Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

We’re not going back!

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

Let’s finish the job.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Nikki Haley, who can’t acknowledge ‘slavery’, is a pathetic shill.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

It’s a doggy dog world.

He really is that stupid.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

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Reader Interactions

20Comments

  1. 1.

    ericblair

    They just need to hire Kevin Bacon to stand in the street and yell ALL IS WELL. That will fix it.

    At least building Potemkin villages puts some Potemkin village builders to work, so there’s that.

  6. 6.

    Tone in DC

    Can the 1% not even sully their precious eyes on what their damn austerity hath wrought?
    They should have the meeting in Dubai or Riyadh. It’d be more… honest.

  7. 7.

    Jerzy Russian

    Semi-serious question here: who paid for those photographs (which surely are expensive, considering the size), and do they expect the conference attendees to be fooled?

  8. 8.

    NickT

    You want Potemkin villages, look at the state of the modern American university:

    http://junctrebellion.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/how-the-american-university-was-killed-in-five-easy-steps/

    In the last few years, conversations have been growing like gathering storm clouds about the ways in which our universities are failing. There is talk about the poor educational outcomes apparent in our graduates, the out-of-control tuitions and crippling student loan debt. Attention is finally being paid to the enormous salaries for presidents and sports coaches, and the migrant worker status of the low-wage majority faculty. There are now movements to control tuition, to forgive student debt, to create more powerful “assessment” tools, to offer “free” university materials online, to combat adjunct faculty exploitation. But each of these movements focuses on a narrow aspect of a much wider problem, and no amount of “fix” for these aspects individually will address the real reason that universities in America are dying.

  9. 9.

    Todd

    Mix, can we have a front pager give a warning on the Kirkland flea stuff posted by Southern Beale? A lot of us are Costco customers, and I could see any one of us fall into a trap on a product like that.

    Most of the time, I’m happy with Kirkland products, but could see how something (espectially a flea and tick treatment) could slip through the cracks.

    On this subject, does anyone have experience with Costco puppy food? Safe?

  10. 10.

    Comrade Jake

    @NickT: As an academic, it is fairly difficult for me to conclude that American universities are dying. Now, granted, I am at fairly privileged institution, but I have plenty of colleagues at places around the country, and that’s not the impression one would garner from speaking to them either.

  11. 11.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @Todd: Second this, and please add information about the ASPCA’s poison hotline. It’s not free, but it’s a good thing to be aware of for when a furbaby gets into something when the vet is closed.

  13. 13.

    Citizen_X

    @Comrade Jake:

    As an academic, it is fairly difficult for me to conclude that American universities are dying.

    As a failed academic, one who went the whole adjunct-lecturer circuit for years and is now doing better in the private sector, you need to pay fucking attention.

    Talk to grad students & post docs. I guarantee you they are not going to feel so sanguine.

  14. 14.

    Uncle Cosmo

    (Just FTR, mix either missed or passed on an excellent musical heading for this thread: Fare thee well, Enniskillen, fare thee well for awhile…)

    @Citizen_X: Amen, brother, preach it. I have 3 friends & contemporaries (IOW auld pharts who got grandfathered in as the Boom ebbed) who are doing quite well in academe–& a whole slew of others who drag themselves from one campus to another every week of the year teaching courses for chump change trying to put together some sort of life, or who pack up their lives every few years when the temporary assignment runs out & move on to the next adjunct position where (like overcredentialed Kelly girls) they hope to get noticed & offered something approaching a real position.

  15. 15.

    Xenos

    @Comrade Jake: The system is not failing you or your colleagues. It is not failing university presidents and sports coaches. It is failing the students, however, and you ought to feel some sort of fiduciary obligation to them.

    I hope you are not a professor of deontology.

  17. 17.

    Comrade Jake

    @Citizen_X:

    Talk to grad students & post docs. I guarantee you they are not going to feel so sanguine.

    I talk to these people all the time, and my opinion is very much informed by those conversations.

    I’m sorry you had a bad experience with the adjunct path. Honestly I wouldn’t suggest becoming an adjunct to anyone.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Jake

    @Xenos:

    The system is not failing you or your colleagues. It is not failing university presidents and sports coaches. It is failing the students, however, and you ought to feel some sort of fiduciary obligation to them.

    I certainly do feel an obligation to the students. But they’re not being failed by my institution or many like them.

    I’m not suggesting all is well with the current system, far from it. I’m very much in favor of actions that limit the rising cost of college, and I’d be happy to see more discussion of that topic here.

  19. 19.

    danah gaz

    @Todd: I have not found a single Kirkland product that I’d feed my pets.

    Right now, they are eating Merrick “Before Grain” cat food, although I think dog food is available as well. It’s not that expensive, and saves me heartache over the skin irritation and extra vet visits they’d otherwise need if I were feeding them rice or corn.

    ETA: Yes, they make dog food. Here’s a review. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/before-grain-dog-food-dry/

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