Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Tick tock motherfuckers!

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

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

Is trump is trying to break black America over his knee? signs point to ‘yes’.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

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

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

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

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

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93Comments

  1. 1.

    c u n d gulag

    CLAPTON IS THE FSM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Or, the FGM – Flying Guitar Master!

  2. 2.

    lamh36

    Best places to find cheap airline tickets. I’m traveling to DC. My flex dates are July 21-27. I ne ed to be in DC A Wed Thurs and Fri in case I get WH tour.

    So air transport would be good but I’m open to other means of transportation.

  4. 4.

    lamh36

    Best places to find cheap airline tickets. I’m traveling to DC. My dates are July 21-27. I ne ed to be in DC A Wed Thurs and Fri in case I get WH tour.

    So air transport would be good but I’m open to other means of transportation.

  6. 6.

    lamh36

    Best places to find cheap airline tickets. I’m traveling to DC. My dates are July 21-27. I need to be there Wed Thurs and Fri in case I get WH tour.

    So air transport would be good but I’m open to other means of transportation.

  8. 8.

    Suffern ACE

    I’m surrounded by climate change deniers today. “I’m not a denier! Anyone who tells you the science is settled isn’t a scientist. Scientists are still testing Einstein’s theory. Science isn’t settled. Even the guy who used to own the weather channel admits that it’s all about advancing careers”.

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36:

    Shall we try to do a DC area Balloon Juice meetup while you are here? Do you have the time?

    PS: I don’t know about cheap air tix. Sorry. But come on up!

  13. 13.

    Suffern ACE

    Did you know more birds are killed by solar panels than were ever killed by pesticides?

  14. 14.

    jibeaux

    @Suffern ACE: just a plucky band of oil companies and millionaires standing up to Big Science!

    Lamh, try Southwest if they go to/from where you want. They don’t show up on the aggregator websites.

  15. 15.

    Belafon

    @Suffern ACE: “Yes, they are still testing Einstein’s theory, but they still use it as the best theory on gravity. We don’t stop accepting gravitational pull just because we call it a theory.”

  16. 16.

    wmd

    the U.S. House made an historic move by voting to prohibit the Drug Enforcement Administration from interfering with state medical marijuana laws. The bipartisan amendment passed with 219 ‘yes’ votes.

    The House also approved amendments prohibiting the DEA from interfering with state hemp production laws and hemp research programs.

    These historic votes are major victories. It’s the first time that Congress has ever approved any major marijuana law reform.

  18. 18.

    Belafon

    Gotta love some of the Newsmax headlines:

    Should Hillary Run in 2016? Vote in Urgent Poll Now

    Vote now to stop Hillary from running! You’re vote in a self-selecting online poll is all that stands between her and the presidency!

  21. 21.

    MikeJ

    @Suffern ACE: Everything in science can be overturned when better evidence comes along, so in that sense nothing is ever settled. However, if you ignore relativity when programming a gps receiver you’re not going to wind up where you want to be.

  22. 22.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    the U.S. House made an historic move by voting to prohibit the Drug Enforcement Administration from interfering with state medical marijuana laws. The bipartisan amendment passed with 219 ‘yes’ votes.

    @wmd: I am honestly stunned. Didn’t think that had a chance in hell of passing.

    This is the first really good political news I’ve heard in years.

    Get it through the Senate and let’s get that fucker signed!

  23. 23.

    scav

    @Suffern ACE: Scientists have yet to prove conclusively there are sentient, let alone intelligent, humans in your immediate vicinity! (Test programs being developed, null hypothesis is not, to be on the safe side. Granted, a few do posit a null of r-brain baseline capability.) Tell them you need to run a few more tests on them and their qualifications before you are willing to entertain their theories about anything.

  27. 27.

    DougJ

    @lamh36:

    Where are you flying out of?

    (As others mentioned, you might try SW to BWI which won’t show up on Travelocity.)

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    @Belafon:

    Yes, they are still testing Einstein’s theory, but they still use it as the best theory on gravity.

    This. They’re looking to see if they can find holes and/or make it work better with quantum mechanics, but General Relativity makes it possible to build GPS that works and fly spacecraft to other planets accurately, neither of which you can do with Newtonian gravity. Newtonian gravity can be seen as an approximation or special case of Einsteinian gravity that gives “good enough” results for ordinary situations here on Earth. Similarly, Einstein’s gravity will wind up being an approximation or special case of whatever replaces it that gives “good enough” results even for exotic, tricky, high-precision calculations here in the solar system.

  29. 29.

    Alexandra

    DougJ: precious little on ‘teh Jeb is handsome’ watch so far… but plenty of gushing about George P. Bush on the lush factor

    Once Jeb joins battle with Hillary, I expect the fawning over his shoulder-width to become something to keep a watch on.

  31. 31.

    Suffern ACE

    @lamh36: @raven: Agree. Look into Baltimore. It does add a bit of time to the trip to take the train, but if time on the first and last day isn’t an issue, it’s not a problem. BWI is usually cheaper.

    Lamh, if moving hotels isn’t an issue, consider staying by one of the hotels in Arlington by National Airport or Alexandria. As long as you’re by the metro, you’ll be fine. DC hotels are much much much more expensive during the weekdays. Also, nothing much happens in DC at night during the week. Outside DC the pricing is better. I stayed at a Residence Inn in Alexandria Old Town last weekend that wasn’t bad. If you want to be in DC, you can move Friday night. Or stay where you are.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    @DougJ: I don’t really give a crap either, but I know he has many fans here. Maybe Karen Finney could take over. That would blow some minds.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    @raven:

    Oh gosh yes re Southwest to Baltimore today. I’m glad someone was thinking.

    Plus: excellent MARC (local) train service from BWI airport to Union Station DC, where you can hop on Metrorail’s red line or hail a cab.

    MARC only runs weekdays, if I recall. And you can take food on it!

    Southwest also flies to Dulles, but ground transportation can add up unless you take the Washington Flyer or shuttle buses … you can transfer to the Vienna (VA) Metrorail. Or rent a car.

    Assuming Southwest to Washington National* (aka DCA) would be more expensive, but maybe you can get a deal.

    *Others call it Reagan National. I refuse to do so. Locals did not choose that name. Republicans in Congress stuck us with it.

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Betty Cracker: Probably tired of all the bullshit he has to put up with from the three year old twits of the WH Press Corpse.

    Wipe them out. All of them.

  39. 39.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Alexandra: “You can land a 737 on his shoulders!”

    (which is something Tweety actually said about the Marquis de Mittens.)

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @raven: Well, yeah. He needs to cash in before he brings an Uzi to a press briefing and opens up on that utter fuckstick Henry.

  45. 45.

    Roger Moore

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    He needs to cash in before he brings an Uzi to a press briefing and opens up on that utter fuckstick Henry.

    Wouldn’t it be better to put bontoxilysin in their water cooler? You could probably get more of them that way.

  48. 48.

    Alexandra

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    It’s deeply sad. But funny, too.

    The most resonant thing I’ve read about politics and life in the last five years, was someone somewhere describing humans as ‘status-seeking social apes’.

    Once read, never forgotten.

  49. 49.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Roger Moore: Yeah, but it’s the visceral satisfaction of the screams of terror and all the noise of the rounds going off that is the attraction here. I mean, if you’re going to engage in mass murder, do it with some panache.

    “You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts…but you cannot deny he’s got style…”

  50. 50.

    Anoniminous

    Was being yakked at, asked questions, and generally distracted when fixing lunch. I grabbed a handful of dried fruit out of what I thought was the bag of large raisins. Turned out to be the bag of small prunes.

    The rest of the afternoon and early evening shall be interesting.

  52. 52.

    Roger Moore

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    I thought the satisfaction would be from removing the largest possible number of parasites from the body politic. And I think the mass poisoning approach has a certain panache as well. Perhaps Polonium 210 would be a better choice, especially for the ones who like Putin a bit too much.

  55. 55.

    Anoniminous

    @Alexandra:

    Technically, that works for our hominidae brethren and sisthren: gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans, too. And most primates.

    (I say “most” because I know almost nothing of lemurs.)

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    KAY,

    did you see this?

    ………….

    A dozen problems with charter schools – Washington Post, May 20

    School reformers keep talking about charter schools as if they were the answer to public education’s problems, when there is a great deal of evidence that shows big problems with the charter sector.

    For example, a report on Pennsylvania’s charter schools recently released by a state legislator found that only one in six of the state’s charter schools is”high-performing” and it notes that none of the online charters is “high-performing.”

    ………………

    These charter schools also serve significantly fewer special education students than traditional students. Only two of these 28 high performing charter schools have a special education student population greater than the 15% average of traditional public schools. Further, as noted in the 2013 Special Education Funding Commission report, charter school enroll significantly less special education students with severe disabilities than traditional public schools.

    washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/20/a-dozen-problems-with-charter-schools/

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    Lupita Nyong’o Optioned Film Rights to Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah. WIN!

    If you all need me, I’ll be laid out at the altar because my heart just couldn’t take the awesomeness. IndieWire confirmed that my main boo Lupita Nyong’o optioned the film rights for my other boo and Naija sisthren Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book Americanah!

    networkedblogs.com/Xj2Q0
    :

  60. 60.

    jnfr

    @lamh36:

    Good luck on the White House tour! We applied six months ahead to get into ours, but it was well worth it. Incredible place with incredible history. And tiny inside. All the rooms are so tiny, which you’d never guess from pictures.

    We were especially lucky because Pres Obama was taking off in his big official helicopter and so we got to stand outside and wave at him as he got on (he waved back). They said that only happens once a year or so.

  61. 61.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    Does anybody else believe that Richard Martinez is going to keep hammering at the N.R.A. until something happens? I’m pulling for that guy. I can’t begin to fathom going through what he’s been dealing with, but he’s up on his feet, speaking out about guns. Naturally, the wingnuts are already dumping on him. with a name like Martinez, they’re bound to scour his life for any sign of perfidy…

  62. 62.

    raven

    @jnfr: I once got to see Nixon’s chopper land on the WH lawn. 1000 Nam Vets giving him the finger, it was swell!

  63. 63.

    Keith G

    So, an Atlanta area SWAT team conducted a drug raid which started off with them tossing a stun grenade into the house – it landed on a pillow next to the head of a sleeping child.

    The child and family were just staying over night and seemingly had no involvement with the issue that brought the cops to/through the door – not that it would be better if they had.

    Yay cops. Yay SWAT teams. Yay war on drugs.

  66. 66.

    Hal

    I’m sad NPR is ending Tell Me More. I liked the topics the show covered, though Michelle Martin’s willingness to give Bush II speech writer Mary Kate Carey a platform to constantly defend her old boss was annoying. Still, the story she tells of what gave her the idea for the show is really interesting. Not much left to listen to for me on NPR in my neck of the woods.

    npr.org/2014/05/28/316677634/choosing-to-stay-when-tell-me-more-ends

  67. 67.

    raven

    @Keith G: Same county

    A former Georgia police officer must stand trial to defend himself against misconduct alleged in a lawsuit stemming from the fatal shooting of a Southern Baptist minister in a botched drug-sting investigation in 2009, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 4. But two supervisors were cleared of failing to properly train him in the use of deadly force.

    The appeals court said a lower court acted properly in refusing to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed in 2010 by the widow of Jonathan Ayers, pastor of Shoals Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia, Ga. Ayers, 28, was fatally shot by Deputy Sheriff Billy Shane Harrison, who mistook him for a drug-dealer suspect fleeing arrest in a gas-station parking lot in Toccoa, Ga., on Sept. 1, 2009.

  68. 68.

    Dee Loralei

    @Elizabelle: I’m gonna be in DC June 11&12, let’s have a drink! After dinner would work best for me, since my son and I are traveling with my elderly father and he doesn’t do late dinners well. But my son and I are playing tourist those 2 days and have our nights after 7:30 or 8 p, free. Anyone interested?

  69. 69.

    DougJ

    @lamh36:

    I think Southwest flies out of there and won’t show up on aggregators. They may or may not have the best deal, but worth checking out

    Flights are brutally expensive this summer.

  71. 71.

    Betty Cracker

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Man, I hope so — I am pulling for Mr. Martinez too. Read a quote from him yesterday in which he acknowledged that the loons would hammer him full-force. He said something like “My only child is dead. There’s nothing worse that can happen to me.” I just can’t….

    He’s a brave, educated, passionate man with the best motivation on earth to take those NRA scum bags on. Godspeed, Mr. Martinez.

  73. 73.

    rikyrah

    I-Team: Bronx Building Turns Away Black Tenants, Lawsuit Charges
    By Ann Givens and Chris Glorioso
    NBC 4 New York

    A Bronx landlord discriminates against black people, telling prospective tenants who are black that there are no vacancies in their buildings just moments after telling white people that the building has available apartments, according to a lawsuit filed after secret recordings were made by undercover testers. Chris Glorioso reports

    A Bronx landlord is accused of discriminating against prospective black tenants, telling them there are no vacancies available moments after telling white applicants that the building has open apartments, according to a lawsuit filed after secret recordings were made by undercover testers.

    This week, the housing testers for New York’s Fair Housing Justice Center took the I-Team with them behind the scenes of one investigation, sharing recordings captured by hidden microphones, that they say reveals blatant discrimination by one Bronx landlord.

    http://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/racial-discrimination-black-renters-bronx-woodlawn–260177541.html

  74. 74.

    Cacti

    Steve Ballmer will be purchasing the Los Angeles Clippers for a reported 2 billion dollars.

    Truly, Sterling is being punished.

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    @Dee Loralei:

    Yes, yes, yes! Would be lovely. I should be around. Let’s keep asking around. Think we could get a good group together.

    Would be fab to have a June meetup with you, and then a July meetup with lamh.

  78. 78.

    Trollhattan

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    He’s made of tougher stuff than I, and I’m cheering for him. Sadly, losing a son is only the beginning of his troubles considering the ethics and mental health of his newfound enemies.

    ETA we found out last night the neighbors’ son is a UCSB student and knew one of the female victims. This stuff isn’t just news fodder, it’s real people, real lives.

  79. 79.

    Elizabelle

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): @Dee Loralei:

    Valdivia! eemom! Pink snapdragon. All our DC buds. Come on down. Perk up your ears and start thinking of a good place.

    I’m wondering about whatever took place of the old Hotel Washington. Rooftop deck with amazing view of DC and monuments.

    Also thinking Rosa Mexicano, right near Metro Center. Pomegranate margaritas! Tableside guacamole.

    Or tapas at Jaleo. Or Capital City Brewpub or another brewpub.

    Lots of good places near a Metro. Thinking caps, all.

  81. 81.

    Hal

    @Cacti: I feel so sorry for him. I mean, the guy paid 12 million for the team. This is worse than slavery.

  82. 82.

    Roger Moore

    @Cacti:

    Truly, Sterling is being punished.

    It was never in the cards for the NBA to punish him seriously for what he said, except incidentally. The other owners don’t want the league to be able to hand out real punishments for fear they’ll be next. They wanted to get rid of Sterling as a PR move, nothing more, nothing less.

  84. 84.

    Belafon

    @rikyrah: In one of those bad things/good things, make sure you add that as an addendum to anyone who reads Coates’ article and says “well, it’s not happening now.”

  85. 85.

    Dee Loralei

    @Elizabelle: I’m excited and up for anything. I want to meet all of you guys! And I don’t care where. We’re staying in VA supposedly right on the metro line, because my father does not want to actually go in to DC so Cooper and I are playing tourist whilst he is playing expert witness.

    YAY! This is gonna be great. BTW, my son is 23 and really cute if anyone is around his age, or has a daughter, friend etc who might want to meet a handsome young man from Memphis. But he’ll be happy to hang out with us anyway, and he’s a good liberal boy. LOL

  87. 87.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Hal:

    I hadn’t heard that, and I’m sorry. I can’t claim to be a regular Tell Me More listener — my local NPR station has jerked around the schedule a couple of times (and really have been airing it for only the past couple of years) — but for the most part, when I have heard it, I’ve found the programs to be thoughtful and the topics intelligently discussed.

    That was an interesting story about how Martin got the idea for the program. Thanks for linking.

  89. 89.

    MazeDancer

    Delaney & Bonnie & Friends! One of my favorite albums.

    Keep this up and Delbert McClinton will be appearing soon.

  90. 90.

    Suzanne

    @Elizabelle: Here in PHX, our main airport is called Sky Harbor. A few years ago, there was some talk of changing it to Goldwater Sky Harbor. That shit got shot right down. God forbid, if anyone ever tries to call it McCain Airport once the old bastard kicks it, I will oppose vehemently.

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    @Dee Loralei:

    Wunderbar. We will get a good group together. You’re here June 11 and 12th. Believe that’s a Weds. and Thursday evening.

  92. 92.

    Elizabelle

    @Suzanne:

    Sky Harbor is such a pretty name for an airport. I hope they never change it.

    Enough on naming public infrastructure after people who don’t believe in it and won’t properly fund or maintain it.

    I hope DC gets its Washington National Airport name back after Nancy Reagan passes. It’s geographically descriptive and honors our first president too.

  93. 93.

    Marco

    If we can really talk about everyrhing, I’d love to share that I’m about to fulfill my dream to visit the States. I live in Austria and have visited almost every country on the continent, but now I’m about to set feet at another one. I’ve already reserved my flight and I just booked a hotel at new-york.hotelscheap.org/, so I’m just so excited and I just can’t hide it! Hope that I can find something that’s actually cheap in NYC, just because I’ve heard that it is one of the most expensive cities.

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