Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Everybody saw this coming.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Let’s finish the job.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

The willow is too close to the house.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

He really is that stupid.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

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Reader Interactions

243Comments

  2. 2.

    Mike in NC

    Was there a football game on tonight? We were watching Downton Abbey and having tea and crumpets.

  4. 4.

    The Dangerman

    It was competitive until Seattle scored the safety; downhill from there.

    ETA: There have been a lot of Super Bowl blowouts; this may be the first one where the Dog (Seattle was +2.5) blew out the favorite.

  11. 11.

    TaMara (BHF)

    Ok, I’m not really a football person, but WTF was that? And feel for me, because I have to go out into the mean streets of Denver/Boulder tomorrow. Gonna be ugly.

  12. 12.

    Violet

    @Comrade Dread: Eli Manning was at the game. They showed a shot of him in the stands. He seemed to be sitting by himself. He looked glum. It was in the 4th quarter.

  13. 13.

    Jay C

    What Violet said @ #7: It looked like Seattle was – marginally – the better team on the numbers; but this sort of blowout (and sorry, man, this was a blowout) was, AFAICT pretty much unexpected.
    Entertaining to be sure: but unexpected….

  14. 14.

    Bruuuuce

    Okay. That’s done, congratulations to the new dynasty, sorry, Peyton, your legacy (according to know-nothings) is that you suck, and all that.

    Let’s talk about something important: Did the Yankees do enough to improve their infield going in to spring training?

  17. 17.

    The Dangerman

    @TaMara (BHF):

    …but WTF was that?

    That was a team not ready to play. Were they partying too hard for 2 weeks? Who knows. Every aspect of their play sucked (ok, maybe the punter was acceptable).

  18. 18.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Sarge, I told you before the game that horse d’oeuvres were on the menu for the post game parties.

    You’re welcome!

    Seriously, I expected a much closer game than this. Never bothered to bite my nails.

  21. 21.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    Somewhere, Eli Manning is laughing and thinking, “Set all the records you want, bro, I’ve still got two.”

    Somewhere? Eli was in a luxury box in the stadium.

  22. 22.

    Debbie(aussie)

    I hear you could have made a bit of money betting on the Seahawks.
    Don’t understand gridiron at all. D-I-L is originally from Oregon and is very happy Seahawks supporter, gloating in fact.

  24. 24.

    Villago Delenda Est

    MVP goes to Obama for politely kicking that asshat O’Reilly’s worthless ass in the pregame.

  25. 25.

    Heliopause

    Um, “congratulations”?

    The Seahawks just destroyed “the greatest offense of all time.” Complete, praeternatural destruction. Of the “greatest quarterback of all time.” This isn’t “congratulations.” This is the Death Star vs. Alderaan. This is LBJ vs. Goldwater. This is Bob Beamon in the ’68 Olympics. This is Secretariat in the Belmont.

    Jesus. “Congratulations.”

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    Excited to see the Seahawks win, but bummed to see that Richard Sherman hurt his ankle.

    It’s one thing to lose when you’ve played a good game, but it’s 10x worse when your team doesn’t seem to show up for the big game.

  27. 27.

    jl

    This being a not important game after the Team of Destiny* lost, and I had stuff to do, watched the first half from the laundramat. Something was wrong with the dryer, so it took like forever to get my socks dry (THANKS! Obama!), so could not escape the beginning of the bad half time show.

    Had very mixed sympathies going in, but knew that I would be obligated to hate the Seahawks with the heat of a thousand suns next year if the won. OK, now it is gazillion suns.

    I look on the bright side, it will be sweeter when the Niners beat those punk-ass twerps from SF to Seattle and back next year.

    *The Team of Destiny was denied the Superbowl by a weird quirk of fate and idiocies of contemporary U.S. football. Their Team of Destiny quarterback merely threw the ball to some slob who happened to be wearing the other team’s jersey once too often. That is what is so irritating about this football thing, technicalities can decide a whole game.

  30. 30.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    Why is someone setting of loud firecrackers? This is LA and though it’s raining it’s not Seattle.

    ETA: My Cocker Nikki is very upset.

  33. 33.

    Violet

    I really hate that giant football elevated stage thing they drive out onto the field. Looks like it’s from a a middle school musical set. Just so dumb.

  34. 34.

    trollhattan

    @Baud:
    Yup.Seattle played their game and Denver tried to modify theirs to counter. They don’t have the personell to do that.

  40. 40.

    jl

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Ah, raining in Los Angeles? That is good.
    I heard a meteorologist say that the Ridiculously Resistant Ridge of high pressure might break down enough, or bend enough to bring some moderate rain storms to California over the next two weeks. Which he said, would make California merely a drought disaster, not a total drought disaster.

    The meteorologist said that the RRR if high pressure got its ‘top blown off’. I have no idea what that means, but thank goodness for some rain.

  41. 41.

    Ajabu

    I don’t give a shit about Football (if there’s no hoop or short pants I’m not interested) but I watched this one just to cheer Richard Sherman.
    You see, it’s not nice to fuck with Mother Nature or Richard Sherman.

    Got the ending I hoped for. I’m satisfied.

  45. 45.

    Violet

    @Baud: @piratedan: I watched it inadvertently. O’Reilly sounded like he was playing Wingnut Greatest Hits. It was healthcare.gov website, BENGHAZI!, and the IRS “scandal.” I was surprised he didn’t ask about Obama’s birth certificate.

    Obama pushed back on him–said things like the IRS had been investigated. He also said “your channel” was to blame for turning these things in to issues when they weren’t.

  48. 48.

    Villago Delenda Est

    LB Malcolm Smith is the MVP, and gets a fuel economy minded crew cab Silverado as a reward.

    Trade it in for something more NW friendly, Malcolm…

  50. 50.

    ruemara

    Whoa. There’s a whole program of kittens playing on the tv. OMG, I want all of those things. No wonder you guys are so excited.

  54. 54.

    The Dangerman

    I wonder if Peyton Manning retires; for the forseeable future, the Super Bowl goes through either Seattle or San Francisco as long as they stay healthy (and catch some breaks on health; for example, I think Lattimore for the 49ers could be next years breakout star).

  55. 55.

    Elie

    HaHaHa — only the blind deaf and dumb would have predicted a Broncos win. Manning — with his feet in cement was gonna go against a team where their main opponent (the 49rs) had a hard hitting defense AND an extraordinary, mobile quarterback who they just managed to overcome? This was Always gonna be an asswhuppin..
    The Seahawks had their real Super Bowl two weeks ago when they went against their division rival 49ers. Anyone who pays any attention to football knows that…

  56. 56.

    jl

    I did look to see if I could get into one of the local ‘Superbowl corporate hospitality venue availabilities’, but the organization I work for does not do that kind of thing, and otherwise I have zero connections. And my friends BBQ football fest was miles away, it was raining, and I had stuff to do. So figured a laundromat seat would do well enough.

    Will this blog get sued because I typed ‘Superbowl’.

    The Superbowl commercials I saw sucked, except for Colbert, though sad to see he has sold out to Big Pistachio.

    The blandness of the Honda commercial was amazing compared to the others. Did the company understand the concept of ‘Superbowl commercial’. I guess that one was for the non-football people dragooned into watching the game?

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Sarge, I told you before the game that horse d’oeuvres were on the menu for the post game parties.

    In honour of the Year of the Horse?

    I saw a funny thing, which now I am completely unable to track down, that the people who do the closed captioning for BBC had them celebrating the “Year of the Whores.”

    According to the article, they previously had a caption referring to the “Archbitch of Canterbury.”

    And during coverage of the Queen Mum’s funeral, the caption called on everyone to observe “a moment of violence.”

  62. 62.

    jl

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    ” I washed both my wife’s car and my car yesterday. You’re welcome. ”

    Well, you ignored the weather reports too, huh? You might have the stuff it takes to be governor of Georgia.

  64. 64.

    Geoduck

    @Ajabu:

    I don’t give a shit about Football (if there’s no hoop or short pants I’m not interested) but I watched this one just to cheer Richard Sherman.
    You see, it’s not nice to fuck with Mother Nature or Richard Sherman.

    Got the ending I hoped for. I’m satisfied.

    Sherman hurting his ankle?

    Yay Hawks. It’s been forty years since a Seattle team went all the way.

  65. 65.

    C.S.Strowbridge

    Baud says: “Post-game open thread really should have been up about a hour ago.”

    The biggest comeback of all time was 10 points. It could have begun after Seattle’s first TD.

  69. 69.

    Elie

    HaHaHa — only the blind deaf and dumb would have predicted a Broncos win. Manning — with his feet in cement was gonna go against a team where their main opponent (the 49rs) had a hard hitting defense AND an extraordinary, mobile quarterback who they just managed to overcome? This was Always gonna be an asswhuppin..
    The Seahawks had their real Super Bowl two weeks ago when they went against their division rival 49ers. Anyone who pays any attention to football knows that…

    By the way– Rene Fleming blew the lid off of the Star Spangled Banner along with the Air Force chorus… no one gonna top that for a while — made my hair curl and I usually skip it

  70. 70.

    jl

    @trollhattan: Ughh. That cumulative water content chart at the bottom is disgusting.

    The meteorologists called this week spot on. Let’s hope they are right about February. After that, March is CA’s last chance for this year.

    I need to remember to interrogate my AK family branch about the weather up there. It does seem to be a pattern,. When they were happy about having a olde tymey cold Alaska winter three years ago, we had a good old fashioned set of CA winter storms and nice snow pack.

  71. 71.

    Drunken hausfrau

    Fox: that brown boy seems to have beaten the white all american. Oh noes. And that “thug” did ok. We don’t know how to process this information.

  74. 74.

    Southern Beale

    Well is it raining in Los Angeles or not? I have been trying to manifest some rain for you guys in California, doing my own personal rain dance, because we keep hearing about how severe the drought is.

  76. 76.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @RSA:

    I’m surprised they even think “America the Beautiful” is the national anthem. I would have thought they’d think “Dixie” was.

  77. 77.

    Southern Beale

    @RSA:

    I KNOW! I love that they’re confusing America The Beautiful with the national anthem as they vent their outrage about an American brand’s lack of patriotism. HILARIOUS.

  79. 79.

    Bill Arnold

    @Violet:

    He also said “your channel” was to blame for turning these things in to issues when they weren’t.

    He did? Good.

  81. 81.

    Southern Beale

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Some of them probably do.

    True story, years and years ago I had to attend a banquet in Georgia that was also a talent showcase for fair buyers. Two bands played “Dixie” and everyone in the room stood. BOTH TIMES. Swear to god. First time I’m sitting there eating and everyone stands and I’m like WTF??? Second time I thought, surely not? But they did. It was fucking unbelievable.

  82. 82.

    Elie

    @jl:

    49ers — Yes,definitely a possibility. Broncos? No.

    BTW — I hate the 49ers going back to their bullshit with the Bears…I will Always root against them no matter what — but I do recognize their talent…

    PS — I am also a tragic Bears fan– its genetic and I can’t help myself having grown up in Chicago

  83. 83.

    RobertDSC-PowerMac G4 Dual 1.25

    Good riddance, shitbag Peyton. Your legacy will always be one of failing when it matters the most.

  86. 86.

    Cassidy

    The FB butthurt over the Coke ad is funny. I’m half tempted to mention that Jesus didn’t speak English just to mess with them.

  87. 87.

    Elie

    @Elie:

    I’m embarrassed… sorry — America the Beautiful….Ok maybe this should be our national anthem… in any case, Renee did magic

  91. 91.

    Violet

    @Bill Arnold: I might be paraphrasing some, but he did mention Fox News or “your channel” or something like that. He also kept saying or suggesting that O’Reilly’s questions had false premises. He wasn’t answering the questions because the questions themselves were so ridiculous.

  92. 92.

    p.a.

    Great line from si.com: “The Broncos were nervous at the beginning and dazed soon after that. It was like they showed up pre-concussed.”

  95. 95.

    jl

    @Elie: I root for my regional home teams, since I think we all should try to muster up some regional pride. Regional pride was one of the factors that favored the Seahawks for me. Some other factors favored the Broncos.

    But I didn’t expect the Seahawks to pound the Broncos into the ground. I was forced, out of regional Niner loyalty, to start hating on the Seahawks much sooner than I planned. I was looking forward to being a half-hearted Seahawks fan for ,ost of the game. But those smart-asses wrecked it. See, I tried to like them.

  96. 96.

    kindness

    @Elie: You won a couple times though. The Bears ain’t the Cubs.

    Seattle was the best team this year. At least my Niners gave a game last week. I can be thankful for that.

  99. 99.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Heliopause:

    This is the Death Star vs. Alderaan. This is LBJ vs. Goldwater. This is Bob Beamon in the ’68 Olympics. This is Secretariat in the Belmont.

    Godzilla vs. Bambi

  100. 100.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @kindness:

    Yup, the Niners played a good game, and it was exciting.

    The Super Bowl this year was a snooze, and I’m a die-hard Seahawk fan. I was embarrassed for the Broncos.

  101. 101.

    MikeJ

    @Baud:

    The highlight of this Superbowl was Joe Namath’s attire.

    It was a tip off that the Macklemore’s city was going to win.

  103. 103.

    Baud

    More Newsmax

    Rubio Rising in GOP as Christie Falls

    Until they ask him what he thinks of the Coke ad…

  105. 105.

    jl

    Owohowo-ooo say can you see,
    my country tis of thee
    Oohhh beautiful for Pilgrims Pride
    Baked with spacious grain.

    And the rocket’s red glare
    From every mountain air
    Gave proof through night
    God shed His grace on theeeeee!

    (Maybe that is the teabagger folk anthem)

  106. 106.

    Mike with a Mic

    I… don’t see what’s that offensive about that coke advertisement?

    Even for wingnuts, I just don’t get what the beef there is? Maybe it’s growing up urban, but it reminded me of all that stupid “Jesus loves the little children, red and yellow black and white” Sunday school shit, or the constant “tell us where you family is from” events at school.

  108. 108.

    Violet

    It sucked getting to the stadium and it’s not any better leaving it:

    Super Bowl fans at MetLife Stadium are being told to stay in the stadium due to overcrowding on the NJ Transit train platforms.

    A public address announcer at the stadium announced fans “should remain in the stadium due to the congestion on the platforms.”
    …
    One rider shouted “New Jersey sucks” and the crowd briefly chanted an expletive-filled, three-word phrase whose only printable word was the second: “this.”

  111. 111.

    gogol's wife

    I keep looking at these Super Bowl threads to find out how Renee Fleming was, but nobody mentions her.

  112. 112.

    wasabi gasp

    @Southern Beale: I posted a link to some music a few weeks ago that was performed at Coke Studio Pakistan (Pakistan!) Nutters need not get in an uproar before they know that there is more than one Coke Studio in the world. Another is in India and then, of course, there is the Middle East version.

    I’m a little surprised this hasn’t already caused spittle to fleck on Coke.

    By the way, this is the piece I linked:
    Rustam Fateh Ali Khan & Sumru Ağıryürüyen – Tori Chab and Kalenin Burcu Muyam [Coke Studio Pakistan]

  113. 113.

    jl

    @Mike with a Mic: The Coke ad had people singing a song that they thought was the national anthem, but wasn’t, in another language.

    Like, what if you sang Dixie, in fricken’ Hungarian. ON NATIONAL TV?

    I would be outraged and hurt, nay, violated, if some one sang California Here We Come (edit: on national TV, the damn Superbowl), in Yokut language, after we took it from them. It would be an affront. Even if it sounded better in Yokuts.

    Edit: Oops. Should have checked. The official state song is California, I Love You, not California Here We Come. (or is it I Come? Whatever).

  114. 114.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl: Well, the wife was pissed cause her car was dirty(I’m driving it while recovers from her broken toe) and told me to wash it. I washed my car cause everything was out(soap, hose, etc.).

  115. 115.

    Violet

    @Mike with a Mic: Have you not been paying attention for the last 30 years and especially the last decade? According to conservatives, Republicans and the wingnutsosphere in general, anyone not speaking English in this country is by definition Not An American. Anyone who is not a Christian is by definition Not An American, unless maybe they are Jewish, but only if they are also Republicans.

    “Jesus loves the little children” is sung in English, not other non-American languages.

    Singing the National Anthem, even if it’s “America the Beautiful” and not the actual National Anthem, in any language other than English is an abomination. Anyone who allows that is, by definition, Not An American. Perhaps they are actively plotting against America.

    I ask again, have you not been paying attention for the last 30 years?

  119. 119.

    Laertes

    Yes, America the Beautiful _should_ be the national anthem. Even if you forgive SSB’s jingoism, ATB is just a better song. It’s also more singable, since it requires a much narrower range.

  120. 120.

    jl

    I can never remember anything about California I Love You, except it sounds like it belongs in a medley of tunes from 20s Marx Brothers flicks.

  121. 121.

    Laertes

    And if I ran MSNBC, I’d cite the Coke freakout, re-hire the staffer that I fired for daring to suggest that right-wingers would freak out over any depiction of an other-than-lily-white-English-speaking-Christian America, and publicly demand an apology from Reince Priebus.

  122. 122.

    catclub

    @Jay C: “pretty much unexpected” Only at the middle of the 4th quarte do they mention: “oh, yeah, in the pre-season Seattle clobbered them.”

  123. 123.

    jl

    @BillinGlendaleCA: You’re making weak ass excuses too. Damn, you could be next governor or Georgia.

    But, seriously, glad it rained down there. Too bad car washing day was just before.

  127. 127.

    Violet

    @catclub: Yeah, I heard that bit. My favorite announcer comment was about halfway into the first quarter when one of them said, “We haven’t had much time to talk about Peyton Manning.” I was at the sink getting dinner ready but I cracked up. They’ve had all season and then two full weeks without football in which to talk non-stop about Peyton Manning and his Glorious Comeback of Destiny. If they didn’t talk enough about him to make themselves happy it was their own damn faults.

  129. 129.

    catclub

    @jl: “Like, what if you sang Dixie, in fricken’ Hungarian. ”

    I’m glad I’m not in the land of Cotton, bad times there are best forgotten, get away, get away, get away, Dixieland.

    Now run it through Google translate.

  133. 133.

    Bort

    Seahawks fuck yeah! Also fuck off John “I don’t believe in safety nets” Elway. I hope you get hit by a bus.

  134. 134.

    SinnedBackwards

    Well, sort of secretly supporting Seattle we are pleased.

    80% chance of rain tonight here in Escondido is very much desirable.

    We are desperate for rain. It is a very long time until the 2030’s when our desalinization project makes us independent of Colorado and northern CA water.

    But by then we will be (brag) independent.

  136. 136.

    catclub

    @Baud: “The highlight of this Superbowl was Joe Namath’s attire.”

    Everybody loves a well-dressed pimp. Plus, doesn’t everybody call the toss after the coin hits the ground?

  139. 139.

    Elie

    @gogol’s wife:

    I have commented a couple of times on her… she was AWESOME. She re-wrote the book on American the Beautiful along with the awesome Air Force chorus accompanying her.. She kicked some major music ass in a tough category… “national anthems, etc”…

    (PS — she is my favorite soprano and has a lot of personality and is unpretentious)

  140. 140.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @jl:

    I thought it was “California Girls” myself. Or “I Love LA”. Or “I Left my Heart in San Francisco”

  144. 144.

    Violet

    @Bill Arnold: Awful in what way? I’m not going to click on the link.

    Deadspin has a collection of tweets from people whining about the Coke ad. Apparently there’s a hashtag to accompany the whining: “fuckcoke”. I like this one:

    Jordan Douglass @Jordan_Doug93

    I think it’s such an injustice to play “America The Beautiful” in Spanish #FuckCoke

    An injustice. Yes….

  145. 145.

    Bill Arnold

    @Belafon:

    “And the Bible’s still read in its original Hebrew and Greek.”

    A possibly-apocryphal story about a local school board meeting had a Christian fundamentialist arguing against teaching foreign languages in school because if English was good enough for the bible, it is good enough for our kids.

  146. 146.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Elie: She didn’t rewrite the book on America the Beautiful, unless singing The Star-Spangled Banner somehow qualifies as rewriting the book, which I guess maybe it does.

    She, unfortunately, did that rising “o’er the land of the free-eeeh” that every two-bit singer seems to think is required.. Demeaned the whole rest of the performance, IMO. It’s a national anthem. Sing it by the book or stay home, for fuck’s sake.

  147. 147.

    Suffern ACE

    @jl: I thought it was “It never rains in Southern California” or “California Shoeshine Boys”. I’ve never heard your actual anthem.

  150. 150.

    Nerull

    Boy I’m sure glad MSNBC had to fire someone over the suggestion that conservatives might go apeshit over something as silly as a superbowl commercial.

  151. 151.

    Bill Arnold

    @Violet:
    Awful in that there are a lot of “(INAUDIBLE)”s, all but one of which for Obama’s words. I mean, really, that’s just tacky and rude, Fox.

  157. 157.

    Suffern ACE

    Honestly, I saw the Coke ad and thought it was people all over the world singing America the Beautiful, not non-English speaking Americans singing it. I wasn’t paying much attention. I just kind of thought it odd that Americans believe that people all over the world sing American patriotic songs (that’s how great we are, don’tcha know).

  158. 158.

    Hill Dweller

    @Botsplainer:

    Nobody deserved killing as much as the villain in Sherlock. Jarring.

    Meh. I thought, on balance, this season of Sherlock was shite. The third episode was better than the previous two, but the season was mediocre.

    That said, nothing can harsh my buzz after that horse tooth wing nut John Elway watching his team get dismantled.

  159. 159.

    Violet

    @Bill Arnold: Oh, that’s got to be on purpose. I watched it and there was very little that would be INAUDIBLE, especially from the President. Bill O’Reilly was loud and bombastic as usual.

  161. 161.

    Elie

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Well you know, I liked it. I said she re-wrote the book for ME. You of course, are entitled to your own opinion and I see you disagree. It does not change mine and I think a lot of folks might have enjoyed it even with your important critical points taken into consideration.

  162. 162.

    jl

    When New Orwacalinevizona breaks away from the U.S., I’m gonna run a campaign to make Route 66 our national anthem.

    We’ll hack off all the names east of New Mexico, since, I mean, really, who cares about those?

    Not sure what we’ll do with Arizona. Run it as a territory again until it can act grown up I guess.

    But, point being, who would mess with a Route 66 national anthem?

  164. 164.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Elie: She didn’t “re-write the book on ‘America the Beautiful'” because she didn’t *sing* “America the Beautiful.”

  168. 168.

    Gin & Tonic

    @JPL: I guess it’s good that I said “in my opinion” just in case somebody was under the impression I was stating a fact.

  169. 169.

    scav

    @Suffern ACE: But Everyone Abroad already speaks English but are simply not doing so out of jealous spite! Just Speak. Loudly. and. Slowly. Enough. at them for long enough in a public place and they’ll finally be broken into acknowledging it. They put up all those road and other signs in some soft of sneaky code to instead of something comprehensible and tourist friendly for the same reason, ungrateful brutes.

  170. 170.

    Laertes

    @Gin & Tonic:

    There’s nothing necessarily wrong with a singer taking some liberties with a song. When Ray Charles did America the Beautiful, you’d hear some notes that Ward didn’t write. The Star Spangled Banner, being kind of a crappy song, doesn’t offer as good a canvas for a singer to paint on. And the tradition of showing off on the high note often leads to ghastly results.

  171. 171.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Elie: What the fuck does that have to do with anything? Her personality doesn’t sing, her voice does. People with atrocious personalities sometimes make wonderful performers.

  173. 173.

    Elie

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Yeah — gotcha.. I enjoyed which ever of our national songs she sang… she has a beautiful voice and she made the music soar… I loved her voice. She could sing just about anything and I would love it…I was so pleased to see her …

    6 years ago she sang “You’ll never walk alone” — during the first Obama inaugural and she just wowed me on that. I have several of her operas, though I haven’t yet heard her in person, which is my goal

    My apologies for being a bitch…I don’t expect anyone to share my opinion… I just wanted to state what I liked..

  175. 175.

    Violet

    @Elie: I thought Renee Fleming did a good job too. It was nice to see someone who wasn’t a pop star singing the national anthem. I was in the kitchen listening to it, so I might have missed some nuances, but I enjoyed the performance.

  177. 177.

    Violet

    @Cervantes: As I said above, I’m not going to click on the foxnews link. They get enough clicks without me adding to it. If I mis-remembered what was said, feel free to correct me. It was several hours ago and I was doing something else while watching so my memory of it might not be perfect. Someone asked and I seemed to be the only person who had actually seen the interview, so I summarized it best as I could remember.

  180. 180.

    jl

    @Laertes:

    ” The Star Spangled Banner, being kind of a crappy song, ”

    You risk the wrath of Anacreon, ensconced as a god in heaven, at your peril.

  182. 182.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Laertes: Fleming is a great singer. She could have done a wonderful, superb job without that stupid trick, which I thought beneath her. Clearly others disagree. That’s what makes for horse races.

  185. 185.

    Violet

    @Cervantes: For what? Linking the transcript? That was linked above already by Bill Arnold? Was I not appropriately appreciative of you providing the transcript? My apologies.

  186. 186.

    jl

    @Cervantes: Sorry, when we separate from the rest of the U.S. if your little whistle stop is east of New Mexico, it can’t be in our national anthem.

  187. 187.

    jl

    @Cervantes: Sorry, when we separate from the rest of the U.S. if your little whistle stop is east of New Mexico, it can’t be in our national anthem.

  188. 188.

    Laertes

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Meh. I don’t have an opinion about tonight’s performance. I’m just arguing with “Sing it by the book or stay home, for fuck’s sake.” There’s nothing necessarily wrong with taking a few liberties.

  189. 189.

    pseudonymous in nc

    I expected Seattle to win, in spite of Vegas and punditry joining the cult of Manning. Not by that much.

    There’s not much worse in sport than the end of a blowout Super Bowl, and that goes back to my time watching it in UK time with a Bills fan who grew up in Toronto. Yeah, those games. It’s hard to garbage-time the clock into submission.

    And whoever at Anheuser-Busch decided that the puppy ad should be held over till the two minute warning is feeling a bit sick tonight.

  191. 191.

    Violet

    @Laertes: I don’t like the “laaaand of the free–eeee” (with the “eeee” stepping up in pitch) that much either. Seems unnecessary and a flourish that puts the focus on the singer and not on the song.

  192. 192.

    Violet

    @pseudonymous in nc: Yeah, the puppy ad should have been in the first quarter. Or at least the second quarter. It was a good ad and I’m sure a lot of people missed it because the game was so bad.

  193. 193.

    Laertes

    @Violet:

    Yeah, that’s generally dreadful. The singer is always to blame for that unfortunate choice, but I always kind of feel sorry for them. It’s just a bad song, and it’s awfully hard to sound good singing it. Just about the best you can hope for is boring.

  195. 195.

    max

    Yay! It’s over! Another crappy milestone to remind everyone of how crappy winter is!

    max
    [‘I missed the first 55 minutes of Sherlock, too, and while I like Benedict, I can’t say it seems like I missed much.’]

  196. 196.

    Calming Influence

    @jl: When Washington State goes native and breaks away to become The Mellowish Sovereign Nation of Pacific Northwesterness, the national anthem will be Box of Rain. And you will bow down.

  198. 198.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Cervantes: Why not? If one has chosen to live someplace, one probably sees some upside to being there. If so, why should one not take pride in (i.e., celebrate) those things? If, on the other hand, one is stuck someplace because of circumstances beyond one’s control, looking for upsides to that place and celebrating them can be a palliative.

  199. 199.

    Ajabu

    And for those who’d like to sing along — all four verses!!
    Notice that we’re a friendly folk. None of that beat the shit out of other countries for our song.

    All hail, our Virgin Islands.
    Em’ralds of the sea
    Where beaches bright with coral sand
    And trade winds bless our native land.
    All hail, our Virgin Islands,
    Bathed in waters blue.
    We give our loyalty,
    Full to thee,
    And pledge allegiance forever true.

    To thee, our Virgin Islands,
    Loving voices raise
    A song in praise of brotherhood
    Where right makes might to fight for good.
    To thee, our Virgin Islands,
    Haven of the free,
    We sing our love to thee,
    Joyously,
    Our own fair islands of liberty.

    March on, oh Virgin Islands,
    In the joyful throng.
    Uphold the right and right the wrong
    Where only peace and love belong.
    March on, oh Virgin Islands,
    Democratic land.
    Together, hand in hand,
    Take your stand,
    Forever soldiers in freedom’s band.

    God bless our Virgin Islands,
    Humbly now we pray,
    Where all mankind can join today
    In friendly warmth of work and play.
    God bless our Virgin Islands,
    Beautiful and tall,
    Beneath a sunny sky,
    Hilltops high
    Hold out a welcome for one and all.

  200. 200.

    Geoduck

    @Calming Influence:

    When Washington State goes native and breaks away to become The Mellowish Sovereign Nation of Pacific Northwesterness, the national anthem will be Box of Rain. And you will bow down.

    Aww, can’t we go with Louie Louie?

  202. 202.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Laertes:

    It’s just a bad song, and it’s awfully hard to sound good singing it.

    “And fish in the sky, and a big monkey pie…”

    It’s a drinking song with silly lyrics grafted on, and you might as well rattle it off uptempo instead of trying to slather it in a pomp that it doesn’t naturally possess and never will.

  203. 203.

    Cervantes

    @Violet: Oh, not to worry. As I said, don’t mention it.

    But now you’re reminding me of Denis Healey, and it’s not because of your eyebrows, either.

  204. 204.

    jl

    @Ajabu:

    Sounds nice. I was going to make a crack about whether that is the music for Hail Freedonia in Duck Soup, but probably that is rude. But seriously, nice song for a national anthem. Sounds better than ours, IMHO.

    @Calming Influence:

    My plan was to include Tacoma and Walla Walla in Route 66 (edit, which would be the greatest national anthem, ever), and reroute that sucker to make it true. Think about it.

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yeah. Damn straight. I grew up in the Central Valley. Talk about making lemonade for regional pride. Shit, is Mickey’s Grove still open? We gotta have something. We have the Pinnacles National Park, I guess, but that is stretching it.

  209. 209.

    Calming Influence

    @Geoduck:

    Aww, can’t we go with Louie Louie?

    Sure, I don’t have a problem with that! Wanna go for a smoke and discuss secession? Because the rest of the country’s gone nuts and it’s time to circle the fucking wagons and take care of ourselves. (I believe Russell Wilson would make a fine prime minister.)

  217. 217.

    jl

    In honor of the Seachickens’ (better enjoy it this year, guys, before SF crushes you next season) great victory, I direct your attention to this celebration of Washington State, which was for some reason right below the beautiful Washington state song.

    Trucking Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State (1 Hour Special)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f85QvRk9FAo

  218. 218.

    Calming Influence

    @jl: I’m humbled; thank you for the reminder. However, as you say, I think we’ll probably want to “Dead it up” quite a bit. And we’ll want a Hendrix version for sporting events. (These are details that often stymy less serious secession attempts.)

  222. 222.

    Mnemosyne

    When it was on earlier, Charlotte couldn’t care less about the Kitten Bowl, but now she’s fascinated.

  224. 224.

    Cervantes

    @Elie: I saw her in New York a number of times, by chance, when she was young and pretty much unknown. In the late 80s when she was already famous, I caught her Mimi in La Bohème — sublime. Seen her a number of times since then.

    As it’s your goal, I hope you get to see her in person, too, soon.

  225. 225.

    Cervantes

    @jl:

    Sorry, when we separate from the rest of the U.S. if your little whistle stop is east of New Mexico, it can’t be in our national anthem.

    Ingrate!

    Bobby Troup, who wrote “Route 66” — your would-be anthem — was from Pennsylvania.

    He is buried in LA, though, so there’s that.

  226. 226.

    Cervantes

    @Omnes Omnibus: I asked why. I wanted to know why the statement was made. What was behind it? Hence the question.

    You ask why not. I’m not saying it’s necessarily harmful, but it can be. For one thing, it’s easily exploitable.

    Anyway, here’s one understanding of “regional pride” I can dig.

  228. 228.

    jl

    @Cervantes: ‘Cause if you grow up in the Central Valley of California, you gotta have something. Besides a girlfriend and a plan.

    I never touched meth, for example.

    So, that is my reasoning.

  229. 229.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Cervantes: I offered two categories of explanation of why one might feel regional pride. I would guess that those two categories cover most people. Any kind of group identification can be positive or negative. Looking far back into history, I think my high school was a great place. It offered the International Baccalaureate diploma program – I got into the program the second year it was offered. It was a place where learning was encouraged and the faculty was knowledgeable, caring, and demanding. I take pride in it. I don’t, however, think that other high schools were necessarily inferior. Although many were/are. This is a form of regional pride. The people in my hometown cared enough that they made sure that their schools were excellent.

  231. 231.

    Cervantes

    @jl: Thanks for the explanation. I was just curious.

    So if you’re trying “to muster up some regional pride” then, here’s something that may help: the Farmer Boys, early ’50s. Back then they used to be nightly on TV with Herb Henson (KERO Bakersfield). Sometimes Buck Owens — a very young Buck Owens — played guitar.

    (On second thought, if this doesn’t help in your quest, let me know.)

  233. 233.

    karen

    Elway said he didn’t believe in “safety nets” and that’s why he’s a Republican. Maybe he shouldn’t have opened his yapper and offended the football gods.

  234. 234.

    Joel

    @Heliopause: This is like the ’85 Bears destroying the Grogan-era Patriots. Key difference being that the Patriots were not considered a very good team going in.

  239. 239.

    James E. Powell

    @Joel:

    Tony Eason started. He is the only starting quarterback in a Super Bowl who did not complete a pass.

    I don’t remember how many times he was sacked or hit, but he wasn’t able to do anything. Grogan replaced him in the second quarter.

  242. 242.

    Bob In Portland

    @danielx: They aren’t an either/or. It’s just the seasons. Pretty soon we’ll be getting warmer weather, the women will be out on the street without winter attire. We’ll be getting reports from spring training, reports on cornerbacks running wind sprints in Indianapolis. It’s all good.

  243. 243.

    Bob In Portland

    @Joel: Not too worried about that. The Niners have a bunch of talent they hid on injured reserve this year, plus something like a dozen picks in the draft. They need another receiver and some more help in the defensive backfield. We were eighteen seconds and nineteen yards from beating the Hawks. It’s not an impossibility.

    But for those east of the Mississippi, the Cards had ten wins last year and didn’t even make the playoffs, and St. Louis was looking tough with their backup qb at the end of the year. There will be ass kicked out west.

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