Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

No Justins, No Peace

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

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

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

This blog will pay for itself.

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

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Republicans in disarray!

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Reader Interactions

167Comments

  4. 4.

    MomSense

    His subsidy is more per month than my tax credit for insurance and I make far less than he does. And didn’t they do this to themselves by making themselves purchase insurance on the exchange rather than the usual way as a benefit provided by the employer as part of your employment agreement/contract?

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I see David Vitter’s running for LA gov. Is Jindal term-limited, or is this a kick in the nuts?
    ETA: TPM says BJ is term-limited. Never mind

  8. 8.

    JGabriel

    Guardian:

    The extent to which so much global wealth has become corralled by a virtual handful of the so-called ‘global elite’ is exposed in a new report from Oxfam on Monday. It warned that those richest 85 people across the globe share a combined wealth of £1tn, as much as the poorest 3.5 billion of the world’s population.

    85 people.

    I want names.

    Edited to Add: And pitchforks.

    .

  9. 9.

    Belafon

    @MomSense: Those evil Democrats were not supposed to agree to the amendment. They were supposed to use it as an excuse to kill the ACA. No one believed that Democrats would choose to eat their own dog food and so Republicans are paying the price for the Democrats being responsible legislators.

  10. 10.

    Villago Delenda Est

    There must be a 16 ton weight available to be accidentally dropped on Louie. Perhaps Wile E. Coyote has a spare in his basement?

  11. 11.

    Trollhattan

    @Violet:

    I’m guessing some constituent’s lost dog would have been enough of an excuse to cancel–it’s just not the time for Christie to acting like Christie at a big ol’ party thrown in his honor. Act humble for four hours with the cameras rolling? Not.

  13. 13.

    Punchy

    Somehow, having to drop $470 to buy 2 tickets for the chance to eat a meal should be more of the story than a crying baby.

    Fucking absurdities…..why do they piss me off so?

  17. 17.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Certified Mutant Enemy:

    I think Brooks sees his mission in life as to further validate my assertion that the world would be a much better place the day his broken body is found in an alley somewhere.

  23. 23.

    Richard Mayhew

    And hitting up Health Sherpa — I’m finding good plans for $1,185/month from the DC Exchange with $1000 individual deductible, $2000 total family deductible. I can only replicate the Rep’s costs if I choose the most expensive Gold plan possible, and even then, the deductible figures don’t jive

  26. 26.

    sparrow

    @Punchy: eh, I know middle-class folks who spend that much going to see a pro football game. There is a Greek place in DC that goes for about that much — dining room is 4 tables. I keep saying that if/when I land a tenure-track job my BF and I will have dinner there.

    Some places are not appropriate for children. In the same way that it isn’t appropriate for an adult to yell, bang on the table, or otherwise cause a nuisance to their fellow diners. Having kids means you have to sacrifice sometimes. Not sure why expecting good manners from people is controversial.

  30. 30.

    ranchandsyrup

    Calendar looks great! Big thanks to Beth. :)

    Was up in Mammoth over the weekend. Only a third of the mtn open and the open portions are mostly due to snow making. We are soooooooooooooo screwed in S. California.

    Pic of our skiing companions. They tore it up.

  31. 31.

    dmsilev

    @Punchy: It’s expensive, but you’re not viewing in the proper context. The right comparison is a pair of good tickets to a Broadway show or similar, which will also run $3-400. A place like Alinea, you’re essentially buying a performance rather than simply a meal.

    And no, I’ve never been tempted to try to buy a ticket.

  32. 32.

    Cermet

    @JGabriel: Yes, and they have entire armies by way of countries under their beck and call and how will that turn out? Hell, just the pigs in this country will keep the ugly rable undercontrol in rightwing amerika … guns or no guns. We have meet the real enemy and it is the 0.001%. Not that the 0.01% or even the 0.1% isn’t also the enemy … the middle class is fucked and they are providing the enemy with votes (remember raygun the moron.)

  35. 35.

    MomSense

    O/T So google news is running a daily caller story about Morning Joe perhaps accepting speaking fees and keeping the fees instead of giving them to charity as per MSNBC policy. The also allege that reps from the companies who hire him to speak turn up on his show later a la Mike Allen and Politico. This is the daily caller so who knows.

  37. 37.

    Trollhattan

    Ah Florida, the gift that keeps on giving. Hey Florida, Christmas was last month!

    What kinds of people dream of populating the asylum also known as the Florida House of Representatives? Meet Joshua Black, the street-preacher Republican candidate who made a name for himself on MLK Day by calling for the execution of President Obama. He has since said he’s sorry (for an incorrect historical allusion — #BenedictArnold — not the “kill the president” part).

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/01/joshua-black-obama-hanged-benedict-arnold.html

  38. 38.

    Lee

    From the article:

    Gohmert is one of the poorest members of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. His most recent financial disclosure report shows no significant assets. With his mortgage and other loans, Gohmert has a negative net worth of about $162,000.

    Dear FSM if the man cannot make money while elected to the House, he must truly be as ignorant as he comes across.

  39. 39.

    LanceThruster

    I guess they were right when they said $250K wasn’t ‘rich.’

    Poor, poor, Louie!

    How on earth does he carry on against such economic adversity?

    Is there a fund I can donate to?

  40. 40.

    Trollhattan

    @Lee:

    There’s certainly nothing about Louie that seems contrived. What the hell must his constituents be like?

  41. 41.

    srv

    Vanity Fair shows Sochi is so much like Salt Lake:

    Two fingers tapped my shoulder. Turning in my seat, I looked into a face streaked with grime. “You are from America?” the man asked. There were two others in his party, sitting conspiratorially at a neighboring table. The man extended a hand, which was dirty, and I shook it. “ I love America,” he said. His companion across the table said, “America is cool.” Here it was: an example of that irrepressible Olympic brotherhood. But then the man moved in close and whispered in my ear: “ They know me in all the jails in America.”

  44. 44.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @MomSense:

    didn’t they do this to themselves by making themselves purchase insurance on the exchange

    Yep. Having cut off his nose to spite his face, Gomer is now complaining about the cost of nasal reconstruction surgery.

    He really is a stupid, stupid man.

  45. 45.

    Violet

    @schrodinger’s cat: I didn’t say anything last week when you linked your Downtown Abbey review in multiple threads, but I’m PLEADING this time. Can we please have discussions of TV shows that only aired two days ago in a separate thread with a clue as to the content so those of us who haven’t had the chance to watch the episode won’t see SPOILERS.

    Or if that’s not possible, can someone please edit the thread post at the top to let people know it has turned into a discussion of the TV show in question and they can avoid if they want.

    Thanks.

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MomSense: The closing clip of the Daily show last night was hilarious. A montage of Joe and Mika interrupting each other to express their love of Governor Jumbo and their disdain for the Lady Mayor, ending with Mika extending a scolding index finger at poor Steve Kornacki and saying “Let me finish!” and Kornacki replying, I didn’t say anything, in a deadpan tone which suggests he had been paying as much attention and interest in what Mika was saying as he would to a soap commercial.

  48. 48.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @MikeJ: yeah, I thought one of the provisions was that congresscritters had to go to their state exchanges or to HC.gov if they were in a nullification state.

  50. 50.

    Rob in CT

    @JGabriel:

    One Trillion pounds… I haven’t checked the exchange rate today but I’m guessing that’s about $1.6T.

    But remember, even hinting about how it would be better if that was spread around a bit more is horrible class warfare.

  51. 51.

    gogol's wife

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Good review. I thought they were back on track this week. I actually like it when Bates and Lord Grantham have scenes together — they work well together. And the prominence of Mrs. Hughes (and departure of ****) are great developments.

  53. 53.

    Belafon

    @mdblanche: That’s a contingency plan. Russia is having to deal with separatist groups that would love to do some damage to Putin by setting a bomb off at the Olympics.

  57. 57.

    geg6

    @Punchy:

    I guess you have no significant other or neither of you care about a nice, romantic splurge of a dinner out, ever.

    If, like me, you do, you do not want your expensive romantic dinner plans spoiled by some out-of-control toddler or baby screaming through any possibility of intimate conversation or tripping the wait persons as they are delivering your dinner or wine or spilling their sippy cup down the back of your dress that cost as much as dinner and almost as much to dry clean.

    Expensive restaurants are not for people with children, unless the children are old enough to control themselves. If you have a baby or toddler, you have given up the luxury of having an expensive dinner in an exclusive restaurant. I am not a fan of children of any age (and babies and toddlers are the worst of the bunch), but if I go to a fast food or chain restaurant, I realize that I am not the target audience and I don’t complain about the brats I see all around me, ruining any possible but dubious chance of enjoying my meal in such places. If I’m at the very nice, expensive somewhat exclusive place my SO and I traditionally go to for special occasions, I’m am going to be quite vigorous in my conviction that the restaurant has a responsibility to its usual clientele of adults only to ask the table with the kids they choose not to control or who they should not have brought in the first place to leave.

    Children don’t belong everywhere and not everyone wants to be subjected to them.

  58. 58.

    Violet

    @schrodinger’s cat: Thanks. I think you should do whatever you want on your own blog! If you want to post without putting spoiler warnings, that’s up to you!

    The problem for me was that several discussion threads last week turned into Downtown Abbey discussions and the posts gave no indication of that. I don’t think it makes much difference a week or so later, but a few days is kind of soon in the days of DVRs. I didn’t get to watch it live because I had other things going on Sunday night and I’m not yet caught up. I don’t think I’m the only one. By next week most people will be caught up and if they’re not then it’s fair game.

    I am sure people want to discuss it, which is great. I just want those who don’t want to see spoilers to be aware what’s being discussed so they can go elsewhere if they want. Not sure how to accomplish that, but wanted to put my 0.02 out there this time since I didn’t say anything last week.

    Thanks again.

  59. 59.

    Lee

    @mdblanche:

    I already had some feelers out to some of my armed service buddies to see if any of them heard about contingency plans on Sochi.

    The only one that replied with a positive is that embassies/consulates have some sort of generic plans in place for their area. The problem is Sochi did not have any US interests prior to the Olympics as well as Russia not allowing/wanting any foreign help.

  64. 64.

    Mnemosyne

    @catclub:

    Could be a UTI or other infection. Take him to the vet to be checked out and see what they say. It could just be old age and he’s lost control, which also happens to humans, but they don’t make kitty Depends.

  66. 66.

    Violet

    @gogol’s wife: Maybe we could ask a front pager to post one? Or designate an open thread for one a day or so later? I would just like to be warned so I don’t end up in the middle of a comment thread that turns into something I’d like to discuss interspersed with spoilers like happened last week.

    John seems to have moved on from Balloon-Juice in a lot of ways.

  68. 68.

    Cervantes

    @geg6:

    Children don’t belong everywhere and not everyone wants to be subjected to them.

    I gather you’re talking about chronological age only.

  72. 72.

    replicnt6

    @Baud:

    Remember, folks. It would be uncivil to call Christie scandal-ridden.

    Scandal-tested Gov. Christie to be sworn in again

    Huh. I generally think of X-tested as meaning “subjected to X and came out the other side OK”

    I guess I could bill that cell phone I dropped in the toilet as “water-tested”.

  73. 73.

    Violet

    @geg6: I think it depends on the kid and the parents/family. Some children are very well behaved and can handle themselves in a nice restaurant, or similar situation, from an early age. Infants are obviously a different category, as they’re so young they don’t understand when they need to be quiet yet.

    People who bring children to a nice restaurant should be ready to leave if the child gets disruptive. So they paid a bunch of money for the reservation/meal? Too bad. They knew the potential pitfall–they leave if their child begins to disrupt others. Take the kid outside. If the child doesn’t calm down, then pack up and leave. That’s the risk you take when you bring a child to a nice restaurant.

    Some children are very well behaved and can handle that kind of situation very well. Some parents even get complimented on how well their kids act in public. It’s a combination of the child’s personality and the parenting. Not every kid can handle that kid of demand even with the best parenting.

  76. 76.

    NonyNony

    @geg6:

    If, like me, you do, you do not want your expensive romantic dinner plans spoiled by some out-of-control toddler or baby screaming…

    Or, if you’re like me, you will never in your life have a reason to drop $470 on a reservation for a table for a single meal.

    I’m sorry, but this is completely an example of #richassholeproblems. NOBODY looks good in this story – not the people who decided to take their baby to the restaurant, not the other people in the restaurant, NOBODY.

    I mean, my wife and I have splurged on fancy anniversary dinners before. But nearly $500 to just reserve the table? I didn’t even know this placed existed, but after hearing about this I’m wishing that the baby had stayed home and the place had been hit with a bout of non-lethal ptomaine poisoning instead.

    (Jeebus – $470 to reserve a fucking table and I should feel sorry for ANYONE in that room? Jeebus…)

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    NAACP leader likens black GOP senator to ventriloquist’s dummy

    By Aaron Blake
    January 21 at 1:59 pm

    An influential leader of the NAACP in North Carolina recently compared Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the lone black Republican in Congress, to a ventriloquist’s dummy.

    “A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” the Rev. William Barber said about Scott during remarks in Columbia, S.C., on Sunday, according to The State.

    Barber added that “the extreme right wing down here (in South Carolina) finds a black guy to be senator and claims he’s the first
    black senator since Reconstruction, and then he goes to Washington,
    D.C., and articulates the agenda of the Tea Party.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/01/21/naacp-leader-likens-black-gop-senator-to-ventriloquists-dummy/

  79. 79.

    elmo

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Was up in Mammoth over the weekend. Only a third of the mtn open and the open portions are mostly due to snow making.

    HOME!! Well, not anymore, but I lived there for almost ten years, and leaving was the biggest mistake of my life. There’s a hole in my heart that only my mountains can fill.

    And they are saying this year is like unto 1977, when there was only three inches of snow in Mammoth Pass – three inches! – by way of comparison, my first year there was the 1996 – 1997 snow year, when we got nearly 500 inches season total. The difference is that in 1977, and then in 1991 when the next big drought year hit and they laid off half the “permanent” Mountain employees, this year they have very good snowmaking.

    I still have dear friends there, and once again the local joke is, “Last one to leave please turn out the lights.” It’s awful.

  81. 81.

    mdblanche

    @Belafon: That there are groups out there that want to bomb the Olympics and that they’re being taken seriously is what I’d call trouble brewing.

    @Lee: Is this type of planning normal for any event like the Olympics or is this just because of the specific threats about Sochi?

  83. 83.

    Violet

    @NonyNony:

    I mean, my wife and I have splurged on fancy anniversary dinners before. But nearly $500 to just reserve the table?

    To be fair, you pre-pay for the dinner. So it’s not $500 for the reservation plus dinner costs. From the article here’s how it works:

    Alinea, the 64-seat restaurant with a coveted three-Michelin-star rating and repeated rankings as one of the best in the world, carefully outlines its guidelines on its website. Drinks and gratuity are not included in the $210–$265 pre-paid tasting menu. Arrive 15 minutes before your ticket time. Tickets are non-refundable, but transferable to friends, neighbors or anyone who can take your place.

    So yeah, it’s really expensive, but not quite the way you thought it was. It’s pretty easy to go out to a really nice restaurant in a big city and spend $500 for two people on a nice multiple course meal with alcohol. It’s also easy to keep the bill cheaper at most nice restaurants. The restaurant in question makes the guidelines clear, so it’s not like the patrons are in the dark.

  84. 84.

    ranchandsyrup

    @elmo: Cool! It’s an amazing little corner of the world up there. I know what you mean about leaving your heart in the mtns.

    Things have been tough up there for some years now with the real estate bust. We were talking to some people that worked in management for the mountain and they said that if they don’t get a big snow before President’s day, they’re gonna shut down the Canyon and Eagle lodges and just leave the Main lodge open. Did some beer tasting at Mammoth Brewery (Elderberry pilsner was outstanding) and there were a bunch of mountain employees there that said that they made it past the layoffs for now, but they only get 8 hours a week. Tragic.

  86. 86.

    dmsilev

    @NonyNony: That’s the actual price of the meal (for two people), not the price of holding a table. That restaurant sells tickets to seatings (as I mentioned above, think of it more like a performance at a pricey Broadway show than a meal), which includes the meal (though not, if memory serves, wine or tips). And as incredibly expensive as it is, tickets sell out fast; there’s clearly a market for multi-hundred-dollar meals.

    (Ideally, the couple with the screaming kid should have sold their tickets to someone once they learned that their babysitter for the night had cancelled and then rebooked for a later date)

  87. 87.

    replicnt6

    @NonyNony: I hope you’re wearing a helmet: a fall from such a high horse could be life-threatening.

    As I understand it, the $470 is pre-paying for the meal. Not paying for the privilege of making a reservation and then paying again for the meal.

  88. 88.

    GregB

    It’s a real shame that Gohmert cancelled his insurance, his recent conduct made him eligible for an brain transplant.

  90. 90.

    dmsilev

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    ETA: And garnished with caviar? I am wondering what justifies the price tag.

    It’s a ‘molecular gastronomy’ restaurant, which translated from Pretentious means ‘paying skilled people to do very very strange things to expensive ingredients’. That, and you’re paying for the prestige of the place.

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodinger’s cat: not unpossible maybe swap out gold for saffron. I learned about Alinea when Ezra Klein (bringing the threads together) was writing about his foodie-ism. I find micro-gastronomy (I believe is the term) singularly unappealing, but chacun son gout and de gustibus and all that. Sounds to me like there’s a cancelled babysitter at the root of this story. A young couple maybe planning their first big post-baby date night and…. damn.

  92. 92.

    shelly

    Arrive 15 minutes before your ticket time.

    God, all the charm of an appointment for a medical procedure.

  95. 95.

    JPL

    NJ.com has a who said it quiz, Richard Sherman or Chris Christie… link
    Richard Sherman is the Seahawk player who was quite exuberant after the game and was very boastful… The morning shows have been covering his post game interview all week. Take the quiz..

  96. 96.

    SiubhanDuinne

    On a completely different subject, how cool is it that POTUS will meet the Pope in March during his European trip? That’s a conversation i’d enjoy overhearing!

  97. 97.

    Lee

    @mdblanche:

    He was being purposefully vague (as you can expect) but it sounds like there is a bit more going on planning/contingency wise than is normal. What is making it significantly more difficult is that we cannot count on the cooperation of the Russians.

    We were hypothesizing that without Russian cooperation we would resort to 757s and military contractors for the evacuation. The other option is some sort of help from Turkey/Bulgaria/Romania via The Black Sea.

  98. 98.

    Another Holocene Human

    @rikyrah: first black senator from the south since Reconstruction, get it right already ///

    Nothing Tim Scott has said or done has dissuaded me from my first impression of him as an Alan Keyes class loon.

    At least he’s not an Ewwww Jackson or psycho Allen West.

    I’ve got unpopped popcorn awaiting the Senate race.

  99. 99.

    GregB

    @mdblanche:

    I am starting to get a really bad feeling about this Olympics. Between the gay issues, the war in Syria, the growing war between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the whole Russian/Chechnya conflict, there is potential for lots of bad actors to view this as a prime target.

  100. 100.

    Gin & Tonic

    @NonyNony: It’s not $500 to reserve the table, it’s $500 to eat the meal. For two. That’s expensive, yes, but it’s not more than people spend to go to a top Broadway show, or a professional sporting event, and it’s the same sort of very high-level professional performance. I have not eaten at Alinea (although I’d love to if I got to Chicago) but I have eaten at that level of restaurant. I make a decent income, but I’m *far* from 1% territory, and I save up for those (very rare) occasions because I enjoy the whole performance: the food, the service, the ambiance. It’s a reasonably affordable luxury, and it provides typically four hours or more of entertainment. My money, my choice of how to spend it. I have never gone and will never go to an NFL game, but if some ironworker saves up to go to one, I don’t question his priorities or assume he is obscenely wealthy, even though he spent the same amount.

    That said, I have (now grown) children whom I love very much, and whom we sometimes took to better restaurants. But restaurants at the, say, over $200 level, to use an arbitrary benchmark, are simply, in my opinion, over the head of children – the dishes can be complicated, with exotic flavors and textures, which even a pre-teen wouldn’t understand. For that reason alone I think they don’t belong in a place like that.

  101. 101.

    Violet

    @JPL: I got 86%. Not great but not bad. I barely know who Richard Sherman is so I don’t feel too bad about the score.

  105. 105.

    Roger Moore

    @NonyNony:

    Jeebus – $470 to reserve a fucking table

    It sounds as if it’s $470 as an advance, non-refundable price for the food (drinks, tip, etc. paid for after the meal), not just for the reservations. That’s still a hell of a lot for a meal, but it’s in the same range as other elite restaurants. It’s just a glimpse of how the 1% live.

  107. 107.

    Trollhattan

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Have not been to Alinea but did eat at the French Laundry when Grant Achatz was working there under Keller. Anyhoo, having thus dined and knowing my daughter’s persnickety eating habits, she’d refuse to touch three-quarters of the lovely works of art placed before her. She’d behave flawlessly but your point stands–the food would be literally wasted.

  108. 108.

    Violet

    @gogol’s wife: I’m sure a Google search will find it for you. Or maybe schrodinger’s cat could point you to it? Again, I don’t mind people discussing it so long as there’s some warning for the rest of us. At least for the next few days after it airs. After that I think it’s fair game.

  109. 109.

    Lee

    @GregB:

    Go to Google Maps and find Sochi and take a look at how many troubled areas are right around the area. Hell the Kurd controlled part of Iraq is not that far away. Not too mention Ukraine & Georgia.

  110. 110.

    Roger Moore

    @dmsilev:

    That, and you’re paying for the prestige of the place.

    And the service. A place like that probably has a waiter for every two or three tables, at least one sommelier, etc. But I’m sure the big selling point is that you get to make your friends jealous by bragging about going there.

  111. 111.

    Cacti

    Balloon-juice patron saint Edward Snowden has joined the board of Greenwald’s “Freedom of the Press Foundation”.

    I look forward to their first report on the state of press freedom in Ed’s new home of Russia.

  112. 112.

    Tommy

    @Roger Moore: Yes. For me the idea of the Olympics should be the most awesome thing in the world. Don’t think Russia should have it.I spent hours watching things like this (go to a minute into the video), the Parade of Nations, just to see Greece come into their home stadium. March around it with their fellow citizens cheering at the top of their lungs!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ5YKzWrk-0

    I played a lot of sports in my life, and maybe I put it all above winning anything, like the Noble Prize for Peace, but to walk into an Olympic stadium carrying the American flag wold be the coolest thing ever.

  113. 113.

    jharp

    Another shooting today.

    At Purdue University. One dead. Suspect in custody.

    My daughter lives 1,000 feet away from where it happened.

  115. 115.

    elmo

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Canyon and Eagle lodges? Ah! You must mean the Hut and the Bubble.
    I’ve been gone for a long time – nearly as long as I lived there – so locals may actually now call it “Canyon Lodge,” but it’s “The Hut” to longtime locals. Back in the day, Dave McCoy called Main Lodge the “Warming Hut,” and when the new place was built, it was “Warming Hut II.” Ergo, “The Hut.”

    I lived for a while on the very top of Davison Lane, right above the Hut with a picture-window view of Lincoln Mountain. There’s an old rope swing in the woods to the left of Chair 8, and I had a dog who would seize it in her teeth and swing high above the ground.

    God, I miss that place so much. Next time you go, have dinner at Roberto’s on a Tuesday night. Tuesday is (or was) verde night, and their chili verde is ambrosia of the Gods. You’d actually have a longer wait for dinner on Tuesday than some Fridays, because locals would all come on Tuesday. And get albondigas soup also. AMAZING.

  116. 116.

    aimai

    @Gin & Tonic: This was an eight month old whose parents lost their sitter at the last moment. Since the seats/tickets are non refundable they didn’t really have a choice and mostly you’d expect the baby to sleep through the whole thing. We ate out plenty with our baby before she was one–if she woke up and cried we took her out and swung her in her car seat until she was back to sleep. This is not at all the same kind of case of taking an older toddler out to actually “eat” in such a restaurant.

  118. 118.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Roger Moore: Some people just really like that sort of culinary performance art.

    I recall reading about some guy, I think a postal worker in England, who had as his objective to eat at every Michelin 3-star restaurant in Europe. He’d save up for a year or more to go. He got to El Bulli before it closed, which is more than I can say for me.

    Different people have different ways of spending their disposable income.

  119. 119.

    Gravenstone

    @JGabriel: That would have been my first thought as well. Seeing the relatively recent success of Governors versus Senators in terms of running for President. Of course, nothing is ever going to wipe away the stain of Davey boy’s diaper fetish, regardless of how much he prays otherwise.

  120. 120.

    Suffern ACE

    @Roger Moore: I agree with that. You are paying for being waited on like a competent adult. I come down on the “sorry, not for kids”. Almost every place outside of workplaces has to keep children in mind. Fine dining is adult entertainment that doesn’t involve boobs or swearing.

  121. 121.

    Roger Moore

    @JPL:

    NJ.com has a who said it quiz, Richard Sherman or Chris Christie… link

    Judging by the quality of his insults, Sherman is quite a bit smarter than Christie. Sherman is creative and uses good vocabulary, while Christie is just an asshole.

  122. 122.

    Tommy

    @jharp: Blows my mind. My family has been going to college in IN and IL, and LA (long story) for generations. I guess in hindsight this goes for all places, all colleges, but Purdue is supposed to be a “safe” place.

  123. 123.

    Baud

    Via WaPo

    Former Va. Gov. McDonnell and wife charged in gifts case

    Former Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife Maureen were charged in federal court Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government.

  124. 124.

    ruemara

    No one has clearly specified what outcomes for Louie Gohmert I should pray for, so I feel my sacrifice to the Erinyes on the behalf of others is appropriate.

  125. 125.

    Tommy

    @Baud: About time. I am not an expert on campaign stuff, but I don’t need a law degree to figure out if I was an elected person and somebody gave me a lot of money, nice gifts, you name it, well I might be breaking the law.

  128. 128.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Baud: Richmond Times Dispatch:

    Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were indicted today by a federal grand jury on 14 counts stemming from the first couple’s acceptance and solicitation of thousands in gifts and loans from a wealthy businessman during McDonnell’s term.

    The indictment, spelled out in an extensive document filed by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District, paints a detailed portrait of how the governor and his wife accepted more than $135,000 in direct payments as gifts and loans from then-Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams Sr., in addition to golf outings and other things of value, in exchange for the first couple’s assistance in promoting his struggling Henrico-based company’s dietary supplement, Anatabloc.

    It also asserts that the McDonnells lied on loan applications and forms requiring them to declare debts and then tried to cover their tracks.
    Taken together, the charges, if they resulted in convictions and maximum sentences, could produce fines in excess of $1 million and put the McDonnells behind bars for decades.

    And Rmoney was seriously considering him to be his running mate…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  129. 129.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:
    Sure, you assume that if somebody is giving you a bunch of gifts, they’re trying to buy your favor. But a sophisticated grifter politician like McDonnell is supposed to know the law well enough to figure out the loopholes so he can get the money without it being technically illegal. That’s why a whole bunch of stuff went to Mrs. McDonnell rather than the governor himself; the Virginia law apparently has a giant loophole that lets you give as much as you want to the close relatives of elected officials without requiring disclosure.

  130. 130.

    jharp

    @Tommy:

    Just found out my daughter was in the next building, 200 feet away.

    Yikes!

    And I am getting so fucking sick and so fucking tired of America’s gun culture. And we have legislators trying to make it legal for students to carry on campus. I just can’t imagine a bunch of amateurs playing pretend cop with a murderer on the loose. I wonder how many more would have been shot.

  131. 131.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: Chris Christie was just a glimmer in JoMika’s eye when Bob McDonnell was gonna take Obama down… Bobby Jindal… Marco Rubio….

  133. 133.

    WereBear

    @catclub: He might have a medical issue. He might no longer be able to get to the litter box in time. He might have lost “power” and can no longer keep some other cat from harassing him in the litter box.

    Or all of the above.

  135. 135.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Suffern ACE: Easy. Have parties for the head of the company at the Governor’s Mansion, endorse the product, have your wife give testimonials, etc., etc.

    More than you probably want to know is in links here.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  137. 137.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @jharp: Problem is, if a classroom of children getting slaughtered by a punk exercising his Second Amendment rights doesn’t change things, what will?

  138. 138.

    Rafer Janders

    @Cacti:

    Balloon-juice patron saint Edward Snowden has joined the board of Greenwald’s “Freedom of the Press Foundation”. I look forward to their first report on the state of press freedom in Ed’s new home of Russia.

    Um, they’ll probably rate it quite poorly?

    You realize that Snowden isn’t in Russia by choice, right, but only because (a) it’s where he got stuck in transit when his passport was cancelled and (b) it’s one of the few countries where he’s safe from extradition to the US.

  139. 139.

    Rafer Janders

    @aimai:

    This was an eight month old whose parents lost their sitter at the last moment. Since the seats/tickets are non refundable they didn’t really have a choice….

    Sure they had a choice — eat the cost of the ticket and stay home.

    Now, that’s not a choice they wanted to make, so they took the chance of inflicting their crying infant on the rest of the patrons, but let’s not pretend that they didn’t have a choice. Life’s not always fair, and sometimes plans fall through even after you’ve paid for them.

  143. 143.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Lee:

    His poverty is not merely financial. The man has, charitably, shit for brains. That’s giving him the benefit of the doubt.

  148. 148.

    Mnemosyne

    @Rafer Janders:

    You realize that Snowden isn’t in Russia by choice, right, but only because (a) it’s where he got stuck in transit when his passport was cancelled and (b) it’s one of the few countries where he’s safe from extradition to the US.

    I missed the part where Snowden was put on a plane against his will and forced to leave the US rather than voluntarily buying a ticket and leaving. Sorry, but if isn’t enjoying Russia, he literally has no one to blame but himself.

  149. 149.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @JPL:

    The thing is, Richard Sherman can back up his trash talk with his skills on the field.

    Christie is having to undermine his skills on the field in the wake of these disclosures, a “hands on” manager who had no clue that his minions were doing all these things.

    He was lying when he asserted he was such a superb manager, or he’s lying about the extent of his involvement. He’s painted himself into a corner, and it’s pegging my schadenfreude meter.

  150. 150.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jharp:

    OMG, learning that must be simultaneously the most horrifying and the most “thank-gods-relief” moment in the world. How’s your daughter? Must be pretty shaken.

  151. 151.

    Cacti

    @Mnemosyne:

    Sorry, but if isn’t enjoying Russia, he literally has no one to blame but himself.

    It’s deliciously ironic that a former Paultard would seek the warm embrace of Vladimir Putin to save his own skin.

    Unless one seriously believes that he was really trying to flee to Iceland via Hong Kong.

  153. 153.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cacti:

    It would have been hi-larious if he had gone to Iceland, because he apparently hadn’t bothered to check Wikipedia to see who the US has extradition agreements with before he bought his plane tickets. The US has had an extradition treaty with Iceland in place since 1906.

    ETA: List of countries that the US has extradition treaties with. Notice that we’ve had one with Hong Kong since 1998, so that was kind of a poor decision as well if his claim that he went there to avoid extradition is actually true.

  155. 155.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Maybe not. Her personal net worth is about $500 million. Admittedly very far from peanuts, but most of what appears to be “hers” — the real estate, much of the jewelry, the art — are Crown holdings, not personal wealth.

  156. 156.

    jharp

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I think she is still in shock. Sometimes it takes a while for things like that to sink in. And I first heard the news from her so I knew she was safe. It was a little creepy knowing the campus was on lockdown though.

    I am going to see her tomorrow and drive her to Duluth MN to check out University of Minnesota and then to the Minneapolis campus.

    Having kids in college is simply grand. And I have 2 who are both kicking ass.

  157. 157.

    Rafer Janders

    @Mnemosyne:

    That seems sort of unresponsive to what I was saying, which is that the fact that Snowden is in Russia happened by chance, and doesn’t in any way imply that he approves of Russia itself or of how Putin deals with the press. He didn’t flee TO Russia, he got stuck in Russia in transit on his way to fleeing somewhere else.

    It’s not as if this is a very complicated fact to deal with.

  162. 162.

    Roger Moore

    @Rafer Janders:
    Maybe he’s in Russia rather than another country by chance, but his being in a country that is not a bastion of freedom of the press is not. He went running to a place with no extradition treaty, and that meant he was going to wind up in a place with much less respect for personal liberty than the US no matter which one he chose.

  163. 163.

    mellowjohn

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    a) yes, little piyush is term limited.
    b) diaper dave isn’t risking anything. LA’s gov election is off year. if he wins, he becomes gov. if he loses, he stays a senator.
    c) and yes, the money making opportunities would seem to be much more available down in the bayou.

  165. 165.

    Mnemosyne

    @Rafer Janders:

    He didn’t flee TO Russia …

    Uh-huh. He just happened to land there with information the Russians wanted that he just happened to conveniently have on his hard drives and USB drives.

    Pull the other one.

    ETA: And if he went there on the advice of his Wikileaks pals, you should probably admit at this point that they gave him very, very poor advice.

  166. 166.

    Rafer Janders

    @Roger Moore:

    I have friends whose parents fled to the Soviet Union to escape Nazi Germany, others who fled to Nazi Germany to escape the Soviet Union, others who, during their odyssey out of various repressive regimes over the last 70 years, wound up in apartheid South Africa, or Imperial Japan, or Batista’s Cuba,or the Shah’s Iran, etc. In no case did this mean that they loved or even approved of these countries — it was just where they could get to in flight, the first place that wouldn’t arrest them or send them back.

    I realize that the mere mention of Edward Snowden incites a certain childish hysteria in certain commenters, but let’s at least be rational enough not to pretend that Snowden is in Russia because he luurrrves Putin so much, or because he actually approves of jailing Pussy Riot. There are legitimate criticisms without making them up.

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