’s the “enhanced” SOTU. Does that mean Now With Extra Horsemeat?

    (I know it’s not their feed, OK?)

  23. 23.

    dance around in your bones

    So, there’s not going to be a SOTU thread? Everybody gonna watch de doggies instead?

    I love dogs, but a lot of these overbred, overgroomed dogs just kinda put me off. Give me a good ol’ mutt any day. I tend to watch the highlights later, maybe.

    Plus, the handlers just look kind of silly running alongside. I know, uninformed opinion, but it’s MINE, gawdamnit!

  25. 25.

    handsmile

    A night of priorities here at John Cole’s Bar-n-Grille. The patrons are gonna need a lot of TVs…

    An excerpt from my comment on the SotU Open Thread:

    Once again, the only truly deserving breed has been unjustly denied its rightful “Best in Show” trophy. (Pembroke Welsh Corgis, obviously!) We always root for the more obscure breeds to win the groups (yes, aware of the judging standards, but still!). Surprised that the Affenpinscher won the Toy Group, until I learned that it was one of the four dogs that oddsmakers (!) had selected to win the whole prize.

    The Guardian, God/doG love ‘em, is live-blogging the show!

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/13/westminster-dog-show-2013-best-in-show-live

  27. 27.

    BruceFromOhio

    No doggies, but plenty of irish lager and hilarious cat .gifs on tumblr.

    Oh look its SOTU time … and MrsFromOhio is not interested, so all of sudden its time for something else… Castle reruns and Bones reruns and … reruns.

  28. 28.

    JGabriel

    Asked what to watch for in the SOTU, David Gregory replied, “Well, tone is important.”

    No shit, Jackass.

  30. 30.

    ? Martin

    @handsmile: We’ve got a cardigan – he was part of a litter bred to be shown. He comes from a fairly successful line, but we’ve never shown him. He’s here for the kids. So we always root for the corgis too.

  34. 34.

    Yutsano

    @MikeJ: One should always aim for one’s dreams. Or something like that, involving eagles and soaring and some such rot. Stars, also, too.

  36. 36.

    batgirl

    Anyone know what those green ribbons represent that the Republicans are wearing?

    Edit: I see Democrats wearing them as well now.

  40. 40.

    cathyx

    I heard this morning that labrador retriever lovers are protesting the show because the number one most loved breed never wins.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    John Boehner just does not look happy.

    He would rather be at the Westminster do.

    They make better friends than the ones he’s got in Washington.

  47. 47.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    I thought we was gonna get the fancy message app, and all we get is a dog show thread?

    Full-service blog my freeloading ass!

  48. 48.

    dance around in your bones

    @Elizabelle:

    I wish (not really) that I had a hairdo like some of these doggies. Or my own personal groomer.

    POTUS looks incredibly handsome and relaxed, as usual. Boner, earlier, looked like he had heartburn. Let’s see if Boner can get through the speech w/o looking like a) he needs some prunes or b) a triple scotch.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    I cannot even imagine what it would feel like to not have Obama delivering this SOTU.

    The brain will not go there.

  63. 63.

    Comrade Mary

    (John, if you don’t want the doggies thread to be swamped, can you please put up a SOTU thread?)

  64. 64.

    dance around in your bones

    @Yutsano:

    Why, no! In fact we do not!

    It always kills me to watch Boner’s “I can barely get through this – when’s the bar open?” expression

  70. 70.

    mai naem

    At first I thought Bonerman looked like he had heartburn. Looking at him now, it’s more like he has food poisoning and is trying not to throw up until he can get to a bathroom.

  71. 71.

    dance around in your bones

    @Comrade Mary:

    I doubt he’s paying attention to the blog – he’s kickin’ back in the Lazy Boy with doggies on his lap, watching doggies, while Tunch glowers from the lowest level of the cat tree.

  77. 77.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    Anyone here maybe just a wee little bit nostalgic for the SOTU’s of recent yore, with their manned missions to mars and dire warnings about yellow cake and human-animal hybrids?

    Yeah, me neither.

  79. 79.

    Elizabelle

    This is like an inhouse exercise program for congressional Dems. They’re hopping up again.

    And again.

  80. 80.

    mai naem

    @Baud: Everybody’s gone home. I frankly have reached my limit with the squabbling. The Republicans are not going to change. They don’t give a shit about anything except the amount of power they have. We’re going to have wait for another ten years before the House changes hands.

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    “Drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next.”

    I’d like to see some Republican faces on that one.

  85. 85.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    Diggin’ on the manufactured crisis quip. Fuck yeah!!

  87. 87.

    Baud

    @mai naem:

    I spent four years fearing that the Republicans would be successful in making Obama a one-term president. I’m going to enjoy the next four years.

  92. 92.

    ? Martin

    Boy, someone seems more relaxed. Not having to run for office again takes some weight off. Republicans could not look more disdainful.

  99. 99.

    dance around in your bones

    @Poopyman: Well, yeah!

    Boner always looks like ‘Gawd damn I wish I could speak as well as this guy – THEN we could sell our ridiculous policies!’

    Heh. Uncle Joe just cracked up, while Boner continues to look rather…..sour. Like he’s sucking on a lemon.

  101. 101.

    Anya

    I am watching at C-span from my stupid smart teeve so I can’t see Boehner’s face. Is he sleeping? He looks so unengaged. And now I see some dude reading the speech or something else.

  104. 104.

    ? Martin

    I’ve been helping with a proposal for one of these hubs, btw. There’s a surprising amount of energy going into this from all over. It’s really eye-opening how little we have to start from, though. A bit like asking to open a water park in a desert.

  107. 107.

    Loneoak

    @efgoldman:

    I subscribe for the pompous gestures toward transparency and even-handedness while peddling decrepit Tory-ite racism and classism in the guise of scientific curiosity.

    No, wait, that’s a different blog. What’s the point of this blog again?

  110. 110.

    the Conster

    Ford and Apple. Is this his 11 dimensional play to socialize them by offering R&D government investment?

  113. 113.

    dance around in your bones

    @Loneoak: Heh. Priorities, priorities.

    Perhaps Lily and Rosie demanded it.

    OMG. POTUS is talking about climate change! Bring out the smelling salts for the Repubs!

  121. 121.

    mai naem

    Jim Inhofe started shitting his pants as soon as Obama started talking about climate change. Shit, that place must stink with all these stinky diapers.

  126. 126.

    ? Martin

    @the Conster: Apple has $140B in the bank. They have more money for R&D than the US government does.

    They need workers with the right training, they need tool and die makers (they’re mostly gone from the US), they need better transportation infrastructure. China is beating us on all 3.

  127. 127.

    ChrisNYC

    “Self-healing power grids.” These speeches are hilarious. Like when GWB allofasudden started talking about Mars. Mars!

  132. 132.

    PsiFighter37

    Will be interested what the reaction will be like when we get to social issues. We’ve got the winning side on all those issues.

  134. 134.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: Wrong continent. It’s a tiny province shared by Germany and Poland and previously owned by United Scandinavia.

    Meine Vorvätern kamen aus Pommern. A very very long time ago.

  136. 136.

    Loneoak

    @? Martin:

    They also need air they can breathe, legal systems that are reliable, and local governments not riddled with corruption. I’m not the least scared of China, to be honest. They’re fucked worse than we are because all we need is some new infrastructure. They need a new society.

  139. 139.

    Platonicspoof

    @dance around in your bones:
    Unless the cat tree is in another room, I’d watch for a Glowering Tunch suddenly appearing on the top level,
    tail twitching, crouched down and eyeballing the distance to a Lazy Boy full of targets.

  141. 141.

    the Conster

    @? Martin:

    I think he was including them in the overall theme of private/government partnership to prioritize training, education and infrastructure.

  142. 142.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    @Comrade Mary: I miss MSNBC since we scaled back our cable. I’ll bet that had Rachel fanning herself.

    “Send me the bill so I can sign it. Why would that be a partisan issue?” Again, fuck yeah!

  144. 144.

    PsiFighter37

    How does the GOP not know that not clapping for universal pre-K makes them look like assholes?

  146. 146.

    ? Martin

    @ChrisNYC: It’s a perfectly viable goal. Power grid problems get magnified significantly because when there’s a problem, parts of the grid get overloaded before operators can balance the grid out which takes more of the grid out.

    And here in SoCal all of our power lines other than the main high-tension ones feeding the city are underground. No tree damage, no weather damage. They even weather earthquakes better underground since it’s poles swaying and things falling on them that cause the problems.

    This isn’t hard. It’s expensive, but not hard.

  152. 152.

    dance around in your bones

    @Mike in NC:

    I don’t know what’s in Boehner’s glass, but I’m pretty sure it ain’t water.

    You know, I’ve always thought that. Plus, he seems to have about three glasses in front of him (one or two are the fake-outs). Like the shell game – what’s in THIS glass?

  156. 156.

    Mnemosyne

    A tweet from the Guardian feed:

    anamariecox

    anamariecox: Boehner is studying Obama so closely I think he may believe the president is filled with bourbon.

  160. 160.

    stinger

    Immigration reform — even Soppin’ John applauded that one.

    ETA: In fact, I think he just wiped away a tear.

  162. 162.

    ChrisNYC

    @? Martin: Oh I don’t doubt it is. It’s just the scrounging around about Medicare and the doc fix and blah blah percent unemployment and all the mundane stuff and then ta da “self healing power grids” and space!

    I would not be surprised if one of them came out with “By the end of the decade, every American will have the ability to transmit a rabbit cross country in seconds using nothing more than an ordinary spoon.”

  166. 166.

    Mnemosyne

    @Comrade Mary:

    Dorner is enough of a movie fan that I’d be wary of assuming it’s him. I can name at least a couple of movies off the top of my head that use that ploy.

  167. 167.

    PsiFighter37

    The GOP looks unimpressed by anything regarding women’s rights. Great job narrowing that gender gap, clowns.

  168. 168.

    trollhattan

    @Maude:

    Agree with you both. China’s middle class will/may already understand they’re living in a shithole that’s becoming worse by the hour. They’ll eventually figure out they have the power to push the party into doing something, but WRT water supply, desertification of the ag land, etc. it may be too late.

  170. 170.

    Comrade Mary

    WOW. Obama called for a $9 minimum wage. Tie it to the cost of living.

    The map on the enhanced version of the speech shows 19 states that have voluntarily raised their minimum above the federal minimum. Gosh, what do most of those states have in common?

  177. 177.

    workworkwork

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    My wife and I saw it in London during the original run at the Wyndhams. It’s one of our favorite plays and we both loved Tennant and Tate from ‘Doctor Who’.

    It’s a fun, sexy production. It’s worth it.

  180. 180.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @raven: I hope the Bohdi is okay. Milk is believed to be less dangerous than dark chocolate, if that’s any consolation. Consult your vet for actual answers however.

  181. 181.

    raven

    @Platonicspoof: Thanks, this is the third time, the first was a pound of dark chocolate/raisin. That cost $750 cuz we didn’t know which one so they both went to the emergency vet. The second time was homemade bourbon balls and, with a bunch of peroxide that never did make him puke, he was fine. This was a 3oz bot of Russell Stover and in looking at several calculators he should be fine. Of course I get the couch so the princess can have him next to her and wake me up if needed.

  187. 187.

    Platonicspoof

    @raven:
    Yes, I believe that’s what they are referring to at the link. They didn’t say paper, plastic or foil, but I assume that makes a difference.

    It stood out to me because I saw a german shorthair suddenly get “twisted stomach”,
    which has, as far as I know, completely different causes.
    Just that both are intestinal.

    Again, it caught my attention due to a personal experience.

  188. 188.

    ? Martin

    What the fuck! You don’t stop for water!

    Christ… what a bunch of rookies. He’s a pretty good speaker otherwise.

  191. 191.

    handsmile

    A fuckin’ Affenpinscher. A toy dog wins Westminster “Best in Show” for the second year in a row.

    It’s a national disgrace, I tellz ya! They’re not even real dogs. The Westminster Kennel Club is going to the…mutant bonsai creatures.

Comments are closed.