Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

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

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

The revolution will be supervised.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

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

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

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Reader Interactions

72Comments

  4. 4.

    John M. Burt

    I am so glad for CPAC.

    If MSNBC were what Repubs think/pretend it is, they’d be providing live coverage, without editorial comment, of the whole show.

  7. 7.

    Chickamin Slam

    Which one of Lee’s song titles do you think best sums up CPAC?

    I.O.U?

    I Go Crazy?

    If There’s Any Justice?

  9. 9.

    Liquid

    Hey Doug, what’s the over/under on you winding up on some watchlist thanks to your ‘Friends of Hamas’ tag?

    Shit…now I’m probably on the list too.

  12. 12.

    YellowJournalism

    David Frum is live tweet-bitching about the portrayal of Washington in House of Cards. He gets really pissy about the role of TV (and TV screens) on the show. Still not as fun as John making fun of Spokane in Red Dawn and laughing his ass off at the movie.

  13. 13.

    fleeting expletive

    Apology for going OT right off the bat, but I have an inquiry and my usual sources aren’t responding.

    I drive a 12 year old nice car, Kelley Blue Book tells me it’s worth about 7500. It has low mileage and is in pretty good shape, with a little unfixed body damage.

    Should I continue my collision/comprehensive coverage on it, at $500 per year? I have a very safe driving record and I’m not out on the road a lot, since the car has 77,000 miles on it. Were it to get totalled in a wreck, I could afford to buy some car, I guess.

    If I continue the full coverage am I just being a scaredy-cat? It’s worrying me, and I have to decide in the next couple of days.

  16. 16.

    Soonergrunt

    Lee “Draft Deferment” Greenwood singing “God Bless The USA” to a bunch of white-feather war cheerleaders, and he paid to be there.
    That is all sorts of awesome.

  17. 17.

    Redshift

    Performing for free? If they had any principles, the Randians would be protesting that.

    (Shamelessly stolen from Twitter — @juliaioffe: They’re handing out a little book called “The Ayn Rand Sampler.” Ironically, it’s free.)

  24. 24.

    Shortstop

    @Mnemosyne: No, but although I have always loved the Femmes and treasure the memory of a 1986 performance in a tiny club in London, so tiny in fact that the stage couldn’t hold all three of them and the bass, you know they borrowed those lyrics from Herman and the Hermits, right?

  25. 25.

    The Moar You Know

    Last time I took a free gig I was still in high school. Volunteer gigs are for suckers and the talentless.

    CPAC’s too cheap to pay for entertainment and Greenwood’s not worth spending one dime on. That’s my takeaway.

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I started watching, but then my attention was drawn to their Dead Kennedys cover a little further down the page and I started watching that instead.

    And then my MacBook started buffering the video and the laptop’s fan kicked into high gear. Grr. I’m supposed to get my new laptop tomorrow, but I don’t have high hopes of it actually arriving before Monday.

  27. 27.

    Mnemosyne

    @Shortstop:

    I made Omnes jealous because I once saw the ultimate 80s triple bill: Mojo Nixon, the Violent Femmes, and the Pogues. It was either 1989 or 1990, I can’t remember which.

    And I know they stole the line, but whenever I hear it, the very next lyrics I hear in my head are, “Just last night, I was reminded of …” and not whatever Herman’s Hermits had to say.

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, too, just to confirm that I am a hopeless child of the 80s, I’m going to go see They Might Be Giants for my birthday.

    First thing one of my co-workers asked, “Don’t they do children’s songs?”

  31. 31.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Mnemosyne:

    First thing one of my co-workers asked, “Don’t they do children’s songs?”

    Why yes, yes they do. And they’re AWESOME children’s songs!

  33. 33.

    Arundel

    Gee, right-wingers are really keen on that “people should work for free” thing, like that thing we had a Civil War about. I mean, just think of all the “experience” the slaves got!

    Ugh.

  34. 34.

    dance around in your bones

    @Mnemosyne:

    Did I ever tell you I kissed Mojo Nixon once?

    Right after crawling around in the bar looking for my snake barrettes. People asked “What are you doing?” And I said “Looking for my snakes”.

  38. 38.

    dance around in your bones

    @Mnemosyne:

    I am absolutely not making that up.

    Jeez, my mom was just here and I told her stories that would curl her hair. She always called me her Wild Child.

  39. 39.

    Suzanne

    @dance around in your bones: A coworker of my mom’s once told me about how she to it on with Tom Waits once.

    My closest brush with fame was working in an art supply store with the lead singer of Jimmy Eat World. Also ran into Exene Cervenka once. She was lovely.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    Ironically, it was a guy who’s older than me, so I really just thought it was weird.

    But he was probably just messing with me on purpose.

    @dance around in your bones:

    I know you’re not making it up, which is what makes it even more awesome.

    I do have to head off to bed now because my tummy is bothering me, but here are some words of wisdom from Mojo that we should all keep in mind:

    Michael J. Fox has no Elvis in him.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    @Suzanne:

    Kim Gordon’s mom used to come into the Crown Books that I worked in. She absolutely LOVED Thurston Moore and talked about him like he was the best son-in-law a woman could ever hope for.

    I was a little sad when I heard they had separated a few years ago. I hope her mom passed away first, because it would have broken her heart.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We keep telling her that, but she’s playing coy. I think she’s testing her stories out on us first to make sure they’re as good as she thinks. (They are, so write the darn book!)

    Now I really do have to say goodnight. Stupid tummy.

  45. 45.

    dance around in your bones

    @Suzanne:

    I had friends who played before Tom Waits once. I got to squat in the sidewings (or whatever you call them?) and watch Tom Waits lean against a fake lightpost and growl out incomprehensible lyrics.

    Also, I got to see X numerous times in LA and SD and fell in love with Exene and John Doe. Just great harmonics!

    ♪She had to leave….a bum bump bum bump bum….Los Angeles!♫

    Everybody tells me I should write my memoirs. I might actually do it some day.

    Once the statute of limitations runs out. Which is never, in my case.

  46. 46.

    Suzanne

    @Mnemosyne: I was so sad when they broke up. They both seemed simultaneously cool and yet so normal.

    Let’s see….also met Ben Gibbard once. Got bored with him and left to go to a diner. A girl needs eggs at midnight. Don’t judge. Met Courtney Love once. She was lovely. I have no rock-star-sex stories. I am not social or hot enough. This doesn’t bother me.

  47. 47.

    Anne Laurie

    @dance around in your bones:

    Everybody tells me I should write my memoirs. I might actually do it some day.

    Once the statute of limitations runs out. Which is never, in my case.

    Nah, see, write those stories down now, and hide a hard copy for after you’re gone. Imagine your grandkids, grown from rugrats to mature adults, discovering that Grammy was a Wild Child back in the previous century!

    Either they’ll be thrilled, and you’ll know you raised ’em well… or they’ll be shocked, and you’ll get to laugh at them from the other side.

  49. 49.

    dance around in your bones

    @Anne Laurie:

    My daughter has begged me to do this for years. She says it’s her heritage. One of the problems is that half of my memory disappeared when my husband died. He had total recall, whereas I can get a bit fuzzy on certain details.

    I still remember how I would be telling a story, and he would say “No, THIS is how it happened!” and I’d realize he was right.

    But what the hell, who else would know the truth?

    My mom was stunned by some of my stories, which I had never told her before. She took it rather well, I have to say.

  50. 50.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Lee Greenwood in concert…free, and not even worth that.

    My hatred of his signature song knows no bounds.

  53. 53.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    @Villago Delenda Est: I had actually managed to avoid ever hearing that song until I happened to take a trip to Las Vegas not long after 9/11 and the Bellagio had incorporated it into their outdoor “dancing waters” show. I couldn’t believe I was actually hearing something that stupid.

  58. 58.

    Patricia Kayden

    @John M. Burt: Why? I watch MSNBC all the time and have no interest in CPAC – espcially live coverage all day long.

    They highlight what they want during Prime Time, which is more than enough.

  59. 59.

    brantl

    Lee Greenwood performing at his own expense

    I’ve heard Lee Greenwood, he was perfroming at everyone’s expense that was within earshot…..

  68. 68.

    West of the Rockies

    @Villago Delenda Est: I quite agree… That one stupid line in particular, “I’m glad to live in America where at least I know I’m free…” That always sounded like faint praise to me, sort of like knowing your new significant other is unattractive, unpleasant, “but at least he/she has a job”.

  69. 69.

    El Cid

    @West of the Rockies: I always thought it was a sop to knowing your audience, because a lot of people attending your shows or listening to your songs might have nothing else, so you have to phrase it in ways which work no matter how broke, drunk, and homeless your fans are.

  70. 70.

    lol

    @fleeting expletive:

    I dropped collision coverage on my car ages ago. Minor damage isn’t going to go over the deductible and a total wreck is going to be covered by the other driver’s liability insurance unless they were driving without it.

    Just not worth it for the value of the car.

  71. 71.

    Reasonable 4ce

    Lee Greenwood singing his shitty song at his own expense? Looks like the market has spoken.

  72. 72.

    Bruce s

    Glad to see Greenwood so desperate for attention he’s joined the legion of singers – most of whom frequent street corners – “performing at their own expense.”

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