Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Let there be snark.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

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

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

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

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

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

Shut up, hissy kitty!

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

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96Comments

  4. 4.

    Mnemosyne

    Any cat rescue peeps still up? I think I saw a cat who needs help while I was taking an evening walk, but we have NO room for a fourth cat in our 2-bedroom apartment.

    Short version: friendly cat who was so skinny you could feel her spine, but had a big belly, so almost certainly pregnant. We do not have a room where a strange cat could stay separate from our current 3 cats.

  7. 7.

    Suffern ACE

    I’m trying to prepare for the balloon juice fantasy draft tomorrow afternoon. My work fantasy team draft was awful. Tomorrow’s approach will be to only draft players with name without the letters M, T, S, R and E. I hope it works.

  9. 9.

    mdblanche

    If President Obama is a black man, and he was wearing a tan suit, and he was vowing action against a group of terrorists, then can you guess which Congressman was offended? That’s right, Peter King.

  11. 11.

    scav

    He also serves who also provides the blank canvas (Theo, not Vincent VG for the nonce), let alone leaves the back door unlocked for a party. Late summer blahs seems appropriate, in fact, a damned relief if it could really be managed.

  14. 14.

    GxB

    How about opinions on the new-ish Onion effort: Clickhole? It’s a direct rip on the likes of Buzzfeed and its ilk.

    As always, biting satire and some of the stuff is way OTT. Well, they’re in an arms race with the lunatics of the internet so, fire with fire I guess.

  16. 16.

    Suffern ACE

    I think I’m through with internet retail if this “terms of service” abuse catches on. I think we need a constitutional amendment to safeguard the right to be a difficult customer.

  17. 17.

    Mnemosyne

    @MattF:

    One of the people interviewed in that story seemed to naively think that the KKK had accidentally tossed their filth into the yards of local Latinos. Yeah … the KKK assholes accidentally let those Latino families know that the KKK knew where they lived.

  18. 18.

    Tommy

    @Mnemosyne: I rescued two. I told the story here once and folks tracked me down in other threads to say how cool the story was. I can’t even tell you how long it took me to get the cat to accept me. But she does. Folks come to my house and are stunned my cat is always around me. Lock step with me. She is never more than a few feet from me. She needs my attention close to 24/7. At times it pisses me off, but just a little.

  19. 19.

    Hal

    @MattF:

    Similar efforts are underway around the country, Mr. Jones said. In Hampton Bays, Mr. Jones said, the work is being done by a 32-year-old “active exalted Cyclops,” a man he declined to identify but who, he said, lives in town, where he runs a klavern, or local chapter, that is one of three in New York State.

    Yeesh. Probably some dude who lives in his mother’s basement.

  20. 20.

    Tommy

    The cat story. I was at a Super Bowl party a few years ago. These teens are throwing these kittens into a little pool. Seem to be getting joy in it. By kittens I mean kittens. They’d fit in my hand they were so young. I went right over and stopped it. Yelled at them that they’d do this. Those kittens came to my household.

    It took a lot of time to get her used to me. They’d literally run into walls trying to get away from me. I put them in a room. Give them shirts I wore to get my scent. Laid in the fetal position for hours until they would come near me. They eventually came around to me. It took effort, a lot of effort, but she is close to my best friend.

    As I type this Mather is pushing my hand. Wanting some love. She needs attention 24/7.

  21. 21.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Mnemosyne: Actually, I think accidental is quite possible given my opinion of the ability of KKK types to find their own asses with two hands and a compass.

  26. 26.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet is damn near the perfect pop love song.*

    * I said pop, so Otis and Sam are excluded.

  27. 27.

    PurpleGirl

    @Mnemosyne: Sorry but I’m in NYC so can’t help you with a preggers momcat. Maybe two weeks ago I saw a stray older kitten cross my path (from its size maybe 10 weeks old). But I haven’t seen the kitten since.

  28. 28.

    Chris T.

    @Mnemosyne: Ah. Way too far away for me, even if I’d gotten moved to California yet, which I haven’t.

    On a different note entirely (since this is an open thread) I just misread a TPM blurb about “gun tourism” as “gun terrorism”. That second phrase seems about right…

  29. 29.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @srv: A certain someone who cannot be named without having Godwin go all Godwin on you also wore tan at times.

    As for Peter King, surely there’s a 16 ton weight somewhere in the tri-state area that can be found and accidentally dropped on him.

  31. 31.

    Violet

    @mdblanche: I think this is my favorite part of his spittle-flecked tirade:

    he’s trying to act like real Americans care about the economy, not about ISIS and not about terrorism.

    How dare anyone, especially the Muslim Kenyan usurper, say Real Murkins care about the economy! Everyone knows Real Murkins only care about terrorism!

  33. 33.

    PurpleGirl

    @Villago Delenda Est: Yes, his uniforms were khaki green, tan, tan with black trousers, many variations on a theme. All specially designed for him and custom made. Nothing off the rack for him. (Have hit the silly time of day.)

    ETA: As certain fictional character used to say: Peter King can kiss mah grits. WTF is he saying about President Obama. Mr. King, it is President Obama. Show some respect.

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    I just woke my spouse up out of sound sleep to say those words that every husband loves to hear:

    “OMFG THERE’S A HUGE FUCKING SPIDER IN THE BATHROOM I THINK IT’S A BLACK WIDOW YOU NEED TO KILL IT NOWNOWNOW!”

    (We live in Southern California, so it could very easily have been a black widow — it was very large, very black, and very shiny. Not linking to pictures or I will not sleep tonight.)

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Amir Khalid:

    Are such terms of service legally enforceable?

    That is not the question to ask. The proper question is whether the terms of service are worth the expense of fighting. Litigation is expensive.

  38. 38.

    Suffern ACE

    @Amir Khalid: I’m going to say “no” but since complaining isn’t a recognized right, it may be possible to sign it away in the vast gibbledeegook of the ten page terms of service agreement.

  41. 41.

    JCT

    @Mnemosyne: I had one of those emerge from the faucet of my outdoor sink once- big red hourglass and everything. I nearly lost my shit. Hate spiders!

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Mnemosyne: A lawyer will charge at least $250 per hour. A case like that is at least $25,000 out of pocket. Is the satisfaction worth it?

  44. 44.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    To me, yes, but I’m someone who once ruined my own credit by refusing to pay a hospital bill that my insurance company was supposed to pay. They eventually did, three years later. So I’m probably just the kind of asshole who would go, Fuck me? No, no, fuck you!

  45. 45.

    Amir Khalid

    @PurpleGirl:
    A quibble: If them Führerduds were specially designed for him, i.e. no one else wore the same clothing, then they were by definition not uniforms, regardless of any resemblance thereto. And aren’t military-uniform codes very very fussy about conformity?

  46. 46.

    Mnemosyne

    @JCT:

    I think it’s pretty clear from the above narrative that I definitely lost my shit. I’m still trying to calm down enough to go to sleep.

    In the middle of it, the cats decided to wander towards the bathroom to see what was going on, which was a whole other level of nightmare for me.

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Mnemosyne: if you have a viable case, and you write me monthly checks, I would take the case. OTOH, I would tell you that you are vindicating a feeling – and my engagement letter would note that.

  49. 49.

    Suffern ACE

    @Chris T.: the solution is to have your friends write the reviews, I guess. I could start a website called writemybadreview.com where I would write the reviews for $5.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    An ambitious lawyer would see if s/he could get a class action together. It sounds like this isn’t the first time they’ve done this.

    ETA: And, yes, it would be a personal feeling that a company shouldn’t be allowed to charge me $250 and threaten to ruin my credit over a returned iPhone case. I’m funny that way. :-)

  52. 52.

    Chris T.

    @Suffern ACE: I like that idea… but if someone doesn’t write a good bad review, can you give them a bad review yourself, or do you have to hire someone else to write a good bad review for the bad-review writer? :-)

  53. 53.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mnemosyne: Get either a baseball bat or a piece of closet pole and smash the sucker. Around here, it’s a good chance it’s a widow.

    Just got back from dinner with the wife and kid in honor of their b-days(wife’s is today, kid’s is Wed.). We went to a sushi place in Burbank, pretty good(my niece’s hubby is one of the sushi chefs).

  55. 55.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Mnemosyne: Class actions are difficult and complicated. And not often in the interest of an individual plaintiff.

  58. 58.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mnemosyne: Speaking of wildlife in our berg. I did a monster walk into our local hills on Tuesday. Before I really hit the hills, Mountain and Campbell, I saw 2 deer in a yard on a house on the corner.

  59. 59.

    Suffern ACE

    @Chris T.: won’t be necessary. I’ll either offer to write my bad review myself for an additional charge or send them all to a court supervised mediation at their expense.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Mountain and Campbell is right in our ‘hood. Do you want a pregnant cat? I know where I can get you one (she was hanging out on Dryden).

    ETA: A little north of our ‘hood, technically. There ain’t no apartment buildings above Mountain.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Also, if you’re up that way around dusk, be cautious — one of the reasons G ended up buying a bike is that he ended up in the middle of a triangle of three coyotes while walking in the hills near dark, and he was a little freaked out that they might have been sizing him up for a meal.

  62. 62.

    PurpleGirl

    @Amir Khalid: I guess you’re correct. I have heard that Hugo Boss designed the black uniforms of the SS for Himmler. That whole gang were so sartorially obsessed.

  65. 65.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mnemosyne: I have two dogs that aren’t keen on sharing.

    The house I saw the deer is on the north-east corner of Mountain and Campbell. It’s right below the reservoir, so I suspect the deer may live there. I usually go up there way before sundown, the roads are narrow, unlit and have no sidewalks. The western approach off Pacific is lighted and has sidewalks but I still time it to get down before sundown.

  68. 68.

    Amir Khalid

    @PurpleGirl:
    I’ve read that as a major menswear manufacturer, Hugo Boss supplied uniforms to the 3rd Reich, including those for the SS of course; but my source, our dear friend Wikipedia, also says the Reich itself designed the uniforms.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Mnemosyne: No. I am saying what you would encounter if you came to a law office and asked about it.

    Remedies outside of the legal arena are outside of my purview. Good luck with any ideas you come across….

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    In the ceiling tiles would be a good place, too. No one would think of looking inside the ceiling tiles until the stink became unbearable, and maybe not even then.

  74. 74.

    Suzanne

    @Mnemosyne: I understand, as I am equally obstinate and contrarian.

    So Spawn the Elder got lice from her half-sister while at her dad’s house. I used the lice shampoo and comb, then her dad, who is currently staying with his mom while he and his wife are on the outs, called to tell me that Spawn couldn’t go to his house for her scheduled dad time because his mom was grossed out. I had to remind him that one doesn’t get to parent only when it is fun and convenient. On a related note, divorcing my ex was great, but divorcing my ex-MIL was even better. Love how she made my kid feel like a plague rat.

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    @Amir Khalid

    Am I the only one who remembers the shorter-than-short-lived proposal for Homeland Security uniforms unter den Bush/Cheney administration?

    Pictures and data seem to have been well-scrubbed for the intertubes (too logy right now to search more intensively – just woken from a deep nap by a phone call).

    All black, with lightning bolts insignia. Sound at all familiar, that?

  81. 81.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @NotMax: There’s a reason I’ve always asserted that the Department of Homeland Security rolled off the tongue better in the original German…Heimatsicherheitshauptamt

    On another note…here’s a clip I just found on YouTube that is really interesting, for you 60’s music fans.

    The woman radiates intelligence, and is so modest about it…because it what turns “pretty” into “beautiful”.

  82. 82.

    Tommy

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): It is something, get a lawyer. Years ago I didn’t get a lawyer. I got a DUI. I felt I should just offer up that I was guilty. I was. Not had a moving violation for 25+ years. I felt I should tell the court I was guilty. I was wrong in this. They threw the book at me.

  83. 83.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    On another note…here’s a clip I just found on YouTube that is really interesting, for you 60′s music fans.

    Quite interesting, thanks. I have a picture of George along with his band mates behinds me.

    ETA: Earlier this year I saw this movie, excellent.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1113829/

    George and Patti were married on my 6th b-day.

  84. 84.

    wasabi gasp

    @Tommy:

    That is a great story. Easily my favorite so far. Very nice. I may have to reconsider. I had you pegged as a serial killer.

    Shellac – Prayer To God

    ETA: Although, kittens on the keyboard, bodies in the basement, does have a certain je ne sais quoi.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, it is. Morons confess to others though. And a defense attorney is ethically bound to stick with the facts that he or she knows. If you don’t actually know what happened, you can suggest any possible scenario.

  91. 91.

    Jebediah, RBG

    @Mnemosyne:

    he ended up in the middle of a triangle of three coyotes

    I had that happen riding up Sullivan Canyon at dusk. I was alone; they were not.

  92. 92.

    Ronzoni Rigatoni

    @Tommy: I had a bunch of Lawyers working with me years ago (I was a Union rep for many years), all of whom told me that one never cooperates with a DUI stop. No breath/blood tests, no walking the line or touching noses. 98% (I was told) of cases were in favor of the defendant where there was no chemical or other evidence. Just insist on a lawyer every time a request was made. And don’t say anything else. Not a great experience in the meantime, but this is where “stand your ground” makes a lot of sense. And remember, you are being filmed every step of the way, and ALWAYS GET A LAWYER! This can be expensive, but it beats a conviction. We never lost a member that way. Of course, if you’re gonna get shitfaced, best do it at home LOL.

  96. 96.

    Jay C

    @NotMax:

    Or who else remembers the comic-opera-style uniforms President Nixon decided it would be a good idea for the White House Police (as they were called then) to wear, back in the late ’60s? White pants, double-breasted blue tunic with brass buttons, and a weird pointed white cap, like a Weimar Republic border-guard? IIRC, overwhelming public ridicule made them at least replace the cap, and then, after a while, go back to “normal” police uniforms ASAP.

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