I just wanted to take a moment and apologize to longtime commenter Burns who I pretty much unloaded on last night. We have our disagreements, but I was wrong and acted like a complete dick, and I apologize. I’m sorry.
I’ve felt bad about it all day, from the time Lily stuck her nose in my armpit at 7 am to let me know it was time to potty.
Calming Influence
Good man.
Just Some Fuckhead
What’s there to apologize about? He’s a world-class douchebag and deserves every bad thing that happens to him.
Afraid he’s going to sue you for defamation?
Keith G
Interesting flow of thoughts. Are you and Mark Sanford related?
John Cole
@Just Some Fuckhead: He probably thinks the same about me but has never talked to me the way I talked to him last night. I was in the wrong.
El Tiburon
Well, can we get a link so we can see?
NCSteve
Manfully said.
Funny how Scotch can turn a guy into a screaming, raging, claymore waving highlander, men drinking tequila invariably ends in fights or property damage* but bourbon or Canadian whisky just make you drunk.
*And yet somehow, women can slam margaritas all night without turning into out of control destructive swine.
Just Some Fuckhead
@John Cole: What the hell are you smoking? He talks to everyone in the snidest tone imaginable. He knows what he’s doing, and the reaction it garners. Don’t baby him.
EconWatcher
Well done. That’s leading by example (no snark). Sorry is an underused but useful word.
Just Some Fuckhead
While yer on yer American Apology tour, maybe you could call Stuck and see if you can get him to stop cutting himself.
the Conster
Wondered if you’d say something about that little outburst – thanks for manning up. Burnsie can be an insufferable know it all, but your reaction did seem a little out of proportion. Your main rant was still righteous though.
ETA: He didn’t come back to respond, so it may be the first time ever he was left speechless.
Turgidson
This is a really piss-poor non-apology apology, man. If you ever want to be a controversial politician, you need to up your game. The GOP closet cases that get caught in compromising situations and the brashly corrupt who eventually get caught red-handed have this thing down to a science.
The proper template is “if anyone was offended by what I said, I am sorry”
And it has to be said in a way that makes it clear that the only thing you’re actually sorry about is that your advisors decided you had to make the apology, and that, really, you think anyone who was offended is a WATB and beneath contempt.
…
Oh wait…you actually meant it. That’s so rare these days. Nicely done, in that case.
El Tiburon
Ok, Cole, time for an intervention.
That you can cuss like a drunk-sailor and throw down with the best, yet you have to talk like a dainty school-marm when referring to your dog’s bowel movements, come on man!
Enough is enough. Look,I love my cat of 15 years. I mean to death. But I don’t spell out cuss words in front of her. And I don’t clean up her potty. I clean up her fucking shit or turds.
John Cole
@Just Some Fuckhead: Just because someone else acts that way doesn’t make it right for me to get out of line. I don’t look in the mirror and see Burns. I look in the mirror and see myself, and that is who I deal with.
Morzer
@John Cole:
Hmm, an interesting extension of the Both Sides Do It theorem. The guy’s been a massive jerk to lots of people on here, so I don’t think you have anything to apologize for in finally smacking him down with righteous contempt. Your taste in scented candles and NFL teams, on the other hand…
Richard Bottoms
You should feel honored.
Way back in the mists of time circa 2004 when John was still a RWNJ, pre-Katrina & pre-Terri Schiavo, I had pleasure of being told to go fuck myself because I needled him so hard abut Iraq.
Good blogger, a bit of a temper if you get under his skin, which was my intention, so it’s kind of a compliment.
gnomedad
Attention, right-wing douchebags: this is what an apology looks like. You’re a mensch, Mr. Cole.
Roger Moore
@Just Some Fuckhead:
A real apology comes from the heart. If John Cole thinks he needs to apologize, then he needs to apologize, even if it’s only to clear his own conscience.
Just Some Fuckhead
@El Tiburon: https://balloon-juice.com/2013/05/02/open-thread-1619/#comment-4406604
David Koch
s..s..s…sniffle
I haven’t been this moved since Sideshow Bob and Krusty reunited at the muscular dystrophy telethon.
Villago Delenda Est
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Just this.
Keep in mind this is the guy who is so appalled by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church that he’s left them for the Anglicans in protest.
Oh, wait. He hasn’t. Because argle bargle.
However, John, you’re a serious mensch regardless. Much more so than the object of your rant, who demonstrates on a nearly daily basis that he just isn’t in your league of humanity.
Just Some Fuckhead
@John Cole: God, you are just a reprehensible fuck. Every fucking fat joke is based on you.
Crusty Dem
Gotta say, I think you were right the first time..
El Tiburon
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Thanks. And it just reinforces my comment #12.
Cole is cracking.
Morzer
@El Tiburon:
He hasn’t been the same since ZsaZsa left.
Mr Stagger Lee
OK short version what was it about? Hockey Related(HOW ‘BOUT THOSE SHARKS!!! )Tebow Related? How good series The Americans? How The Following ended?(was that series good? it got better after the sucky middle part)
Just Some Fuckhead
@Morzer: It started about a week before when he lost the mustard.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Well done, John Cole.
Haydnseek
Good show, Cole. Mr. Burns may be a supercilious prig at times, but compared to the commentariat of most of the blogosphere, that’s very minor indeed. Besides, Mr. Burns gave a nice mention to Jethro Tull’s Benefitin a music thread. If I remember correctly, he also expressed affection for 801 Live. His subsequent expression of love for Bob Seger Silver Bullet Liveis dismaying, but hardly fatal. We all have our quirks. Those of Mr. Burns really don’t amount to much, in my humble opinion.
Calming Influence
It’s moments like this when I want us all to get naked and get in a pile.
PAC Man
This is the same guy who said Scalia was going to affirm Obamacare, it would be a 8-1 if not unanimous decision and went on to pull the ‘I’m a lawyer, you’re a plebe’ card on anyone who disagreed with him right?
Todd
Cole, you’re a decent guy.
Rafer Janders
Well, good for you, John. I myself have been guilty of more than one rage-fueled diatribe on the Intertubes, but I haven’t always been man enough to apologize once I’ve de-Hulked.
This is why we love you.
BArry
@Just Some Fuckhead:
“What’s there to apologize about? He’s a world-class douchebag and deserves every bad thing that happens to him.”
Seconding this (or fifty-sevening it; I skipped the comments)
He’s an a-hole and a lickspittle.
JPL
I apologize to anyone who was offended by my previous comments..
Stuck can you come back now…
Mr Stagger Lee
@Just Some Fuckhead: AHHHHH I see. Speakin of The Americans I love whoever chose the music
Tusk by Fleetwood Mac in the first episode, Games With Frontiers by Peter Gabriel in the last.
El Cid
If you ever feel the need to be as harsh or harsher on me, go ahead, let it fly, it’s okay; I’ll be fine, and no need to apologize for general reasons.
(If it’s that you later felt you said something wrong, or whatever, that’s different.)
This is just a fucking internet blog comments sections, these are people spouting bullshit on the internet, it doesn’t actually hurt me.
Calming Influence
@Just Some Fuckhead: It really is a great line, isn’t it? It needs to go into the lexicon somehow.
God, you are just a reprehensible fuck. Every fucking [insert identifier here] joke is based on you.
Just Some Fuckhead
Fuck off and die, El Cid. No one gives a shit about your sticks and stones nonsense.
JPL
Well, I’m still pissed that as a society we think it’s okay to manufacture guns for children.. There is nothing John could say to anyone who comments on this blog, that could change that.
Redshirt
Pedicures, apologies, and pantsless accidents – the Story of John Cole.
Also, where’s Dennis G.?
Villago Delenda Est
@JPL:
It’s definitely a symptom of some sort of disease that is eating away at our collective soul.
I so often despair for America, when dumbshit things like a five year old killing his sister with his own fucking firearm happens. And the asshats of the NRA, naturally, don’t seem to see a problem, because they work for their Ferengi masters, the merchants of death, and the First Rule of Acquisition is “Once you have their money, never give it back.”
Roger Moore
@Redshirt:
FTFY.
ranchandsyrup
Good on you, Cole. Burns just woulda tried to strangle you with your mean old words in a future discussion. Now you can high-road it.
El Cid
@Just Some Fuckhead: Oddly enough, I’m still okay, even after that.
I guess not everyone is aware that whining about somebody being mean to you on the internet is about as pathetic as imaginable.
Yutsano
@Redshirt:
Tunch et him.
Just Some Fuckhead
@PAC Man:
Yes.
khead
If Cole wants to make it about all about a commenter, I can link to some more cat pics/videos.
David in NY
You know, Burns has his uses, but in this case, I think he was being provocative and Cole’s response was not much worse.
I disagree with Burns sometimes, but he doesn’t often deserve what Cole unloaded. He is, actually, that perfect product of the American law school, who can explain why a totally absurd and unfair rule like the “carried interest” hedge-fund exception (treating money managers’ ordinary income which ought to be taxed at 39% as a capital gain taxed at 20%) is the product of the common law of partnerships (“The common law,” my professor said, “what’s so great about the common law? No recovery for wrongful death, that’s the common law for you.”). Anyway, as a fellow lawyer (ducks! ouch! stop that!), I know that kind of stuff matters. And what Burns says often shows that, as usual, the rich who control how laws are made and interpreted, get what they want. Burns exemplifies our problems, he isn’t responsible for them.
El Cid
@Just Some Fuckhead: Your sarcasm is crushing his First Amendment rights.
PsiFighter37
Rule #1 of Fight Club on the Blog is: never apologize for anything.
That said, I do have to say I giggled at the response when I read the comment when I was catching up this morning on the overnight threads.
TS
@JPL:
But companies are forced to recall toys that are proven to cause harm to children – shouldn’t there be a recall on these guns – cause they certainly cause harm to children.
NotMax
Jeez, people. It’s called having regrets and showing the class to express that honestly and openly.
Whether the object of the diatribe is good, bad or neutral is beside the point. Mr. Cole’s act of contrition is for what he did that he now says was unwarranted or unduly injurious. That it happened to be directed at someone whom some here take issue with is irrelevant.
Do unto others, and all that.
Violet
Good for you, John.
In other news, a guy shot and killed himself outside security at the airport in Houston, shutting down a terminal for hours. Interesting timing, since the NRA is having their annual convention in Houston and people were arriving for that at the time.
JPL
@TS: It never occurred to me to give matches to my sons but I’m old fashioned.
David in NY
@Just Some Fuckhead: He said Scalia was going to “affirm” Obamacare? That would mean uphold it, if my English is working. I bet he didn’t say that. He said, probably, Scalia was going to overturn it — but that was the CW, and Burns isn’t, I think a Constitutional scholar, and, anyway, all the Constituional scholars were saying the same thing. So big deal.
Calouste
@Just Some Fuckhead: Also the guy who gets his panties in a twist every time someone morally condemns something or someone, because apparently if you can’t legally convict someone for something, it is all above board.
Haydnseek
@NotMax: Well said, and right on point. Our opinions of Mr. Burns aren’t really the issue.
Morzer
@David in NY:
First time anyone’s ever suggested that Scalia would engage in Affirmative Action, that’s for sure.
kc
Ah, he had it coming.
gogol's wife
@David in NY:
If I recall correctly, he thought that Scalia was going to show some integrity and uphold Obamacare.
I don’t have any problem with burns, I think he often adds a useful perspective.
I steered away from that thread because it didn’t bode well from the beginning.
I’m depressed about other things so I can’t handle any unpleasantness right now.
Turgidson
@PAC Man:
As a bottom-feeding pettifogger myself, in fairness, the relevant case law really did point decidedly towards a lopsided vote to uphold. Fuckin a, the most important opinion supporting the ACA’s constitutionality was written just a few years ago by Fat Tony Scalia himself. Early on, the legal commentariat was in fairly universal agreement on this.
burns and many others, myself included for a while, were only wrong/naive in thinking that precedent mattered a damn to the conservative
political operativesjustices on the court. It plainly did not.Haydnseek
It would be interesting to get Mr. Burns take on this thread, but I imagine he’s stuck in rush hour traffic on the 405. I worked in Costa Mesa for years, and it’s brutal. SoCal denizens will relate. Costa Mesa to Whittier? Kill me now. Costa Mesa to Pasadena? Kill me before I even reach for my car keys………
JPL
@Haydnseek: It would be a shame if he missed the apology..
Haydnseek
@JPL: @JPL: I wholeheartedly agree. I frequent a number of special interest blogs. High end audio, photography, etc. The sheer tonnage of vitriol wrt mere hobbies is insane. The little dust-ups on BJ are nothing in comparison, and the issues are much more important. This is a good place.
maya
Tina Brown called, JC. You’re fired.
mclaren
Why apologize?
Bunspbesq is a tax avoidance lawyer who loses no opportunity to sneer at the bottom 99% and gloat over the glorification of corrupt crony capitalist thieves and scammers.
Svensker
Cole is a mensch, innt he?
Also, too, OT: Anyone looking for a code-writing type job in the St. Louis area? I know a company that’s going to be hiring shortly. Not sure how much they’ll be paying, they’re thinking about looking for students at the university and they’re a small company. But, hey, a job’s a job and they’re nice people.
Company is Chrislands.com. They’ve just bought themselves back from Amazon and plan to shake things up a bit and add new staff.
ETA: They’re already interviewing, so if you’re interested or know someone who is, get a move on.
Just Some Fuckhead
@David in NY: You are wrong, of course. But not in that both-feet-in-the-mud-sloppy way Burns was.
Omnes Omnibus
@mclaren: The fucking OP explained why Cole thought he should apologize. The fact that you or anyone else disagrees is entirely immaterial.
The Other Chuck
@Haydnseek: The lower the stakes the more passionate people get. Nothing riles people up so much that someone would dare to disagree with them over something so small that their basic rightness on the matter should have put the whole thing to bed already blahblahblah …
Just Some Fuckhead
@Omnes Omnibus:
You angling for Stuck’s Cloying Toadie role?
PAC Man
@Turgidson: I know where you’re coming from. I was certainly familiar with Raich, but just felt that this would be politicized in the end as it ended up being. As everyone else has said, its burnsie’s tone more than anything that grates : )
Omnes Omnibus
@Just Some Fuckhead: I didn’t know it was capitalized. Now, I might.
ETA: Any idea what it pays?
lojasmo
He deserves every bit of derision and vitriol. Fuck it, dude.
? Martin
Yeah, I didn’t think burnsey’s comment deserved that. He was pointing out an unpleasant truth which is that every worker uprising resulted in government and other forces of power aligning with the owners. He wasn’t advocating for it to work that way, merely noting that it does.
RareSanity
I’ve clearly spent too much time on the internet because, while Cole’s smack down was swift and efficient, I really didn’t see it as that bad.
I more found it amusing…in a Lewis Black, angry comedian kind of way, than overly mean spirited. I mean seriously, he actually used the word “choad”…how can any statement containing “choad” be taken all that seriously?
But, if it troubled your conscious John, and you felt that it warranted an apology, good on you for apologizing even more publicly (post compared to comment) than where you felt you wronged someone.
You’re a good kid, we need more like you.
Haydnseek
@The Other Chuck: It’s true. I noticed this a long time ago. I won’t be a bit surprised if some guy in an engineer hat is gunned down by a guy in overalls over a dispute regarding the authenticity of a miniature feed and grain store on an HO railroad layout.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: He was also being a douchebag about it as no reasonable reader would have thought that Cole was actually advocating for violent revolution. Choosing to take that element of an obvious rant literally was a bit dickish.
ETA: Not that anyone gives a fuck about my opinion on this.
Ted & Hellen
Drunk alkie acts out in a way he regrets in the hungover morning, then apologizes with maudlin theatrics.
This has never happened before.
RareSanity
_
@The Other Chuck:
Relavent xkcd
raven
@RareSanity: Hey! How ya doin?
Ted & Hellen
@John Cole:
Yes, because you have never behaved dickishly to any other commenter on this blog. Why the groveling for the loathsome Burnsie?
Must be a really bad hangover.
Svensker
@RareSanity:
Didn’t you love that?
Mandalay
@gnomedad:
Meh.
I think THIS is what a real apology looks like….groveling, and totally sincere.
Now THAT is an apology.
Morzer
@Haydnseek:
Look, having an authentic Galt’s Gulch matters to some people in a very profound and meaningful way. As Thomas Jefferson said, the Tree of Miniature Railroad Authenticity must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
RareSanity
_
@raven:
What’s up raven?
I trust that you have not also been handing out verbal smack downs in the comments? LOL
RareSanity
@Svensker:
Almost made me spit Guinness all over my monitor…almost.
Morzer
@Mandalay:
But does Cole know words like febrile and abjectly? I mean, I am sure he would use them if he did, but he’s just reached the scented candles and pedicure stage. Advanced Vocabulary Building is at least a year away, if not more.
Ash Can
You can all go to hell.
///sarcasm
Seriously, though, this is a typically classy move on Cole’s part. I doubt I’d ever be this classy — when shit hits the fan here, I pick it up and throw it, get it thrown back at me, pick it up and throw it again, etc. Then, when my arm gets tired or real life calls, I go hose myself off, stay away for a while if I think I need to cool down, then come back and do it all over again. I neither give nor expect apologies, but this in no way makes John’s apology to Burns any less admirable in my eyes.
Haydnseek
@Morzer: The blood of HO scale patriots and tyrants is distilled into that weird fluid that causes the locomotive to emit that fake smoke…….
Morzer
@Haydnseek:
I am starting to get distinctly nervous about your degree of knowledge of these subjects. Is there anything you would like to tell us about your past?
PIGL
@John Cole: this many teach and few practice.
? Martin
@Omnes Omnibus:
We’re all douchebags about stuff. That’s who we are. And I’m not saying Cole didn’t have a right to smack him down, but it wasn’t his usual ‘choke you with a strap-on’ – it had a real edge to it. That was surprising.
And nobody cares about my opinion on it either.
Mandalay
@Morzer:
He knows “choad”.
Morzer
@Ash Can:
I just wish Cole would use the bully pulpit more and have Mitch McConnell over for drinks.
Calming Influence
@Haydnseek: I was “Santa Ana to Laguna Canyon Road” on the 405 for years. Nightmare years.
PIGL
@Ted & Hellen: The last time I awarded the “Biggest Asshole on the Internet” award, it was to some gunbuggering troll on GOS. Congratulations, you odious pile of maggot infested dog droppings, today is your turn. You’ve reached a new low to which gunbuggering trolls can only aspire.
I have no doubt, however, that you will soon surpass yourself. If, that is, you don’t first oblige with the fucking off and the dying, which I for one would very much appreciate.
muddy
I’m sitting here laughing and laughing because this post lets everyone praise John, meanwhile Burns is getting a million extra whacks. I know some who would have planned it that way to be extra mean with plausible deniability, but I don’t feel John would be one of them. Still it’s funny to think about.
Short Bus Bully
Pearls before swine, JC. Nice apology, but who gives a fuck about burns? Your show, however, do what makes ya happy.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin:
Hence the apology.
Face
@John Cole: At some point soon, you need to be looking into the mirror and seeing a smokin hot chica half naked crawling into yer bed behind you. Other than Lily.
? Martin
@Haydnseek:
I suspect this guy might be involved.
Haydnseek
@Morzer: I have no knowledge of model railroads other than that imparted by my ex-boss, a great guy and dedicated hobbyist. I own and maintain what I consider to be an audio system that reproduces my music as accurately as possible. I attempt fine art photography to the extent that I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of a few group shows in a now defunct Los Angeles gallery. I don’t have a website. I imagine that this is more than you were asking for, but an honest question deserves an honest answer.
Morzer
@? Martin:
That is… disconcerting.
JD Rhoades
@NCSteve:
Funny how Scotch can turn a guy into a screaming, raging, claymore waving highlander, men drinking tequila invariably ends in fights or property damage* but bourbon or Canadian whisky just make you drunk.
It’s why I prefer rum. For a couple of hours, it makes me a creative genius. Then it turns me into a pirate, which is pretty awesome.
Ash Can
@Morzer: I blame
ObamaLily.cbear
@? Martin: You, a douchebag? Say it ain’t so, Marty. :)
Punchy
@PAC Man: That was eemom, whose prediction accuracy in big cases rival Billy Kristol.
Morzer
@Haydnseek:
Good for you. I am sad you don’t have a website, because I suspect your photographs would be of high artistic quality.
srv
The problem here is Obama. Everyone one this blog is just too reasonable and kindly and that man in the White House has just made liberals too soft and sensitive to the opposition.
We must redouble our efforts to offend the offended.
Haydnseek
@? Martin: Wow. Just wow. I mean, imitation crab is so last year…it’s buffalo jerky and lobster jello shots now! Where have you been…..
Nunya
Fuck burns. The guy is arrogant and opinionated, but only about half as smart as he imagines — a truly winning combination.
Morzer
@srv:
But if we ignore them, they’ll be doubly offended because they have the right to be persecuted by godless libruls. It’s in the Bible somewhere. Or maybe the Constitution.
Morzer
@Haydnseek:
Buffalo.. jerky? In that context?
mai naem
Having been on the receiving end of one of Burnsie’s put downs(I vaguely remember it having something to do with a Wall Street situation), you really don’t need to apologize John. I’m sure he’ll now take the opportunity in all his snottitude, what a little no nothing peon you are, and how great a barrister he is.
khead
Over 200
Morzer
@mai naem:
I bet you Burns just can’t spell barista – and that’s where his law career began.
Lee Hartmann
Good for you. Enjoy the single malt.
some guy
@mclaren:
damn right he;’s a tax avoidance lawyer, but calling him by his correct appellation will earn you emnity from his many admirers here.
his douchebaggery, especially around the Penn St kid touching shit, is legendary. I prefer Cole’s original hooch-inspired rant.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: @Morzer: The imitation crabmeat offer was the kicker.
Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)
@mai naem: Also, Fuck Duke!
? Martin
@cbear: Well, I don’t think douchebag is really the best fit for me. Asshole fits me to a T, though.
Calming Influence
@JD Rhoades:
You should try absinthe. It turns you into a 19th century French Impressionist.
Morzer
@Omnes Omnibus:
“Please, come to my son’s hobby room and jerk me off – and then I’ll dump my surplus fake crab meat on you to make room in the freezer.”
I mean, with romantic offers like that, who could possibly resist?
Emperor of Icecream
@Ted & Hellen: I have a suspicion that you are playing tedandhelen as a goof. If so, well played imitation of an ass.
Omnes Omnibus
@Calming Influence: You’ll cut your ear off.
Haydnseek
@Morzer: A few years ago became friendly with an extremely tech savvy guy who offered to put my work on the same kind of professional looking sites that he’s designed for other people. I said no thanks. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m an idiot when it comes to marketing myself. I still maintain that there’s nothing better than a gelatin silver print for B/W. Others will differ. And so it goes…..
p.a.
@Roger Moore: Pedicures, apologies, and pantsless naked mopping accidents – the Story of John Cole. Let’s not forget NetiPots.
Redshirt
There’s worse assholes here than Burnsie.
Morzer
@Haydnseek:
Well, leaving aside the marketing issue, I hope you share your photographs with the wider world at some point.
Haydnseek
@Morzer: I’ve been to too many gallery openings. Cheese cubes are so, well, cheesy! As is the box wine…….
srv
I think that Freud would choke on this cudlip.
John doesn’t really exist, and his animals are extensions of his personality:
1) Rosie: Mindless attention whore and chaser of jackalopes (2006 and before)
2) Tunch: Vengeful God of Spite and Snark
3) Lily: Cuddly being whose only desire is to please
As much as y’all like the Lily John, I would submit that his greatest writings were emoted by the Tunch Spirit
Punchy
@Redshirt: Im having a hard time thinking of one. Who’s got a more toxic combo of arrogance, dumbfuckery, and douchebaggery besides ppGaz?
Morzer
@Haydnseek:
Well, that would be a good reason to have a website. Your own little corner of the world where you could have a gallery and never need to touch a cheese cube again. You could even invite people over to enjoy your work.
Haydnseek
@Morzer: This is in the works. My tech savvy friend is on the case……thanks for your interest. I think your interest will be rewarded.
Calming Influence
@Omnes Omnibus: No, I just fake it with some ketchup and a dirty bandage around my head. Chicks dig it, and practically jump out of their clothes so I can paint them. Impressionistically, of course.
Morzer
@srv:
Cudlips? Cudlips?!!
Whatever did happen to matoko, anyway? Did she utter some big GBCW or simply vanish into the mists of time?
Omnes Omnibus
@Morzer:
Oddly, I believe I could. I have all the imitation crabmeat I need.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Punchy: ppGaz is a crafted persona. Not even the same thing.
srv
@Morzer: I blame the Lilyfication of BJ
Morzer
@Omnes Omnibus:
I am desperately trying not to ask how you came by your crabmeat.
Omnes Omnibus
@Morzer: Honestly.
Chris
@Morzer:
She got banned (again) after using a racist insult of some kind or other, and astonishingly, actually stayed gone this time.
Praise the gods.
Punchy
@Just Some Fuckhead: Crafted persona? Essaywuh?
scav
@muddy: Similar amusement at the secondary burns charring here as well, and all for an authoritarian doormat. There are far worse out there, but still.
Cassidy
@? Martin: Yeah, we’re all assholes at some point to one another. Some days are better than others. I was a dick to Ash Can the other day (I’m genuinely sorry.). Is what it is.
raven
@RareSanity: I voiced my opinion on this early this morning.
Cassidy
I like burns.
Haydnseek
Tunch uses Lily as a diversion. The crabmeat airdrops will continue as planned. Cole will trip over his bathrobe sash, stumble over his redneck fancy rubber sandals with socks, and coldcock himself on that hideous giant safe that he’s still dealing with. When he comes to, he’ll be so depressed by the Pens without Syd Crosby that he’ll go into 70’s 80’s music shock, and come to his senses…………
Redshirt
@Cassidy: You’re gonna be one of those pyromaniac firefighters, right?
Fluke bucket
I assumed Burns knew he was dealing with a drunk when he told you the sad, brutal truth. Sometimes the sad, brutal truth hurts worse when you are drunk. I have not read any of the comments so I will assume you are both ready to go back to the regular shit.
Brantl
@Just Some Fuckhead: Right on the money. Do you know why sharks don’t bite burnspesq? Professional courtesy.
? Martin
@Cassidy: Hey, congrats on passing. Good job. Now go help people.
raven
The bigger crime was this bullshit about the fucking dumb ass honky hockey playoffs being the greatest thing in sports. What a fucking joke.
burnspbesq
@PAC Man:
Actually, I said I expected it to be 7-2.
I’ve had an exchange of emails with John. Those emails will remain private unless John chooses to make them public. I consider the matter closed.
gogol's wife
@Fluke bucket:
I just went back and read the post and the initial 30 or so comments, and I really don’t see why that comment elicited that response. Weird.
Quaker in a Basement
OK, JC. Do what ya gotta.
raven
How about a thread on gay marriage in Rhode Island, this is some boring shit.
PIGL
@burnspbesq: Of course, one could publicly accept the public apology. Would not that be the gentlemanly thing to do?
Just Some Fuckhead
@burnspbesq:
Allan would be so proud of you right now.
raven
@PIGL: who cares?
Mandalay
@PIGL:
What the fuck??? Butt out.
Anne Laurie
@Punchy:
Don’t forget the East Coast, double-X version of “I’m a lawyer and therefore know more about everything than anyone. Bored now — why won’t you peons fight for my entertainment, dammit?”
I keep waiting for her & Burns to run off together, but perhaps that would violate an EPA Superfund injunction…
Yutsano
@? Martin:
Moocher.
raven
@Anne Laurie: OK, no thread on gay marriage, how about one on Obama’s statement on the morning after ruling? Course I’m going to bed anyways.
Jay C
So John: if you’re still reading this, let me contribute my $0.02 and allocate it to the “that’s being a real mensch” account: whether burns deserves/deserved a rhetorical hiding (and I think he often does) is beside the point: you overdid the language, and then (sincerely) apologized.
So I guess a career in politics IS out, then….?
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie: Jesus Fuck, Cole publishes a public apology to a commenter who he thinks he wronged and people use the thread to take shots at their least favorite commenters. Lovely.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: I never brought up Pat Lang but then he’s not a commenter just a confederate gun-nut schmuck.
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: Hey, you got your RI thread.
Brantl
@David in NY: No, he doesn’t write those laws but he loves defending them with arguments that are 150% bullshit.
PIGL
@raven: I do. John was being a gentleman, and Bunnsie replied by being a monstrous great dick. All he had to do was nothing, but instead he came on all “not in front of the servants”. An amazing display of ungracious pomposity.
Ash Can
@Cassidy: Not to worry. I come here for laughs (as you know, this site is frequently hilarious), to squee over the pet pictures, and to blow off steam, not always in that order, and I don’t expect anyone to coddle my fee-fees when I lip off. The way I see it, people here are usually all on the same page and once in a while aren’t, and then we all go back to being on the same page again. No biggie.
Poopyman
@? Martin: The crab meat makes it awesome.
eemom
Late to this shitfest, but omfg, what a bunch of assholes some of you are.
I’ve known burns for years on this blog and others. We don’t always agree but the level of invective hurled at him on this thread and last night’s reflects nothing more than the mob-minded ignorance of the hurl-ors.
As for Cole, he’s said worse shit to me and never apologized — so, uh, good on him for this new “mirror” thing he’s got going.
Morzer
@PIGL:
Ungracious pomposity on Balloon Juice? To the fainting couches, my comrades!
Morzer
@eemom:
It’s always a pleasure to enjoy your chaste language and emollient rhetoric. You are a beacon of enlightenment when the night is dark and full or terrors.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ted & Hellen:
When anyone here wants your opinion on anything, Timmeh, we will beat it out of you with a tire iron.
Morzer
@Villago Delenda Est:
In a bipartisan way, of course.
eemom
@Omnes Omnibus:
ha ha. Just saw that.
Guess I’ve only got myself to blame though….I mean calling out a lame ass, zero originality FPer for being exactly that is just ASKING to be the target of a Superfund injunction joke.
Redshirt
There’s some critical level snark readings here – we’re running in the red!
Brantl
@Redshirt:
Name one.
Omnes Omnibus
@Morzer: Whistler? Is that you?
Punchy
@eemom: this blog would be boring as shit and nobody would read it if we weren’t all assholes. Admit it….you come here to both watch and initiate the car wrecks, as we all do.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Brantl:
Allan.
Cassidy
@Redshirt: There are plenty of those to keep me employed. I gotta get employed first.
@? Martin: Thanks. Hopefully, I’ll be putting in apps by the end of next week.
@Ash Can: Thank you.
Ash Can
@Villago Delenda Est: Or, as one of my cousins once put it, “If I want any shit out of you, I’ll beat it out of you.”
Morzer
@Omnes Omnibus:
No, this is Ruskin.
scav
@Punchy: I just assumed that’s why she piped up with the coup de grâce of faint praise.
Cassidy
Which amuses me when any of us of any bent and persuasion start to psychoanalyze anything or anyone. I think it’s safe to say we’re all on the leaning towards disaster on the emotional trainwreck spectrum.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cassidy: Oh, yeah? Well, fuck you, you crazy-assed freak!
cbear
@Just Some Fuckhead: I concur, you cur.
Cassidy
@Omnes Omnibus: Which is how a totally normal person would respond to criticism, right. ;)
Omnes Omnibus
@Cassidy:
How would I know?
eemom
@Punchy:
Of course. I just think that even amidst the joyous mayhem there are one or two standards of decency that should be observed, like refraining from mindlessly piling on someone who did nothing to deserve it.
You may saaay I’m a dreamer…….
magurakurin
@Brantl:
“Name one.”
Turner and Keller, for one.
People argue with burns. Those arguments are often interesting and some sharp points emerge from them. For me, this is entertainment and a thought exercise. Burns puts forth arguments. I don’t often agree, but it generally isn’t just the reflexive “I know you are but what am I” style of some of the other more dubious characters. Also, he never posts five or six times a day to say, “you people are all losers, I just post here to remind you of that.”
Just Some Fuckhead
As far as I am concerned this thread is closed. If John has another opinion about that, he is free to do as he chooses.
Suzanne
@eemom:
You mean like how you did with insults to fat people, or as you eloquently dubbed them, “disgusting fucks”?
Redshirt
Insert Maury Pauvich Show “OOoOOooo”.
eemom
@Suzanne:
Go play in the sandbox with kids your own size, sweetie.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suzanne: @eemom: The best thing about this thread is that it is bringing up every fight that has happened around here in the past.
Soonergrunt
@Omnes Omnibus: It has been a wonder to behold. You’d think that if there were one thread where people could sheathe their knives for a few minutes, this would be it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Soonergrunt: One’s gob has been smacked.
ETA: And you are wrong about defense policy which makes you an asshole. Wait, no, it is the 11 in your MOS that does that.
eemom
@Omnes Omnibus:
It is a testament to your character that you haven’t mentioned Soft Cell.
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: Well played.
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: I call bullshit when one of the nastier commenters on this blog pretends to be all kum-by-yah and shit. Sorry.
And then insults my size-10 arse. LMAO.
Morzer
@eemom:
Surely our Tainted Love is enough for all the thread, my dulcet darling.
ruemara
@JD Rhoades: That line really needs to be in one of your books.
bnut
This thread
@Just Some Fuckhead: Allan!
Odie Hugh Manatee
@muddy:
It’s like running over someone, apologizing and then backing over them again.
Unintended consequences and all that… ;)
Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)
@Omnes Omnibus: Not true. Nobody has mentioned Corner Stone yet. Oops.
Sean
@Punchy:
SRSLY people. This is the truth. Own it.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Suzanne: Projection.
Batocchio
@John Cole:
Yes, exactly. It doesn’t matter what I think about the original exchange; it’s your life and conscience. Well done.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Batocchio: Yes. I didn’t think he had anything to apologize for, but he did, and who am I to complain about that?
Shalimar
@David in NY: He did in fact say Scalia was going to affirm Obamacare, because he would be constrained by his own prior opinion in a commerce clause case I don’t feel like looking up. It wouldn’t have been so absurd if it wasn’t obvious that Scalia reaches his conclusions first and then comes up with his supposedly brilliant legal reasoning to justify whatever he has already decided.
Tonybrown74
It’s Mr. Cole’s conscience, and if he feels he needs to apologize, so be it.
Burns ain’t worth it though. After that motherfucker tried to compare the Arab Spring to Gay rights, and insinuated that Gay rights would be taken more seriously if we did something that stood out, like the man in Tunis who set himself on fire, I was all set with him.
I don’t think John was nasty enough in his mini rant.
shortstop
I’ve been reading this blog for years and haven’t ever seen Burns apologize (or even admit) when he’s wrong. Not once. And he’s wrong so very often that his pathological inability to back off a bad position has destroyed all professional and personal credibility and made him a general laughingstock.
Cole, on the other hand, has always been smart and decent enough to say he’s sorry when he fucks up a lot or even a little. People who think admitting wrong is a weakness don’t understand why that’s so admirable and endearing to healthy people with normal levels of self-confidence.
It’s not about whether Burns deserved it. He doesn’t. He’s irrelevant. It’s about Cole once again demonstrating unprompted that he’s the brighter and better human.
EthylEster
@shortstop wrote: It’s about Cole once again demonstrating unprompted that he’s the brighter and better human.
…who sometimes has too much to drink.
vheidi
@NCSteve: gin