Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

This blog will pay for itself.

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

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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

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

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

The willow is too close to the house.

Republicans don’t trust women.

No Justins, No Peace

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Evening Open Thread

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Here’s a fresh new open thread for you all.

The Congress has passed a clean Continuing Resolution, so the government won’t shut down until December 11, when they’re going to have another fight over raising the national debt limit.

My new agency is, for the most part, a pretty good gig.  I do love taking long drives to support people in the field who are doing important work protecting our natural resources.  There’s a couple of things I’m not liking, but I won’t go into that.  If everything were perfect all the time, life wouldn’t be an adventure, would it?

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    Evening, soonergrunt. Great to see you posting here more.

    Made a small contribution to Bernie tonight, and half of that to Hillary. We are talking microcontributions. And then one to the National Park Foundation.

    I feel good.

  5. 5.

    Soonergrunt

    @Gin & Tonic: I skied a lot as a kid. Haven’t in a long time. A lot of the seasonal employees here are ski instructors in the winter.
    @JCJ: It’s a few hours to the national parks. There are 5 national parks and monuments here, in addition to the national forests. It’s very beautiful here.

  7. 7.

    Right to Rise

    So the latest in the Jeb campaign is that his poll numbers will move in two weeks or less thanks to a massive, downright Olympian TV ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire. The Boston TV market was a special target, so for those of you in the Boston Metro, don’t touch that dial!

    His poll numbers need to move through this buy, and they will. I absolutely promise it.

    He has the money.

    He has the name.

    He has the patience.

    He’s Bush.

    To all y’all haters, Jeb has one message: It’s All About the Benjamins, Baby!.

  8. 8.

    dedc79

    Probably shouldn’t have been surprised by this, but I was:

    Britain conducted secret vote-trading deals with Saudi Arabia to ensure both states were elected to the UN human rights council (UNHRC), according to leaked diplomatic cables.
    The elevation of the Saudi kingdom to one of the UN’s most influential bodies in 2013 prompted fresh international criticism of its human rights record.
    This week, a new diplomatic row has erupted over a Shia activist, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who faces death by crucifixion after being convicted at the age of 17 of joining an anti-government demonstration.
    Riyadh has sanctioned more than a hundred beheadings so far this year – more, it is claimed, than Islamic State.

  9. 9.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Soonergrunt: Teton and Yellowstone, while not in state, are not that far away(Teton’s probably closer than Zion).

    ETA: Good to see ya back here Soonergrunt.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Sam Stein ‏@ samsteinhp 43m43 minutes ago
    One year ago tonight, a patient was diagnosed in Dallas and America lost its collective mind about Ebola.

  12. 12.

    Cacti

    With his Kinsley gaffe about the Benghazi Select Committee being about Hillary’s poll numbers, I’m thinking winger radio host Mark Levin had a point about Congressman McCarthy…

    He’s Eric Cantor minus 10 IQ points.

  13. 13.

    JPL

    @Soonergrunt: I know you left Oklahoma behind, but do you have any opinion about why the Governor issued a stay in execution for Glossip? It does seem as though there are questions about his guilt. I know she said it was because of the drugs being used, but I wonder if there is more to that.

  16. 16.

    JCJ

    @Right to Rise:

    Marquette University most recent poll (their polls have been the gold standard in Wisconsin)

    GOP Presidential Primary
    Trump 20
    Carson 16
    Rubio 14
    Fiorina 11
    Bush 7
    Cruz 5

    Presidential General Election:
    Clinton/Bush 50-38
    Sanders/Bush 49-39
    Clinton/Rubio 48-40
    Sanders/Rubio 49-36
    Clinton/Trump 50-36
    Sanders/Trump 53-34

    Looking good, RtR!

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I actually hope the weird troll is right about Jeb?, and I’m pretty sure I just heard Michael Steel make the same arguments about Bush’s cash and organizational advantages. From “free stuff” to “I’m a Bush!”, I think Jeb? might turn out to be a bigger disaster than Willard

  19. 19.

    JCJ

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I saw you posted in the last thread about the Marquette poll. Perhaps you are right – Ron Johnson’s team is nervous. I hope so. Interesting that the poll numbers for Feingold are similar to the ones from April after the intervening poll showed a closer race.

  27. 27.

    Right to Rise

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Among donor/GOP circles? Yep!

    In the general, #HeKeptUsSafe will suffice to neutralized any negatives. Just bring up the warm-fuzzies about the arm around the firefighter, the bullhorn, the police badge held solemnly before Congress…

    Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

  28. 28.

    beltane

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Willard is not an unintelligent man and was a vulture capitalist in his own right. Take away all the free stuff he’s been given his whole life and Jebbie would have a hard time surviving in the real world.

  32. 32.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    @Soonergrunt: If you read novels, ever tried Nevada Barr’s series of Anna Pigeon mysteries? The author was an NPS ranger and also really knows how to write people.

  34. 34.

    JPL

    @Right to Rise: He’ll keep us safe just like his brother. Since his brother had warnings about planes being used as bombs, you would have thought he would tell the airlines to lock the darn doors. Laissez Faire and top down economics don’t work. You discuss me because you want 300 million of us to fall into the same trap. How do you sleep at night.

  38. 38.

    Soonergrunt

    @JPL: I honestly don’t know. This particular governor has never shown too much concern for the guilt or innocence of the condemned.
    It could be about the drug like she’s saying. The last thing she needs is another botched execution, that would result in the OK Court of Criminal Appeals or the federal district court to block executions in Oklahoma.

  39. 39.

    Right to Rise

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Then you probably failed high school English.

    Either that or your in-laws hate you so you never bother to visit them.

    Maybe both?

    You really fail at responding to me on that point, FWIW. You should have shouted RACIST!!!!!! when I mentioned Avon Lake.

  40. 40.

    Cacti

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I actually hope the weird troll is right about Jeb?, and I’m pretty sure I just heard Michael Steel make the same arguments about Bush’s cash and organizational advantages. From “free stuff” to “I’m a Bush!”, I think Jeb? might turn out to be a bigger disaster than Willard

    Jeb is the smarts of his brother with the charm of his old man.

  43. 43.

    Ken

    @Right to Rise:

    I remember what happened the last time you did that to a Bush.

    Again, are you sure you want everyone to be thinking about the last Bush administration? The Republicans didn’t even invite him to the last convention.

  46. 46.

    beltane

    R2R has a point. Around half the country would vote for a blow up doll running as a Republican. Jeb happens to be very much like a blow up doll, only more prone to gaffes.

  50. 50.

    JPL

    @Ken: At least the Koch brothers are honest about what they want. Calvin Coolidge was great. There was no Social Security. There was no Medicaid or Medicare. Children could help their parents out because there was no child labor laws. Wahoo.
    R2R makes me ill. Normally, I can ignore his two class system, but not tonight.

  54. 54.

    Right to Rise

    @redshirt:

    Canada? Australia? UK?

    Either way your country is going in the right (pun intended!) direction.

    America is the leftist outlier. But not for long!

  55. 55.

    SoupCatcher

    @ThresherK (GPad):
    I enjoyed many of the Anna Pigeon books but, after a certain point, got tired of the amount of abuse Barr puts her through.

    The settings of the books, however, were consistently great.

  56. 56.

    Cacti

    @redshirt:

    What’s going on with McCarthy? I just came back to this world and I see people talking about it.

    He accidentally admitted on Hannity that the Benghazi Select Committee’s purpose is to damage Hillary Clinton politically.

  60. 60.

    redshirt

    @Cacti:

    He accidentally admitted on Hannity that the Benghazi Select Committee’s purpose is to damage Hillary Clinton politically.

    Thanks. So liberals will go “See!” and that will be the end of it.

  61. 61.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Right to Rise: Dude, you are the one trying to bring race into the conversation. I simply asked if you had been to OH. You could have said yes or no. Instead, you made a bizarre attempt to cause me to call you a racist by mentioning Avon Lake. Weird.

  63. 63.

    JCJ

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    A few. I complimented a lady in the parking lot at Target the other day on her Bernie sticker. I never see Hillary stickers. Probably the stickers I have seen the most are Ben Carson. Waukesha County – the Wingnut Capital of Wisconsin!

  66. 66.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @JCJ: Quite a few Bernie stickers around here, but I am in the People’s Republic. I also see quite a few Ready for Hillary ones.

  67. 67.

    Right to Rise

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    My in-law really does live in Avon Lake.

    But it’s also an easy troll to get you to play the race card. Most liberals would fall for it since they’re obsessed with race.

    *google search Avon Lake Ohio*
    OMG THE SCHOOLS ARE 97% WHITE RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST IT’S A RACIST RACIST RACIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTT

    That’s the reaction I was expecting. Too bad you’re not the Tai-Naie….Tai-Na, Tai-Ni—-Kashi-Bar or whatever his name is school of Leftism.

  68. 68.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @redshirt: yeah, but… less than two weeks before HRC is scheduled to testify for the Gowdy committee, McCarthy just wrote the opening statements for every Dem on that committee

  69. 69.

    Roger Moore

    @Soonergrunt:

    There are 5 national parks and monuments here, in addition to the national forests.

    Which is to say that there are 5 National Parks (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches) plus a bunch of National Monuments (Cedar Breaks, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Natural Bridges, Rainbow Bridge, Colorado, and Dinosaur off the top of my head). There also the National Forests, some very interesting BLM lands (e.g. Fantasy Canyon and Fischer Towers), and some random other National Lands like Golden Spike National Historic Site. And then there are all the state parks; I would highly recommend Goblin Valley, for instance.

  72. 72.

    redshirt

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    yeah, but… less than two weeks before HRC is scheduled to testify for the Gowdy committee, McCarthy just wrote the opening statements for every Dem on that committee

    Yeah, and it will mean something to us, but the media will barely cover it I’m sure, in order to maintain multiple “narratives”.

    Does any more than 2-5% of the American population not only know what’s going on in Congress, but understand it? I’m convinced this calculus is baked into Republican actions. They know a vast majority don’t know/don’t care, so everything is allowed. And when Dems try anything similar, they howl and activate the OUTRAGE NETWORK and send a ton of smoke into the air.

  75. 75.

    beltane

    @chopper: And I was just about to tell him to go get a cup of coffee. He sounds drunk tonight. Oh wait, wouldn’t coffee just make him a wide-awake drunk? Yeah, decaf is a better option.

  80. 80.

    Cacti

    @Roger Moore:

    Better than Walker, who was much closer to a ventriloquist’s dummy for the Koch brothers.

    I never saw what made some fellow Dems so fearful of Walker.

    His lazy eye and Friar Tuck hair alone pretty much guaranteed he’d never be POTUS. Superficial certainly, but also true.

  84. 84.

    JCJ

    @Cacti:

    I never saw what made some fellow Dems so fearful of Walker.

    I always figured he was dumber than GW Bush which would be considered a plus in the Republican primaries, then he would receive endless fluffing by the national media just as he had here in Wisconsin, similar to the fluffing Bush had – would like to have a beer with, etc. The real contest it seems is which one is dumber, Jeb…? or Walker?

  86. 86.

    JCJ

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Hey, I live in the state that he is fucking over

    The Milwaukee newspaper had an article about state highway projects being put on hold due to lack of funding, including the work on the Verona Road interchange on the Beltline. That is already a mess. Now they might just leave it like that? The damage to the state from this assclown will be long lasting.

  88. 88.

    David Fud

    @Right to Rise: Would love to see what you could come up with to achieve a Genius grant. My perception of you is that you aren’t intellectually capable of holding Coates’ hat, whether you can remember his name or not. Deal. With. That. Reality.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @JCJ: Jesus, that thing is a fucking mess. You can’t just leave it like that. Fucking incompetent.

    @redshirt: I have posted and talked about this and JCJ referenced it. The GOP is not currently popular in WI.

  90. 90.

    JCJ

    @redshirt:

    Good question. Prior to the governor’s election in 2014 commenter Vida Loca wrote about the lack of enthusiasm for the Democratic nominee, Mary Burke. Unfortunately that may have been accurate as she received 1,121,555 votes while Barack Obama received 1,620,985 votes in 2012. Meanwhile Walker got 1,259,162 votes while Mitt Romney had 1,407,966 votes in 2012.

  91. 91.

    cmorenc

    @Gin & Tonic:

    @Soonergrunt: Sounds like it’s time to take it back up. Alta is one of my favorite places on this planet.

    YES! If I was forced to pick one and no other place to ski for the rest of my life, Alta would win hands down. The mountain, the snow, the vibe, the scenery. And it’s located literally in the outskirts of Salt Lake City itself, unlike the distance of even the closest good resort in Colorado from Denver (A-Basin and the Breckenridge/Keystone complex)

  92. 92.

    redshirt

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I have posted and talked about this and JCJ and referenced it. The GOP is not currently popular in WI.

    I’ll believe it when you “De-Republicanize”. Believe me, I understand. Maine is arguably a 60% Dem state and yet we’ve been hijacked by purestrain crazy.

  94. 94.

    JCJ

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Here is a link to the article.

    http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/dot-puts-breaks-on-5-major-road-project-in-budget-crunch-b99586812z1-329959171.html

    What is really ridiculous is for some reason there is a two year project rebuilding State Road 67 from I-94 into Oconomowoc. I drive on that road once or twice a week. No one in the area thought it needed to be redone. I wonder if this is some favor to Kleefisch. The money for that project should absolutely be diverted to Madison or the Fox Valley to finish those projects.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @redshirt: I don’t really care when you will believe what, but WI is really the poster child for different electorates in presidential vs non-presidential years. It’s been years since the state has gone for an R in the presidential and we elected a left-wing lesbian over a respected ex-governor in the 2012 senate race. If you want to talk about the state, know something about it.

  96. 96.

    benw

    Hi Soonergrunt! Glad things are going well. I found out today that my contract was extended for 6 months, when I was only expecting 3, so that’s awesome. It’s like extra innings baseball but with a paycheck! Have fun exploring some of the beautiful country around you.

  99. 99.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman:

    Oh, don’t start again. It’s too late. Go check on the bear poop or something.

    You only root for a team when they win?

    As a lifelong Sox fan, for shame. Your fandom is BUILT on the premise of rooting for someone that will never win. Don’t give that up just because we’ve dominated baseball since 2004.

  103. 103.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman:

    You are, shall we say, a mite overenthusiastic.

    They’ve legit been one of the best teams in baseball since August 1. They have a dynamic core of young stars that could fuel the team for 5-8 years. They’ve got all the money in the world and the intention of spending it. Brand new baseball operations staff (essentially now the Tiger’s ex-staff) with the best minor league system in baseball.

    Get David Price and a few bullpen arms and this team is legit to compete for the World Series next year.

  104. 104.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman:

    Well, you had a lot of help from the vanity candidate.

    Which goes to my point. Maine only got taken over by wingnuts because of a strong 3rd party. What’s Wisconsin’s excuse?

  105. 105.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @redshirt: It’s been covered in a number of threads, including some explanation in this one…. Including those FPed by VidaLoca. I am not here to provide a remedial tutorial.

  106. 106.

    redshirt

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’s been covered in a number of threads, including some explanation in this one…. Including those FPed by VidaLoca. I am not here to provide a remedial tutorial.

    Your sense of humor? Hmm. I must be missing it.

  107. 107.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman: I know your woe.

    I also only listen on the radio, which makes it seem more innocent. The Orsillo thing seemed pathetic, but I’ve not watched them on tv in many years, so…

    But you’re behind the times friend. They sent Ramirez home, fired the GM, the coach will most likely get “promoted” upstairs. It’s a new team and I hope you join back up in the spring.

    Miller was a huge mistake, but it happens. I think Cherington sucked at the big league level and we’ve moved on.

    They might have the best outfield in baseball right now, and they’ve been playing exciting baseball for 2 months.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: More importantly, I’ve been funny and even witty on occasion, but, for god’s sake, people need to give me something to work with. A Mainer? Fuck, it’s like working with a Yooper. You’ve only the accent to use.

  109. 109.

    redshirt

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    More importantly, I’ve been funny and even witty on occasion, but, for god’s sake, people need to give me something to work with. A Mainer? Fuck, it’s like working with a Yooper. You’ve only the accent to use.

    LOL. That’s more like it.

    But don’t judge my state unless you know it!

  112. 112.

    Roger Moore

    @Soonergrunt:

    I’m copying that post as a list of things to do.

    I can’t personally vouch for all of them. I haven’t visited Rainbow Bridge or Natural Bridges, and I’ve spent very little time in Cedar Breaks. But I will say that some of the sites on that list that don’t qualify for National Park, or even National Monument, status have been some of the most fun to visit. Goblin Valley and Fantasy Canyon (also contains pictures from Spiral Jetty, Dinosaur, and Flaming Gorge) can be a lot more fun to visit because they have so many fewer restrictions than the National Parks. You’re allowed to wander around off trail without people getting on your case. The same is true for much of Grand Staircase-Escalante. They’re also a lot less busy, which is getting to be a serious problem at the most popular National Parks.

  114. 114.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @redshirt: Stephen King ..Also too, weirdly, the true home of the Bush Clan.

    It would not surprise me to learn that King conceived Pennywise the It Clown after accidentally seeing Barbara Bush swallow lobster rolls on the coast

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