Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

I was promised a recession.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The words do not have to be perfect.

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

In my day, never was longer.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

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

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Busy, Busy, Busy (Open Thread — Updated)

Busy, Busy, Busy (Open Thread — Updated)

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No time to post right now, but it looks like y’all could use an open thread uncontaminated by partisan rancor, so here it is!

ETA: Goddamn, this is hilarious:

Summary if you can’t watch: Santorum goes on Morning Joe to endorse Rubio and when asked, can’t name a single Rubio accomplishment. He tries to excuse Rubio’s empty senatorial CV by saying there was gridlock because the Democrats controlled the Senate. When told the Republicans have controlled the Senate for a year now, he says Lil’ Marco was too busy campaigning for president to do anything, then starts whining about the unfairness of the question. Jeebus, what a face-plant!

Reader Interactions

195Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    uncontaminated by partisan rancor

    Where’s the fun in that?
    I say we just say screw it and turn Balloon-Juice into the interwebs’ first virtual Brownfield Site.

  8. 8.

    FlyingToaster (Tablet)

    I’ll take uncontaminated by concern trolling, thank you Betty.

    It looks like we in Bwahstin will get some snow starting tonight. Hooray!

  12. 12.

    Felonius Monk

    I thought it said parmesan rancor and started to think maybe there was a bad cheese thread.

  18. 18.

    Felonius Monk

    @BGinCHI:

    I remember when this blog used to be all about the love.

    That was before campaign season started. BTW, what’s the norsk word for love?

  19. 19.

    boatboy_srq

    @singfoom: Y’know, that’s where I went with that too… although Felonius Monks’ parmesan rancor was funny (although jerk rancor seems more appropriate: more spice, to make it at least remotely edible)…

  22. 22.

    satby

    I’ve just spent about two hours in a three way call fest between my oldest son, the homeowners insurance company, and the claims adjuster. About 3 hours ago a huge oak tree fell on the garage at the house in Chicago; though my son bought it on contract from me I still hold title. The garage and everything in it is destroyed, my son thinks it will collapse when they try to take the tree off.
    But my coverage for this is replacement value, so aside from the horrible inconvenience, we should be ok. Pulled the power lines down off the house too, so now waiting for the power company to come handle the live wires.

  25. 25.

    raven

    <block quote Alcohol Use in the United States:
    Prevalence of Drinking: In 2013, 86.8 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime; 70.7 percent reported that they drank in the past year; 56.4 percent reported that they drank in the past month.1

    Prevalence of Binge Drinking and Heavy Drinking: In 2013, 24.6 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month; 6.8 percent reported that they engaged in heavy drinking in the past month.2

    Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) in the United States:
    Adults (ages 18+): 16.6 million adults ages 18 and older3 (7.0 percent of this age group4) had an AUD in 2013. This includes 10.8 million men3 (9.4 percent of men in this age group4) and 5.8 million women3 (4.7 percent of women in this age group4).
    About 1.3 million adults received treatment for an AUD at a specialized facility in 2013 (7.8 percent of adults who needed treatment). This included 904,000 million men (8.0 percent of men in need) and 444,000 women (7.3 percent of women who needed treatment).5

    Youth (ages 12–17): In 2013 an estimated 697,000 adolescents ages 12–176 (2.8 percent of this age group7) had an AUD. This number includes 385,000 females6 (3.2 percent of females in this age group7) and 311,000 males6 (2.5 percent of males in this age group7).
    An estimated 73,000 adolescents (44,000 males and 29,000 females) received treatment for an alcohol problem in a specialized facility in 2013.8

    Alcohol-Related Deaths:
    Nearly 88,0009 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women10) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.9

    In 2013, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 10,076 deaths (30.8 percent of overall driving fatalities).11

    Economic Burden:
    In 2006, alcohol misuse problems cost the United States $223.5 billion.12

    Almost three-quarters of the total cost of alcohol misuse is related to binge drinking.12

  28. 28.

    FlipYrWhig

    We wouldn’t have nearly this much partisan rancor if not for the millionaires, billionaires, and Wall Street!

  31. 31.

    boatboy_srq

    @Iowa Old Lady: Being paid is especially awesome when the S.O. wants to come visit and go sightseeing ,-). Three months’ enforced idleness has worn a bit thin: the first couple weeks were a nice rest, but after that…. As for the jobs, both good prospects, both a nice incremental career step, and good places. I may be working again by March.

  34. 34.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    Even the other Theocons can’t stand Cruz.
    A hated by the right people campaign has its
    limits when everybody hates you.

  37. 37.

    boatboy_srq

    @satby: Thanks! I’ve been looking for a while – but the urgency ramped up just recently. Thank FSM for First Quarter and new budgets.

  38. 38.

    boatboy_srq

    @satby: Yikes. Glad it’s property damage only. FYI I’m (also) house-shopping – for early next year, I think – and stories like this make me think renting isn’t so bad after all…

  39. 39.

    schrodinger's cat

    My contribution to non-partisan rancor

    Fun song with a great beat, Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh are siblings in this movie (which I haven’t seen). Plus there is Anil Kapoor, who you may have be familiar because he played the game show host in Slum Dog Millionaire.

  41. 41.

    satby

    @Germy: Yeah. Huge tree, goes all the way through our yard (50 ft lot) and extends into the next yard, though the damage seems to all be at my house: garage and contents, kid’s car parked in front of the garage, pipe holding the wires to the house electric meter ripped off the wall, no idea if the meter itself is ok. Fully grown 100+ year old oak tree.

    Edited to add, just glad no one happened to be home at either of the properties the tree fell into. No weather, just an old tree at end of life.

  42. 42.

    Germy

    Summoned to a congressional hearing into price-gouging, entrepreneur Martin Shkreli smirked, dodged and insulted those before him, even when all they wanted to talk about was Wu-Tang Clan.

    “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the committee treated with such contempt,’’ Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican, said after Mr. Shkreli was excused and left the room. Mr. Mica asked if Mr. Shkreli could be held in contempt of Congress. The committee chairman, Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, said he did not intend to do so. The theatrics surrounding Mr. Shkreli’s appearance, which included his smirking at some remarks by committee members, overshadowed some of the more substantial discussion about huge overnight price increases in the prices of old drugs by Turing and another company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.

    Shkreli famously raised the price of a cheap generic medication to $750 a pill, knowing that it would take years for other companies to get products approved. He was recently arrested on unrelated fraud charges and released on bond, thereby justifying his use of a phrase — “On the advice of councel… I respectfully decline” — used seemingly to mock his interrogators today.

  43. 43.

    Felonius Monk

    @scav:

    that theory is no a gouda one, it’s full of holes

    That comment is whey over my head,but it’s stilton kind of funny.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    @Steve from Antioch:

    I wonder what kind of hole exists in someone’s life that they feel the need to watch football after knowing the tragic toll it exacts on its players.

    I want to stop paying attention to football because of the CTE issue, but I grew up a fan and it’s hard to give up old loyalties. I managed to avoid watching any games on TV this year (except when I happened to be somewhere with a TV that was already showing a game), but giving up entirely is harder than you’d think.

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: Your luck is changing for the better. If this had happened last week you would have been in the garage when the tree fell.

  50. 50.

    MattF

    @Germy: Hmm. Teensy bit embarrassing there for Santorum, but at least it’s air time for him… The deep bench strikes again.

  51. 51.

    Germy

    Christie’s Plot Thickens…

    Guardian UK: Chris Christie’s office ‘refusing to release Bridgegate emails’ – Attorneys say they have discovered that New Jersey governor’s office withheld ‘critical documents’ related to bridge affair as case returns to court
    …they had “newly discovered” that the governor’s office had withheld “critical documents” originating from the days around the lane closures in September 2013 that gridlocked the town of Fort Lee.

  56. 56.

    Germy

    A Modest Proposal to Make New Jersey the First Primary State:
    http://notesironbound.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-modest-proposal-to-make-new-jersey.html

    First, New Jersey is much more representative of the country as a whole. It is much bigger than Iowa and New Hampshire, with almost nine million residents. Its population is 73% white, as opposed to 77% for the country as a whole, making it much more in line with the country’s racial demographics. African-Americans, Asians, and Latinos all make up a larger percentage of the population of New Jersey than they do of the nation as a whole, but not a whole lot more so. New Jersey has cities, suburbs, and small towns, but no one city dominates the state. One area where New Jersey is an outlier should also qualify it for first: New Jerseyans are more highly educated than the rest of the country. Shouldn’t that allow us in the Garden State to get bumped up? New Jersey is also a moderate state politically. The radical nature of conservative politics in a place like Iowa gives extra power to loonies like Ted Cruz, who wouldn’t stand much of a chance in Jersey.

  61. 61.

    Germy

    @boatboy_srq: With all the publicity around the O.J. Simpson mini-series, people are wondering if brain damage contributed to the whole thing. (I mean O.J.’s brain damage, not cable TV’s)

  62. 62.

    boatboy_srq

    @Betty Cracker @top: re: Santorum on Morning Shmoe: when your focus is on controlling ladybits and oppressing qu33rs, little things like normal Senate business don’t capture your attention. That absolute faceplant couldn’t have happened to a nicer wanker guy.

  64. 64.

    Germy

    “After the Sixties, the right wing gave us pop culture, but took over everything else. And convinced us that pop culture was all that mattered.”

  66. 66.

    Hal

    I can’t wait for this political season to end and it’s only February 4th. Originally I was thinking it was great to have Sanders and Clinton duking and out, and I still mostly do, but I’m weary of months of purity politics and back and forth and why who you support sucks. Either candidate is miles above anyone on the repub side and I’m pretty sure most people know that and will turn out even if their fave isn’t the nominee. I’m just not looking forward to months of primaries and debates and arguments. Makes me hope super Tuesday is the end.

  71. 71.

    boatboy_srq

    @oklahomo: Something something Rubio something Floppy Rooster something mojitos something. Santorum was inevitable; so two liters will be sufficient.

  72. 72.

    Germy

    @Hal: This thread was supposed to be the antidote to that. The Berniac vs. Hilbot battle is downstairs, in “Abuse”

    This is the argument clinic.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Germy: doesn’t New Jersey necessarily include the most expensive media market in the country? and Philadelphia, which must be pretty costly? Atlantic City? Trenton?
    I was thinking of Maryland or Missouri– border states, good mix of big city and rural. Or pair Iowa with another state (MD), and NH with say AZ, CO or NM? OR? MN? WI? random thoughts, I haven’t done the math

  74. 74.

    john b

    @Germy: Someone actually did a study on the most representative state and it turned out to be Illinois. I didn’t read it here, but I think this is the source:
    link

    TLDR:

    The state that is most like the United States on the whole? Illinois — followed by Missouri, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia. The least like the nation on the whole? Hawaii.

  76. 76.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Germy: I like that. I used to have a t-shirt that said, “I’m from Missouri and I will shoot you.” Believe it or not, some people just didn’t get it.

  77. 77.

    Steve from Antioch

    @Roger Moore:

    I know what you’re saying. My family still has Packers seats and I will watch them a couple of games a year.

    But it’s sort of like candy or booze – you just have to step away even if it is fun at the time.

    The NFL is following the big tobacco playbook – hey everybody knows the risks, right? In a perfect world there would be public service commercials during football games showing injured middle aged players who can hardly walk because of arthritis just so the public sees what its really supporting.

  78. 78.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Marco is pathetic. As lame as the ¡Heb! “Boots are made for flippin'” spot is, it’s right on about how pathetic Marco is. What a waste of skin.

  79. 79.

    MomSense

    It is in the 50s today and everyone is wondering when we are going to pay for this mild weather. The first four or five days everyone was just happy and now we are all pretty sure that mother nature is planning her revenge.

  81. 81.

    Germy

    @MomSense: I remember last year when the temperatures were below zero and the sidewalks were solid sheets of ice. I’m expecting a freak storm at the end of March. Just to teach us not to be too complacent.

  82. 82.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Santorum goes on Morning Joe to endorse Rubio and when asked, can’t name a single Rubio accomplishment. He tries to excuse Rubio’s empty senatorial CV by saying there was gridlock because the Democrats controlled the Senate. When told the Republicans have controlled the Senate for a year now, he says Lil’ Marco was too busy campaigning for president to do anything, then starts whining about the unfairness of the question.

    It is unfair. Santorum just wants to plow Rubio’s hot tight ass until one of them dies, but can’t say that on the teevee machine, now can he?

  85. 85.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @kindness: I like football. I have enjoyed it for decades. I can tell a mildly amusing/slightly sad story about meeting Greg Cook if anyone is interested.

    I was tangentially involved in one of Chris Henry’s legal issues without making an appearance as counsel of record. I had actual affection for him as was a thoughtful young man who kept getting into stupid situations. I remember seeing an article about some new foolishness and wondering “why does that kid act like he don’t have any sense?”

    I was frustrated, because having met him, I believed he had such potential as a talented player and a kind human being. I was quite sad when he died, and saw it, at the time, as another incident of puzzling foolishness that this time turned out to be fatal. I felt some real shame to learn of his CTE, because it explained so much of the behavioral issues – and I was embarrassed that I’d been too annoyed with a young man I liked to consider the potential underlying biology. My embarrassment was especially sharp because I have some much exposure to and experience with in behavioral neuroscience; I lecture at a med school.

    So I no longer enjoy watching football, for very personal reasons, although I follow the sport. But I’ll be goddamned if I’ll criticize anyone who does. Not my job. And I am relieved to hear Johnny Football will be looking for a new gig in March.

  88. 88.

    geg6

    @Germy:

    Ha! Was just reading through the thread and was going to say the exact same thing when I saw your comment. Great minds and all that.

  94. 94.

    Germy

    So many high-profile people have admitted lately that they wouldn’t allow their sons to play HS football. Even the guy who created “Friday Night Lights”! At some point, who will play the game?

  97. 97.

    D58826

    @Germy: As far as Mr. Shkreli as a ‘human being’ is concerned I think only a new level in Hades is the proper place for him. On the other hand that he had the stones to treat our congress critters with the contempt, and in their own conference room, they so richly deserve as well as calling them poor excuses for public servants probably does earn him an extra bottle of water once a year in that 10 level.

    On another topic Hillary’s ‘;top secret’ e-mails. The GOP has been banging the drum for an indictment on misuse of government secrets. On twitter there is a dude name John Schindler who has been pushing the top secret angle for weeks. He claims that he has a rough idea of what is in those 22 e-mails based on his inside the intelligence community sources. Which raisers the question why is he in possession of the information and who in the government is leaking it to him. The best part however is today he said he would be happy to see Colin Powell and Condi Rice in jail if they had top secret info on a personal e-mail account. Well from his mouth to Elijah Cummings ears. According the to congressman both Colin and Condi had top secret info on private e-mail accounts. The FBI apparently is talking to Powell about it. I guess you can make a distinction between a private e-mail account and a private server but seems like a distinction w/o a difference to me.

    Without claiming that the Clinton’s are as innocent as new born babies in the political world, I’ve always wondered how many other politicians could withstand the level of investigation that the Clinton’s have been subjected to. Ken Starr spend 6 years and 100 million dollars and all he came up with was a consensual blow job. Yet it is an article of faith among the very serious people in Washington that the Clinton’s are crooks and operate outside the law. No wonder Hillary acts paranoid at times about her privacy.

  98. 98.

    maurinsky

    As someone who isn’t actively supporting either Bernie or Hillary (I will be actively engaged with whichever candidate emerges from the primary, and I haven’t decided who I’ll be voting for then although I’m leaning Bernie) I can say that both sides have plenty of people who come off like assholes!

  99. 99.

    Miss Bianca

    You mean, Santorum didn’t point to Rubio’s proposed immigration legislation? Oh, wait…

  100. 100.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Huh. Gun pimp has issues with the NFL making money off of people who die. There’s another organization like that…name escapes me…starts with an “N”…ah well, it’ll come to me.

    Got news for you. Anyone who didn’t burn all their NFL crap on learning that Michael Vick, dog torturer and murderer, would be let back in the league after a token punishment, no questions asked, isn’t going to give two shits about some guy dying with holes in his brain caused by the game.

    Of course, the NFL only profits off the deaths of a few dozen people a year. The NRA makes their thirty pieces of silver from the deaths of a couple of dozen people a day.

  103. 103.

    trollhattan

    @Germy:
    “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight’s matchup of the Aleppo Assassins versus the Veracruz Vandals!”

    Finally, an immigration policy everybody can support.

  104. 104.

    Amir Khalid

    As I understand your Congress, Republicans aren’t elected to it to accomplish things. They are elected to keep Democrats from implementing their dangerous, socialistic, tax-and-spendy, big-government ideas. So Marco Rubio may have no legislative successes to boast of, no vital committee work to his credit, no significant deals ushered in by his wisdom. But neither does the Democratic party, and that’s the important thing.

  105. 105.

    Roger Moore

    @Steve from Antioch:

    The NFL is following the big tobacco playbook – hey everybody knows the risks, right?

    Comparing them to big tobacco is at least somewhat unfair. The players do know about at least some of the risks of playing, and the NFL has always been up front about them. Nobody pretends there isn’t a risk of traumatic injury, and nobody who gets to the point of playing in the NFL is naive about the risk of cumulative bodily injury. And at the NFL level, they’re compensated for accepting those risks; you can argue about the level of compensation, but they’re getting paid.

    The thing that makes the CTE risk so nasty is because it was something that players didn’t generally know about and something the NFL kept secret once they found out about it. The dishonesty, and the different nature of the risk, is what I find so concerning about CTE. And I am trying to give up watching the NFL, but giving up watching and giving up caring are two very different things.

  106. 106.

    trollhattan

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:
    I too had heartburn over Vick’s reinstatement but do not consider prison time as token punishment. Now if you’d like to talk Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy, I’m all ears.

  108. 108.

    Germy

    @trollhattan: Vick was forced to pay a lot of money to various animal charities. (Good.) All those sad TV commercials with abused dogs and cats? He paid for those. No way they could have afforded all that air time without him.

  110. 110.

    Seanly

    @Germy:

    So a bunch of smug assholes had to deal with talking to an even more smug asshole who didn’t want to play the game properly?

  111. 111.

    gex

    @Steve from Antioch: I like to remind my “they know the risks” friends that these players start in grade school, well before they can evaluate much less understand that risk. They are encouraged by trusted adults (parents, coaches, teachers) to enjoy it and put their efforts for getting into college into it.

  112. 112.

    Germy

    “Government is the Entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.”
    ― Frank Zappa

  113. 113.

    trollhattan

    Out of the mouths of babeswhales, some truth-telling/desperate flailing.

    “I will tell you one thing Marco Rubio has done: He has made it very clear that on the issue of pro-life, Marco Rubio is not for an exception for … rape, incest, or life of the mother,” Christie said.

    “Now, you know, I think that’s the kind of position New Hampshire voters would be concerned about,” he added.

    “I’m pro-life, but I believe that rape, incest, and the life of the mother — as Ronald Reagan did — should be exceptions to that rule.”

  114. 114.

    NonyNony

    @Germy:

    At some point, who will play the game?

    Kids from poor families, who view a path into the NFL as the only way out (much like a lottery ticket).

  115. 115.

    scav

    Martin Shkreli is the very face and essence of the American Dream for many — he’s just happens not to be running for office like Donald Trump. He knows government is the problem and is maximizing his personal gain, as all should do. That is the face many hope to see reflected in their mirrors every morning.

    Also, finally a meeting of the neurons and thread to post these. Have they already been covered?

    Woody Guthrie, ‘Old Man Trump’ and a real estate empire’s racist foundations

    Woody Guthrie: fighting Donald Trump from beyond the grave

  116. 116.

    Ridnik Chrome

    @Germy: Sounds like something Zappa would have said. Weird to think he’s been gone for over twenty years now. I would have liked to hear his reaction to Ted Cruz…

  121. 121.

    Germy

    @NonyNony:

    Kids from poor families, who view a path into the NFL as the only way out (much like a lottery ticket).

    Or ancient Roman gladiators?

  123. 123.

    Germy

    @Iowa Old Lady: Rubio is not a moderate, he just plays one on TV. When you hear a list of his ideas, he’s in darth vader territory.

    But he just might be the lunatic smiley face they’re looking for.

  124. 124.

    scav

    @catclub: So, covered in the US MSM? I don’t watch any, so good to know. I didn’t think I’d seen it on BJ, but I’ve rather tuned out with the constant grumpiness on fewer topics. My personal RDA of ranting needs multiple topics, otherwise I get rickets and scurvy.

  126. 126.

    trollhattan

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    Policywise Rubio and Cruz are identical on all but a couple of points. One of them just happens to look (and behave) like a necrophiliac.

  127. 127.

    Ryan

    Can no one learn on the right? Dammit, double down! Tell them you’ve seen tape of Marco doing all of the things!! ATTACK THE HOST!!!

  128. 128.

    catclub

    @D58826:

    He claims that he has a rough idea of what is in those 22 e-mails based on his inside the intelligence community sources.

    I heard a report that it is likely to be water cooler discussion of drones.

    Drones are ( apparently) like nuclear secrets – classified at birth. So if a scientist has come up with a neat nuclear weapon idea on his own, that is automatically classified. So discussing the latest drone strike on a wedding party,
    if you are a member of the government, makes it classified. Never mind it was on all the Pakistani TV stations.
    It is still secret. This is what the emails could be about. Ex Post facto classification.

    Stupid system.

  135. 135.

    Shana

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Virginia’s pretty purple lately. Big urban areas – NoVA and Richmond and Hampton Roads. Lots of rural too, horses, farming, edge of Appalachia in the far southwest. Coastal areas.

  137. 137.

    boatboy_srq

    @Germy: Wait. Vick gave the HSoA and other animal rights/shelters non-profits, and they used those funds to make commercials? Not actually providing the services they indicate? That’s fugly.

  138. 138.

    Schlemazel

    Open thread topic

    Am I the last to learn that Mrs Ted Crudz had a mental breakdown a few years ago and needed to be picked up from a highway and transported home by the cops?

    What would the kiberal media done with that story if it were Mrs Obama or Kerry?

  140. 140.

    HRA

    @Amir Khalid:

    If possible, I suggest you watch some of the hearings and sessions of our Congress (both houses) and when both parties are in the majority. Besides having to catalog their hearings and other materials for our Government Documents section, I watched them when I was unable to do anything else except be sedentary after an accident. I will abstain from giving my opinion though I would be interested in reading your opinion. .

  141. 141.

    trollhattan

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    I think I was guilty of projection with li’l Macro, imagining him to be somebody he’s not. Within the last week I read an article comparing his policy positions point by point against those of Cruz and in all but two they were in complete lockstep. But do they have the same thirst for power? [boy, I crack myself up].

  142. 142.

    Archon

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Rubio’s views on abortion is not a sustainable general election position. I’m positive that if he got the nom his views on abortion (and immigration) would “evolve”.

  147. 147.

    trollhattan

    @Schlemazel:
    Had not heard that before. Did she suddenly come to the realization of who she married? That would just about do it.

    I don’t recall anybody making political hay out of Laura Bush having run a stopsign and killed a high school classmate. But Hillary did have those guys killed (such a trail of victims!) so there’s that.

  148. 148.

    boatboy_srq

    @Germy: Shkreli is the prime example I point out whenever some Reichwingnut complains about ACA or how Medicare D can’t possibly negotiate drug prices because “research is expensive” or some such bullsh!t.

  151. 151.

    boatboy_srq

    @Schlemazel: Dems have “disqualifying history”; Teahadis have “unfortunate moments of unclear thinking.” Same as it ever was, turned up to 11 since 1993.

  153. 153.

    boatboy_srq

    @Mustang Bobby: Our loverly federal machinery at work: background work is taking weeks not days, and I’m tired of waiting. New interviews are closer / easier-commute locations, plus better career prospects.

  155. 155.

    Peale

    @boatboy_srq: exactly. She can just say the thought of two gay married office workers at Goldman Sachs had driven her off her rocker in disgust. Or that she was worried about a ground zero mosque filled with Ebola infected mexican pre-teens that liberals were letting in the country and his approval ratings would shoot up 5 more points.

  156. 156.

    Schlemazel

    Here is a link to the story on Heidi Cruz.

    I have no desire to make an issue of this just fascinated that the media and his felloe lamprees have been kind enough to not mention it. I doubt a dem would be so lucky

  158. 158.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Schlemazel: When I read that she had to retreat to her hotel to take multiple showers a day, I figured she wasn’t well. I’d hope that rivals and the press would treat her depression and whatever else as an illness, if they feel the need to mention it at all.

    I remember Thomas Eagleberger (was that his name? McGovern’s VP candidate who had to drop out because he’d been treated for depression). I hope we’ve changed somewhat.

  161. 161.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    Found out yesterday I am probably going to have 2/3 of my 1 gallon bladder removed in an effort to stop the constant infections. I need a second opinion but I am 0 for 4 in finding a urologist I trust to remove a wart

  162. 162.

    boatboy_srq

    @D58826:

    Without claiming that the Clinton’s are as innocent as new born babies in the political world, I’ve always wondered how many other politicians could withstand the level of investigation that the Clinton’s have been subjected to.

    Speaking from a purely pragmatic perspective, it’s one more reason I support HRC. Either she and Bill were unfairly targeted, and the Reichwing fantasy-grift machine just can’t accept that they haven’t done anything illegal or detrimental to the nation, or they’re far better at whatever it is they’re supposed to be doing than most. But either way that’s a strong argument for supporting HRC; either she’s strong enough to withstand decades of pseudomoralizing jihad out for her personal hide, or she’s good enough at hiding bodies so they’ll never be found, and either talent is useful for a POTUS. (I personally think it’s the former: two-decades-plus of unremitting investigation should have turned up something actionable, and so far the worst they have is “she was on the same planet when…”. However, if in fact she really has a skeleton or two hidden in her closet, the fact that after all this time nobody has found it and reported it is a significant achievement.)

  163. 163.

    Aleta

    Recent fossil digs have offered convincing evidence that a small bevy of Rancorsaurus nudum were able to thoroughly intimidate an entire covey of Tyrannosaurus rex.

  164. 164.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Vick gave the HSoA and other animal rights/shelters non-profits, and they used those funds to make commercials? Not actually providing the services they indicate? That’s fugly.

    @boatboy_srq: Vick was not the source of that money. The NFL was. And yes, instead of providing services, they did media. With an NFL logo attached.

    Corrupt to the bone, but what else would you expect from an organization that provides safe harbor, legal defense, and posh lifestyles to murderers, rapists, and animal abusers?

  167. 167.

    Steve from Antioch

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:

    I really think that the only solution is to publicly shame people who support the ongoing rape and brain-damage festival that is the NFL.

    The NFL will keep doing what they’re doing as long as they can continue to suck money from the public.

    There came a point a a few years ago when the public attitude about smoking changed and people didn’t hesitate to say how disgusted they were by smoking. People who smoked knew this and smoking stopped being “cool.”

  168. 168.

    catclub

    @Schlemazel:

    What would the kiberal media done with that story if it were Mrs Obama or Kerry?

    Wait until he is the nominee and it makes a difference?

    Never released the Whitey tape before Obama was the nominee, did they?

  169. 169.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    Yeah, Eagleton. As a guy with depression I am constantly amazed at how people treat suffers as if they took orders from their dog and ate small children. We have had 2 presidents who were vegetables( Wilson & Reagan so the fl shouldn’t be a problem but I have no confidence the gop would grant the same kindness to a dem

  172. 172.

    D58826

    @jl: Nope the first line of defense is that since Colin and Condi aren’t running for president then it was ok. Second line of defense is that was all so yesterday.

    In the meantime the GOP won’t authorize any money for Flint because they are looking for an offset to pay for it. So they will give Flint 10 million dollars to fix the pipes and take 10 million dollars from food stamps to pay for it. People now have choice destroy children with lead poisoning or malnutrition. I’m so glad the GOP is pro-life. Imagin e what they would do if they wern’t

  174. 174.

    glory b

    @trollhattan: I know, right. Love dogs, LOVE my dog and can’t stand the idea of animal abuse, but beating your child until his scrotum bleeds, and no one says much about it now.

    If he got the same from his parents (which is what he claims) then he needs some therapy. IIRC, this was the a child of his he rarely if ever saw, and was getting his children form his various childrens’ mothers so they could all get to know one another. A fight between two toddlers over a toy shouldn’t have resulted in that type of punishment (well, nothing should).

  175. 175.

    Mnemosyne

    Folks, the only reason known NRA troll Steve in Antioch brings up the NFL concussion scandal is so he can claim to be morally superior to Betty Cracker, a person who slipped on the brain matter of her coworkers when she was escorted out after an office shooting.

    That’s the kind of assholes gun fans like Steve in Antioch are — they’re so desperate to hold on to their toys that they’re happy to smear victims of gun violence.

  178. 178.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steve from Antioch:

    You mean the same way a majority of Americans have stopped owning guns and only a small minority of assholes keep insisting on their “rights”?

    You can’t smoke within 200 feet of an elementary school, but you can walk right in there with a gun.

  179. 179.

    Central Planning

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I guess that answer my question about how they’d come down on ectopic pregnancies if they pass a personhood bill.

    Do you think they would go for murder 1 against the fetus?

  180. 180.

    PurpleGirl

    @Schlemazel: I’m not sure (and will research it in a bit) but, IIRC, Kitty Dukakis was on medication at one point, and maybe Mrs. McGovern or was it Mrs. Mondale (but one of them broke into tears when talking about it) and the media just hit them horribly. It was mentioned about Mrs. Bush but she wasn’t pilloried for it the way Mrs. Clinton has been piled on at different times.

  181. 181.

    FlipYrWhig

    @trollhattan:

    I think I was guilty of projection with li’l Macro, imagining him to be somebody he’s not.

    Typo or intentional? I hope it’s the latter. I like it. Rubio is so programmed he should be Macro Rubio.

  182. 182.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Germy: They won’t hold him in contempt, because he’s rich, and the rich are above contempt no matter how contemptuous they are.

  183. 183.

    Matt McIrvin

    @jl: This report about Rice and Powell’s email really confuses me, not because I’m surprised, but because I thought this had been common knowledge for months.

  184. 184.

    Mike in DC

    They should have just run the dozens on Shkreli: Mr. Shkreli, isn’t it true that your momma is so dumb…

  185. 185.

    trollhattan

    @FlipYrWhig:
    Sometimes my brain (bwaaain) just takes over and I don’t know where these things come from. I’m stowing this away along with Marco and Cheese in case he somehow gets the nom.

  186. 186.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Matt McIrvin: so was the “news” about Clinton having retroactively classified info on her server. It gets an article because Elijah Cummings requested the information to remind people.

  187. 187.

    jl

    @Bobby Thomson: I agree. People with their eye on the ball with power to make it happen, like Cummings, are releasing old news in order to force it into the brain dead Tiger Beat political news cycle.

  189. 189.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    Also, Santorum totally landed that faceplant! That was some Mary Lou Retton caliber tumbling.

  192. 192.

    Steve from Antioch

    @Mnemosyne:

    You’re a real whackadoodle. You spend a lot more time thinking about my guns than I do.

    I know that you’re to self-regarding to understand this concept, but not everything in this world revolves around your or whoever you are white-knighting for at the moment.

  193. 193.

    Steve from Antioch

    @Mnemosyne:

    Plus which, you are a very, very stupid and misinformed person: http://hotair.com/archives/2015/10/12/california-governor-signs-new-law-banning-guns-at-schools/

    That is on top of this, which has been the law in California since 1995:

    626.9. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
    Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1995.
    (b) Any person who possesses a firearm in a place that the person
    knows, or reasonably should know, is a school zone, as defined in
    paragraph (1) of subdivision (e), unless it is with the written
    permission of the school district superintendent, his or her
    designee, or equivalent school authority, shall be punished as
    specified in subdivision (f).

    You’re in California, right?

    Maybe you should try to learn just a tiny bit about these topics before you open your pie-hole.

  195. 195.

    Paul in KY

    @glory b: Supposedly he was trying to make the little tough guy cry, and the kid wasn’t crying.

    No excuse for that behavior, IMO.

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