Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

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

In my day, never was longer.

The revolution will be supervised.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

I really should read my own blog.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

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

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

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

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

The words do not have to be perfect.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

“Alexa, change the president.”

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / Cruz-ifiction / Friday Evening Open Thread: Low Country Farce

Friday Evening Open Thread: Low Country Farce

by | 181 Comments

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From the Daily Beast article:

… The meeting, called by Ted Cruz in an attempt to mend fences with Ben Carson ahead of the South Carolina primary, was held on Thursday night before the Conservative Review convention. The two huddled in the unusual venue for nearly 20-25 minutes, as Carson’s Secret Service detail, stood outside, according to a Republican operative who witnessed the strange scene.

Carson, whose campaign has spent the weeks after Iowa blasting him for lying to voters in the Hawkeye State, agreed to meet Cruz for five minutes, according to a source close to Carson’s campaign, in order to try to put to bed the issue of his dirty campaign tricks in Iowa during which Cruz’s campaign told caucus-goers that Carson had dropped out of the race…

Cruz has been under fire since Iowa from Donald Trump, Carson and now Marco Rubio for what they call dirty campaign tricks. Most recently the Rubio campaign slammed Cruz for a ridiculous photoshopped image that depicted Marco Rubio shaking (left) hands with President Obama…

Reporters were allegedly already calling the Carson campaign as the meeting was going on, with the two full-grown men in a closet that allegedly had no chairs, which indicates that someone leaked details in advance of The Daily Beast being informed about the meeting…

After Carson spoke at the convention, and saw Cruz in the hallway again, Cruz didn’t even look at Carson, according to the latter’s campaign.

“There was a political play there and it didn’t work for them,” a Republican operative close to the campaign told The Daily Beast. “The meeting didn’t go as well as Cruz wanted it to go. Carson had a smile on his face and was looking right at him.”…

Truly amazing, how popular Ted Cruz has managed to make himself with his fellow Repubs…

***********
Apart from tasty schadenfreude, what’s on the agenda as we start the weekend?

Reader Interactions

181Comments

  3. 3.

    TaMara (BHF)

    In college we did our share of bedroom farce and theatre of the absurd, I don’t know why but every time I read anything about the Rep primary, that’s all I think of …. slamming doors and all. Makes about as much sense.

  5. 5.

    MattF

    We’re really getting into banana peel and pie-in-the-face territory. Did anyone use stilts when they walked onstage? I’d expect that, at least, the thought’s occured to lil’ Marco. And if not, why not?

  7. 7.

    LAO

    It grieves me to no end that I can no longer say “he’s no brain surgeon” to describe a moron. Thanks Obama!

  8. 8.

    Baud

    I too would like to bury the hatchet with Clinton and Sanders for my campaign’s dirty tricks. Perhaps we three can meet in a unisex bathroom somewhere to try to put this all behind us.

  11. 11.

    Wag

    My investment in popcorn futures is paying off handsomely and I anticipate continued excellent returns for the next few months.

  13. 13.

    jl

    @Baud: But all of Baud! 2016!’s campaign dirty tricks have been on Baud! 2016!. Which makes it unique in the annals of presidential campaigns, even virtual ones.

  14. 14.

    jl

    I suppose the real slander for GOP voters is that it implies Cruz spent considerable time in the SF Bay Area. Which is an Unconstitutional area just as much as NY City.

  18. 18.

    jl

    @efgoldman: SF is just as crooked at NYC, though a big difference in style. So I don’t see how either is un-American, and think Cruz is very unfair and divisive.

  19. 19.

    Ked

    Um. Pardon my confused credulity, but is that a real sign? I’m betting, hoping that’s a shop, but this year is too damn crazy.

  21. 21.

    Anya

    <a href="

    Cruz robo-call in SC hitting front-runner for backing removal of Confederate flag: “Trump talks about our flag like it’s a social disease.”— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) February 19, 2016

    “> Notice the use of “our”

  22. 22.

    Origuy

    @efgoldman:

    I don’t think San Francisco ever had a Jewish one.

    Dianne Feinstein was mayor after George Moscone was assassinated and is Jewish. No SF mayor has been (openly) gay. You may be thinking of Harvey Milk, who was a city supervisor.

    ETA: srv beat me to Feinstein. I didn’t know about Sutro or Bartlett.

  23. 23.

    jl

    @efgoldman: Just remember that SF Bay Area government is far less corrupt that NYC because tech money to pols that seems to coincide with any inconvenient local regs and legislation being flouted doesn’t count.

  27. 27.

    Pogonip

    I have to have a tooth fixed Monday. I am not happy about this. I know the actual fixing rarely hurts these days, but the bill sure does! I have the Snoopy insurance but it only pays half. She’s a nice dentist but I saw that gleam in her eye, I’m anticipating a nice expensive crown.

  29. 29.

    jl

    @efgoldman: I think Newsom was more or less openly cheating on his wife at the time, with the wife (or GF?) of an associate and friend, but was not wide public knowledge.

    Edit: or maybe Newsom was single at the time and having an affair? Too much stuff like that going on around here to remember. I heard a news spot on the history of the Willie Brown / Kamala Harris relationship, and role in their political careers, and even that alone was to complicated for me to remember completely.

    Maybe you are thinking ‘openly pro-gay’?

    But maybe Newsom is bi. I dunno,

  33. 33.

    lamh36

    So the newly hired Supervisor at my job started this Tuesday.

    1)She never introduced herself to any of us! My old supervisor with his stupid azz didn’t even hold a meeting to introduce her and she didn’t even bother to introduce herself, she just starts talking to you…

    2)She’s loud as fuq…she basically raises her voice to talk across the lab (the lab is real big, so any small sound is amplified)

    3)She’s training on the computer system by the former supervisor and she keeps interrupting him with random questions and stuff that have nothing to do with what she’s training in or anything going on in the lab.

    4)She’s a smoker. We all share a coat closet, and so one of my co-workers have had to bring an air freshner for the closet, but the smell of smoke still lingers, so that you have a mixture of forest smell with cigarette filters.

    This has been me and my co-worker this entire week…lol, and she’s hasn’t even taken over her supervisor duties yet.

  37. 37.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @lamh36: In the cat section at the store there is an orange air freshener that is flat and round – you open and it evaporates – you don’t really smell it, but it does wonders on cat odor, it might be good on stale smoke.

  47. 47.

    debbie

    Someone has to start calling bullsh*t on Cruz’s statements. I just heard about this statement from Sunday’s MTP:

    “…if liberals are so confident that the American people want unlimited abortion on demand, want religious liberty torn down, want the Second Amendment taken away, want veterans’ memorials torn down, want the crosses and stars of David sandblasted off of the tombstones of our fallen veterans, then go and make the case to the people.”

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Anya: I wasn’t in that thread either. Principles of blog calculus state that as the number of comments approach a T-Bogg unit, the derp approaches infinity.

  54. 54.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @jl:

    Oh yeah, that’s him all day. For the most part, people seemed to think he was a decent mayor despite his personal life splashing all over the tabloids.

  55. 55.

    jl

    @Baud: In the tradition of Baud! 2016! campaign virtuality, I assume you made an appearance at the singularity, where the comments and derp are unobservable?

  57. 57.

    satby

    @TaMara (BHF): @lamh36: It’s called Citrus Magic, and I have often relied on it before I have company, because I live with so many animals I can’t count on actually smelling anything off until it’s dead mouse level stank.

    The soap making just exacerbates the lack of smell sense, because you adjust to really nice smells just as fast. That’s why I rely on measures of scent, not my own sense of smell. But it is nice to come home after I’ve been out when I have just made some new soap or cream.

  58. 58.

    Baud

    @jl:

    Baud! 2016! should have made an appearance promising unicorn ponies

    In Baud’s America, even the ugly will get laid!

  60. 60.

    AnotherBruce

    @debbie: I don’t know about that. Nixon was less obvious about his snakyness? (not sure that’s a word.) until he got caught. Apparently, according to Crooks and Liars, he’s come out in support of selling federal lands in Nevada. So basically he’s joined the cause of the not beloved Bundys. Because he is a lizard, his lizard qualities are way too obvious. He’s almost a classic cartoon villain.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36: Sorry to hear that! Is this the job you applied for, but (apparently) did not get? If so, it’s probably even more galling that someone clueless was hired.

  65. 65.

    PaulW

    To ALL Floridians, and to any geeks who can get here: Bartow will be having a SyFy Bartow street convention for scifi / fantasy / comic book fans this Saturday Feb. 20th. The library where I work will host some of the events from 9 am to 5 pm, and the street fair will be from 11 am to 9 pm.

    There are reports of punch and pie.

  68. 68.

    Elie

    @Pogonip:

    I feel your pain just having finished paying off the last crown. Definitely lightens your pockets….

    BTW — to all you Bj-ers commenting on this thread, I am having some good laughs. Carry on…

  72. 72.

    debbie

    @AnotherBruce:

    Nixon just lied; Cruz is totally making stuff up.

    And for further laughter, NPR visited Scalia’s lying in state. One man bemoaned how divided the country had become and said he was paying respects because Scalia was one of the few stabilizing forces in the country. How can people have such distorted views????

  74. 74.

    benw

    @jl:

    I assume you made an appearance at the singularity, where the comments and derp are unobservable?

    Heisenblog’s Principle states that if the number of comments is known precisely, the amount of derp must be uncertain.

    ETA: principal != principle

  77. 77.

    Chyron HR

    Ha ha, look at those Republican losers engaging in an acrimonious presidential primary. What a bunch of losers, ha ha.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel

    @efgoldman:

    Um, Diane Feinstein?

    EDIT. Never mind. Should have known about a brazillion other commenters would get there first.

  79. 79.

    jl

    @benw: Good point. Thanks.

    ” ETA: principal != principle ”

    I expect commenters here to be aware of all internet typo traditions!

  80. 80.

    lamh36

    @WaterGirl: Oh no… I didn’t apply for this job…ugh…I work here, but I wouldn’t want to be the supervisor here right now…too much drama and growing pains…if the creeks don’t rise and the Lord says the same…who knows…maybe YEARS in the future, I’d think about here…but at this moment in time…hell naw

  81. 81.

    SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel

    @satby:

    Citrus Magic is wonderful and usually available in two-packs at Target for fairly cheap (and they often put it on sale, which is when I stock up). Great stuff.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    Now I think I see why you keep wanting to get out of that job — it’s a pretty crappy workplace when they don’t even bother to introduce the new supervisor to you. I think my office is unusually inclusive, but they did group interviews with all of the team members when they were looking for a new manager here.

  84. 84.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    so, this was said today (apparently not for the first time)

    ‏@ Olivianuzzi
    Jeb! repeats claim that George’s foreign policy was defined by “peace through strength”

  86. 86.

    mclaren

    Assholes. It just never ends. Never. Ever. Ends.

    “The U.S. intervention in Libya was such a smashing success that sequel is coming.”

    And all kinds of Democrats were hammering on me when I dared criticize the glorious sainted Obama for getting us stuck in another fucking goddamn mideast quagmire, just like Dubya. Shut up, hippie! This is the GOOD war! Obama is a genius, unlike Dubya! Fuck you, purity pony!

    Yeah, fuck me. Now we descend into the quagmire YET AGAIN.

    And you know what?

    We’re not hearing a goddamn word from all those Democrats who sneered at me and at all the other people who said “Stop this insanity right now, let’s not get into another endless unwinnable middle eastern war!” No admission of their *M*A*S*S*I*V*E* fuckup. No sheepish agreement to shut up in the future and stop telling us to get involved in stupid pointless counterproductive endless unwinnable wars in the middle east just because the president who stupidly orders it is a Democrat. No red-faced confession that, yes, they were wrong and all that “It’s OK because it’s Obama” stuff was total horseshit.

    Nope. None of that. Just like with the Republicans and the Iraq quagmire, now the Democrats who cheerled this Libya clusterfuck have clammed up and disappeared like cockroaches back into the woodwork.

    Now, just like Republicans and the Iraq fiasco, the entire Democrat-led Libya War Of Glorious Magnificent Freedumb™ has gotten dropped into the Orwellian memory hole and no Democrat even remembers urging us to get into this clusterfuck. Especially not Hillary telling us how awesome it would be. No, we can’t mention how responsible Hillary is for this mess. “Mistakes were made.” “No one is to blame.”

    Fuckers.

  87. 87.

    Another Holocene Human

    @efgoldman: Damn, I thought that was the last “Oh how I resent the stinky dirty SF population littering the street on my way to my gentrified condo block!” that had gotten fresh circulation. Christ, do us all a favor and [redacted].

  88. 88.

    Calouste

    @srv:

    “Bush is dead but his team is too stubborn to pull the plug,”

    Read: why leave while the checks still clear?

  89. 89.

    The Lodger

    @Anya: Not all of Delaware. Joe Biden’s house is north of the line, and so was mine, although the University of Delaware is south of it.

  90. 90.

    planetjanet

    @MattF: , after reading too many political blogs, the comments on that little gadget restore my hope that there is still intelligent life on planet Earth. Thanks.

  91. 91.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @debbie:
    Easily. Believe what you want to be true, grab the first excuse everything is someone you don’t like’s fault, and handwave away dissenting facts without thinking about them. It’s more or less what Colbert called ‘truthiness’ and it’s a basic process of the human brain. It takes effort to apply logic. Going with your gut is automatic.

  93. 93.

    Shell

    Phony photo of Rubio shaking hands with Obama. So I guess the rationale is any physical contact with the Prez instantly makes any Repub radioactive? Well, hey, it worked with smearing Christie.

  94. 94.

    Another Holocene Human

    @AnotherBruce: I agree with this. Cartoon villain. Snidely Whiplash. The Blue Meanie? It’s amazing how so many people over so many years have come forward to express their loathing for this guy.

  95. 95.

    catclub

    1. Noises Off is great.

    2. Helaine Olen had a Slate post that Marco Rubio was in favor of expanding access to the federal TSP program to almost everybody who does not have a 401k program where they work.
    (The Fed equivalent of 401k).. This is a really good idea. The people opposed to it are those who sell overpriced 401K management to small and medium sized companies.

    She then notes that Rubio never talks about it any more when he campaigns. Le Sigh.

  96. 96.

    mclaren

    I’ll make it as simple as possible for Democrats:

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    NO MORE FOREIGN WARS.

    What is it about “no more foreign wars” that Democrats cannot understand?

    “There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.” – Sun Tzu, ca. 450 B.C.

  97. 97.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Shell: Also ended Charlie Crist’s political career.

    Goes to show how much they’ve demonized Obama. They’re gonna be confuzzled as hell when their boogeyman isn’t president anymore.

  101. 101.

    jl

    @Another Holocene Human: Shhh… don’t do anything to clue them in that Obama isn’t running again. Better they be kept in the dark until the election.

    It might work, since they seem to be occupied with their SCOTUS nomination fantasy history, and will be for quite a while.

  102. 102.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Dick Van Dyke hosted a rally for Bernie Sanders in Vegas. This is as close as I’m gonna come to feeling the Bern.

  103. 103.

    catclub

    Could Obama Nominate Himself?
    Would promising to resign as president in order to serve on the Supreme court be a sufficient temptation for the senate to approve him? Everybody loves old uncle Joe Biden!

  104. 104.

    jl

    @Shell:

    ” Phony photo of Rubio shaking hands with Obama. ”

    And one so cartoonish, they should have photoshopped little demons dancing on Obama’s shoulders.

  105. 105.

    catclub

    @mclaren: “There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.” – Sun Tzu, ca. 450 B.C.

    He did not know about the Romans, did he? Wasn’t that their stock in trade?

  106. 106.

    ? Martin

    People leaving containers of applesauce at Scalia memorials. I think he would have laughed at that.

  107. 107.

    satby

    Just tried to click on someones nym that clearly is supposed to link to their blog and it’s not working. So I checked and mine doesn’t link out to my site either. Is this new?

  108. 108.

    JMG

    @Anya: Five Delaware regiments served with the Union, including the 1st Delaware, which was part of Hays’ Brigade, Gibbons’ Division, II Corps at the wall repulsing Pickett’s Charge. So, no offense, but study up!!

  112. 112.

    Germy

    Umberto Eco, the Italian philosopher, writer and semiotics professor, is dead at 84, reports the BBC.

    Eco is most famous as the author of elaborate historical novels such as The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum, but my favorite is his book of shorts, Misreadings.

    From it, here is his summary of the Bible, presented as an internal memo at a publishing house written by an editor rejecting the manuscript.

    The Bible:

    I must say that the first few hundred pages of this manuscript really hooked me. Action-packed, they have everything today’s reader wants in a good story. Sex (lots of it, including adultery, sodomy, incest), also murder, war, massacres, and so on.

    The Sodom and Gomorrah chapter, with the tranvestites putting the make on the angels, is worthy of Rabelais; the Noah stories are pure Jules Verne; the escape from Egypt cries out to be turned into a major motion picture . . . In other words, a real blockbuster, very well structured, with plenty of twists, full of invention, with just the right amount of piety, and never lapsing into tragedy.

    But as I kept on reading, I realized that this is actually an anthology, involving several writers, with many–too many–stretches of poetry, and passages that are downright mawkish and boring, and jeremiads that make no sense.

    The end result is a monster omnibus. It seems to have something for everybody, but ends up appealing to nobody. And acquiring the rights from all these different authors will mean big headaches, unless the editor takes care of that himself. The editor’s name, by the way, doesn’t appear anywhere on the manuscript, not even in the table of contents. Is there some reason for keeping his identity a secret?

    I’d suggest trying to get the rights only to the first five chapters. We’re on sure ground there. Also come up with a better title. How about The Red Sea Desperadoes?

  113. 113.

    jl

    @JMG: But Delaware was a border state, and those troops were splitters.
    Just have to sell it to the GOP, and they are into creative history.

  114. 114.

    Germy

    Umberto Eco, the Italian philosopher, writer and semiotics professor, is dead at 84, reports the BBC.

  115. 115.

    satby

    @Baud: yeah, I’m never on desktop but I thought I’d check out the changes.
    I wanted to go to Frankensteinbeck’s site.

    Edited to add, Thanks debbie. I’m using Chrome on Win10 and it’s not working. I get intriguing borders around the comments though.

  116. 116.

    SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel

    @satby:

    Hmmm. I just clicked on yours and it took me directly to your site. Maybe a problem on your end, or perhaps a temporary glitch that’s already been corrected?

  117. 117.

    debbie

    @satby:

    I get intriguing borders around the comments though.

    Yes, i get those when I click on the page to the right of the vertical gray line. They disappear when I click inside the comment box.

  118. 118.

    Anya

    Paging Adam! One of the Bundy boys sent a letter from prison. Apparently, he’s facing religious persecution.

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    evale72 ‏@ evale72
    evale72 Retweeted Kelly Ayotte
    Assuming Ayotte will no longer vote on any bills until her next election decided in Nov evale72 added,
    -Kelly Ayotte @ KellyAyotte
    -W/ so much on the line, Sen­ate should not proceed w confirmation process until American ppl have spoken by electing a new president in Nov

    Should apply to Murkowski, McCain… the whole 2016 R class, come to think of it. McConnell should be telling them to abstain.

  121. 121.

    Adam L Silverman

    @satby: Is yours supposed to link to something about natural soaps? If so, then its working. Let me know and if that’s not where I’m supposed to go to, I’ll email Alain.

  122. 122.

    Mike J

    @Anya: And the sherriff is being investigated by the state for being a militia sympathizer. To the point that other cops and the FBI kept him out of the loop because they viewed him as a security risk.

  126. 126.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Anya: This surprises you? Unless the Bundy’s can show where in the Book of Mormon it says they get to lead an insurrection against the Federal, state, and local government, he’s not being persecuted.

    Also, the Grant County Sheriff’s in deep:
    http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/02/grant_county_sheriff_viewed_as.html#incart_big-photo

    The Chief of Police in John Day, Oregon has filed a complaint, as have about a dozen others. And other law enforcement personnel in the area consider him a security leak.

  129. 129.

    Mike in NC

    This night can’t end soon enough. We live close enough to the South Carolina border that the GOP attack ads are saturating the TV airwaves. So much stupidity and dishonesty from these maggots.

    Tomorrow SC will just revert to being one of the country’s most backward states.

  131. 131.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @satby: User’s handle-links haven’t worked for me for quite a while. I don’t think they’re related to the CSS extensions from TheOtherChuck I’m using (IIRC, he said that his CSS doesn’t touch those links).

    One quick and easy way to get those URLs is to hit “ctrl-u” to get the HTML for the page and then search for the person’s handle. Obviously, it shouldn’t be necessary, but there is a work-around.

    ETA: Chrome on Win7.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  134. 134.

    Renie

    Richard M. Nixon ‏@dick_nixon 11h11 hours ago
    I retract my statement. The president was asked not to attend the mass.

    Anyone hear anything like this?

  136. 136.

    ? Martin

    @Renie: Yes – in so many words. The family agreed with Obama’s decision not to attend. That doesn’t say they asked him not to go, but that perhaps there was a mutual understanding.

    We’ll see what transpires, but Obama would have turned it into a media event, and I’m getting the sense that the family doesn’t want that.

  138. 138.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m not surprised, of course, but I still want a thread to talk about it. Also I have a comic image to send you but no author link on contact list. You, however, have mine.

  139. 139.

    Randy P

    @srv: What’s your evidence that America benefited from all that warfare? Do you have a control sample to compare to?

  140. 140.

    kped

    I must say, i find Cole hilarious. A Clinton staffer will approvingly link to a Slate article from a freaking 17 year old saying Bernie-Bros won’t stop Clinton supporters. What a crime, but it infuriates Mr Cole, who has a twitter freak out.

    “Oh dear god make it fucking stop with the Clinton people” “But a senior campaign official trying to make this an election issue is risible.”

    Those are actual quotes.

    Now we have Bernie himself going on stage and telling black audiences that Hillary is just pandering to them by supporting Obama. That risible Mr Cole? Nah, not a peep. So telling a 17 year old that dudes she’s ACTUALLY DEALT WITH won’t be able to stop her from supporting Hillary is the freaking crime of the century…but the other candidate literally going on stage and telling black people not to trust Hillary, she’s just using Obama to win their support is perfectly fine and normal.

    The Clinton hate will never die.

  141. 141.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Renie: I haven’t seen anything other than a reference to a Politico report from three days ago that the family was okay with the decision to attend the memorial at the Court today and not the funeral.

    Given the amount of disruption that occurs whenever a President goes to a religious service due to the security requirements, my guess is that no one wanted to turn it into a complete circus. This is why Presidents Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama rarely attend formal church services on Sundays. I think President Carter went more regularly, but don’t quote me on that.

  143. 143.

    divF

    @Germy:
    From Lawrence Sutin’s biography of Philip K. Dick:

    Terry Carr, the Ace paperback editor, used to joke that if the Bible had been published as science fiction, it would have had to be cut down to two volumes of twenty thousand words each; the Old Testament would have been retitled “Master of Chaos”, and the New Testament “The Thing with Three Souls”.

  144. 144.

    Adam L Silverman

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I have your email address? How’s that?

    As for a thread, I’ll do one tomorrow. Its been a screwy week, so I’m a bit behind. I’ve got pdfs of charging documents, Sandra Cox’s sov-cit lawsuit, that Erik Parker’s – the sniper on the overpass from 2014 – brother is pre-threatening anyone in advance of a perceived arrest of Parker, and much, much more.

    Its been so weird I didn’t even get to my post that IS’s ultimate target isn’t the Vatican, its Mecca and Medina.

  147. 147.

    jl

    @divF:

    “The Thing with Three Souls”. that was a doctrinal sequel to the New Testament.
    Need something else for the New Testament. “Stranger in a Strange Land”, Or, is that one taken?

  148. 148.

    Germy

    @divF: I remember the humorist Robert Benchley wrote a “book review” of the New York City telephone book. This was in the 1920s. He complained that as each new character was introduced, the author didn’t go into enough detail…

  149. 149.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Adam L Silverman: You have it because you have keys; it’s attached to my nym. I know it’s been a wild week in Bunkerville and Malheur arrest news. And I suspected the ISIL’s actual target was Mecca and/or Medina as opposed to the Vatican. Thank you for confirming, LOL.

  150. 150.

    Randy P

    So I went a-Googling to try to find this photoshopped image of Rubio and Obama that everybody is talking about. And I found it here.

    What’s great about this particular link is the comments section. What, a comments section described as “great”?

    Yes. It’s full of Cruz, Trump and Rubio supporters all locked into a cage eating each other. Mini-me versions of what we’ve been seeing playing out between the candidates. Just wonderful stuff.

  151. 151.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman:

    ” Its been so weird I didn’t even get to my post that IS’s ultimate target isn’t the Vatican, its Mecca and Medina. ”

    That is low priority. Even if Trump reads BJ blog, he is worried about the Vatican. The buildings, walls and doors are huger and terrificker there. And his Top People praise the art as ‘really classy’.

  154. 154.

    divF

    @jl:

    The Holy Ghost is referenced in Acts, so I think that this would be legit.

    Ever since I saw that quote, I can’t look at a Bible without imagining it as a D-series Ace Double, complete with lurid cover art on both sides.

  155. 155.

    scav

    @Adam L Silverman: About that whole Vatican thing, I’m rather surprised he hasn’t been chastised stridently for even suggesting that ‘MERKA isn’t necessarily the only and sole, really important, unmatched and exceptional target for them evil-doers-doing-evil.

  158. 158.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Germy: If you go to JJ McNab’s twitter feed you can find a link to the law enforcement threat alert from the Fed’s. I can’t provide any links because its marked Unclassified: For Official Use Only, which means that for me it spillage.

  159. 159.

    jl

    @Randy P: I looked at the comment section for helpful hints that would make our HRC/Sanders feuds more fun. But seemed about the same, except more comments there just straight out insults and nothing more, but those are kind of bland.

    Does that site ban cussing and creative invective, like ‘you son of p*n*s-nosed revenant of an dipsomaniac fifties demogogue, you”.

    That Cruz’ nose looks like a p*n*s came up several times.

    Some weird unexpected perspectives:
    ” Cruz is the only honest one running unless you include Sanders. ”

    I like this suggestion for a Cruz campaign slogan:
    ” CRUZ 2016!
    (No Chumps, RINOs or Amnesty Queens) “

  160. 160.

    jl

    @divF: In the Epistles too, IIRC. But something similar to Holy Spirit in OT too.

    I think it’s a stretch, but if no one can come up with better than ‘“The Thing with Three Souls”, I won’t make no more fuss.

  162. 162.

    Steeplejack

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    More Better Balloon Juice does in fact nuke user “handle-links,” at least for me (Firefox, Windows 10). I just confirmed it by disabling MBBJ, and then I was able to use Satby’s nym link.

    I don’t know about Even Better Balloon Juice; I don’t have that installed.

  163. 163.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl:

    I like this suggestion for a Cruz campaign slogan:
    ” CRUZ 2016!
    (No Chumps, RINOs or Amnesty Queens) “

    No problem with Drag Queens, though.

  166. 166.

    Baud

    @jl:

    Baud! 2016!
    (I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.)

  167. 167.

    Steeplejack

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    The benefits of MBBJ, especially the few lines of code I added to give me a readable font for Balloon Juice, more than make up for the slight inconvenience.

  168. 168.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Steeplejack: I must need to update as I’ve got a shitty font since one of the last “upgrades.” It was a lovely fix after the first fire.

  176. 176.

    J R in WV

    @mclaren:

    How many troops have been sent to Libya? So far as I know the losses we have had were the Consulate staff and Ambassador, years ago. And some bombs, which don’t count.

    There is a huge difference between using air power and sending in Marines and the Army.

  181. 181.

    mclaren

    Here’s some boilerplate direct from Hillary Clinton’s white papers in 2016:

    Defend the Affordable Care Act. Hillary will continue to defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) against Republican efforts to repeal it. She’ll build on it to expand affordable coverage, slow the growth of overall health care costs (including prescription drugs), and make it possible for providers to deliver the very best care to patients.
    Lower out-of-pocket costs like copays and deductibles. The average deductible for employer-sponsored health plans rose from $1,240 in 2002 to about $2,500 in 2013. American families are being squeezed by rising out-of-pocket health care costs. Hillary believes that workers should share in slower growth of national health care spending through lower costs.
    Reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Prescription drug spending accelerated from 2.5 percent in 2013 to 12.6 percent in 2014. It’s no wonder that almost three-quarters of Americans believe prescription drug costs are unreasonable. Hillary believes we need to demand lower drug costs for hardworking families and seniors.
    Transform our health care system to reward value and quality. Hillary is committed to building on delivery system reforms in the Affordable Care Act that improve value and quality care for Americans.

    What I want to know is:

    How exactly will Hillary accomplish these things?

    What is the specific mechanism by which Hillary proposes to defend the ACA? She’ll have to argue in front of the Supreme Court — but everyone on this forum keeps telling us that there are lot of good solid legal reasons why no Democratic president can ever appoint a supreme court justice. So how does Hillary argue successfully for the ACA before the supreme court if neither Obama nor she (assuming she’s elected) can appoint a judge to fill Scalia’s vacancy?

    What is the specific mechanism by which Hillary proposes to lower out-of-pocket costs and copays for the ACA? Many people on this forum have slammed Bernie Sanders’ health care plan…so let’s turn that around and start asking exactly how Hillary plans to get there from here? What is her mechanism? Unicorn rainbows and fairy dust? Raising taxes? What? Give us some specifics, Hillary supporters. Oh, and by the way — tell us exactly how much it’s going to cost to lower all those copays and deductibles. Give us the numbers. Run the dollars. Explain it to us.

    How exactly does Hillary propose to lower the cost of prescription drugs? Right now, the vile Bush part D legislation makes it illegal for the U.S. government to bargain with big pharma companies for lower prices. Does Hillary propose to repeal that medicare part D legislation? If so, how, with the Republicans in control of congress? Give us details, Hillbots — show us the numbers. Where are they? What is the path you plan to take that will get us from here to there?

    How does Hillary propose to ‘transform our health care system to reward value and quality’? These are buzzwords. Give us specifics. Does Hillary propose to make it illegal for doctors to accept bribes from big pharma companies? If so, how will she get her legislation passed by a Republican-dominated congress? Does Hillary have so bills up her sleeve that would make drive-by doctoring illegal or force the AMA to open more medical schools in order to graduate an adequate supply of doctors and thus lower doctors’ salaries? If so, how does Hillary plan to get this legislation through a hostile Republican congress against the massive opposition of doctors’ lobbies and the AMA? Give us the details. Show us the numbers, Hillary supporters. We want to see specifics.

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