Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

We still have time to mess this up!

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

No Justins, No Peace

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

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Republicans don’t trust women.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The willow is too close to the house.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

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Reader Interactions

116Comments

  1. 1.

    Keith P

    After sitting through Jon Stewart play ventriloquist with a turkey in a painfully unfunny skit, I think I’ve finally given up on that show. He seems more amused with himself than with his material. Can’t wait for John Oliver’s new show.

  5. 5.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    The news about the Senate today brought out all my fb wingnut critters earlier. It quickly dissolved into PBO is the worst person ever and Obamacare is doomed. The highlight was when my sister’s teabagger brother in law told my normal friend he should go talk to a some canadiens about health care. Little did he know that my normal friend is Canadian.

  8. 8.

    xenos

    I thought the universe was a hologram projected from information stored along the edge of the universe, or on the surface of a black hole, or we are inside a black hole; or something. I don’t get the science channel any more so I am not keeping up.

  12. 12.

    Original Lee

    Just wondering: Does anybody know if the filibuster-nuking includes general officer promotions? A friend’s father is up for promotion to brigadier (Army), has been waiting for Senate vote for over a year, but apparently the Repukes have been sitting on those, too.

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    TCM has a documentary now, Four Days in November, with footage from the time. Midnight to about 2:15 p.

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack

    @Original Lee:

    Those are not typically considered “political,” since nominations for general officer promotions come from within the services themselves. Usually any delay has more to do with service logistics or internal politics. If the delay does lie with the Senate, it’s probably more just a result of institutional paralysis inertia than a political move by the Republicans.

  21. 21.

    MikeJ

    Documentary n TCM just said that JFK flew into Ft Worth on one day and had to take AF1 to Dallas so they wouldn’t feel slighted.

  25. 25.

    Elizabelle

    @MikeJ:

    Yup. 30 mile leg handled by jet, so Dallas could have an airport arrival too.

    Watching this and wishing we could have an alternate ending. It’s like reading Manchester’s “Death of a President” and knowing you’re getting too close to the Book Depository.

  26. 26.

    ruemara

    I’m debating offering baked goods for all donations. Is fundraising usually painfully slow? If I wasn’t unconvinced that whoring would work…grrr

  28. 28.

    mclaren

    If the universe really is a sophisticated simulation, we could mount a buffer overflow attack or an SQL injection attack and hack the platform to get rid of those annoying glitches “dying” and “pain” and “getting old.”

  29. 29.

    ? Martin

    @Hill Dweller:

    The narrator mentioned in passing Kennedy had been accused of being aloof in Washington, but he loved mixing with crowds.

    ‘Aloof’ means ‘he won’t invite me to his cocktail parties’.

  33. 33.

    MikeJ

    The worst thing about watching this doc is knowing that if Obama were to be assassinated Republicans would be on TV within five minutes demanding BIden resign.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    Harry S Truman’s reaction:

    “He was a good man, an able President, and he did a good job.”

    Barry Goldwater visibly shocked; says Kennedy was an able opponent but it was never personal.

  36. 36.

    Mike E

    @Mike in NC: I went to the premiere of Stop Making Sense back in the day in Philadelphia at the TLA on South St. I hadn’t seen the Heads in concert, but I have never been to any movie event quite like that one; people dancing in the aisles like it was a live show from start to finish. Electric.

  37. 37.

    piratedan

    @MikeJ: first they’d blame it on Obamacare…..The sad thing is, while there might be a few of them, I get the feeling that most of them would give nary a fuck. The spouse said something to me that was very telling, what makes any of us think that his life and that of his family will be in any less danger once he leaves office. The hatred runs deep and is irrational as fuck since its rooted in racism and has been nurtured daily by the RW media.

  38. 38.

    handsmile

    Topical music for November 22, courtesy of the recently departed Mr. Reed:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlWwA5x-P9k

    (Chances are this song will be linked to a few more times today here.)

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Well, it was also Stephen Colbert’s “last show before a break,” and he was great! (yeah, I know, Colbert/great is redundant)

    Outrage over passage of the “nuclear option” (Colbert is packing his bags and leaving this country – for South Carolina); an extended bit with Colbert as the Thanksgiving guest from hell (a guest all too painfully familiar to many I’d expect).

  39. 39.

    mdblanche

    @Mike in NC: Say remember when folks on Reddit tried to get Stephen Colbert to throw a rally and got one thrown by Jon Stewart instead? Stewart gave a heartfelt speech comparing relations between Republicans and Democrats to people trying to navigate traffic and if we were all a little more civil it would solve all of our problems. I don’t know if he’s ever quite figured out that Republicans are more like the truck driver in Duel.

  40. 40.

    FlipYrWhig

    @handsmile: yeah, no, I meant specifically for Stewart. Also anytime the guest has a movie out, that brings out all his bad tendencies, and then the slack-assery with the last show of the week, then an upcoming break, that all just amplifies it.

  44. 44.

    Yatsuno

    @MikeJ: For the good of the country dontchaknow. Healing of the nation and restoration of bipartisan comity. Broder would approve.

  45. 45.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @NotMax: Fuckers didn’t know mine. Massholes.

    @Elizabelle: Watching the Drew documentary about enforcing the court order integrating the University of Alabama on TCM, I was struck by how much of the rhetoric Wallace used was the same as that of the current Tea People. Scary.

  47. 47.

    handsmile

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Sorry to have misunderstood: late hour, perhaps a dram too much.

    “All his bad tendencies…the slack-assery”: it seems increasingly the case with Stewart, regardless of the guest or day of the week.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    Black Jack, the riderless horse used throughout JFK’s funeral proceedings, is so spirited. Beautiful animal.

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SatanicPanic: I have always seen Reid as a fairly wily vote counter and tactical politician. He did this the moment he had the votes and before Senate traditionalists could recant. Also, he has a boxer’s mean streak. I know a lot of people have seen him as feckless; just imagine though, trying to marshal fifty-some Senators all of whom think that they are fully capable of being president – the egos, oh gods, the egos.

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I was struck by how much of the rhetoric Wallace used was the same as that of the current Tea People. Scary.

    Oh yeah. It’s only the Villagers that couldn’t figure that out.

  55. 55.

    Anoniminous

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I was struck by how much of the rhetoric Wallace used was the same as that of the current Tea People. Scary.

    Who do you think the Tea Party People were supporting in 1968?

  56. 56.

    max

    @SatanicPanic: Can we call him Harry SMASH now? Class of Nuke ‘em Harry? We need a name for the guy, he earned one

    Either ‘Colonel Reid’ or ‘Harry Kong’, both as in ‘Where’s Col. Kong?’. *

    max
    [‘Because.’]

    * “Well, boys, we got three engines out, we got more holes in us than a horse trader’s mule, the radio is gone and we’re leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower why we’d need sleigh bells on this thing… but we got one little budge on them Rooskies. At this height why they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain’t gonna spot us on no radar screen!”

  57. 57.

    ? Martin

    One of my coworkers was part of the final jury pool for the Kelly Thomas case, but was excused due to a minor family commitment. I don’t mind doing jury duty, but a several month long, high profile trial? Ugh.

  59. 59.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anoniminous: Well, two things about that. First, I wasn’t yet born when Kennedy was assassinated so I don’t have personal experience of the time. Second, the Tea People were probably Wallace folks who switched to Nixon for the General Election.

  60. 60.

    piratedan

    @Elizabelle: yeah, for some reason the village translates “get the dirty nigra socialist outta the White House and give me back my country!” as a valid political position.

  63. 63.

    Anoniminous

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Ah. Here’s what happened (emphasis added):

    The American Independent Party, which was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer, nominated former Alabama Governor George Wallace – whose pro-segregation policies had been rejected by the mainstream of the Democratic Party – as the party’s candidate for president. The impact of the Wallace campaign was substantial, winning the electoral votes of several states in the Deep South. Wallace was the most popular 1968 presidential candidate among [white] young men. Wallace also proved to be popular among blue-collar workers in the North and Midwest, and he took many votes which might have gone to Humphrey. Although Wallace did not expect to win the election, his strategy was to prevent either major party candidate from winning a preliminary majority in the Electoral College, which would then give him bargaining power to determine the winner.

    GOP’s Southern Strategy was to capture these voters. And it worked.

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anoniminous: See this. Nevertheless, it does not diminish my surprise that the exact same language is still being used. OTOH, it was being used in 1855 as well. Apparently they have always been with us.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    I was going to skip all this Kennedy assassination porn, but “Abraham, Martin and John” always gets to me on a very visceral level.

    Once I descended into the depths of YouTube I found this version of “If I Had a Hammer.” I always thought it a slightly sappy song, but this is a very strong take by PP&M.

    I still have faith in the hammer of justice for this country.

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus

    It’s a Rolodex of Hate.

    Same language used against Medicare is used against ACA.

    Same language used against inter-racial marriage used against same-sex marriage.

    Et cetera, et cetera.

    The longer one lives, the more one is forced to experience the same damn movie over and over again.

    the Tea People are simply the John Birch Society

    Obligatory link to the song.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: I agree with you about the song. The message is good, but it is a bit saccharine. This version doesn’t redeem it. This, however, has resonated with me since I was a child. I had an odd childhood.

    ETA: Its resonance is more surprising since I am a Danton guy.

  75. 75.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: That is well done. As I stated above PP&M generally don’t turn my crank. Sweet harmonies ain’t me thing. I hate Wilson Phillips.

  77. 77.

    piratedan

    @Omnes Omnibus: yeah, but how do you feel about The Everly Brothers, The Beach Boys, The Hollies and Raspberries? All groups that employed vocal harmonies in their music…

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @piratedan: I don’t really like the Everlys or the Beach Boys. I think both relied on the harmonious vocals as a crutch. The Hollies had other talents and used them. The Raspberries don’t really register with me – a proto-Gen-Xer music sob/semi-hipster.

  82. 82.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Omnes Omnibus: I don’t intend for this to become a generational argument. No one should expect that their generation’s tastes will match mine. At the same time, I should not expect that the kids these days will like my music.

  85. 85.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Sweet harmonies ain’t me thing.

    Generally agree, but I’m always a sucker for excellent musicianship, and in that PP&M clip of “If I Had a Hammer” the (seemingly effortless) harmony is astounding.

    And I didn’t ignore your Judy Collins Marat/Sade clip. I like it, but theater/cabaret music is just not where I am tonight. I seem to be trawling through the channels of deep memory. The Kennedy anniversary has me thinking about ’60s songs—which were contemporaneous for me—that hint at things beneath the surface, even in a trivial way.

    “Shape of Things to Come.”

  86. 86.

    scav

    Not a good week for pale pudgies in power, we’ve got another one. This one’s crunchy and good with the layers. A Dagwood. Former chairman of a bank, former methodist minister, Labour member. Pornography, mishandled a bank, claims of excessive expenses both at the bank and an anti-drugs charity and he seems to have been arrested after a video allegedly showed him handing over money for cocaine .

    For picture Paul Flowers arrested in drugs inquiry
    more details, but I’m not sure the link is stable Vice Chairman?

    Associated Press= LONDON (AP) He was a bank boss, but had no apparent banking experience. He was a Methodist minister, but got busted for allegedly buying cocaine and downloading porn at work.

    The spectacular downfall of Paul Flowers, the former chairman of Britain’s Co-operative Bank, was a tale made for the splashy British tabloids. His troubles began with the near collapse of the bank he was heading, but came to a head this week when a newspaper released footage that showed him handling over cash to a dealer selling hard drugs including crystal meth and ketamine.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus
    Reminded of this anecdote about the singer Perry Como:

    Como sometimes expressed amazement and dismay at the younger generation of musical artists. In a 1990 interview with Good Housekeeping magazine, he described one evening when he and Roselle were watching a sexually suggestive MTV video featuring Madonna and Cher, and “that certainly isn’t TV as I used to know it. During my 17 years on the air, if I had expressed myself in such a way, never mind the censors, my mamma and Roselle would have both slapped me silly. That I don’t understand today’s music or morals doesn’t make either me or them better or worse, just different. I still perform in respectable clubs and venues, but nobody is offering me money to run around bare-bottomed at my age. Actually though, I would like to make a music video. It might put to rest the persistent rumors that I’m dead.”

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: Fair enough. Differing ages cause differing views of the Kennedy assassination. To me, it is different from the McKinley and Lincoln assassinations only in that it involves people who lived into my lifetime. It matters to my parents far more than it matters to me. Ne c’est pas?

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    @Amir Khalid:

    Reread what I wrote. I objected only to excessively saccharine sweetness. And I specifically selected (and praised) the PP&M clip of “If I Had a Hammer” for its vocal harmony.

  97. 97.

    piratedan

    ty Harry for putting the country’s business, i.e. filling the needed court and government positions, ahead of comity and the nonexistent truthiness of faux bipartisanship. Fuck you MSM, for being your ever reliable selves in adopting the usual GOP framing, but then again, they paid for you and at least you stay bought, for the most part. Fuck you GOP, just because you’re hypocritical scoundrels who are no more interested in governance than you are in equality and fairness.

  100. 100.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    I have a visitor here. Heard a racket outside, went out to find a raccoon sitting on the cinder block fence.

  103. 103.

    raven

    @Steeplejack: Great song that most people never heard:

    I’m a fugitive from injustice
    But I’m goin’ to be free
    Cause your rules and regulations
    They don’t do the thing for me

  105. 105.

    Steeplejack

    @raven:

    And though you may be stronger now, my time will come around
    You keep adding to my numbers as you shoot my people down.

    Handing it off to you from the nightside.

  106. 106.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Anoniminous:
    I can ‘to see your added emphasis, but in case you didn’t make this clear, those young white voters are now old white voters – the Tea Party/Fox age voters. No coincidence , I’d say.

  107. 107.

    raven

    Mika no likey nukes.

    eta That bubble head just said “It’s a great way to take the attention away from Obamacare.”

  108. 108.

    Patricia Kayden

    @handy: Way too funny! I love reading the comments here. Definitely laugh out loud hilarious. Y’all should be writing for SNL.

  109. 109.

    JPL

    On the front page of NBC.com there is a link to an article by Luke Russert on what the Kennedy’s taught him about life after grief. Although I am sorry he lost his father, it seems odd to highlight an article by a person who is only thirty.

    @raven: How are the medical tests going?

  110. 110.

    raven

    @JPL: The MRI’s results won’t be back until we get back from the beach, the nerve tests were negative (she was mad they found nothing wrong!) and she is in mid-prep for this afternoon’s ordeal (actually the ordeal in now)!

  111. 111.

    raven

    @JPL: The MRI’s results won’t be back until we get back from the beach, the nerve tests were negative (she was mad they found nothing wrong!) and she is in mid-prep for this afternoon’s ordeal (actually the ordeal in now)!

    thx

  115. 115.

    Shana

    @Mike E: I remember seeing Talking Heads around 1980 at college in a big arena. We could only get tickets up in the rafters, only a few rows from the top. People were dancing like their lives depended on it all the way up there (me included). I’d never seen a band have that kind of effect on a crowd, and frankly don’t remember seeing another since.

  116. 116.

    Julia

    I always have loved Peter, Paul & Mary. They had impeccable vocal harmonies, and Mary Travers had, IMO, one of the strongest and most recognizable female voices ever. If you notice in the youtube videos, she is standing away from the mikes on Peter and Paul…I think because her voice was so damn strong she could overwhelm them both. The group also popularized artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, and even Bob Dylan. They had strong social justice views which they never gave up, and promoted those views through their music.

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