Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

People are complicated. Love is not.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Bark louder, little dog.

T R E 4 5 O N

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

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

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Evening Open Thread

Friday Evening Open Thread

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A positive review to start the weekend, from — of all places — Politico:

… Over the past seven years, Americans have heard an awful lot about Barack Obama and his presidency, but the actual substance of his domestic policies and their impact on the country remain poorly understood. He has engineered quite a few quiet revolutions—and some of his louder revolutions are shaking up the status quo in quiet ways. Obama is often dinged for failing to deliver on the hope-and-change rhetoric that inspired so many voters during his ascent to the presidency. But a review of his record shows that the Obama era has produced much more sweeping change than most of his supporters or detractors realize.

It’s true that Obama failed to create the post-partisan political change he originally promised during his yes-we-can pursuit of the White House. Washington remains as hyperpartisan and broken as ever. But he also promised dramatic policy change, vowing to reinvent America’s approach to issues like health care, education, energy, climate and finance, and that promise he has kept. When you add up all the legislation from his frenetic first two years, when Democrats controlled Congress, and all the methodical executive actions from the past five years, after Republicans blocked his legislative path, this has been a BFD of a presidency, a profound course correction engineered by relentless government activism. As a candidate, Obama was often dismissed as a talker, a silver-tongued political savant with no real record of achievement. But ever since he took office during a raging economic crisis, he’s turned out to be much more of a doer, an action-oriented policy grind who has often failed to communicate what he’s done.

What he’s done is changing the way we produce and consume energy, the way doctors and hospitals treat us, the academic standards in our schools and the long-term fiscal trajectory of the nation. Gays can now serve openly in the military, insurers can no longer deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, credit card companies can no longer impose hidden fees and markets no longer believe the biggest banks are too big to fail. Solar energy installations are up nearly 2,000 percent, and carbon emissions have dropped even though the economy is growing. Even Republicans like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who hope to succeed Obama and undo his achievements, have been complaining on the campaign trail that he’s accomplished most of his agenda.

“The change is real,” says Ron Klain, who served as Biden’s White House chief of staff, and later as Obama’s Ebola czar. “It would be nice if more people understood the change.”…

***********
Apart from pleasant mild surprises, what’s on the agenda as we start the weekend?

Reader Interactions

117Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    Attention, you hoopleheads and c*cksuckers, “Deadwood” film may well happen.

    Reports of a Deadwood comeback have not been greatly exaggerated. Quite the opposite, in fact.

    HBO programming president Michael Lombardo confirmed to TVLine that he personally gave series creator David Milch the green light to resurrect the acclaimed yet painfully short-lived Western. “David has our commitment that we are going to do it,” says Lombardo. “He pitched what he thought generally the storyline would be — and knowing David, that could change. But it’s going to happen.”

    Thanks, Obama!

  2. 2.

    redshirt

    Top 3 President of the last 100 years?

    Certainly the best President of my lifetime, which does not include LBJ.

    LBJ was pretty awesome, but that little Vietnam thing sure takes him down.

  5. 5.

    Xantar

    It’s the same old saw that conservatives have been whining for Obama’s entire presidency: he’s simultaneously incompetent, clueless, and feckless while also being so all powerful that his executive orders will steal your guns and also destroy your health. And he managed to fake a Hawaiian birth certificate, too.

  7. 7.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Winter is coming.

    1-3 inches of ice sleet and snow tomorrow afternoon/night with temps dropping after the snow with highs in the low 20s and lows in the single digits.

    About damn time.

  10. 10.

    Mike in NC

    I’ve read a lot these past several years about how Obummer has been a weak, indecisive Kenyan secret Muslim commie, but also a brutal dictator who has consistently worked to undermine the Constitution with all of his unelected czars and illegal executive orders.

    Not an inconsiderate number of people in this country are now ripe for a dalliance with fascism under Trump or Cruz.

  14. 14.

    debbie

    @trollhattan:

    I loved Deadwood! If it comes back, it better not have lost any raunchiness.

    Driving home from work, I listened to an NPR report on Alabama’s lawsuit demanding information about Syrian refugees being settled in the state. Some official (maybe the governor) was complaining that he needed the feds to share information because Alabama had the right to know about any possible terroristic activities and communicable diseases.

    What’s next, the fear they’ll take our precious bodily fluids?

  15. 15.

    David Koch

    Fiorina said: “I find it odd that Sen. Ted Cruz did not renounce his duel Canadian citizenship until 2014 when it became clear he was running for president.”

    hahahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahhhhahahhah

    da, daa. da. daaa da.. I’m lovin it.

  18. 18.

    Gimlet

    The increasing popularity of armed protests in an emotional election year with more heated rhetoric than usual is starting to get scary.

  19. 19.

    David Koch

    @redshirt:

    “The Obama presidency is one of the most monumental shifts in American society and social life and policy of any presidency, particularly, you know, in the last 100 years.” ~ Chris Hayes

  22. 22.

    Peale

    @David Koch: Yep. I request that liberals hold their fire on this one. There is no need to look like we’re making fun of the hypocrisy, and getting even for 7 years of questioning our guy’s citizenship and right to be president, but there’s no need to pile on. Let them stick the knives in so our hands are clean.

  24. 24.

    Peale

    @Raven: If you do, make sure to pee before you go in and limit the soda size. It’s about 45 minutes too long as it is.

  26. 26.

    kc

    Man, fuck this fucking shit.

    “When we can say, ‘OK, now we can go home,’ would be when the people of Harney County are secure enough and confident enough that they can continue to manage their own land and their own rights and resources without our aid, ” Ryan Bundy said. “And we intend to turn this facility into a facility that will aid that process.”

    To underscore his point, he grabbed a piece of paper from the office printer. It featured a new name and logo the group had decided on for the Malheur refuge, which plays host annually to a wide range of migrating waterfowl. In the Bundy-designed logo, the words “Harney County Resource Center” float over an image of the reserve’s horizon in the glow of dusk.

    The [Bundy] brothers have taken over the cozy and cluttered office of Linda Sue Beck, a biologist and civil servant they have come to view as a symbol the federal government. They said they would allow Beck to come to gather her personal belongings. But they don’t want her to return to work.

    “She’s not here working for the people,” declared Ryan Bundy, the more outspoken of the brothers. “She’s not benefitting America. She’s part of what’s destroying America.”

    He referred to her as the “Carp Lady,” a nod to the fish-themed block prints and “Carpe Carp” sign on her office walls.

    I want those bastards out of there.

  27. 27.

    Iowa Old Lady

    You remember how oversold Trump’s Vermont rally was? Chris Hayes interviewed people with tickets who’d stood in line for as much as 6 hours and were turned away when they refused to identify themselves as Trump supporters. Some of them claimed they just hadn’t made their minds up yet. Bet they’ve made them up now.

  31. 31.

    Gimlet

    No Labels

    Wiki

    The inaugural meeting of No Labels was held in 2010 at a home in Houston, Texas,[7] and the organization was officially launched six months later in New York City.

    a lineup of Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, and Joe Manchin David Brooks; Joe Scarborough; Mika Brzezinski; and David Gergen

  36. 36.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Politico, schmolitico. Y’all need to watch Of Oz the Wizard (The Wizard of Oz in alphabetical order).

    This is what happens when O.C.D. goes rogue. So far I’m not even through the “A”s, but I’m already convinced it’s either genius or completely demented. Probably both.

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    @debbie:
    Five minutes of Al Swearengen and Calamity Jane having a chat up front should set the tone nicely. Maybe Wu can join in at the end to discuss pork futures.

    I’m stoked, hope this happens!

  41. 41.

    Gimlet

    Profiles in Courage

    Jason Patrick, hailing from Georgia, said he lost a roofing job with an $80,000 annual salary, benefits and a company truck when he abruptly set out for the standoff. He had already exhausted most of his vacation days for the year attending other so-called Patriot events.

    “I didn’t get to give appropriate notice,” he said of his voicemail message he left to alert bosses he wouldn’t be coming in to work.

    “The Constitution is more important,” Patrick said.

    Jon Ritzheimer, 32, told The Oregonian/OregonLive he’s collecting veterans’ disability pay, and that he’s “lucky to have a wife who works.” Ritzheimer has two children and said he won’t be able to stay in Oregon forever.

    A contributor going by ‘Humble Supporter’ gave $500 Jan. 7, writing on the fundraising page, “Have a good camping trip guys and gals.”

  43. 43.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @kc: No kidding.

    I was laughing at the story about how one of their fundraisers went to a local motel, and used the money he got off their internet site to go on a drinking binge.

    Then I read that story. And this one at Raw Story

    Why Oregon militants might be planning to ‘arrest’ the sheriff and execute him for treason
    A group of residents established the Harney County Committee of Safety last month…The committee of safety — made up of six community members, including a retired fire chief, two ranchers and the president of the county’s Republican Party — was formed to file grievances against the government.

    The concept is promoted by so-called “sovereign citizen” groups and is based on shadow governments set up by the Continental Congress in the months before American Revolution, said J.J. McNab, an expert on right-wing extremist groups…The committee will meet Friday evening, where they will presumably discuss state and local officials’ refusal to acquiesce to their demands to release the ranchers from prison and turn over federally owned land to local control…

    …Sheriff David Ward, who was sworn into an interim term Jan. 2, said his elderly parents had been harassed since the militants arrived — and his wife has left town after a group of strangers followed her home and she awoke to find her tire slashed. The sheriff said he had received numerous death threats after saying he agreed with many of the militants’ concerns — but not their tactics…McNab said she believes the militants may be planning to take the sheriff into custody if a common law grand jury indicts him.

    Things are getting serious, folks. It’s one thing to camp out like a bunch of buffoons, but when you start to conspire to abduct and try law enforcement in an extra legal capacity, it’s not funny any more.

    Then I read this:

    One of the militants, Jon Ritzheimer, drew the attention of Capitol Police in September for his plot to “arrest” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for treason after she voted in favor of the Iran nuclear deal.

    Ritzheimer, who is best known for his anti-Muslim rallies in Arizona, became infuriated after the Oath Keepers and some Michigan militia groups backed away from his plot to kidnap Stabenow and other elected officials.

    And now I’m wondering if the Feds, in classic fashion, really know what they’re dealing with here. Is anyone putting the pieces of this crazy puzzle together for them?

    And why, on God’s green earth, is Ritzheimer not in Federal Prison TODAY for threatening a US Senator?

  45. 45.

    Pogonip

    Are you rich? If so, please call your Congresscritter and ask him to outlaw “pre-authorization.”. This is when an insurance company decides they won’t pay for a prescription unless your doctor calls them and swears up and down that you really must have it. I’ve noticed it tends to happen late Friday afternoon. Because he didn’t have pre-authorization, which had never been required before, the man in front of me saw the price of his medicine, which sounded urgently needed, jump from $3 to $993. The insurance company can do this with every prescription you have if they feel like it. Please, any rich folks reading this, call your Congresscritter.

    You can call your Congresscritter if you’re not rich, of course, but it won’t do any good.

    I’ve had the “pre-auth” scam pulled on me a few times, too, though never for 3 figures.

  49. 49.

    kc

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Federal law enforcement apparently has more important things to do, like arresting people for selling counterfeit hoverboards, and monitoring black lives matter activists on Twitter.

  50. 50.

    debbie

    @Pogonip:

    Starting this year, CVS will also charge extra when you request a brand name drug that has a generic equivalent (the pharmacy’s definition). So, you get charged for the price of the brand drug, plus the difference in price between the brand and the generic (which is surprisingly higher).

    CVS has been making a killing on generics and they’ll be damned if they let pharmaceuticals elbow their way in on this pot o’ gold.

  51. 51.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    She was pretty good. Her students, well, student quality. Not great by any stretch, but enough promise to encourage them for a while yet. As I understand it, they are going to (or maybe probably this has already happened) attend/participate in Joyce DiDonato’s master class today.

    I ended up missing a lot of the POTUS Guns in America town hall, so will attempt to watch the rebroadcast tonight on CNN.

    How nice of you to ask! That’s a good sign in a presidential candidate.

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jon Hunstman is so no-labelly he gave Failure to Rise! a six figure donation.

    Granted, that’s cleaning out the couch in the small guest house money to the Huntsmans and pissing away 100K on Jeb is an almost non-partisan act.

    (Tweety doing a phone interview with HRC about how bad Sanders is on guns. Will the two MSNBC Chrisses become the proxy primary fight?)

  60. 60.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Gimlet: Didja ever notice how everybody else who post large blocks of text from somewhere else includes an actual link?

  61. 61.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud:

    My baby kissing training is not going so well, however.

    I remember that it’s pretty hard to smile and make nice when they puke sour milk all over your nice new shirt. :)

    Your campaign is going well it seems. You’re out here meetin’ and greetin’ with a smile.

  63. 63.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud:

    My baby kissing training is not going so well, however.

    I hope no babies were harmed in your training.

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    aaaand…. Ted Cruz becomes as creepy as his demeanor has always hinted he was

    ‏@ PatrickSvitek
    .@ tedcruz on Clinton interactions re: Benghazi: “In my house … if my daughter says something she knows to be false, she gets a spanking.”

  66. 66.

    Mnemosyne

    I decided to buy a copy of “The Little Prince” for my niece’s birthday and stumbled into a translation controversy. Apparently the US publishers did an “updated” translation in 2000 that a lot of people hate with a passion because it simplifies the language. So I ended up buying a used, pre-2000 translation from Alibris and we’ll see how that goes over. Kids don’t always like to get “vintage” stuff.

  71. 71.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud:

    I’ve got a campaign event coming up at a bird sanctuary in Oregon.

    I trust you’ll be travelling in either a B-52 or an A-10.

  72. 72.

    Capri

    @MazeDancer: I don’t think admitting to spanking your child hurts you with Republicans. Most think 90% of the world’s ills are due to over-indulged youth.

    I often overhear some of my more conservative co-workers brag about how quickly their discipline escalates to smacking around their kids.

  73. 73.

    Mornington Crescent

    @SiubhanDuinne: That Wizard of Oz editing was great. I got up to “do”. Some of the individual words are worth watching on their own, like “back”, which had a thematic quality to it.

  75. 75.

    danielx

    @Mnemosyne:

    There are not enough drugs in the western hemisphere to blank out that image. I really do not want to go to sleep tonight….

  79. 79.

    muddy

    @Iowa Old Lady: They had the Burlington police chief on the local news tonight saying how irresponsible it was for Trump to give out 20,000 tickets for a 1400 seat theater. He said that political campaigns give out more than they expect to show, but for that many tickets he would have expected 6500+ to show up. Said that if it were Phish that did that, he would have canceled the show.

    Meanwhile the manager of the theater was interviewed, and he was mad because they agreed to various rules about who would be let in and that there would be no signs. Then they gave out signs to the few who passed muster. Said he would not rent to them again, not that they would want to, I guess.

    It was amusing, they were broadcasting from the street outside the venue at 11pm and the street was deserted. I saw one guy duck out of one bar and into the next. Yeah, that’s about standard for a riot in Vermont.

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @muddy: @Iowa Old Lady: They had the Burlington police chief on the local news tonight saying how irresponsible it was for Trump to give out 20,000 tickets for a 1400 seat theater. He said that political campaigns give out more than they expect to show,

    and this is the guy who says fighting ISIS and solving immigration and everything else is all about “management”

  82. 82.

    debbie

    @Mnemosyne:

    One of my favorite books!

    A good friend’s husband died suddenly. He’d loved astronomy and as part of a tribute, a friend posted the section at the end where the Prince tells the narrator as he is leaving Earth that he will always be in heaven, looking down at him and laughing. It still tears me up.

  83. 83.

    pea

    i had so much hope when bill clinton became president and yet, it seemed, some one quietly took him aside and told him he would be destroyed if he made waves.
    mcconnell flat out announced republicans would make obama a one term president the day he was sworn in.
    it is stunning that obama has accomplished as much as he has given the forces against him.
    he is steady and thoughtful and ELOQUENT.
    i shudder to think of what will happen if the billionaires and jerry rigging, vote depriving, self-interested republicans steal the 2016 election…
    and how their dumbing down of america will make it so easy for them.
    “idiocracy” was not just a movie, it’s become our reality.

  84. 84.

    PsiFighter37

    I am going to miss the man when January 20th rolls around next year, even if it is Hillary Clinton up there taking the oath. Obama has been a once-in-a-lifetime person as president. I’m glad I got to meet him before he got really big (Philly in September 2004)…best skipping of a class ever.

  85. 85.

    debbie

    @debbie:

    “And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’ And they will think you are crazy.

  86. 86.

    MazeDancer

    @Capri:

    I often overhear some of my more conservative co-workers brag about how quickly their discipline escalates to smacking around their kids.

    And we all pay the price for their child abuse.

    A fully-grown man who thinks it’s a fine thing to physically hit a tiny child is likely to have been similarly assaulted himself. Like those football players “disciplining” their two year olds saying they were hit like that and it didn’t hurt them. Justifying harming children is, unfortunately, widespread.

  88. 88.

    SIA

    @pea: This is why I respect Obama. He’s accomplished so much, in the face of a RW wall of obstruction and hate. And he’s has been dignified and calm through it all.

  89. 89.

    Nate Dawg

    Welp, I literally haven’t been on this site for 6 weeks or so. First day off from a full-time family shitstorm the likes of which I hope no one (including me) ever has to see again.

    Is it me or did nothing important happen in 6 weeks besides guns control.

    Also, my dog of 13 years died. First dog I’ve ever “owned”, and first time I’ve gone through that. Sucks majorly, but the grief kind of got subsumed into other more urgent things.

  91. 91.

    JPL

    According to a NBC tweet feed.. A middle aged woman in a headscarf — who was standing silently — is now being escorted out. / guess whose campaign rally this was at..
    Woman in turquoise w/ hijab is Rosa Hamid. Said she’s here bc “most Trump supporters probably never met a Muslim.”

    LINK

  92. 92.

    Mnemosyne

    @debbie:

    This is for the younger of my 2 nieces who lost their father to cancer this summer, so I think it’s a good pick. I just hope the copies I ordered have a good translation and aren’t too grungy.

  93. 93.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Nate Dawg: Sorry about your dog, I’ve been through it twice with a few months span of time. It hurts every time.

    ETA: That was 9 1/2 years ago, I’ve got a new pack now.

  97. 97.

    Nate Dawg

    Thanks guys. She was given a few years to live as a 1year old and lived to 13 and had an awesome life (lots and lots of hiking and travel).

    So that helps, but damn if I don’t put my arm out to pet her and she’s not there.

  98. 98.

    PurpleGirl

    @Nate Dawg: Condolences on the loss of your dog. Remember you gave her a good life and showed her love. That’s the best you could do. It’s hard losing a pet. {hugs}

  100. 100.

    Trentrunner

    @MazeDancer: Agreed. Also:

    Ta-Nehisi Coates and other black parents talk about why they use corporal punishment (Coates says now he would not), essentially: “Either I beat you or the cops will beat/kill you.”

    In other words, different set of incentives at work for AA families on this topic.

  101. 101.

    Riley's Enabler

    @Nate Dawg: I’m so sorry for your loss. Losing our fur friends is dreadful. I’m glad you have 13 years of memories to warm your heart.

  102. 102.

    Felonius Monk

    @efgoldman:

    Since when do we give a shit about etiquette in Rhode Island?

    I’m going to go out on a limb here and say probably not since Roger Williams rode into town with his new and dangerous ideas. :)

  103. 103.

    Redshift

    @Mike J: Also, it’s common for our trolls not to post links because they want to hide either the source or the context of the excerpt. So my instinct for a no-link long quote is to assume it’s questionable and I’m not going to engage with it unless I care enough to dig up the source.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Just heard a CNN “journalist” report from a Trump rally that some in attendance shouted “epitaphs” at a Muslim woman.

    I weep with Ted Turner.

  105. 105.

    different-church-lady

    But he also promised dramatic policy change, vowing to reinvent America’s approach to issues like health care, education, energy, climate and finance, and that promise he has kept.

    Which is why he couldn’t keep the first promise: the two are incompatible.

  107. 107.

    different-church-lady

    @pea:

    i had so much hope when bill clinton became president and yet, it seemed, some one quietly took him aside and told him he would be destroyed if he made waves.

    He came out swining, got clobbered on health care reform, lost congress, and got timid.

  108. 108.

    Shana

    @Nate Dawg: I know what you mean. We lost our dog about a year and a half ago. We miss him all the time, but especially Friday nights. We light the candles, say our blessings over them, then wine, then bread. We cut a piece of bread off the end of the challah, break it into enough pieces for everyone at the table and give them out. Lightning always loved this ritual and we always gave him a piece of bread which he enjoyed so very much. It’s one of those times when his loss comes home again. The pain passes, but the remembrance of his happy presence at that time each week is bittersweet.

  109. 109.

    gelfling545

    @efgoldman: Went with my daughter to see The Force Awakens at 11:15 am on Jan 4. It wasn’t sold out but there weren’t a lot of empty seats available. We figured we’d have the place to ourselves but, nope.

  110. 110.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @Nate Dawg: I was going through my divorce when 9/11 happened and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t deeply affected by that event. Someone smarter than me told me that grief is finite – you just feel it – you don’t feel more or less depending on the events.

    I don’t know if that’s true, but it helped. Maybe what’s going on for you, too.

    Hugs to you and I hope there are some rays of peace coming to you soon.

  112. 112.

    Redshift

    @different-church-lady:

    Which is why he couldn’t keep the first promise: the two are incompatible.

    Or alternatively, Republicans viewed cooperation on nothing, and he kept all his promises that could be done without them. Changing the tone obviously doesn’t fall in that category. He may yet pull off closing Gitmo, but it would have been a hell of a lot easier with even a tiny bit of help.

  114. 114.

    different-church-lady

    @Redshift:

    but it would have been a hell of a lot easier with even a tiny bit of help.

    From his own party, even.

    Same can be said about the ACA.

  115. 115.

    jcgrim

    I must take issue re: Obama’s legacy of education “reform”. Sec of Education Arne Duncan and Obama’s Race to the Top was a thinly veiled privatization scheme. The collateral damage to children, families, communities, and schools are far greater than any test score gains.

    No thanks to Obama & Duncan, my lifelong profession in public education is under unprecedented attack by a bipartisan coalition that calls themselves “reformers.”

    It includes the Obama administration’s entire Dept of Education staffed by industry flacks, the Republican leadership, the Gates Foundation, the Eli Broad Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, hedge-fund managers, ALEC, and rightwing governors.

    They seek alternatives to democratically controlled public schools, such as privately managed charters, for-profit charter schools, virtual schools, and, in some states, vouchers for religious schools. The reformers’ excessive reliance on standardized testing as both the measure and goal of schooling has corrupted education. Because of the reformers’ attacks on teachers, experienced teachers are retiring early, and the number entering teaching has dropped sharply.

  116. 116.

    Matt McIrvin

    @kc:

    like arresting people for selling counterfeit hoverboards

    Good. Those things fucking explode.

  117. 117.

    Matt McIrvin

    @SiubhanDuinne: Some of the best parts are words that appear repeatedly in a song (especially “We’re Off To See The Wizard” and “If I Only Had [x]”, which are sung repeatedly in the movie): because each word’s instances are edited together in running-time order, the notes make a new little melody.

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