Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Let’s finish the job.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

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

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

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

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

You cannot shame the shameless.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

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

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

We won’t go back.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

You are here: Home / Music / Musical Interlude (Open Thread)

Reader Interactions

158Comments

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    In a mood Betty?

    Seeing Zootopia this evening with friends. Will report on the results although many people have already told me it’s excellent!

    @Keith P.: Doesn’t that qualify as torture under the Geneva convention?

  3. 3.

    Central Planning

    I’m at a FIRST Robotics competition with my two kids that are on the team and I’m marveling how much the kids in the venue love the hits from the 70s and 80s

    We didn’t make the playoffs, but at least they had a good time and improved every match. We compete again in two weeks and everyone is looking forward to that competition.

  4. 4.

    mapaghimagsik

    Questions for the WordPress peeps.

    What kind of scanners/plug-ins do you use to keep out malware or such?

  6. 6.

    Anya

    I have a question for the lawyers and folks who follow court decisions. What do we know about Judge Paul Watford? SCOTUS Blog says he is the most likely candidate to be nominated by POTUS to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.

  9. 9.

    NickM

    Someone tried to rush Trump just now. SS had to protect him. Bully just about crapped his pants.

  10. 10.

    humboldtblue

    No, Rep. Lewis, he does not have any decency

    “In the good old days this doesn’t happen because they used to treat them very, very rough.”

    “Try not to hurt him. If you do, I’ll defend you in court, don’t worry about it.”

    “I’d like to punch him in the face.”

    “Knock the crap out of them.”

    “Maybe he should have been roughed up.”

    “I don’t know if I’ll do the fighting myself or if other people will.”

  11. 11.

    Teddy's Person

    In news that will shock absolutely no one, Phyllis Schlafly endorses Drumpf. I await the day when I can read Schlafly’s obituary with great satisfaction.

  12. 12.

    bystander

    Little known fact: Elle King was voted Most Likely by her class at Miss Porter’s.

  14. 14.

    Miss Bianca

    Oh, Betty, this song is such a mindworm!! Every time I’ve heard it on Radio Paradise I’ve had to crank it up! Who is Ms. Elle King, anyway?

  15. 15.

    bystander

    @Baud:

    I was a body double for one of the dudes in the video.

    I’m in a bad mood. Hoping a little exercise will help.

    Why don’t you try some of your backflips in a Speedo, like in the video?

  16. 16.

    RSR

    Elle King is actor Rob Schneider’s daughter. o_O

    We saw a brief performance by Elle last spring here in Philly. She’s fun.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    I absolutely love John Lewis. Way to capture it in a nutshell, followed by “sir”, which only serves to point out what a gentleman Donald Trump is NOT.

  20. 20.

    PsiFighter37

    @Anya: I would not pay much attention to Scotusblog for political insight. They are excellent on legal matters, but they have zero political instincts. When Scalia died, their first guess for a nominee was Loretta Lynch.

    My money is, has always been, and will still be on Sri Srinivasan. I would be surprised if he is not the nominee, and as a half-Asian (not of Indian descent), I would be thrilled to see an Asian make it to SCOTUS. 97-0 confirmation vote for him, versus 61-34 for Watford. I am sure Obama is thinking about the optics on this.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @PsiFighter37: I’m liking the female judge from Iowa as perfectly qualified and a big bonus fuck you to the head of the judiciary committee. I think if Obama submits her name, they either get a vote and she is the new justice or the Iowa scumbag senator loses his bid for reelection.

  25. 25.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud:

    I’m a little afraid to ask which one… ; )

    Man, I’ve never been fed so much beefcake in one sitting as in that video. I’m feeling almost queasy…

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    Heh. I like Cole’s Twitter rant at right about epistemic closure. He’s correct.

    @RSR: GTFO! For real?

  29. 29.

    Anya

    I made the mistake of checking twitter…I am exhausted. Can we like cancel this election and like maybe keep Obama? Like…nothing big…just as a middle ground until we recover from the Drumpsmania? Someone has to do right by people…

    I like Bernie but his angry oldman act is exhausting.

    I am off to take a long bike ride.

  31. 31.

    bystander

    @Baud: Schlafly became famous for her contrarian nonsense that was supposed to provide the counterargument to feminism. She’s married to Southern Illinois beer money and maybe has money in her own background. She went to Washington U. In St. Louis Law but certainly never did anything as plebeian as working. The idiots who run WU gave her an honorary degree a few years ago. That was it for my donations.

  32. 32.

    Brachiator

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    My musical interlude is “Hamilton” streaming from Amazon Prime.

    I mentioned the other day that I finally gave Hamilton a serious listen and find it to be fabulous.

    Amazon is a great way to listen to it for free if you are a Prime member. I was listening to a podcast about Hamilton, and learned that early on Google Play had the cast CD on sale for 2 bucks.

    Someone else on the podcast noted that they had been in NY during and missed an opportunity to see it in the early performances because they thought that a musical about an obscure founding father was ridiculous.

    Incomparable podcast: No One in a Powdered Wig is Scrappy

  33. 33.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Donald Trump said Saturday that people from “Bernie’s crowd” are the ones protesting his campaign events.

    ***

    “It just makes all of our friends more angry. We’re going to go to the polls on Tuesday and we’re going to be resounding victory,” Trump said.

    So now he’s inciting his storm troopers to disrupt Sanders’s events.

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I am perplexed as to why flags are still flying at half-staff. The presidential proclamation said “until sunset on the day she is buried.” Which was yesterday.

    @Teddy’s Person:

    One of the main reasons I intend to live to a very old age is so I can read the obituaries of a select number of people. Phyllis Schlafly is among the select. As are at least three people named Cheney.

  36. 36.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud:

    Then she’s a pioneer. So many women in the field now.

    If you ever read her book, A Choice Not An Echo, you might say she was Sarah Palin before Sarah Palin.

  37. 37.

    Peale

    @SiubhanDuinne: ugh. One of the reasons we need to destroy the republicans for a century is that you know on the 10 year anniversary of her death, Someone will put schafly on a postage stamp.

  38. 38.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: I was a body double for one of the dudes in the video.

    I have double the body (mass) of the dudes in that video.

    I don’t know why I find so weird that she’s Rob Schneider’s daughter. i guess I find it weird that Rob Schneider has a daughter. Or name recognition. I wonder if Tina Fey’s comment after Jan Hooks’ death (“she should have had a bigger fucking career than Rob Schneider”) made things awkward at the big SNL 40th. Then again RS probably wasn’t in the same room as herself.

  39. 39.

    Brachiator

    @Anya:

    I like Bernie but his angry oldman act is exhausting.

    Is Angry Oldman related to Gary Oldman?

    BTW, I totally agree with you.

  40. 40.

    Felonius Monk

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    so I can read the obituaries of a select number of people. Phyllis Schlafly is among the select.

    I hear she’s going to be a guest star on The Walking Dead this season. :-)

  41. 41.

    PsiFighter37

    @WaterGirl: Jane Kelly (whom you are referring to) is, to me, the only other choice that I think Obama should consider alongside Srinivasan. Both confirmed unanimously.

    That said, she was a public defender, and while that is an honorable profession (one of my best friend’s mothers has been a public defender for nearly 30 years), it will give Republicans sound-bite ammo to the max.

  44. 44.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I am perplexed as to why flags are still flying at half-staff. The presidential proclamation said “until sunset on the day she is buried.” Which was yesterday.

    I inadvertently left out “Nancy Reagan” as the “she.” Anyhow, I asked the librarians (in that “Gosh, I’m just seeking information here” tone) and it seems that the people who raise and lower the flag in front of the library building only work M-F.

  45. 45.

    shortribs

    @mapaghimagsik: WordFence is a good one as is Sucuri, both have free and paid services. I tend to use WordFence but Sucuri will fix your malware issues for you if you have their paid service.

  47. 47.

    James E Powell

    Ohio voters approve of Kasich ~60% but he’s polling in the 30s against Trump? Go figure.

    I will never understand my beloved home state.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    @Brachiator:
    OLDMAN cat’s older uncle.

    I still want at least one “debate” between Bernie and Trump, just to behold them in their yelly splendor.

  51. 51.

    lamh36

    ‎@BilldeBlasio
    I didn’t realize this was in question. Behaves like a racist, speaks like a racist…of course @RealDonaldTrump is a racist.

  53. 53.

    Ruckus

    @Anya:
    I like Bernie but his angry oldman act is exhausting

    I think what a lot of us like about Sanders is that he is angry about things that one should be angry about. That he seems to be a lot less angry about things that make what he’s angry about a lot worse and would still be wrong if what he is angry about didn’t exist is why I’m not enamored over him.

  55. 55.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    @trollhattan:

    I’m working on a theory that we can identify the state where an event happened just by its unique brand of crazy.

    Escaped unicorn, or clowns committing armed robberies? California.

    Pet store owner assaults someone with a live reptile? Florida.

    Woman who claims Obama was a gay prostitute is the Republican frontrunner for the position that’s in charge of children’s textbooks? Texas.

  59. 59.

    Gravenstone

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: A move calculated to intimidate the younger vote? Or is he trying to drive a wedge between Clinton and Sanders,assuming she doesn’t choose to close ranks with Sanders and his supporters in the face of that aggressive intimidation? If Trump is trying to goad his brownshirts into attacking Sanders’ crowds, this could end very very badly for Trump in the general. Unfortunately, a fair number of people are likely to end up injured (or worse) before then.

  62. 62.

    Ohio Mom

    @SiubhanDuinne: I guess I don’t pass too many flag poles in my day-to-day life but yestersay I did notice that the flags in front of IKEA were at half mast (the windows of the restaurant overlook the flag poles so i couldn’t help but see them).

    It took me a while to figure out WHY they were at half mast; it seemed odd to me that First Ladies qualified. So I googled it. Flags were at half mast for Lady Bird but not Betty Ford or Jackie. So really no precedent except Reagan idolatry. Bleech.

  63. 63.

    Betty Cracker

    @trollhattan: She’s an idiot, and I hope she’s prosecuted for child neglect. Her four-year-old could have just as easily blown his own head off. Also, she was driving a truck that was pulling a trailer when the kid shot her. Luckily she didn’t lose consciousness and kill a bunch of innocent passersby when her kid shot her.

  64. 64.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Gravenstone: nothing that complicated. he’s just trying to create a false equivalency for the brain dead media. So if some fights break out at a Sanders rally, he can say “both sides” and “see, you can’t blame me for not controlling my crowd cuz it happened to Sanders.” but the equivalency would be false as Sanders isn’t inciting his crowds to violence.

  66. 66.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    @Teddy’s Person:

    LOL, but that was an easy one.

    Politician blackmails his own sister’s husband by secretly filming him with a prostitute, and sends the tape to the sister? New Jersey.

  68. 68.

    James E Powell

    @Baud:

    Her successful fight to trash the ERA was the first win for the right wing revanche that dominated American politics for the next 40 years.

  71. 71.

    Peale

    @Ohio Mom: I don’t think he’s thought that far ahead. Look, I’ve been reading today that Hillary is to the right of Maraget Thatcher, and I’m pretty sure that pretty soon people will convince themselves that she’s more authoritarian than Imelda Marcos and Lady Mao, but no, she really isn’t so shrewd as to hope that Trump’s supporters eliminate Sanders supporters. I don’t know how violence against democratic voters is supposed to be a wedge issue.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    @Anya:

    I like Bernie but his angry oldman act is exhausting.

    It’s working for him, so expect more of the same.

    I’m more concerned that even now few people (media, voters, Hillary, blogs) seem to be taking his candidacy seriously in terms of kicking the tires. If Bernie has a surge or if something happens to Hillary, he will be the nominee, and it will be the Republicans who will get the first shot at vetting him.

  77. 77.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: If he wins Ohio, that would change. I’m sure scumbags like David Brock have dug up everything there is to know about Sanders. Wouldn’t it be the smart move politically for the Clinton people to keep any dirt under wraps since they’ll need Sanders’ voters in the fall? No need to crack that dossier as long as HRC still has the clearest path to the nomination.

  79. 79.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker: I agree on Clinton’s strategy there. I didn’t mean to cast fault with anybody with my comment (except maybe the media) — it’s simply one of the negative consequences of how this primary has played out.

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    @PsiFighter37: And I see that Jane Kelly is not on the list of the final 3 that reuters mentions. sigh. Maybe it’s wrong of me, but I would like to see someone that is not a white male added to the court.

  81. 81.

    Betty Cracker

    @Anoniminous: Most popular song according to a chart formula, not the greatest. Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” and Olivia Newton John’s “Let’s Get Physical” made the top 10. That tells me all I need to know about their standards.

  95. 95.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Baud:mathematically he’s been eliminated. in order to make up the delegate deficit, he would have to win 34 consecutive states, each by atleast 10 percent. That’s not a reasonable probability.

    Its 2008 redux. Hillary stayed in even though she had no reasonable statistical chance, and even though she won ohio and.pennsylvania by double digits and was awarded Michigan and Florida together by 16 pts, she still lost.

  96. 96.

    Baud

    @raven: I’d like to see you do subtraction. :-)

    In all seriousness, I find it interesting how perspective on time changes when you count forward vs. backward in history. Maybe it’s just me.

  97. 97.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

    Looks like Bernie may catch Hillary in Ohio in addition to Michigan.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

  99. 99.

    Elie

    @Baud:

    Absolutely. In my opinion there has been precious little “tire kicking” or vetting — much less the ceaseless scrutiny that examines every word —

  102. 102.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    Then why am I getting calls from pollsters ever five freakin’ minutes?

  104. 104.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Baud: he’ll win 13 of 15 caucus states because of their rules favor the most intense voters (ie bloggers). but it won’t be enough to offset the massacre in the south.

  105. 105.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Just got an e-mail from Jeff Weaver of Bernie’s campaign:

    We’ve come so far — too far to come up short now.

    Because when we win against the most inevitable candidate in decades, every single campaign after ours will be forced to think twice before accepting big checks from Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, and people who profit from destroying our environment.

    And when that happens, we can start to break free of a corrupt political system that results in Wall Street regulating Washington, D.C., and not the other way around.

    Why doesn’t he just quit beating around the bush and call her a corrupt monster who’s going to destroy the planet and kill millions while he’s at it? And that if we don’t send Bernie money right now, then we’re enabling a monster.

    It’s kinda clear he really wants to.

    (sigh)

    FSM save us from people like this…

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  109. 109.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: every single campaign after ours will be forced to think twice before accepting big checks from Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, and people who profit from destroying our environment.

    Yeah, I’m sure Chuck Schemer is reevaluating his whole political strategy. Liz Cheney Cory Gardener, Dean Heller, Jeff Flake, Mitch McConnell, Shelley Caputo, Matt Bevin, Joe Minchin, Rob Portman, all swearing off Wall St and the extraction industries.

  110. 110.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Even beyond that, does he really think that everyone running for Congress, the Senate, and the White House can run a “small donor” campaign like his? Races in The Bronx, Pine Ridge, Selma, etc., should exclusively rely on small donors? And that campaigns on the other side won’t have thousand-dollar-a-plate dinners?

    Even for Presidential races, it’s stupid to think that his model is universal.

    It’s really annoying to me that they’re continuing to hammer this and act as if anyone who donates $2700 in donations (the legal individual limit) and works for the bank is the same as the Koch Brothers who are spending hundreds of millions over decades to try to get what they want. And any candidate who takes $2700 from someone who works at a bank is corrupt.

    We have a campaign finance system that has flaws. But everyone is acting within its rules (unless some prosecutor finds otherwise). It’s tiring for me to continue to hear Bernie and his people call everyone who isn’t Bernie “corrupt”.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  111. 111.

    Peale

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: it’s really up to the voters to decide that. Its fun to think that voters would hear “my opponent took money from a corporation” and elected the cash starved, it would be a good thing. But I don’t think that really matters. Voters may say they care about that but they certainly don’t vote that way. At all.

  113. 113.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Peale: Agreed.

    I think Bernie’s right that people get upset – in the abstract – about the huge amount of money in politics. But a voting choice is (almost) never about a single issue like campaign finance. And I don’t think more than about, say, 27% of voters follow and agree with Bernie’s seemingly (to him) self-evident train of thought that 1) Millionaires and Billionaires™ in Finance give money to campaigns and parties, 2) (missing step 2), 3) That’s why Planned Parenthood clinics are closing / why DMV offices are understaffed / why grade schools are crumbling and overcrowded / why potholes don’t get fixed / why Congress can’t pass a budget / why filling Scalia’s seat is on hold / why the GOP tried to get everyone to freak out about Ebola / why we’re still in Afghanistan 14+ years later…

    Bernie’s grand philosophy of how Politics And The World Works seemingly hasn’t been updated since his days at the U of C. Maybe it’s not all about Millionaires and Billionaires™, Bernie.

    I keep hoping he’ll update his message, but it’s like he’s stuck.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  114. 114.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

    Here is something I would like the candidates to discuss. The federal government should establish work requirements similar to Maine’s for the 4.7 million able-bodied adults without dependents currently receiving food stamps nationwide. If the caseload drops at the same rate it did in Maine (which is very likely), taxpayer savings would be over $8.4 billion per year. Further reforms could bring the savings to $9.7 billion per year: around $100 per year for every individual currently paying federal income tax.

    Candidates that don’t address this issue are worthless. Period.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

  115. 115.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Tracy Peters, Jr.: USDA:

    Who gets SNAP and do they work?

    Most SNAP participants who can work, do work. SNAP rules require all recipients meet work requirements unless they are exempt because of age or disability or another specific reason. Children, seniors, and those with disabilities comprise almost two-thirds of all SNAP participants. Among households that include someone who is able to work, more than 75 percent* had a job in year before or after receiving SNAP. Forty-three percent of SNAP participants live in a household with earnings.

    Some of these working individuals are ABAWDs, or able-bodied adults without dependents. ABAWDs must meet special work requirements, in addition to the general work requirements, to maintain their eligibility.

    It looks like your concern is already addressed under the present system.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  119. 119.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    Obama signs numerous waivers to states relieving able bodied, childless adults from work requirements for food stamps. The animating principal behind Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of welfare reform successfully implemented in the 1990s is being swept aside in favor of free lunches for nothing. Paul LePage and Pat McCrory successfully reanimated the Reagan philosophy in Maine and North Carolina.

    As my dear late mother always told me: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Period.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

  120. 120.

    Bobby Thomson

    @PsiFighter37:

    1. Her rulings as a judge have been pro-prosecutor. Not saying that’s good or bad. It just is.

    2. Republicans would look like shit Borking her. While working as a defender, she was mugged and left for dead while jogging in the park. And she went back to work after she recovered.

    3. A power play against Grassley but probably not as liberal as Srinivasan or Watford.

  124. 124.

    Bobby Thomson

    @lamh36: it’s irrelevant. I agree with Jay smooth that labeling people as racist just takes you down the rabbit hole. The point is that his policies are wrong. They are hateful. They are unamerican. They are racist. Obama would have knocked that question out of the park.

  125. 125.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Tracy Peters, Jr.: Oh, so you think you know how the existing system works. I guess you really don’t want the candidates to address it, do you? You’re here to cite right-wing talking points and aren’t interested actual facts, apparently.

    Good to know.

    Have a good evening.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  126. 126.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

    @Mnemosyne:

    All progressives such as yourself can do is appeal to base emotions rather than logical argument or Constitutional arguments.

    The only honest argument against this proposal is that individual state governments, and not the federal government, should choose whether to require work in the food stamp program. But over 90 percent of food stamp funding comes from the federal government. I’m a big 10th Amendment guy, but sincethe federal government pays for nearly the entire food stamp program, it has the obligation to establish the principles on which the program operates.

    He who pays the piper, calls the tune. Period.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

  127. 127.

    NotMax

    @Tracy Peters, Jr.

    Ah, so those who (for whatever reason) choose not to have children and those who are incapable of having children deserve extra privation because of that.

    How very, very noble of you.

  130. 130.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

    @NotMax:

    As Paul said: he who does not work, neither shall he eat.

    This applies to all abled bodied adults without innocent dependents. Period.

    Tracy Peters, Jr.

  132. 132.

    Mnemosyne

    @Tracy Peters, Jr.:

    All progressives such as yourself can do is appeal to base emotions rather than logical argument or Constitutional arguments.

    Uh-huh. I always love how you guys insist that it’s just LOGICAL to say we should let people starve to death in the richest country in the world. It certainly has nothing to do with your base emotions of contempt and hatred towards others. Nope, it’s just LOGIC.

    Sorry, your arguments are just as emotion-based as mine. So now explain why your emotion-based arguments are naturally superior to my emotion-based arguments. Why are negative emotions automatically better than positive emotions?

  133. 133.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Peale: obviously she sucks by not encouraging flagrant fouls that will inspire sympathy(!) for Drumpf.

    People are claiming she criticized the protests but i think you either have to characterize them as violent or be predisposed to hate Clinton to conclude that.

  138. 138.

    Elie

    @James E Powell:

    Unless you have the polling internals and methodology, I wouldn’t lose sleep about it. A lot of the Trump phenomena may not stand up in the final analysis. We will see. My personal belief is that like a boil before lancing, it is very big and threatening — inflamed — threatening to grow bigger. Until it isn’t, is either lanced or explodes on its own, and then its a draining empty sack. It does leave a scar for a while — and this will on this country I believe…

  143. 143.

    Bobby Thomson

    @WaterGirl: Watford is Black and Srinivasan is Indian. Bad Obama nominates Garland. NFLTG Obama nominates Watford for maximum electoral impact.

  144. 144.

    NotMax

    @Tracy Peters, Jr.

    1) The Christian Bible is not the law of the land, goofball. How very, very Talibangelical of you.

    2) Your rewriting of Paul by adding an addendum is even more offensive.

    “Get yer loaves and fishes! Plenty for everyone! Except the childless.”

    What an insufferable and sadistic maroon.

    But sincere thanks for showing your stripes, instructing me by example to totally and completely ignore any future comments from you, which at least this person shall commence doing in 3… 2… 1….

  146. 146.

    NotMax

    @Mnemosyne

    Also too, Dickens.

    “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”

  147. 147.

    Bobby Thomson

    @redshirt: no. That’s an argument in her favor because we know they can’t help themselves. May be moot, though, and two of the three are probably better on the merits.

  149. 149.

    Bobby Thomson

    @redshirt: what I’m saying is that appointing her would make the Republicans look so bad after their predictable response that Democrats would get a lot of political mileage out of it. I think Obama is too decent to use her as bait and really wants a racially diverse candidate.

  150. 150.

    The Golux

    @bystander:

    Little known fact: Elle King was voted Most Likely by her class at Miss Porter’s.

    Bizarre. I live directly up the hill from Miss Porter’s.

  151. 151.

    Jeannet

    One personal memory about Phyllis Schafly. She was actively lobbying in Springfield, Illinois while I was employed as a humble office manager in the local office of a pro-ERA coalition. Schafly’s Eagle Forum was our sworn enemy, of course. One fine day while driving to work, I had the opportunity to hit her with my car while she was crossing the street to get to the capitol building. It was SO tempting – all I had to do was speed up just a little… I still have twinges of regret.

  152. 152.

    low-tech cyclist

    Great song, sucky video. (This happens a lot.) In the song, she’s jet-setting from California to the U.K. to New Orleans, loving ’em and leaving ’em along the way. In the video, she’s queen of the local trailer trash.

    Plus there’s the bit before the song begins where she tells the guy to get out of the car in the middle of the desert, in a place that looks like it’s miles from water, let alone human habitation. I’d have no trouble staying away from a woman like that.

  154. 154.

    J R in WV

    @Ohio Mom:

    None of the flags you saw were at “half-mast”! For a flag to be at half-mast it must be on the mast of a ship. All other flags are at half-staff, because flags on dry land fly from staffs, not from masts. Masts are a marine thing, US Navy, Merchant Marine, etc.

    I know this two ways – wife is a fellow pedant and a grammarian, and I was in the US Navy, and one of my many duties was running flags up and down masts. Actually one of the more fun duties as I recall.

  155. 155.

    J R in WV

    @Tracy Peters, Jr.:

    Paul was a cruel pervert, and for you to quote him like that shows your cruelty and lack of a soul. I will leave your perversions to others to address. Paul is allowed no input to government programs, as he is a religious figure of the deep past, and religion is not allowed to have any input in our system, as spelled out in both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

    I’m surprised a Republican popping up from nowhere like you wouldn’t know that already.

    Not really, though.

    Go away, please, we know what you are, and we don’t need any more.

    ETA, And take your “dear, late mother” away with you.

  156. 156.

    RaflW

    I’ve heard that song a few times out and about, but never seen the video. It was a hoot (says I, feeling old).

  157. 157.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Tracy Peters, Jr.: Where is this work coming from? There aren’t enough jobs for the people who already need to work. Unemployment is down from 2009, but we still suffer from slack labor demand, not slack labor supply. You can see that in stagnant wages and lower youth participation.

    Yet conservatives continue to act as if our problem is that too many people don’t want to work, and the solution is to starve them out until they somehow materialize jobs for themselves. Well, I guess it’s Scrooge’s solution: let them die and eliminate the surplus population.

    Furthermore, if people don’t have any money they won’t spend it on goods and services, which keeps demand low. It’s a vicious cycle of stinginess.

    Mass technological unemployment could make the problem worse, as discussed earlier. We should be considering removing strings on benefits, not adding new ones.

  158. 158.

    Stephen

    @Matt McIrvin: If you say that someone shouldn’t eat unless they work, then you’re morally obligated to provide a job that pays enough to live. Focusing on what St Paul said in that epistle about people who thought that Jesus was returning next week, and ignoring the vast masses of instructions in the bible to care for the poor without qualification, suggest that you don’t look to the bible for illumination, but rather for support for your bigotry. (Not directed at Matt, but rather at Tracy)

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