Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Let there be snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

People are complicated. Love is not.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Everybody saw this coming.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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Reader Interactions

104Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    I’m wondering if the New England Patriots’ latest scandal got as much press as it did because a bunch of reporters wanted to talk about “deflated balls.”

  3. 3.

    Diana

    He is indeed withholding adorable puppy pics and, I hope, even more adorable puppy vids of puppies trying to walk, squeaking, getting schritched and falling asleep on a dime. Where are these pics????

    John, ask not what your blog can do for you, ask what you can do for your blog…

  6. 6.

    jl

    That wooden barracuda looks kind of cute and elongated adorable puppy-like. How scary was that honeymoon encounter anyway?

    I deem it a satisfactory substitute pet pic for now.

    Thank you.

  8. 8.

    Schlemazel

    Betty: a scary encounter we had with a barracuda

    Several times while we lived there I read about fishermen being attacked & bitten in their boats by Barracuda that leap out of the sea to get them. Much scarier than sharks imho

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    Does Wooden Barracuda work as a band name?

    a scary encounter we had with a barracuda while snorkeling in the Keys on our honeymoon.

    Do tell.

  15. 15.

    geg6

    Barracuda are some scary and vicious mother fuckers. I used to do a lot of diving and was up close and personal with many types of marine life, including sharks. But the scariest bastards were the barracuda. Completely unpredictable. And mean. Do.not.like.

  19. 19.

    Violet

    Pope Frank gives Santorum a sad:

    In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday, Santorum appeared baffled by recent remarks by the Pope suggesting that faithful Catholics need not procreate “like rabbits.”

    “Sometimes very difficult to listen to the Pope and some of the things he says off the cuff, and this is one of them,” Santorum, a professed Catholic, said.

    “When he speaks as the leader of the Catholic Church, I’ll certainly pay attention,” the former senator continued. “But when he speaks in interviews, he’s giving his own opinions, which I certainly will listen to, but from my perspective, that doesn’t reflect the idea that people shouldn’t be fruitful and multiply, and that people should be open to life as something that is a core value of the faith and of the Catholic Church.”

    Santorum went on to repeat several times, “I don’t know what the Pope was referring to here.”

  20. 20.

    srv

    Je suis AQ:

    PARIS — French security forces will get better weapons and protection to fight terror and the country will hire 2,600 new counter-terrorism officers, the prime minister announced Wednesday.
    …
    France will also bolster its intelligence apparatus, introducing a measure to make it easier to tap phones, he said. In addition, 3,000 people with ties to France — some at home, others abroad, will be monitored by anti-terror surveillance agents.

  21. 21.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Violet:

    Santorum went on to repeat several times, “I don’t know what the Pope was referring to here.”

    Rih, let me translate this for you: stop fucking all the time, dumbshit.

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    A German, of all people, should have understood how bad this would look. But then again, we’re talking about the leader of Pegida.

  23. 23.

    Tommy

    I got the below in an email a few minutes ago from a client about setting up a landing page on her site after somebody uses her contact form (this is a DIRECT quote):

    I am not interested in anything complicated that takes up my time or requires thought or effort from me.

    My response ended with:

    I am not sure how I pissed in your Wheaties today or how I got on your bad side …. in your last bullet you said you’d move on to another project, I’d suggest you do just that.

    And she wonders why she doesn’t get the business she’d like. Wonder why!

  25. 25.

    MomSense

    Oooooh Barracuda!

    Had to put the adorable puppy in her box for a bit so I could cook dinner. I’ll try and get some pics or a video. Right now she is going nuts chewing on a kong with a little peanut butter inside.

  26. 26.

    mainmati

    @jl: l have had several encounters with ‘cudas over the years scuba diving. I have found them to be curious but. not at all threatening even really close up. They look both elegant and badass at the same time.

  28. 28.

    Another Holocene Human

    Beautiful carving.

    I’m going to repeat my supposition from the dead thread which is that grandpa is not a gun nut. Grandpa, like many of his background and generation, keeps a legal concealed gun concealed in his car when driving on the road. When he got to Walmart he put the gun on his person, as is his habit, because he doesn’t leave valuables in his car to be stolen. That’s how the White Avenger saw that he had a gun. If he were a gun nut who was strapping while driving the gun would never have been visible.

    Gramps likely knows people who were taken and never returned on the roads. It’s not paranoia, it’s reality. Some of the highwaymen wear badges….

  29. 29.

    Tree With Water

    That is a very cool carving. I would definitely buy it if I were on the lookout to fill a spot (say) in my kitchen..

  41. 41.

    Pogonip

    When’s the next pupdate? When they start to walk? I don’t think we can wait that long. Alert Mrs. Cole!

  42. 42.

    Mike in NC

    Our honeymoon was a scuba excursion on a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands. There were barracuda in the water but fortunately they didn’t bother anyone. Evidently they were used to tourists.

  45. 45.

    Pogonip

    For you crazy people–Er, live squirrel enthusiasts–the gray squirrels in these parts are getting busy making little squirrels. We’re at latitude 42, more or less. When the little bastards start breeding it means we will begin edging towards spring in about another 4 weeks.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    @Tommy

    Based solely on the quote, sounds more as if she has the courage to openly state what the vast majority of non-tech-oriented clients really have in mind.

  49. 49.

    Keith G

    Speaking of missing blog hosts…Kevin Drum checked in today saying that he was not feeling well enough to post today. A few of his commenters took over and started an interesting thread of comments on what Democrats should stand for. A good thread.

  50. 50.

    Southern Beale

    My new puppy has some alarming bad habits, chief among them that he eats his own poop and I can’t seem to get him to stop. And no, that food additive does NOT work.

    It’s totally disgusting.

  51. 51.

    jl

    @Pogonip: So, maybe Pope Francis was talking about horny squirrels? No wonder Rih was confused.

    @Another Holocene Human: That aint funny. You ever have a Great White Sturgeon lumber over you in seemingly quiet and peaceful paradisiacal slough (except for the clouds of gnats)? That could be 7 or 8 feet and a thousand pounds of slow moving bottom feeding supertanker power you are talking about, there.

    Baby sturgeon are cute though.
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Acipenser_transmontanus.jpg

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    PBS (WETA-26) in NoVA has a Nature program about dogs. Pekingnese just spotlighted.

    #breadbag free programming.

    ETA: They kind of look like moving hassocks.

  61. 61.

    ThresherK

    My wife is looking for a proximity alarm or other device that will go off when she’s about to forget her purse somewhere.

    Anyone have any non-smartphone-based solutions?

  63. 63.

    Schlemazel

    @Pogonip:
    Maybe Pastifarians should make it a tenet of our church that drug testing is the mark of the beast. That way they would have religious freedom as a platform to launch from.

  64. 64.

    jl

    Be careful, it might be tarp!

    US Senate: Yes, climate change is real
    AFP

    In a surprise move, US Senate Republicans joined Democrats and went on record Wednesday acknowledging that climate change is real.

    …

    But with the 2016 presidential race on the horizon, Republican leaders may have agreed to hold votes on the measures now in order to avoid potentially embarrassing climate votes in the midst of a White House race.

    Applause rippled through the chamber when Inhofe declared he was co-sponsoring the measure saying climate change is not a hoax.

    “Climate always changed,” Inhofe said, noting there was archaeological, historic and “biblical evidence” of that.

    The hoax is, that there are some people who think they are so arrogant to think that they are so powerful that they can change the climate. Man can’t change climate,” Inhofe insisted.

    http://news.yahoo.com/us-senate-yes-climate-change-real-002229559.html

    Article says it might be just political positioning for 2016: GOP will try to make it ‘old news’ long before the election.

    Or corporations liable to damages told the GOP to get real?

    Or more Obama mind control? Who knows?

    I am eager to hear Inhofe expound on the Biblical angle of global warming. Anyway, nice pirouette by Inhofe on what the real hoax of climate science really is.

    Edit: Or, McConnell issued serious directive to the Senate GOP to act like grown-ups (at least until it is no longer a useful tactic, but I am cynical) If McConnell did issue such directive, then we’ll need an income assistance program for unemployed Fox News ‘experts’ on a variety of topics.

  65. 65.

    Pogonip

    @Southern Beale: Welcome to dog ownership, and thank you for bringing up dog poop. I was afraid we were going to miss a day.

    Yes, it’s gross (unless you are an Antarctic explorer and need the dogs to eat poop); most if not all dogs do it, and no, you can’t train him to stop. If the special food doesn’t work, your choices are to learn to live with it or find him a home and get a cat. I’d try learning to live with it first. Look at it this way, you probably have a habit or two he isn’t thrilled with either.

  70. 70.

    Pogonip

    In other news, my son mopped today.

    I don’t know why he felt this was news. He almost always does the mopping unless he’s sick. But he called me and told me, so, in an effort to keep this topic going until Mrs. Cole can wring some dog pictures out of HER kid, I pass it on. I know it’s not dog poop, but it’s all I have left to offer.

  73. 73.

    Cervantes

    Over at the NYT, Matt Apuzzo and Michael Schmidt report:

    Washington — Justice Department lawyers will recommend that no civil rights charges be brought against the police officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Mo., after an F.B.I. investigation found no evidence to support charges, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

    Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and his civil rights chief, Vanita Gupta, will have the final say on whether the Justice Department will close the case against the officer, Darren Wilson. But it would be unusual for them to overrule the prosecutors on the case, who are still working on a legal memo explaining their recommendation.

  76. 76.

    jl

    @JPL:

    ” But is it man made? ”

    The prophet Inhofe commands thee to pull down thy pride man, pull down thy pride! Thou art but an antling in this vast centaur, er… God created world.

  79. 79.

    Violet

    @ThresherK: How about one of those alarms for people who forget their kids in the backseat of the car. The alarm goes when the person gets 15 feet away or so. You do have to have the alarm on your keyring so if the keyring is in the purse it wouldn’t work.

  81. 81.

    askew

    I realize asking this question makes me sound like a complete moron but I am asking anyway and hope people here will take pity on me. If my mortgage company pays my property tax and incorporates it into my monthly mortgage, can I still file a property tax refund for myself or does the mortgage company do that? I always thought the mortgage company did that and now I am second guessing myself and thinking that I could be getting back some serious money on my mortgage. Does anyone know?

  83. 83.

    CaseyL

    @askew: You get to claim the tax as a deduction, along with (but separate from) the mortgage interest. The mortgage company should send you a statement showing the total amount of tax paid over the past year, as well as a statement showing the total amount of interest.

  84. 84.

    jl

    @Pogonip:

    ” Well, it’s unlikely he had shoes on, is that close enough? ”

    Did he step in pet crap? He needs to step in something. We have high standards here.

  85. 85.

    Southern Beale

    @Pogonip:

    I have 7 cats. So no, getting a cat won’t work.

    Neither of our other 2 dogs eat their own poop. And actually, I’ve never had a poop-eating dog before. I had one dog that loved to roll in poop, but never one that ate it.

  88. 88.

    realbtl

    Dammit, OK. My Weimanaraner loves to bring in her poop after it has frozen. No problems in warmer weather, just winter time.
    She will also scarff down the wild turkey poop which is actually preferable to her rolling in it.
    Dogs! If they weren’t so lovable they would have never made it.

  89. 89.

    realbtl

    Dammit, OK. My Wiemaraner loves to bring in her poop after it has frozen. No problems in warmer weather, just winter time.
    She will also scarff down the wild turkey poop which is actually preferable to her rolling in it.
    Dogs! If they weren’t so lovable they would have never made it.

  90. 90.

    Pogonip

    @Southern Beale: The others were chowing down when you weren’t looking. Seriously. Several experienced dog people have told me they all do it at least once in a while. (Maybe the intermittent poop eaters are watching their cholesterol or something.). And if there’s a practical way to stop it, nobody’s told me.

  91. 91.

    Gene108

    @askew:

    You file the property tax deduction along with your other itemized deductions. The mortgage company will send you a statement t with the total property taxes you paid, which is the extent of their responsibility for your taxes.

  92. 92.

    Pogonip

    @realbtl: Poopsicles!

    This topic is surprisingly entertaining. Maybe it should be added to the Balloon Juice dictionary. POOP, DOG: along with MOPPING, NUDE [which see], a topic that readers have agreed may always be pressed into service on a slow night.

  93. 93.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @askew: First, what kind of property tax refund are you talking about?

    Everyone is assuming you are talking about Federal income taxes, but I’m wondering if you mean something similar to the property tax rebates my mother used to get.

  94. 94.

    David Koch

    House GOP leaders cave on abortion bill

    By Deirdre Walsh

    Updated 9:40 PM ET, Wed January 21, 2015

    Washington (CNN) — After scrambling into the evening on Wednesday, House Republican leaders decided to scrap a vote on a controversial anti-abortion measure scheduled to coincide with an annual gathering of anti-abortion advocates on Thursday because they couldn’t round up enough support.

    Please proceed, Mr Speaker

  97. 97.

    Jane2

    @Pogonip: I’m at about 50 Latitude, and my yard squirrels are enjoying premium shelled almonds because someone forgot to pick up peanuts.

  98. 98.

    Beatrice

    @askew: Yes, you can still file for a property tax refund. You will get a statement from the State of Minnesota which tells you the amount of taxes that were paid on your property; it usually arrives in February or March.

    Also, you can file up to a year later so you can go back and file for 2013 as well as 2014 as long as you do it by August 15.

  100. 100.

    LT

    That’s awesome, Betty. I had a scary barracuda meet in the Keys as well, off Big Pine, ages ago. Big fuckers come right up to you, big eye looking at you. Awesome stuff.

  101. 101.

    Paul in KY

    Very nice sculpture, Betty. I have also had a couple scary/interesting encounters with barracudas. Unlike pike, for instance, these fish are a lot wider than you think.

  103. 103.

    Cervantes

    @askew:

    I realize asking this question makes me sound like a complete moron but I am asking anyway and hope people here will take pity on me. If my mortgage company pays my property tax and incorporates it into my monthly mortgage, can I still file a property tax refund for myself or does the mortgage company do that? I always thought the mortgage company did that and now I am second guessing myself and thinking that I could be getting back some serious money on my mortgage. Does anyone know?

    What “refund” is it you think you can obtain? If you paid the property tax via your mortgage holder, then the tax is paid. Did you pay it yourself separately also and want a refund of this payment? Or did your mortgage holder over-pay the tax? (It happens.) Or are you seeking a tax credit or deduction for having paid the tax?

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