Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Republicans do not trust women.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Giving up is unforgivable.

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

So fucking stupid, and still doing a tremendous amount of damage.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

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

We are aware of all internet traditions.

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

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

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

The National Guard is not Batman.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

We still have time to mess this up!

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

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Archives for 2014

Open Thread: You Think Those Tiny Elves Like the North Pole?

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Apparently it’s a requirement for all front-pagers to mock Chris “Today’s GOP Punching Bag” Christie, perhaps for fear that failing to do so will lead to Derp accusing us of ‘being in love with that fat pig’. (/snark)
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What’s going on in all our extremely localized Wars on Poverty?

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How do you like your blueeyed boy Mister Death?

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Chris Christie’s main media constituency is the “Morning Joe” crowd and many of them (Ron Fournier, Mike Murphy) are sticking by him. But I don’t think this will play in Peoria:

Emergency responders were delayed in attending to four medical situations – including one in which a 91-year-old woman lay unconscious – due to traffic gridlock caused by unannounced closures of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, according to the head of the borough’s EMS department.

The woman later died, borough records show.

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Rubio’s “Exciting Historic Opportunity”

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We (meaning, of course, Democrats) have officially spent fifty years fighting the War on Poverty. Today’s GOP has decided to drop all pretense and call for a war on the poor — and they’re letting the Token Brown Guy lead the charge. From the Washington Post:

… Among the changes to the system Rubio proposed was a plan to consolidate federal funding for anti-poverty programs into the one agency and give those funds to the states. The key to addressing poverty, Rubio emphasized in his high-profile speech, is decentralizing.

“These Flex Funds would be transferred to the states so they can design and fund creative initiatives that address the factors behind inequality of opportunity” closer to home, Rubio said.

Rubio said his staff was still working through the details of what would be a part of the “Flex Funds” but said programs like food stamps could potentially be included.

He also said he would introduce legislation to replace the earned income tax credit with a “federal wage enhancement for qualifying low-wage jobs.”

Rubio said the federal wage enhancement could serve as a supplement to a lower paying job and deter low-income workers from turning to unemployment insurance to make ends meet…

Because right now we, the taxpayers, are only subsidizing WalMart’s profits indirectly, providing food stamps and medical care to its underpaid workers. Why not live the GOP dream and pay WalMart right up front for their civic generosity in providing three-fifths of a living wage to its serfs? Hey, it’s not as though governors like Scott Walker or Rick Scott would find ways to divert those federal funds into nepotistic boondoggles for their personal fiefdoms…

Complete video of Rubio’s speech at the link, if you’re a glutton for punishment. He may be trying to look earnest, but he comes across as embarrassed — as though he can’t belief even a roomful of Repub syncophants are going to let him finish without throwing their notepads at him.

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The Sgt Schultz Defense

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Christie knows nothing:

“What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable,” Christie said. “I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge.”

He also admitted it was a big deal:

“One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better,” Christie said.

So, at a minimum, he’s admitted that he’s a shitty manager. It wasn’t some random clerk, it was his deputy chief of staff and his appointee to the Port Authority (and high school classmate, and lifelong friend) who conspired to do this bad, bad thing. Christie knew someone in his administration conspired to do something “unacceptable” for months, and he was only able to find out who from a press report.

It’s pretty clear he has no good alternatives here, but I wonder if stonewalling might not have been a better response.

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Waiting for a Correction

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Looks like we’re all weighing in on the Christie scandal, and why not? Things don’t get this good very often. I’m sure that rumors of his death are a bit premature. For example, I wouldn’t be surprised if he still tries to run in the Republican primary, since punishing dirty liberals by creating a traffic jam probably is something the 27 percenters think is the way God’s only son likes it. That said, he’s dead in a general election if he makes it that far, especially since the Fort Lee traffic jam is probably just the tip of a dirty iceberg.

So, I wonder if Bob Somerby, who expects perfect accuracy from everyone in the media, will walk back his many posts criticizing Rachel Maddow for pushing this story. My guess is “no”, but I still think it’s an important question. I’m not one who thinks that liberal media should make shit up like Fox News, but when there’s a little smoke around an elected Republican, there’s nothing wrong with looking hard for some fire. That’s all that Maddow did. And, in the end, her instincts were right, while Somerby’s were dead wrong.

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Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

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It’s feast or famine around here lately. Maybe we should coordinate our Seroquel doses or something. Anyway, here’s some spiny mammal prØn:

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This is my daughter’s hedgehog, fresh from his bath. He’s a weird little critter with a brain that is probably 1/8th the size of a lentil, but even so, I feel vaguely guilty about exposing him to so many strangers without his permission.

I just thought it was high time to end the cat and dog tyranny of Balloon Juice pet photos. With something other than a chicken.

Please feel free to discuss whatever.

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When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half

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Ruh roh (via):

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, one of three deputies on Christie’s senior staff, wrote to David Wildstein, a top Christie executive at the Port Authority, on Aug. 13, about three weeks before the closures. Wildstein, the official who ordered the closures and who resigned last month amid the escalating scandal, wrote back: “Got it.”

Like a good liberal, I oppose the death penalty. But to quote Vincent Vega: They should be fucking killed. No trial, no jury, straight to execution. It’s just against the rules.

Anyone who’s ever spent time in traffic on that bridge agrees with me.

All the “Morning Joe” hand jobs in the world won’t bring Christie’s presidential hopes back to life.

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