Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

“But what about the lurkers?”

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

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

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Consistently wrong since 2002

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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

You can’t love your country only when you win.

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

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

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

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

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Football Open Thread

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Sorry- I thought the actual Cracker would take care of this or I would have put it up earlier. I’ve been doing things around the house and went and got a haircut and checked in on my car. Somehow, a brake job and alignment turned into replacing a cam humaduh humaduh because it was rusted and they broke the whosiwhatsit and need to replace the arm something something and it won’t be ready until Tuesday. I wish I lived somewhere where I didn’t need one of these god damned car things but then I would have to deal with people because public transportation doesn’t make much sense when there is no public.

Oh, Sunless Sea is a delightful little video game.

Reader Interactions

145Comments

  2. 2.

    Heliopause

    I made a comment the other day that playing defense is forbidden by rule in the Big XII. As I write, the conference has completed five games and the best defensive effort so far is 37 given up by Oklahoma. Oregon now has 28 on the board early in the 2nd against TCU. Maybe WV has a decent chance against that 6-6 Arizona State juggernaut.

  3. 3.

    Randy P

    So we went to Star Wars today. My wife was very struck by how different a Star Wars script written by an actual writer was. There were actual (human and non-human) beings instead of cartoon cutouts, and that includes the characters who were returning from the earlier movies.

    I’ve heard that there’s been some online misogyny against Carrie Fisher who is OMG older than she used to be, and nobody wants to hear from a woman over 40 amirite? She was gorgeous IMHO and knowing that she is a professional humor writer, making a living “punching up” scripts, I’m dying to read what her comebacks have been. Any links will be appreciated.

    This was also our first experience with the AMC restaurant-and-movie setup. The theater only has about 70-80 seats in the form of comfy chairs with little tables, like airline food tables. The ticket prices are still about $10, so I was wondering about their business model. Are they making up the difference in profit on the food?

    In a word, yeah. It’s decent food, not outstanding but pretty good. A step above nachos-at-the-popcorn counter, stuff like pretty good sushi and not bad burgers. Fairly alarming calorie counts as you might expect from the grease-and-salt food group. And a wide selection of overpriced drinks. I was a little grumbly about the prices, but my wife was very happy at the food and drink offerings and we’ll probably be contributing more to AMC’s bottom line this year.

  4. 4.

    a different chris

    The suspicious ‘rusted cam’ is probably an eccentric adjuster, somewhere in the alignment-related part of the suspension, since you were getting an alignment done. Shit like that tends to rust (like everything under there) but then seize up (unlike the suspension parts that move every time the car is driven) since those adjusters are parts that never move except every 15 years when some poor soul is sent under there to fix what you fucked up driving into curbs and potholes.

  7. 7.

    RobertDSC-Quad Intel Mac

    I got a PS4 for my birthday. Playing Metal Gear Solid V on it after nearly platinum-ing it on the PS3 is a treat. Though I have to build my base from scratch, the graphical improvements and gameplay are top notch. So far, this game is the one that has spent the most time in the PS4. I have several others, but I like MGS V the best.

  8. 8.

    Randy P

    Did I commit a faux pas interpreting “Football Open Thread” as both “Football” and “Open”? Is this supposed to be Football-only? Will I be shunned?

  11. 11.

    Elizabelle

    @Randy P: I stand with you on an Open Open thread.

    2 posts back to back on guns? Interesting topic, but have been jonesing for an open thread.

  12. 12.

    Scott S.

    I had a devil of a time with Sunless Sea. I think I would’ve had an easier time, but I never got the hang of using a game controller, and I think that’s a game that just won’t work well with the keyboard and mouse. :/

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Elizabelle: I did mine as a thematic follow up. I thought we might compete for some NRA funding or something. Maybe then Cole can get new speakers.

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman: Not getting after you, Adam. Gun violence is an important topic.

    And especially not after you gave us Boris Karloff’s guacamole recipe (sherry and canned green chiles; who knew?)

    But it was a lot of guns and morons to consider when an open thread would have been lighter.

    I am so down on current events. Want to step away from it for a while. The Twilight Zone is about my speed. And I have not watched any NBC news product for about ten days now. And counting.

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Elizabelle: I caught the El Rey Network showing of the early 00s Twilight Zone on New Years Eve. Turned in just in time for the modern version of the Monsters on Maple Street. Or whatever that street was called.

  21. 21.

    Germy

    @Elizabelle: I have to admit one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes is from the later series. The one where Robert Klein suddenly finds everyone speaking and writing gibberish. He has to relearn the “new” language to function in society. A metaphor for a stroke victim’s aphasia? I don’t know, but it was haunting.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Germy: Bernie Sanders Heckler Holds Up Sign: ‘Obama is a Christian Like Bruce Jenner Is A Women”

    Yet another good Heartlander, totally non-racist and psychologically well-adjusted, expressing his sense of economic insecurity.

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman: Noticed El Rey was doing that; will have to catch them later.

    RE the present TZ episode: I think some writer got real sick of his daughter’s Chatty Cathy doll. Talking Tina, hmmm?

  25. 25.

    Schlemazel

    @Elizabelle:
    You’ll hate Tully Savalis by the time it reaches its end.

    OTOH, anybody else think Mickey Rooney was under appreciated as an actor? I thought he was masterful in his TZ episode.

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Germy: Dave Weigel is live-tweeting a rally in Biloxi

    daveweigel ‏@ daveweigel 43m43 minutes ago
    PA warning: “If a protester starts demonstrating in the area around you, please do not touch the protester. This is a peaceful protest.”

    ETA:daveweigel ‏@ daveweigel 2m2 minutes ago
    Trump: “I have great genes and all that stuff, which I’m a believer in.”
    No matter who cynical you get, you can’t keep up.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    @Germy: Aphasia? Maybe so. Didn’t see it, but great catch.

    I always loved “The Passage of the Lady Anne” (re the elegant old cruise ship); loaded with great dialogue about being left behind the times, and about what is lost by hurling forward into modernity. A lot of these TZ episodes really resonate.

  31. 31.

    Schlemazel

    @Elizabelle:
    I mentioned earlier that Serling wrote a lot of these things and brought some interesting issues with him. His war experiences particularly. But there is one where a guy summons Shakespeare to write a TV show and has a major issue with the sponsor demanding changes. That was a complaint Serling has often & was a big part in why he quit. The sponsor in the episode was a complete doofus & I think that was not accidental.

  32. 32.

    PurpleGirl

    @Elizabelle: Thanks for the link. Being in that position myself I didn’t want to read the comments yet. After not getting any responses to the jobs I had applied for, I finally stopped looking, I did get a small inheritance that I’ve been living on but now will be applying for early SS.

  33. 33.

    Schlemazel

    @Elizabelle:
    He plays a jockey who is granted a wish, he mistakenly wishes to be a “big man” You can write the ending from that but it is not the destination, it is the journey that makes it a treat. Its a one-man show, only Rooney & he chews it up & spits it out without being hammy.

    I looked it up, Last Night of the Jockey. Don’t know if you can find it on line

  37. 37.

    PurpleGirl

    What I’ve found intriguing watching the TZ episodes over the last two days are the number of actors in shows who are smoking. And even Rod Serling opened the show with a cigarette in hand. (Ironic that he died of lung cancer, IIRC.)

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    @PurpleGirl: Yeah. In “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” I was thinking “why isn’t that airplane cabin filled with cigarette smoke? Cause back in the day ….

  41. 41.

    Schlemazel

    @PurpleGirl:
    The show was sponsored by a tobacco company so it was probably required. OTOH it was the early 60s & the cigarette companies where still hiding the truth.

    It was a heart attack but smoking didn’t help & probably contributed.

  45. 45.

    Schlemazel

    @Elizabelle:
    I can’t watch ‘20,000 Feet” without hearing James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) talking about working with Shattner on radio in Canada years before:
    “Poor boy, couldn’t act then either”

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    Now up: The Old Man in the Cave. With James Coburn.

    Have become quite the Coburn fan.

    ETA: Talking about mutated tomatoes. Prefiguring GMO by decades.

    They’re talking about atomic bomb aftereffects. Fear of the bomb has showed up in numerous episodes by now.

  50. 50.

    Satby

    @PurpleGirl: So will I, in 18 months. And it will improve my standard of living and income even at the reduced early rate. I always worked, technically I’ve worked since I was laid off, but they were all classified as part time jobs with no benefits and fluctuating hours, sometimes as little as 8 in a week. You just can’t survive on that.

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    @Satby: I think I want to see a Hillary/Bernie ticket, and have Bernie talk constantly about the importance of JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. That pay adequately.

    Hillary can multitask, but Bernie is more honest about what the real problem has been.

    Fox and the hedgehog territory.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    @Satby:

    If you could shoehorn Elizabeth Warren in there somewhere (even though she isn’t interested), it’d be a trifecta!

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Elizabelle: If Bernie doesn’t get the nom, he would be more effective in the Senate than on the ticket.

    @debbie: Warren is currently in a place where she can do a lot of good.

  58. 58.

    debbie

    @efgoldman:

    There was a feature on one of the “Mad Men” DVDs about the history of cigarette advertising. More venal than the oil companies. Even back then, the manufacturers knew how deadly cigarettes were. I learned from that feature that the brand my mother had smoked (Kent) used asbestos for the filter, which explains why she had both kinds of lung cancer.

  59. 59.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Randy P: I saw snippets of a rebroadcast of her show Wishful Drinking a day or so ago. It was fascinating and hilarious.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who never thought someone could make ECT sound therapeutic and funny.)

  60. 60.

    Elizabelle

    “Friends, Romans, Farm Animals.”

    I love the dialogue in the TZ. This one takes place in the future.

    1974. After we’ve all been irradiated …

  64. 64.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Our New Years Eve sucked due to the fact that Molly Darcy’s changed their menu and the winter menu sucked. We got fed up after a while and we went to Crocodile Rocks. The pianists as you know continuously come up with schemes to make themselves money (in addition to the money they get for requests) Anyhow they have this thing now where you can pay $20 to have something written on the mirror behind them and they will call it out between each song. The rules are it has to be THREE WORDS OR LESS and each slogan has to pay more than the last. So the first one was “Happy Birthday Becky” for $20.00. the next one was Happy Anniversary Bob&Sue for $21.00 (kind of fudging the rules. After several others someone paid $40.00 to have “2016 the last f*kin year of Obama” put up there. Obviously blowing the THREE WORDS OR LESS thing but the pianists put it up there anyway. The crowd went wild every time the guys yelled it. (I am in Myrtle Beach SC remember). This is where is gets funny. The next wingnut pays $80.00 to have the same thing put up there. Then the next wingnut pays $100.00 to have the same thing put up there but with the “f*kin” actually spelled out. It was hilarious, the wingnuts were actually bidding against each other to get the same phrase left on the mirror. One of the pianists pointed out that in reality 2017 is going to be the last year of Obama but “don’t let that whole Constitution thing phase you guys” which went right over the SC wingnuts heads. The entire atmosphere was surreal and I decided to get the hell out of Dodge and thin out back to the motel room. have a photo if only I knew how to post it.

  67. 67.

    Mike J

    @Elizabelle:

    Hillary can multitask, but Bernie is more honest about what the real problem has been

    I don’t think honesty is the issue. Bernie has one idea that appeals to white liberals and nothing else. Hillary actually tries to talk to everyone in America.

    Don’t get me wrong. I’m a white liberal and agree with Bernie on a lot of things. But it’s not because he’s more “honest”.

  70. 70.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Schlemazel:

    I told my husband about that one and he said WTF doesn’t the guy understand the law? How the fu*k can he be President?

  74. 74.

    JGabriel

    John Cole @ Top:

    I wish I lived somewhere where I didn’t need one of these god damned car things but then I would have to deal with people because public transportation doesn’t make much sense when there is no public.

    See, that’s the beauty of New York City. People ignore each other, partly because many of us are misanthropes, but mostly because everyone recognizes that it’s just impossible to live here unless everyone respects each other’s boundaries and privacy, to the greatest extent possible without infringing on the rights of others or infringing on the ability to conduct business.

    Hell, even celebrities get ignored here – unless they’re standing outside a theater inviting people to request autographs.

  76. 76.

    Schlemazel

    @Litlebritdifrnt:
    It breaks my brain trying to imagine a President Trump. Seriously, there is no way I can envision what the nation would look like. A man so full of himself he can’t take advice, so sure of himself he can’t imagine he is every wrong, a man with no clue how to govern. The entire clown car has issues but not one of them has all the issues wrapped into one ugly litle package.

  80. 80.

    JGabriel

    @Elizabelle:

    I think I want to see a Hillary/Bernie ticket, and have Bernie talk constantly about the importance of JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. That pay adequately.

    Also, any wingnut crazy enough to try to assassinate Clinton would have to consider the possibility of an even more liberal Sanders administration.

    Personally, I’m supporting Sanders – but I don’t mind Clinton, and think a combined ticket with either of them on top could work well.

    On the other hand, that probably won’t happen. Either candidate would represent a first – first female president or first Jewish president – and I suspect neither will be willing to take the risk of pushing two firsts on a single ticket.

  82. 82.

    JGabriel

    @Schlemazel:

    The entire clown car has issues but not one of them has all the issues wrapped into one ugly litle package.

    Which is why Trump will win the GOP nomination: His issues are YUUUGE!

  83. 83.

    Heliopause

    Strange that Oregon’s 2nd string QB can’t pass. Even stranger that their 2nd string center can’t snap. That’s, uh, kind of the absolute minimum requirement for the job, isn’t it?

  84. 84.

    Schlemazel

    @Baud:
    Imagine how classy it will be when the giant sign gets erected christening the Grand Canyon
    TRUMP CANYON

    Witha YOOOOG real classy casino on the floor.

  85. 85.

    Schlemazel

    @Baud:
    Imagine how classy it will be when the giant sign gets erected christening the Grand Canyon
    TRUMP CANYON

    Witha YOOOOG real classy casino on the floor.

  90. 90.

    JPL

    @efgoldman: It is fun. Nice to see them get the two points. I started off not caring who won, and now I’m all go TCU. I lived in Dallas during the Jim Wacker era.. He was one entertaining but crazy dude.

  91. 91.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: @Satby: @Baud: I can’t prove it, but it just makes sense. My guess is it would be the one now in the Cabinet so there isn’t a worry about losing a Democratic seat in the House.

    As for them switching off: I know they’ve done it a couple of times in press conferences just to mess with the news media. I’d pay money to see this happen at the national level.

  95. 95.

    Felonius Monk

    @efgoldman:

    you can get Taft’s bathtub out of storage.

    Dang, you beat me to it. I was trying to respond to Baud with some clever remark about Wm. Howard Taft, but you shot the wind out of my sail. :)

  97. 97.

    Schlemazel

    @dogwood:
    I doubt that even the nut jobs in Congress would go along with that. But imagine him trying to deal with Israel/Palestine or with Putin over Ukraine, or Iran. This is a guy who can’t conceive of the notion he does not know that he has no simple easy solution. Here is a guy who shoots his mouth off & expects everyone to kiss his ass in admiration. I just can’t imagine how bad it would be.

  98. 98.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: Well, I’m not quite that rotund, but I’m may use Taft’s tub for the official White House hot tub parties.

    You’re going to show bipartisan leadership by reaching out to Tom Delay? I think you just won Fournier’s endorsement. Though you may have to invite him to that party.

  99. 99.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud: The nice thing about hot tub parties in the White House is that it will make republican heads explode. More exploding heads, less republicans.

  101. 101.

    Schlemazel

    @Gravenstone:
    I posted & then looked for an image but can’t find a good one. In later episodes the moon is their with the badly burnt “plan ahead’ style CHAIRFACE on it. I love that sort of continuity across episodes. In the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies there is one where he fires some bullets into the wall above his mantle, in later movies those bullet holes are always right there. I love that!

  108. 108.

    dogwood

    @Schlemazel:
    If a republican wins in 2106 the freedom caucus will lose its power. They’ll all fall in line. Fox News and the president will convince the base that they can’t get all their new ponies because Obama destroyed America. Instead they’ll get a brand new war with lots of boots on the ground.

  110. 110.

    JPL

    @efgoldman: Are the purity ponies the same ones who think that single payer will solve all our health care woes?

    also, too.. will someone win this game.. It’s past my bedtime.

  114. 114.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Schlemazel: When you ever watch the Original Planet Of The Apes with Charlton Heston you are basically watching the big screen version of the Twilight Zone. Serling wrote that one also.

  122. 122.

    Gin & Tonic

    @efgoldman: Their statement, according to the link, says they’re planning to stay in the building “for years.” I wonder what they plan to eat. This seems like a pretty self-limiting course of action, but then what the fuck do I know.

  123. 123.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    what is it with these people and “rammed down throats”?

    Alexandra Jaffe ‏@ ajjaffe 9h9 hours ago Hilton Head Island, SC
    Rubio: Trying to raise his kids on Church values, “instead of values that Hollywood & the media trying to ram down their throats every day”

  125. 125.

    Schlemazel

    @efgoldman:
    Ammon Bundy said in Facebook video they have taken over refuge to use as militia base for years. Called patriots from U.S. to come.

    In an ominous sign, one member of the group, Jon Ritzheimer, posted a goodbye video to his family on YouTube today. “I want to die a free man,” Ritzheimer says.

    This can’t end well. Either they play soldier for a few weeks & then go home or the government has to squash them. Heros or martyrs. The Army can’t do it legally (is the NG under the same rules?) and the nuts probably have some decent firepower. This can’t end well.

  128. 128.

    Schlemazel

    @efgoldman:
    Look how that worked out after the Waco standoff. This is a no win situation. I agree they should be put down but that will end up with another OKC, maybe more than one.

  129. 129.

    Gravenstone

    @Schlemazel:

    Jon Ritzheimer

    This is the same whackjob who threatened to drive to NY and lay waste to some town with a high proportion of Muslim residents. Only he never got the crowd funding he claimed he would need, so as usual sound and fury, amounting to nothing.

    In this case, yes unfortunately it’s probably not going to end well. But the first thing the authorities should do is cut off all utilities and prevent any resupply. Let’s see how long these morons last without clean water.

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: No, this doesn’t require the military. Law enforcement is more than capable of dealing with this. And we have the Posse Comitatus Act. And the last thing we want is to use the US military for law enforcement.

  136. 136.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Schlemazel: Title 10 versus Title 32. They’re on Federal land. This’ll be a Federal Law Enforcement in the lead response. They’ll have a tactical HRT on the way from the closest FBI field office, if its not there already. They’ll be backed up by DHS agents, BLM and Fish and Wildlife Services from Interior, and, if necessary, ATF and Marshalls. They will also be backed up by the local sheriff and Oregon state police.

  137. 137.

    Schlemazel

    @Adam L Silverman:
    I believe it is actually unconstitutional to use the Army inside the US against its citizens. Thats was a hold over from the days Kings used their Army to crush civilian populations who misbehaved.

  138. 138.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Gravenstone: What’s so funny about that is that Hancock, NY has a very, very large Hasidic Jewish community. So if the local Muslim community was in anyways suspicious we would have heard about it.

  145. 145.

    Bill

    John, it’ll be the camber adjustment bolt on the rear suspension. It’s a very common issue on subarus, mostly because they rarely need adjustment until they’re about a decade old and the bushings have gotten soft. As the second owner of a 200k+ mileage 05 outback, I’ll likely be doing them myself in the spring. BTW, my car came from CT and is nearly rust free underneath. I can only assume that the first owner was fairly liberal with the ol’ undercarriage wash, for which I am grateful. Gen 3 Outbacks (and the Gen 4 Legacies of which they are variants) are fabulous cars, and will go nearly forever if the rust doesn’t get ’em, and they are far less prone to rust than the previous generation of cars.

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