Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Republicans in disarray!

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

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

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

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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

Not all heroes wear capes.

Everybody saw this coming.

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

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

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

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

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131Comments

  3. 3.

    Gex

    Ugh. So much financial and legal crap to deal with. And I’m particularly bad at figuring those kinds of things out due to extreme lack of interest in things financial and legal. That’s causing me some difficulties.

    Trying to figure out if it is worthwhile for me to sink money into getting Kate’s house through probate and work with her dad to get the proceeds of the sale given all the expenses involved in that, the expenses of getting the house ready for sale, and I don’t even know what kind of tax implications from inheriting from my girlfriend.

    It did occur to me that if I just walk away because I won’t net anything, we will be left with just the perfect sign of the times. It will be the bank and the health care industry fighting over the remains of our assets.

  4. 4.

    Nodakfarmboy

    Sitting on a bucket on top of 30 inches of ice, staring down an 8-inch hole into 35 feet of water, waiting for a fish to take interest in my hook.

    Things are a bit slow. Oh well… at least the weather is nice.

  5. 5.

    Redshirt

    Groceries purchased and put away, Gondolin is as clean and as accessible as it can be, my party starts in 2 hours.

    Now for dicing and cutting.

    Cooks in the house – please share time saving secrets for cutting up vegetables for salads, pizzas, etc. I spend soooo much time chopping. There’s got to be a machine that does this well, right? I’ve tried little cheap ones and always been disappointed.

    Help!

  6. 6.

    LurkyLoo2

    Still morning here in my neck of the woods. Started out clear, high fog has moved in. Sun is fighting to break through.

  7. 7.

    Hill Dweller

    Watching Ezra Klein and Jonathan Chait pummel that piece of shit Mike Murphy on the twitter machine. A lot of Republicans are just vile people.

  8. 8.

    Comrade Mary

    @Redshirt: I think it’s kind of risky recommending this to someone named Redshirt, but: mandoline.

    But what kind of veggies and what kind of chopping? I shred with a food processor (carrot, broccoli stems), and sometimes use it for thin slices of potatoes and carrots, but am pretty fast with a standard knife when slicing most things.

  10. 10.

    WereBear

    @Gex: You need to round up a professional to help figure this out. You’re burning out brain cells that are scarce in a post-stress situation like your own.

    Ask around. All those people who said “call if you need anything” need to put up or shut up.

  11. 11.

    WereBear

    @Redshirt: A good mandoline? I love mine.

    Aaaaand someone got there first.

    If you go food processor, do not cheap out. You might as well run money through the shredder.

  12. 12.

    Redshirt

    @Comrade Mary: LOL! I bought a mandolin and within 3 minutes had shredded a piece of my thumb in with the potatoes. I looked for it but couldn’t find it, and since I was just cooking for myself, I went on. So that morning I no doubt ate a piece of myself, and I was delish! I bled for hours, however.

    I’m a bit afraid, but is it really that big a time saver? How would you dice an onion into very tiny pieces with a mandolin?

    I’m thinking more about some kind of food processor or something. No experience though, so maybe I have no idea.

  13. 13.

    BruceFromOhio

    Beer! Old airplanes! Motorcycles! Scuba diving stories! And that was just this morning.

    I believe I shall purchase shortly a lovely used 1995 Honda Shadow in two-tone red and white, and go rocking down the highway.

    It may be winter in practice, but inside, it’s always summer.

  16. 16.

    Comrade Mary

    OK, fuck the mandoline.

    (Note: Not really. Please.)

    Get a good quality food processor. My red Kitchen Aid is as solid as hell and has lasted at least 8 years with absolutely no problems. I shred veggies and make pastry dough in it, and it has truly earned the counter space and the price of $200 or so.

  17. 17.

    Gex

    @WereBear: Good advice, thanks!

    That is what I’m trying to do. I have a realtor friend that I’m calling in first. Need to get an idea of what the place will sell for and what work she thinks MUST be done to sell it. I think that everything else hinges off of that.

    I honestly have a hard time making myself think about these things even enough to call in help. But I’m doing it.

  18. 18.

    scav

    @Redshirt: If there were something perfect, there would no longer be sous-chefs. Thus, find thee a sous-chef, kitchen wench if you’re going medieval. Otherwise, excellent knives and a zen-like patience.

  19. 19.

    MikeJ

    @Redshirt: My favorite thing about my mandolin is the uniformity of slices. Very important if you you things to cook evenly, or are using the slices to wrap something.

    Here’s a nice potato galette I made with wonderfully uniform slices.

    The julienne blade is a big time saver too, since you actually get to skip entire steps that you would need using a knife.

  21. 21.

    Comrade Mary

    Caveat: slicing and shredding is completely in the food processor wheelhouse. But I find that transforming anything into small dice (brunoise) is best done with a knife (or lethal, don’t-you-dare-go-near-it) mandoline.

    Try this, or just Google/YouTube search “knife skills.”

  22. 22.

    chopper

    just finished up making brunch for 6 and four kids. an otherwise uneventful saturday.

  24. 24.

    Gex

    @Omnes Omnibus: I do have an attorney to represent my claim against the estate and an attorney lined up for probate (who ostensibly is working for Kate’s dad) whom I haven’t put on retainer yet because it feels like I should decide whether paying to get this thing through probate is worthwhile in the first place.

    I guess I’ll talk to my attorney Monday, and to a realtor early next week. Is there some other professional I should be lining up?

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear: I have looked at madonlines at least 3 times on amazon, and it gets really overwhelming and I get scared off by all the safety warnings about cutting yourself, so I come away empty handed.

    Anyone have a link to the actual mandoline they love? It would be greatly appreciated!

  27. 27.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Gex: That should cover it. Good luck with everything. Try not to let the businessy side of things get you too down.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @Redshirt: I LOVE my inexpensive food processor. IT’s a hamilton beach 8-cup. I would go to amazon and find the link for you, but I’m not good at copy & paste on my ipad. It’s in the 30,00 range and it’s really great. You can easily get your finely choppd onions. But it doesn’t make nicely shaped veggiese – they just come out at random angles, which is why I would also like a madoline if I knew exactly what to get.

  29. 29.

    MikeJ

    @WaterGirl: I’ve got a cheap one.

    I’m sure the $400 Shun mandolin is very nice, but I haven’t run into anything my $39 oxo won’t do acceptably well. If I had a restaurant and it was going to be used eight hours a day every day, I’d pay the premium.

  30. 30.

    raven

    My Cuisinart immersion blender and carbon steel Sabatier’s work just fine thanks.

  31. 31.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    Yesterday I spent 7.5 hours traveling to do 4 hours of work, then 7.5 hours to get home again. A 19 hour work day.

    I don’t mind commuting but when it involves Delta Airlines and National Car Rental it gets a bit tedious.

    Bonus: on the plane(s) I read all of Tina Fey’s book Bossypants, which was very satisfying.

  32. 32.

    JPL

    @Redshirt: My ex has the mandoline and I finally broke down and bought a new one. I haven’t used it though, and now I’m thinking that my kitchenaid food processor works fine.

  33. 33.

    Schlemizel

    Went to the Turtle Bread Company and had the best clam chowder I have ever eaten!

    Came how about 40 minutes ago to find two girls, I would guess about high school age standing on the snow pile across the street yelling at cars & trying to get them to honk. No idea how long they had been there already but they just moved on a minute ago. Never seen them before, I don’t think they live near by.

    We will be leaving shortly to watch the Gopher Women’s hockey team dispose or Bemidji State in the opening round of the WCHA play offs and extend their current winning streak to 44 games.

  34. 34.

    WereBear

    @Redshirt: There is supposed to be a holder! And you are supposed to use it!

    I’m with Comrade Mary; around $200 will get you a solid machine and keep those thumbs attached to your arms. Kitchen Aid is still a good company! Everyone I know loves their stand mixers, for instance.

  35. 35.

    Redshirt

    @scav: Best idea of the thread. I’ll just hire some kitchen elves at “competitive rates” and let them take care of it. I am in Gondolin, after all.

    Also again: BEWARE the mandolin. I’ve got an Oxo that works well with potatoes and large slices, but not much else I’ve found. But then there’s all the blood and I think to myself, “Self, you’ll probably save time doing it by hand rather than holding a towel to your thumb for 2 hours”.

  36. 36.

    WereBear

    @Gex: I honestly have a hard time making myself think about these things even enough to call in help. But I’m doing it.

    I understand. I was widowed in March of 1999, after a happy 18 year relationship. After such a shock, your immune system is comatose, your heart is numb, and your brain just don’t work right. For months!

    So take it easy on yourself and LEAN on the ones who love you. That is, indeed, how we know.

  37. 37.

    Schlemizel

    @MikeJ:

    Noticed the “Frequently bought with” on that page – Kevlar cut proof gloves!

    I would never dream of using a mandolin without a holder between my fingers & that blade

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    redshirt

    This looks like the 21st century interpretation of my valued, trusty, ancient chopper (glass jar with a slab of wood in the bottom, screw-on lid with a metal rod through it that has a criss-cross of 4 chopping blades on bottom and a wooden push handle up top). Diced onions (or whatever) faster than one can say Englebert Humperdinck.

  40. 40.

    WereBear

    @WaterGirl: I got one for $20 at an Aldi’s, so a $40 should last for a decade at least; the blades get dull and I don’t think they can be sharpened.

    If you use the holder, they are safe as houses. Now, there will be stuff stuck in the holder that needs knife chopping. Unless I need a bucket of stuff, I don’t even get it out. But if I’m throwing a party, it’s a real time saver.

  41. 41.

    rdldot

    @Redshirt: I got a Ninja brand chopper for Christmas that is working out really well as long as you don’t care too much for uniformity. It comes with a chopper and a blender/pitcher for about $40.

  42. 42.

    bemused

    @Hill Dweller:

    Sounds interesting, too bad I don’t tweet.

    Klein talked about a reporter briefing with Republicans with stipulation no R identified. Klein reports they seem to have no awareness of Obama’s offer of cuts to retirement programs. They are operating as if Obama is only offer is more taxes on the wealthy.

    A reporter asked a legislator if it would make a difference if Obama put chained-CPI on the table and he said “Absolutely”. Another reporter said, “But it is on the table! They tell us three times a day they want to do chained-CPI”. “I’d love to see it”, laughed the legislator.

    This is astonishing although I shouldn’t be surprised.

    Jonathan Chait doesn’t agree with Klein that it could be promising if these guys were educated on Obama’s offers. Oh sure, when hell freezes over. It wouldn’t change a thing. They know what they believe and that is that.

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    @MikeJ: Thanks a bunch! I will check it out more completely when I get home. Love my iPad, but I still prefer my laptop for a lot of things. Hoping it has a nice safety feature, as I don’t want to injure myself too badly!

    thanks again

  45. 45.

    Jay S

    @WaterGirl: @Redshirt: The Hamilton Beach food processor is fine for slicing up vegetables, and the large container helps if you are doing a lot.

    I haven’t had any luck with it doing dough however. I just get it gummed up.

  46. 46.

    ruemara

    The ex wandered back into my apartment last night. Said he was exhausted from moving. I asked, “Oh? Who are you staying with?” He pointed to me. Seems that every time I asked what he was doing as his time of staying for free at a friend’s was running out, constituted a discussion of how he was staying with me. 11 months since he was foreclosed on and he’s still unemployed, homeless and now trying to convince me that I’m crazy and have forgotten when I told the person I have consistently said to not include me as a person to live with, forget that, move into my living room with no notice. As of right now, my hypertension is now pounding my head open.

  47. 47.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Redshirt:

    I will go against the crowd and say that when you have a huge amount of prep to do for a large crowd, buy pre-chopped at the grocery store. Really. That way you can spend your time cooking rather than prepping.

  49. 49.

    Hill Dweller

    @bemused: The astonishing part for me is there’s no economic justification for the sequester. None.

    Discretionary spending is historically low, even before the sequester is figured in. In fact, government(fed, state and local) austerity has been a huge drag on growth.

    The deficit is projected to shrink at the fastest rate since the demobilization of WWII in the next two fiscal years.

    The sequester actually undermines our ability to reduce the deficit.

    None of this is spoken in the media. Only 6% of the public knows the deficit is shrinking. The debate in Washington is surreal.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Today is one of those days I can point to when people ask me why I put up with the hassle of living in Los Angeles. It is absolutely friggin’ gorgeous weather — perfect temperature, sunny, birds singing, the whole nine yards.

    This message brought to you by Huntington Library, which it turned out was less that 2 miles from the shop that spring-tuned my bike, so I left my car in their lot and rode down here. Next I’ll probably check out a gallery or two, peek into the gift shop, and then start riding back.

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @ruemara:

    Sometimes I think you need to move three states away from that guy but, knowing your luck, you’d open up the moving truck and find him already napping on the couch. Yeesh.

  55. 55.

    JPL

    It’s 38 degrees where I live, north of Atlanta. ugh.. This morning the abc news crew drove north looking for snow.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    @Hill Dweller:

    The debate in Washington is surreal.

    When the stimulus passed, it was universally trashed. For different reasons, mind you, but no one at that time was willing to stand up and say it was a good and necessary thing to do. So it became conventional wisdom in the media that Keynesian spending was bad and wasteful, especially after the Republicans won in 2010 attacking it. And since it is next to impossible to dislodge the MSM from GOP framing, we’re now stuck in this alternate universe where the right thing to do can’t gain traction.

  58. 58.

    Davis X. Machina

    @Hill Dweller:

    The astonishing part for me is there’s no economic justification for the sequester. None.

    Macroeconomics for the right is the furthest thing from a social science — it’s just a branch of moral theology.

    They’re not serious about justifying the sequeste in economic terms, because all the arguments for it are theological arguments, and therefore trying to justify it economically is an exercise in category error.

    State spending — the non-lethal kind — is a malum per se, and suppressing it is self-justifying — and that goes double for anything smacking of a transfer payment.

    Austerity means less money being spent by the undeserving poor on malt liquor, lottery tickets, and babies they can’t afford. Sure, U3 goes up, and GDP goes down, but virtue and moral probity and deference to one’s betters goes up, and that’s what really matters.

  60. 60.

    bemused

    @Hill Dweller:

    Only tv media going there is some msnbc shows. Some shows on Current or Free Speech TV but even fewer people watch those channels. Thom Hartmann, RandI Rhodes and a few others on radio. All truth seeking media is vastly out numbered by rightwing or villagers.

    No, most Americans don’t have a clue. If try telling people facts, Republicans don’t believe you because they know you are a liberal. Even if they don’t know you are a liberal, they won’t believe you and then immediately label you as liberal. Even non-Republicans will be skeptical because they have never heard those facts before.

  61. 61.

    Roger Moore

    @bemused:
    That sounds like people putting on a show of negotiating to cover their utter lack of interest in a deal. People who actually want a deal will do things like listen intently to the other guy’s offer so they know what’s going on. The Republicans can’t even feign enough interest to realize that Obama is offering them something they are supposed to want.

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
    Which shop? I used to live within easy walking distance of the Huntington, but somehow or other never managed to go down there regularly. Probably the $20 weekend admission or $120/year membership had something to do with it.

  65. 65.

    MikeJ

    @trollhattan: My favourite bit from that:

    Some of us take martial arts classes or go to the firing range, which is fine as far as it goes, but it’s often like practicing for a game you’ll never play. Chances are, you’ll probably go your whole life without shooting anyone or having to defend yourself from a thug trying to beat you to death on the street.

  67. 67.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Davis X. Machina: This. All of this.

    And the biggest problem is Democrats who take that moral-theological view of public debt. Republicans who say they’re worried about it are lying; they’re worried about mooching mud people getting free stuff. Some, even a lot, of Democrats actually do worry about it, both ideologically and for reasons of political self-definition. To Obama’s credit (pun!) he talks regularly about how reducing the deficit is not an economic recovery plan. More people should realize that. But the ears, they are deaf.

  68. 68.

    RobertDSC-eMac 1.25

    It’s a lazy day. The sun is out here in LA, but I’m staying inside. Don’t want to deal with the heat.

  69. 69.

    scav

    @trollhattan: ahhhh, iz realio trulio menz being rejected on da free market of human relationships? poor dears.

    ETA I cannot believe I just edited the above to remove an errant ‘

  73. 73.

    22over7

    @trollhattan:

    Ouch. I feel for you; I did close to the same thing with a kitchen knife, and it never really healed properly.

    But my brother actually chopped off half his thumb with a circular saw. He had the prize for clumsiest member of the family until recently, when my daughter’s cat got his foot stuck in his ear. No really. She had to pull it out. I was so pissed that she didn’t get video.

    I don’t own a mandoline, but I do have one of those tiny cheap food processors. It works spectacularly well for onion-chopping and breadcrumb-making. Everything else, well, I use a knife.

  74. 74.

    Maude

    @ruemara:
    You are having a time. It seems that he is only using you.
    My b/p would be in outer space.
    You need peace and quiet.
    How you get that is not something I can tell you. I don’t know all the ins and outs.
    It would be good to have him out of your way.
    You come first.

  75. 75.

    Anoniminous

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Macroeconomics for the right is the furthest thing from a social science — it’s just a branch of moral theology.

    But lacking the empirical rigor “moral theology” implies.

    ;-)

  76. 76.

    DPS

    Just this morning, for no particular reason, I just happened to be thinking about how much I agree with the policy priorities of the ruling party in Malaysia. They’re a great bunch of guys! I hope they succeed in crushing the traitors in the opposition, using whatever means they deem necessary.

  78. 78.

    dance around in your bones

    @ruemara: Tell the dude to take a hike.

    I never had to live with a situation like that, but a couple of my friends who were girls did. They were all better off once they told the guy to take a hike.

    I remember one girlfriend who was dealing with a bipolar ex-boyfriend – she convinced me to drive her to a meeting with him. I said Ok but you roll the window down one inch and speak with him. He ended up throwing a large rock at the windshield of the truck and cracking it.

    I gunned the accelerator and got us the fuck out of there. Her response? “At least now I know how he feels”.

    Sigh. Do not underestimate how these situations can go south.

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Roger Moore:

    Pasadena Cyclery on Walnut. From there, it’s a straight shot down Allen directly into the Huntington’s parking lot. The downside is that it’s slightly uphill all the way back.

    The Giant Evil Corporation reimburses me for my membership (something only my division does) so we’ve been members for a couple of years now.

  80. 80.

    Amir Khalid

    @DPS:
    The Barisan Nasional’s leaders (by which I mean the leaders of the lead party UMNO) never tire of reminding themselves, and the rest of us Malaysians, just how awesome they are, all the bright blessed day and for much of the dark sacred night too. Also too, they like to remind us how things are going to Helena Handbasket in the states where the minions of the sodomising usurper Anwar Ibrahim rule.

    And of course we all believe every word they say, youbetcha, because we know they’d never lie — give or take a trial on trumped-up charges of ghey seksytimes.

  81. 81.

    bemused

    @Hill Dweller:

    Ezra Klein has posted the twitter CCPI chat. Just wow. Not wow as in shocking. Republicans haven’t been that coy about showing they want it 100% their way but it’s still jaw dropping how unconcerned they are about baldly admitting it.

    What are the chances media will report this, probably slim to none. Now if it was the WH…..

  82. 82.

    Yutsano

    At the Miss Pierce County pageqnt. Familial obligation. But observing the control freaks trying to make this all perfect is highly amusing. I do adore my second cousin though, so I’ll tough it out.

  83. 83.

    Amir Khalid

    @Amir Khalid:
    Oh, and Paul Krugman notes that the Malaysian government knows what drives the likes of the Heritage Foundation, and is using them for its PR push with American conservatives. Wonderful, but I’m still not convinced that that the government (or maybe the Barisan Nasional coalition i.e. UMNO) has spent wisely that million ringgit it paid to Josh Trevino.

  85. 85.

    dance around in your bones

    @Yutsano:

    Whoa – need a full report on the Miss Pierce County Pageant! (Any wardrobe malfunctions, fer instance?)

  86. 86.

    dance around in your bones

    My next door neighbor has been blasting CSN&Y and Jethro Tull pretty loudly. Could be the college kid home for the weekend? The dad’s an old surfer though, so maybe…..

    I like it. Plus, sometimes I hear someone playing some pretty beautiful classical music on the piano over there.

    Yeah, I’m pretty bored and commenting about nada.

  87. 87.

    jl

    A post on Economist’s View takes you to a good piece by Bean Baker that explains the BS behind the current GOP line on taxes and the sequester.

    Baker explains how to tell the difference between honest philosophical differences and corrupt BS masquerading as philosophical differences. Since apparently the NYT has no clue, Baker helps them out.

    Is This a Battle of Philosophy?
    http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2013/03/is-this-a-battle-of-philosophy.html

  88. 88.

    Hill Dweller

    @bemused: As of my reading on Klein’s column, which clearly laid out Republican’s intransigence, the second comment is from someone bemoaning the Dems’ inability to meet Republicans halfway. I had the sudden urge to drink Drano.

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @bemused: Murphy has now moved the goalposts to “it doesn’t matter that Obama has already done and said the things said he needs to say and do to get a deal. We can’t deal with him because of course we don’t trust him, and of course we are right not to trust him”

    I wonder if David Gregory or Jake Tapper will have their assistants look into this while they’re getting their getting their hair camera ready. Nah, I really don’t wonder.

  91. 91.

    Dee Loralei

    Go to youtube and watch “House of Cardinals” Do it now. You can thank me later.

  94. 94.

    jl

    Huh, another ‘GOPer says the ladies don’t get preggers from rape’ sighting. I thought that had gone out of style

    This time a lady GOP official in CA, Celeste Greig, said it.

    Bizarre people. Totally out of it. I guess the fact that they don’t believe in science is the best explanation.

    CA GOPer: Pregnancy From Rape Rare Because Body Is ‘Traumatized’
    TPM
    http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/ca-goper-pregnancy-from-rape-rare-because-body

    ‘ However, in shades of Akin, Greig then added: “Granted, the percentage of pregnancies due to rape is small because it’s an act of violence, because the body is traumatized. I don’t know what percentage of pregnancies are due to the violence of rape. Because of the trauma the body goes through, I don’t know what percentage of pregnancy results from the act.” ‘

  95. 95.

    scav

    Clint is now in favor of gay marrying empty chairs on that slippery slope? Are there any unexploded heads left unspun?

    ETA Shows how much I pay attention to the individual.

  96. 96.

    Yutsano

    @dance around in your bones: No wardrobe malfunctions yet, though there has been a major trip off the stair so far. Swimsuits are ober and I still find that exploitative. Plus it’s cold as hell in this theater.

  98. 98.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @jl:

    “Granted, the percentage of pregnancies due to rape is small because it’s an act of violence, because the body is traumatized. I don’t know what percentage of pregnancies are due to the violence of rape. Because of the trauma the body goes through, I don’t know what percentage of pregnancy results from the act.” ‘

    Jesus Fucking Christ, what in the name of fuck is wrong with these people? I mean, fuck!

  99. 99.

    jamick6000

    Twitter question — when is the appropriate time to use #war vs. #BreitbartIsHere?

    I’ve heard one goes well with white wine and the other goes well with red, but don’t remember which is which.

  101. 101.

    bemused

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Gosh, one might get the idea that they never had any intention of “trusting” Obama so they could get as close to 100% of what they want…spare the oppressed wealthy and make the rest of us pay for it. Hello media, anyone in there?

  103. 103.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @bemused: John McCain’s almost press secretary and Karl Rove’s pen pal thinks the fault lies with Obama

    Ron Fournier ‏@ ron_fournier
    Mr President, pls read @ ezraklein and asked “Am I working hard enuf to comm w/ Congress?” Maybe camp on Hill (2/2) http://wapo.st/Z5uCwu .

  107. 107.

    bemused

    @jl:

    The woman just finishes saying the other idiot should have apologized and then immediately says the same exact thing. I’ve said it before but just thinking about how these people juggle wildly contradictory thoughts in their heads at the same time with no self-awareness gives me a raging headache.

  108. 108.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Also, too, apparently Ron Fournier wants Obama to use the military to persuade Republicans to compromise

    Ron Fournier ‏@ ron_fournier
    Can handle Bin laden, not Boehner? MT @ AP: He may be POTUS, but Obama says he’s incapable of “a Jedi mind meld”:

    As stupid as that is, it’s the only concrete suggestion (and I know that’s not what Fournier thinks he was saying) I’ve seen as to how Obama is supposed to “lead” Republicans in to doing what they quite simply refuse to do.

  109. 109.

    dance around in your bones

    @raven: Nah, Maybe Aqualung. “Sitting on a park bench” – I admit I wasn’t listening to carefully. Doing a fuckton of laundry.

    @efgoldman: Yea, prolly the surfer dude dad. But ya never know nowadays. YouTube and all that. The kids are hip to that old stuff nowadays.

  110. 110.

    bemused

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Congress was recessed for a week and then they were back last week. Now they are recessed again, right? Kinda tough to communicate with folks who get the hell out of Dodge at the drop of a hat.

  112. 112.

    jl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Thanks. I just put Fourner down as another dimwit white bigot.
    Stupid bigoted tweet, that Fournier sent out.

    Yeah, this ****** Obama thinks he is so hot, but he can’t even control other people’s minds.

    Nearly as bad as “you know, a 100 percent white president would have an easier time breaking the law” reporter, and self serving fabulist, Bob Woodward.

    But, I may be unfair in trying to figure out what the likes of Fournier and Woodward mean when they express themselves. Maybe they are drooling incoherent nonsense on purpose.

  113. 113.

    JPL

    Just read that Gene Sperling is going to on Meet The Press, CNN and This Week. I think once Americans see him they will know why Woodward pissed his pants. Of course, once he starts speaking he does have a tendency to put people to sleep.

  115. 115.

    jl

    @JPL: I’ll gladly watch a clip of Sperling kissing Gregory, or whatever nincompoop is hosting, on both cheeks, and saying “It’s just business…”

  116. 116.

    raven

    @JPL: Oh yea. I sat outside in the snow flurries and read the paper then did all kinds of odd jobs.

  119. 119.

    dance around in your bones

    Jethro Tull is still around? I remember seeing them back in the day – Ian Anderson in tights, playing his flute on one leg. Blew my mind.

    Of course, I was on purple dome at the time.

  120. 120.

    Hill Dweller

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: After Klein dismantled Woodward’s bullshit “moving the goalposts” accusations last weekend, Fournier attacked Klein.

    Fournier is a GOP shill, and epitomizes everything that is wrong with beltway media.

  123. 123.

    dance around in your bones

    @jl: Jeebus H Christ.

    The body doesn’t know when it is traumatized. Eggs and sperm hook up, period. You never know when it’s gonna happen (pregnancy, I mean). Gads, we womyn types spent all our time trying not to get pregnant unless we wanted to. I’m sure you know that.

    What’s with these anti-scientific Repubs? They don’t understand basic science/biology? Wait – don’t answer that.

    I just wish those stupid men could get pregnant. Then they’d change their tune. Fuckers! (No disrespect to Just Some Fuckhead – who I find very funny).

    eta: and said GOPer is a woman. Christ on a crutch.

  126. 126.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Mike Murphy’s third position today, GOP can’t compromise because Obama is just too mean to them

    mike murphy ‏@ murphymike
    I think if POTUS went to silent monastery for 3 months, gave Biden total control, decent deal would be had. @ BDayspring @ ezraklein

    at least that’s what I suspect is behind that snotty nonsense. So it’s not about policy, economics, principle or any of that shit. I sure hope Murhpy settles on a position before tomorrow’s MTP. But he doesn’t have to, really.

  127. 127.

    bemused

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I think it’s not only about getting 100% of what they want, winning, it’s also about winning with a vengeance. They are bullies and bullies love to make life miserable for anyone in their way. I don’t think I need to say making Obama suffer, if they can, would make them deliriously happy.

  128. 128.

    WaterGIrl

    Long day. Back home and at the computer at last. Many thanks for all the mandoline links! I have them all open in separate tabs so I can check them out tomorrow when I’m not so exhausted.

    Edit: jefferyw, wow, I am not a slaw person, but I might just have to try making that one. With all those gorgeous interesting veggies, I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t like it.

  129. 129.

    lojasmo

    Somebody coded at the YMCA while I was working out.

    Take home message; never exercise.

    Probably Takatsubo’s cardiomyopathy (apical ballooning) or ventricular tachycardia.

  130. 130.

    dance around in your bones

    @lojasmo:

    Somebody coded at the YMCA while I was working out.

    Gads, I remember that when I was working at a farmacy. “Code Blue! Code Blue!” over the intercom always struck fear into our hearts.

    Hope whoever it was is ok now?

    eta: I kinda agree about the working out stuff. A family member just ripped all the tendons off one leg while (obsessively) running at the age of 70ish. Surgery, brace, PT and etc. Better now.

  131. 131.

    AHH onna Droid

    @ruemara: I feel you, Rue. You need an ally. A friend who won’t take shit from nobody, the landlord/super, or last ditch, a cop. Act quickly.

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