Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

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

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

All hail the time of the bunny!

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

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

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

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77Comments

  2. 2.

    Comrade Mary

    And they’re wearing all my fave colours. LOVE!

    (BTW, John, that if your knee is any of those colours, maybe see a doc today?)

  5. 5.

    Served

    Reposting from the below open thread, because it’s great to watch them eat their own.

    Well, the Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary is blowing up nicely today:http://www.suntimes.com/25299488-418/treasurer-dan-rutherford-alleges-bruce-rauner-behind-false-claims-against-him.html

    Bruce Rauner is our local bajillionaire now playing the common man with a fresh crisp Carhartt an an $18 watch (who of course made his money off investing public employee pensions, and is now campaign to destroy said pensions).

    And now this tweet from Rich Miller, who runs CapitolFax.com, the best IL politics blog:

    Rich Miller ‏@capitolfax 12m
    As I chase this story, there could be some really bad stuff coming out. And not necessarily on Rauner, either. Oy.

  10. 10.

    Mr. Longform

    @cleek: damn – palantir joke already taken; but Gandalf looks like he just saw something that really freaked him out, like playing a Feb. 2 football game on fking New Jersey, maybe.

  11. 11.

    NonyNony

    @Betty Cracker:

    Broncos are gonna win: Gandalf trumps Captain Picard.

    Ah, but the relevant question is actully “is Gandalf > (Picard + Charles Xavier) ?”

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    @NonyNony:

    Ah, but the relevant question is actully “is Gandalf > (Picard + Charles Xavier) ?”

    ITYM (Gandalf + Magneto) > (Picard + Charles Xavier)./geek

    ETA: and let’s be clear (Gandalf + Magneto) >> (Picard + Xavier).

  19. 19.

    Served

    @WaterGirl: I would have entertained a vote for him over Quinn in the general, to be honest.

    I also will bet money that this is Rauner using subterfuge to out Rutherford as gay. It is, at least, pinging the undertones in shades of W in South Carolina circa 2000.

  27. 27.

    grape_crush

    Both being Brits, what’s funny to me – besides the look on McKellen’s face – is that on American Football Superbowl Weekend, they’re holding a real football, not the funny oblong one used here in the States.

  33. 33.

    burnspbesq

    @Betty Cracker:

    Broncos are gonna win: Gandalf trumps Captain Picard

    Sir Ian was the creepiest, evilest Richard III evah. That’s how I think of him, not Gandalf.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    @cleek:
    It’s one of them newfangled German Palantiri, as you can see from the manufacturer’s three-striped logo.

  41. 41.

    Anoniminous

    The warp drive dilithium crystals have cracked, Scotty is no longer around to fix them. Gandalf’s wizard staff was broken so he’s out of the running as well.

    Prediction: Mordor by 7.

  43. 43.

    catclub

    @grape_crush: Patrick Stewart was also the Sargeant at Arms
    for Caligula in “I, Claudius”.

    He had to pass on the daily password: “Give us a Kiss”
    He later helped murder Caligula and installed Claudius as Emperor, If I recall.

  45. 45.

    Hungry Joe

    I interviewed Stewart years ago, on a press junket for a “Star Trek” movie. Got a one-on-one for about 20 minutes, and just HAD to ask about his character Sejanus, the cheerful assassin in “I, Claudius.” As I remember it, Stewart thought for a few seconds, then smiled and said, “He was a man who loved his work.”

  56. 56.

    Warren Terra

    If you want a truly wonderful (if quite possibly embellished to the point of near-complete falsehood) story about one man’s multi-decade relationship with Ian McKellen, there’s an episode of Believe It, the fictionalized radio memoirs of the British Actor Richard Wilson, as ghost-written by Douglas Adams’s one-time flatmate Jon Canter. You can download the Ian McKellen episode here, and learn about Greek islands, Los Angeles muggers, knitting, financial advisors, and Bleak House.

  59. 59.

    FlyingToaster

    @catclub: Naw, he played Sejanus, who Tiberius first betrothed to his niece Livilla then recommended the Senate kill him.

    Caligula’s guy was Cassius Chaerea, who had carried him on campaigns with this father’s legions.

    Patrick Stewart’s wig in I Claudius was the worst hairdo I’ve ever seen.

  60. 60.

    jl

    So, this being Friday, I was hoping not one damn thing happens at all, and was reading up on some health reform stuff at TPM, when…

    BREAKING….

    Official Who Ordered Lane Closures Says Christie Knew About Them

    ” The former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive [Wildstein] who directed the George Washington Bridge lane closures said in a letter Friday that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) knew about the closures when they were happening, according to The New York Times. ”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/christie-knew-wildstein

    Is this good or is this bad, should we be happy or should we be sad.
    Let us anatomize these brass balls of Chrisie…

    But then, if Wildstein and some of Christie’s staff were wildcatting in a play or some payola off the Ft. Lee development project, they would have the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ needed to take down the Big Man, regardless of the truth, to help themselves.

    But, something did happen this Friday.

  61. 61.

    scav

    Well, MacBeth ≅ MacBeth but John of Gaunt > Edward II so there might be a slight Seattle edge on my DVD shelf at the moment . . .

  63. 63.

    kbuttle

    Also pleasant viewing on a Friday evening, from Pierce:

    “Reince Priebus is a not very convincing marionette who couldn’t even get elected to the Wisconsin state senate. What he knows about politics you could put up his ass and have room for a change of clothes.”

    That’s just good prose.

  65. 65.

    jl

    @me:

    Oh yes indeed. I thought someone would beat me while I was typing. News likes this spreads fast.

    Gosh darn it, whether that weasel Wildstein’s charges are true or not, the story just might maybe spread fast enough to hurt poor little Christie before the 2016 elections.

    That would be sad, huh? But then, Christie decided himself to surround himself with, hire, adn appoint, thugs, sleazy operators, and grifters. I sure didn’t give him any advice.

  68. 68.

    Roger Moore

    @jl:
    I’ve been saying for a while that the sign on Christie’s back says “insert knife here” rather than “kick me”. It’s just a surprise that Brutus struck first instead of last.

  69. 69.

    Comrade Mary

    @scav: In addition, Rob Ford is rooting for the Broncos. I knew there was a reason why my colour preference was shifting from orange to lime lately.

    Go SirPatStew!

  72. 72.

    sdstarr

    I always figured that Gandalf would be a fan of the Seahawks! Didn’t he (much like Richard Sherman) say “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”

  75. 75.

    Tripod

    “Real football”??? A real football is a black and white truncated icosahedron, or a brown prolate spheroid. I’m not sure what that thing is. Also, get off my lawn.

  76. 76.

    poptartacus

    fuck a bunch of weed bowl

    PUPPY BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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