Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

No one could have predicted…

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

I would gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

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

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

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

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

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

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

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

The revolution will be supervised.

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124Comments

  3. 3.

    Keith G

    I have been away from pro football for a while. Did Vick try to molest a co-ed?

    In better areas:

    BTW, The Atlantic has an interesting long read up on its site looking at the confluence of economic and rock music histories. The title is, Born to Run and the Decline of the American Dream
    There is a lot in this piece, but it is at its most interesting as it surveys the rock/pop music scene when I was in high school and connects it to the greater society:

    To appreciate Bruce Springsteen’s social and political bent, it’s helpful to compare Born to Run to the competition. As popular as that album was, for millions of Americans who came of age in the 1970s, it was James Taylor, the six-foot-three, long-haired son of a wealthy North Carolina doctor, who supplied the decade’s soundtrack. With his sad eyes and brooding stare, Taylor captured the melancholy disposition of a country still reeling from the sixties

    Since I grew up in NW Ohio listening to AM radio serving Detroit, I spent more time listening to the Temptations or Marvin Gaye than the Boss and spent more time contemplating the society of “Poppa Was a Rolling Stone” than the one in “Born to Run”.

  4. 4.

    JMG

    Dear John: I know where you’re coming from, and I sympathize, but I ask you to look at another side for a moment. Vick was convicted of a horrible crime, did hard time, was released, has expressed remorse, and AND FAR AS WE KNOW, meant it and had been an acceptable citizen since. He’s just another backup NFL QB now, and perhaps it would be best if we treated him that way.

  5. 5.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    The Browns have the Dawg Pound and now the Steelers have a guy who pounds dogs. I’m glad he’s not a Patriot

  6. 6.

    Turgidson

    What’s even the point of signing Vick at this point, strictly as a football move? It’s not like he’s any good anymore.

    ETA – As far as pure raw tools go, young Vick was ridiculous though. Could throw the ball 70 yards in the air with a flick of his wrist and was always the fastest guy on the field (granted, pinpoint accuracy was never his thing). It was like watch a video game cheat come to life sometimes.

  8. 8.

    Tree With Water

    That’s interesting, Cole. I feel much the same today about the NFL, if for different reasons. And if enough hard core fans start to feel likewise, that league will be in trouble. I mean, more than it already is.

  9. 9.

    Mike J

    @JMG: Yeah, unless you believe every crime desrves a life sentence, you have to let people work when they get out of prison.

  12. 12.

    Atrios

    When the iggles signed him that was my first reaction. But he got busted, was convicted, and did a reasonable amount of time for his crimes. The right amount of time? I don’t know. but it wasn’t nothing. He didn’t escape the legal system. Once people are done with their punishments they should be done. Vick did his time, he can continue to play football. Big Ben still has his job.

  14. 14.

    elftx

    I don’t hate the man and I have never been a football fan; but I can’t even look at his name..I just scroll by quickly.

    and Motown all the way!!!

  19. 19.

    Hal

    This is one of those times when I’m glad to be a stereotypical gay man who could not care less about sports in general, unles it’s a real sport like figure skating or women’s tennis.

    Please note that I am not being sarcastic.

  20. 20.

    satby

    @Atrios: @Mike J: I’m a rescuer but I feel the same way. He did his time, after which IIRC included lobbying for stronger dogfighting laws. I wouldn’t give him a pet, but he and other offenders need to be able to reenter society and work.
    @JMG: this too

  21. 21.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @raven: When did the first Apple Badfinger album come out 1970?

    ETA: Yup, Magic Christian Music came out in Feb 1970.

  22. 22.

    NobodySpecial

    Well, that’s certainly a Republican stance. If you supposedly believe in second chances, you have to give this guy one too.

  26. 26.

    Turgidson

    @Tree With Water:

    I dunno, maybe I don’t remember younger Randall Cunningham at his athletic peak, but I thought Vick’s raw speed and arm strength were better. Not that that makes him a better QB by any means (see also Jeff “Golden Arm, Shit for Brains” George).

  27. 27.

    Big R

    This may seem insensitive, but I’m trying to put myself in Cole’s shoes and think about the situation the way I would. I wonder (and feel free to tell me precisely where the sun shineth not that this idea can go) if the logical chain goes something like “Vick fought pit bulls” -> “A pit bull killed Tunch” -> “Fuck Vick forever and ever, world without end, Amen.”

    If that’s the case, then while I agree with Atrios and others who have counseled that Vick should be treated like every other post-release felon should (i.e., as if they were no longer a menace to society, unless and until they re-offend), I can understand Cole’s reaction as well.

    If it’s not the case, well, you’re also allowed to just Not Like Michael Vick.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    I feel your pain. (Disgusted Bucs fan). And to those of you who are saying he did his time? Yes, and for that he gets out of fucking jail. But that doesn’t mean we have to root for a heartless prick who tortured and killed dogs for fun. Fuck that motherfucker.

  29. 29.

    Kyle

    I much prefer college ball anyway. You know, that institution where the players play for free (or near abouts) and the institutions participating in the game make untold billions.

    And I’d have a drink with Michael Vick. I’d kick Big Ben in the balls and run very fast. He is far worse, in my opinion. The only reason he wasn’t convicted is that he had the money to destroy his accuser’s life. See, also, too, Koby Bryant.

  30. 30.

    cokane

    Cole

    WTF did you expect from the team that regularly plays the dirtiest football in the NFL? And that’s kind of a high bar

    Also spare us, we know ur going to make posts as soon as the regular season starts

  31. 31.

    srv

    I, for one, do not believe in giving any leeway to people we demand entertain us with head and other crippling life-long injuries.

    My moral compass is on a much higher playing field.

  32. 32.

    kped

    Eh, if you supported them when multiple time “alleged” rapist Big Ben was their QB, you can support them when…multiple time “alleged” rapist Big Ben is still their QB and is backed up by Dog Killer Mike Vick.

    I mean…isn’t a step up in terms of morality? (morally, both are awful. I just view rape as far, far worse).

    (and i realize he was never convicted or tried. Those cases are hard to try, especially in a town that worships its team and QB. But as always, I give the woman the benefit of the doubt. And I give multiple women more benefit still).

  34. 34.

    Tree With Water

    @raven: It’s how I feel, that’s all. I think the NFL’s golden goose is being axed by greedy and stupid owners as I type. That might well be bullshit, but it’s also an honest opinion. It can be both, you know.

  40. 40.

    MikeBoyScout

    To err is human; to forgive, divine.

    Forgetting even Ben’s alleged transgressions, NFL football coddles violent men and law breaking for $$$.

    If you want to cuss out the Rooney family think of all the men they’ve put through the grinder to bring home 6 trophies.
    e.g. Mike Webster

  41. 41.

    Mike J

    It won’t be too long before football is like boxing. Something people might enjoy watching now and then, but only the children of poor people will actually do it.

  42. 42.

    east is east

    I know we should all let bygones be bygones. This guy is a dirtbag. Anyone who takes pleasure in watching dogs fight should..well, I just don’t know.

  43. 43.

    redshirt

    From everything I’ve read, Vick has been the definition of a model ex-felon. As such, the court recently let him get a pet dog.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    Let’s check out this blog on some random Sunday evening in, say mid-November.

    The way things are deteriorating, that page won’t load until December.

    ;)

  53. 53.

    AxelFoley

    Wow, so Vick can never be forgiven after doing his time and being repentant, but some here are willing to give people who hurt other people second chances?

    I swear, some white folks love animals more than they do human beings, and I say this as someone who loves dogs. I just don’t love them more than people.

    SMH

  55. 55.

    east is east

    @DougJ: Yeah, and I’m sure that has nothing to do with his public image. He’s changed. For a few million dollars.

  57. 57.

    east is east

    @AxelFoley: The old you must love animals more than people bullshit. I do love my dogs as much as I love people. People actually often suck. Dogs, not so much.

  60. 60.

    AxelFoley

    @Atrios:

    When the iggles signed him that was my first reaction. But he got busted, was convicted, and did a reasonable amount of time for his crimes. The right amount of time? I don’t know. but it wasn’t nothing. He didn’t escape the legal system. Once people are done with their punishments they should be done. Vick did his time, he can continue to play football. Big Ben still has his job.

    BOOM!

    Ben got off for sexual assault, but I never saw Cole get mad about that.

  61. 61.

    kc

    @east is east:

    Everything I’ve read tells me that Vick is truly remorseful. I love animals too, but I’m all for giving the man a second chance in these circumstances.

  62. 62.

    Triumph

    Yes, let us all condemn the Rooneys for hiring a convicted dogfighting ring runner and ignore the rapist they’ve had playing starting qb for a decade now…

  63. 63.

    boatboy_srq

    @DougJ: True. Still doesn’t mean we have to buy tickets to their games, wear their Official NFL™ gear or do anything else beyond support their right to find gainful employment.

  64. 64.

    Joel

    @EthylEster: Cole ain’t leaving for the same reasons that Chris Borland left.

    I’ve been trying to swear off the habit for years now, but it’s been difficult.

  67. 67.

    east is east

    @kc: I know, I know….it’s just the abuse of those poor dogs. Really upsetting. I’ll take a deep breath and try to move forward.

  70. 70.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    Only tangentially OT – Best trash talk: Tampa Bay Mayor Bob Buckhorn said

    Our city has hosted four successful Super Bowls. And our Buccaneers have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in 2003. You know, I wish I would have been mayor back then. I don’t yet have a Super Bowl ring, but I take comfort in the fact that I share that distinction with the entire Cincinnati Bengals organization throughout their 40-year history.

    He should give his speechwriter a raise.

  71. 71.

    raven

    @Howard Beale IV: Yea, you know what you are talking about,

    James Taylor is singer-songwriter James Taylor’s debut studio album. Released in 1968, it was the first recording by a non-British artist released by Apple Records, and would also be Taylor’s only release on that label. The album was released under the title First Album on the South African market.

  72. 72.

    AxelFoley

    @east is east:

    @AxelFoley: The old you must love animals more than people bullshit. I do love my dogs as much as I love people. People actually often suck. Dogs, not so much.

    Man, fuck you. This, from a guy getting mad over others using the word “ginger” this morning.

    Sit your ass down.

  73. 73.

    Bobby Thomson

    They were today’s installment of Why Your Team Sucks on Deadspin. I was more disturbed by Dan Rooney excusing Harrison beating the mother of his child because the argument was over a baptism.

  79. 79.

    Condi's Cousin

    Ben was never convicted huh? Last I checked Bill Cosby was never charged with a crime either. Nice to know you apply the same standard there eh John?

  80. 80.

    eric

    @efgoldman:
    no kidding, when you have an off duty cop on your payroll to destroy the video evidence it is a lot easier to not get charged.

  82. 82.

    Bobby Thomson

    @smintheus: Trump is a fucking pussy and that will ultimately be his undoing. Unless he can pay off fall the hosts of comedy shows, someone is going to do a parody that sticks.

  83. 83.

    BruceFromOhio

    But I’m done with the NFL for now.

    Puh-lease. It’s pre-season. Don’t fucking try to bullshit your way past. They go 10-0 you’ll be flaunting it like all the rest of yinz Stiller whacks. Hell, 8-2 and you’ll be watching it, especially if they are putting the smackdown on the Gaia-damned Ravens.

  86. 86.

    raven

    For $100., since Taylor was the one and only non-Brit artist on Apple who was the first Non-American white dude on Mowtown?

  87. 87.

    Mike E

    @raven: My only regret as an NFL fan is that Randall got cheated out of playing Elway in the SB by those stinkin dirty birds! Other than that… I’m good.

  92. 92.

    Steve from Antioch

    You were a concussion ball fan until Vick started playing for a team you like?

    WTF, dude?

  93. 93.

    poptartacus

    look mike vick fucked over some dogs and paid the price for it. I love dogs but is there no redemption? Too harsh

  94. 94.

    Calouste

    @NobodySpecial: Cole is still a conservative at his core. Easily fooled, things are in black and white, people never change. The only reason that he left the GOP was that he was pissed when Jeb! rubbed it in with the Schiavo affair how easy it was to fool him. I mean, Cole was still defending Sanford a couple of hours before the press conference where he admitted his affair in Argentina. I must give it to Cole though, he tries to work on it.

  98. 98.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    There was a time in my late twenties and early thirties where my life revolved around NFL Sunday, as did most of my friends. The parties were legendary.

    Then SF decided to become a bedroom community of Silicon Valley and – within three years – every single last one of us was forced out of the city. Some of us had lived there for decades. So we went our ways, but I kept watching football.

    Until Vick. You see, I own dogs.

    What he did was unforgivable in the literal sense of the term. He might as well have been torturing and murdering kids, no difference in my book. His dogs looked to him as a leader and he broke their backs and whipped them to death for fun.

    The NFLs attempts to protect him and keep him out of prison was something I found so outrageous that I swore I was done. And mostly, I was. Still would watch some playoffs, still the Super Bowl.

    Then they let him back in.

    That was the motherfucking end.

    But also a beginning; you start looking at the price it takes out of the players (Junior Seau, a hometown guy, oh, that was rough. He deserved better). The lives it ruins. The communities bankrupted. The oceans of money that should be going to teach kids getting taken out of classrooms and dumped into this damned sport, which gives said kids nothing but dreams to be dashed and a boatload of early brain damage to boot. You look at how the players treat women. And the owners. And the fans. You look at how the fans comport themselves both during game day and during the week. And my conclusion was clear; we, as a society, cannot afford football. The cost is too damn high. Fucking senseless waste.

    ETA: comments are sadly about what I expected. There are some crimes beyond redemption. Torturing and murdering animals for fun is one of them.

  99. 99.

    Mike E

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: I agree with a lot of things you are saying, but…the NFL didn’t lift a finger to lessen Vick’s punishment, and my Eagles owner Jeff Lurie loves his dogs as much as you do, so he vetted the situation assiduously. For realz.

    These are the proverbial Interesting Times, and transitional characters are sorely in need to help flip the calendar for the good. As awful as the whole Vick episode was, his role is needed now…whether or not he has the character to make that happen, I believe he serves as a catalyst for change. Im rooting for it, more than I ever did for any damn player. YMMV

  105. 105.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mike E: It sounds like you’re talking about more than football here. What kind of change do you envision Vick ushering in? Why do you think Vick, a multimillionaire dog torturer and killler for five years, is the person for the change agent role?

    He did his time, and he’s got a right to make a living if he can convince a team that his on-field performance will offset the revulsion he’ll incite among many pet-loving fans, which he’s managed to do so far. But he’s not entitled to anyone’s support or goodwill just because he’s served out the sentence for his horrific crimes.

    Personally, I think what he did was unforgivable. I don’t care if he found Jesus. I don’t care how many PR-driven charity events he sponsors or how much dog shit he shovels at the Humane Society to burnish his image. I don’t care how well he throws a football. Anyone who would do what he did is a sick, perverted scumbag.

  107. 107.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Betty Cracker:

    Anyone who would do what he did is a sick, perverted scumbag.

    People can change. Vick appears to be working on it. Whether he got there or will get there is open to question. But he seems to be trying.

  108. 108.

    Betty Cracker

    @Omnes Omnibus: For most transgressions, I’d agree — I’m usually a believer in second chances. But someone who deliberately tortured and killed sweet, loyal, innocent animals for five years? You have to be a heartless, depraved prick to do something like that. I don’t think heartless, depraved prickitude is curable. The evil that requires is bone-deep.

  109. 109.

    khead

    “It was something that happened, an unfortunate situation, and right or wrong everybody makes mistakes,” Harrison said following his first practice since re-signing with the Steelers on Tuesday. “I learned from it and grew from it and I’m where I’m at now.”

    – James Harrison last year. On his 2008 girlfriend beating arrest. Of course, we NEEDED a LB something awful last year and there was a playoff run going on.

    If I stopped watching the NFL because of shitbags, I’d have to wait until Monday to see how all my bets came out. And that’s just too long.

  110. 110.

    Will_R

    @Steve from Antioch: What’s the point of prison for those people if they can’t be rehabilitated into society?

    Vick’s actually doing some good with his work with the Humane Society and serving as an educational case for those who grew up in a culture where dog-fighting is acceptable entertainment.

  111. 111.

    TriassicSands

    To paraphrase Hunter Thompson — Having a favorite professional sports team is like having a favorite oil company. They’re all businesses now.

    Rah, Rah, Exxon.

  112. 112.

    Aleta

    Manipulative and violent child molester without a conscience who lives on my block did his 3 months in jail and has a right to live in his house, apply for jobs. Although not a job where he would have influence over children. I’m not disputing his right to work if I say I wouldn’t hire him or watch his (hypothetical) TV show.

    Maybe a person whose brain doesn’t experience empathy (and feels good when inflicting severe pain on someone who can’t escape) can change that, or at least change enough to not repeat the behavior. Though I think that the things Vicks has done to rehab his public image in hopes of getting hired to play football again don’t prove anything one way or another.

    I doubt that the Steelers’ motivation has anything to do with supporting Vicks’ right to work or his right to rejoin society and be productive. And hey no one has prevented that. If huge profits for a few are the driving force behind sports (fuck cruelty and fuck playing fields and swimming pools and rec centers in poor neighborhoods too), surely it’s more than OK for anyone to refuse to watch. I don’t feel great about the NFL encouraging kids to cheer for him; I guess because animal abuse is so acceptable all over the place as it is, and kids are the portal for brain change.

  113. 113.

    Suzanne

    I’m not going to defend Michael Vick. I abstractly believe in second chances and doing time, but I also don’t believe that anyone is owed a job and that violent criminals shouldn’t be in the public eye. So I haven’t unpacked how I come down on this issue, and it isn’t important anyway.

    But FFS, there has been a fucking rapist leading this team for years, and THAT was okay?! He wasn’t convicted, so it was acceptable?!

    When they talk about rape culture, this is what they’re talking about.

  114. 114.

    Tinare

    I will admit to giving the Steelers a pass on Roethelisberger. He was already on the team, no charges were filed, I’m not a fan of his, I went through a period of outrage, but continued to watch games though. So maybe this is just the straw for me. You don’t go looking for and signing players with this kind of character. I agree with Betty Cracker on this. He did his time, so I don’t dispute his right to freedom, but that doesn’t mean I have to support his employer. If he were a barista at Starbucks, I’d get my coffee elsewhere.

    Go Pirates and Pens!

  116. 116.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mike E: Okay, so you think his current “re-education” program can help change (i.e., eliminate) dog fighting culture. Now your original remark makes more sense. I hope it does too. I don’t believe for a moment Vick is sincere (I think he has to be a sociopath who is incapable of true sincerity to do what he did), but certainly anything that can stop that brutality is worth supporting.

  117. 117.

    Joel

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:

    What he did was unforgivable in the literal sense of the term. He might as well have been torturing and murdering kids, no difference in my book.

    Then you are wrong. That’s pretty much the beginning and end of it.

  119. 119.

    Sherparick

    @Keith G: The seventies were when “Classic Rock” and the FM stations took over the dial. I think the Eagles, Elton John, Yes, and Springsteen. James Taylor’s big moment was the early seventies and was gone.

  120. 120.

    ron

    pittsburgh is always a few years behind philadelphia and ny…

    anyone that eats meat produced by an industry that brutalizes millions of animals year after year has some nerve whining about michael vick. do cows, pigs, sheep, chickens etc. have some special adaptation to not suffer pain and terror?

    also, the easiest thing in the world is to condemn something in which you have no stake. its actually hard to look at yourself and make a change. but you can do it if you try.

  123. 123.

    mr_gravity

    @Sherparick: Only if you don’t count these songs:
    Shower The People
    Handy Man
    Your Smiling Face
    Up On The Roof
    Her Town Too
    That’s Why I’m Here
    Everyday
    Only One
    Copperline

  124. 124.

    gus

    For a while it will feel like there’s a hole in your Sunday. Then you’ll realize that hole is actually three free hours to take a walk through fallen leaves or cook a wonderful time consuming warming fall comfort food, or just get the raking done. After a while you won’t miss it at all.

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