Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

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

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

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

“But what about the lurkers?”

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Celebrate the fucking wins.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / Cruz-ifiction / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: It’s Up to Us

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: It’s Up to Us

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My *#@$%& cold will not go away, and I have no patience left. Kudos to Ms. DeGeneres, for her GOTV reminder. And to commentor Father Pussbucket, for this Samantha Bee clip on “one half of the GOP’s Sophie’s Choice”…
***********
Apart from vulgar mockery, what’s on the agenda for the evening?


(Mildly NSFW – language)

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  1. 1.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Imagine there’s no countries
    It isn’t hard to do
    Nothing to kill or die for
    And no religion too
    Imagine all the people
    Living life in peace… (photo #1)

    (photo #2)

  3. 3.

    Brachiator

    I’ll obviously take a peek at the primary results. Aside from that, I need a movie to watch.

    I finished “Bridge of Spies,” which had some tremendous acting by Tom Hanks (doing his honest and honorable Everyman thing) and Mark Rylance. Unfortunately, most of the secondary characters are cardboard thin (including Amy Ryan as “standard issue nearly anonymous supportive spouse). The equally standard issue children are all cute and clean. Still, a good workmanlike film with excellent cinematography.

    ETA: Taking a break from Hamilton. So far, the songs in Act I are all knockouts.

  4. 4.

    sinnedbackwards

    “It’s hard to tell an anglophone Canadian from an American. In fact, the easiest way is to make that statement.” – quote from an aquaintance whose nationality might or might not be relevant.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    what’s on the agenda for the evening?

    Long bloody airplane ride. Red-Eye flights should be illegal. 12 hours out, and then 3 days later it’s about 13 hours back. (LA to Zurich and then back). Not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to those dates, but my poor body clock is going to make me suffer.

  9. 9.

    Arm The Homeless

    The SO has been offered a job in Lee County, FL. Looks like we will be moving this summer.

    Any Juicers from SW Floriduh have advice for where to live and how to commute around the Ft. Myers area? It’s the only region of FL i’ve never lived in before.

  12. 12.

    John Revolta

    I’ve had this rotten cold for 3-4 weeks now. First one I’ve had in years but it’s making up for lost kleenex. It’ll seem like it’s gone for a day or two and then come roaring back. I’m beginning to suspect it’s actually morphed from a cold to allergies but I’m living in a new state and I don’t know what’s in the air. Fack.

  18. 18.

    Mike J

    So what do I wear to the Clinton rally tonight? Sport coat and tie, or the t shirt and hoodie I have on right now?

  20. 20.

    A Ghost To Most

    We had ~8 inches of snow on Friday,temps near 70 on Sunday, Monday,and today,and several inches more snow tonight/tomorrow.

    Springtime in Denver is rarely boring.

  21. 21.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Raven: It’s not a dry heat, but you know this.

    The whole area is sprawl and madness. But the fishing is nice. I’m dreading the idea of apartment living.

  22. 22.

    Gvg

    @John Revolta: go to your doc or nurse practitioner. I had a cold that long. I know docs can’t help a cold so I didn’t bother them till it was past 4 weeks. I thought maybe it’s not a cold….so the nurse thought it might have turned into a secondary infection and gave me some antibiotics. 3 days later I felt much better and had more energy than I’ve had in months. I suspect I actually got whatever it was a long time ago. I also started getting allergy testing and such but that has been negative so far.

  23. 23.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    This guy did a series of live tweets listening to the cast album for the first time. There are some song spoilers, though.

    I recently enjoyed the NPR program, Pop Culture Happy Hour: ‘Hamilton’.

    The hosts of the show went to see the play for the first time. One thing I found a bit sad, but interesting is that one of the NPR guys was practically the only black person in the audience. Yeah, ticket prices are high, but I wonder how much awareness of the show has expanded beyond the Broadway and cast album listening audience?

    The Act 1 Song, “Wait for It,” has a certain wistful quality. I have listened to a couple of Act II songs, up through the sensational “What Did I Miss,” which introduces Thomas Jefferson. This has led me to go back and listen to the all the Act I songs to note how they include other pop, R&B, reggae and Caribbean influences along with the hip hop.

    I fell into this rabbit hole because the song “What Did I Miss,” is obviously done in a different style than the other songs, featuring a kind of barrelhouse piano style and a neo Cab Calloway delivery on the part of the actor/singer playing Jefferson (Daveed Diggs, I think). I see that this sets up an upcoming rap battle between the founders.

    Aside from that, I am anticipating the tragic trajectory as everybody’s shit falls apart.

    Again, a damn good show on so many levels. I am going to have to save up to try to get tickets, somewhere, somehow. I don’t want to miss my shot.

  25. 25.

    Raven

    @Arm The Homeless: yea, his wife got a decent gig and he just couldn’t go fishing in Mexico like he (we) used to and he’s looking forward to doing it in that area. We’re going back to the Panhandle in May and we hope they might come up. Good luck with your digs.

  27. 27.

    Brachiator

    @Raven:

    Brooklyn is a very nice film.

    On my list. I didn’t know much of Saoirse Ronan’s work, but thought that she was wonderful in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

  28. 28.

    gogol's wife

    @Brachiator:

    Act 2 is similar.

    The first time I listened to it, I was in the car, and I almost had to pull over because I couldn’t see through my tears. It blindsided me!

  30. 30.

    Jeffro

    @Brachiator: ALL of the songs in HAMILTON are knockouts.

    Ok, except for the ‘farmer’s complaint’ one or whatever it’s called. But we’re crazy about all the rest of them. “One Last Time” seems to be the Jeffro family’s HAMILTON song of the day today, with “What Did I Miss?” a close second

  31. 31.

    bystander

    As someone who enjoyed A Chorus Line but didn’t find it life-changing, I didn’t think a musical could ever live up to the hype. Hamilton does. It’s an astonishing evening, especially for old fuddyduddies like me who aren’t exactly susceptible to the charms of hip hop. The power of the music to provide a perspective on the life of Hamiltion makes the evening resonate in a way that elevates musicals.

  33. 33.

    Jeffro

    @gogol’s wife: yes on the tears…me and my 10-year-old son were listening to it on a recent road trip (my wife and daughter were in the other car). We all got where we were going, he and I get out all red-eyed…wife and daughter are like, wtf???

    but wow do we ever know our Revolutionary War-era history now, tears and all!

  34. 34.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Gvg: I used to get knocked out for a month each spring with something that started with a virus–I’d start feeling better in a couple of weeks & then an opportunistic bacterial infection would squat in the wreckage of my upper respiratory tract & refuse to vacate before antibiotics were prescribed. It happened so regularly I asked my GP to put a note in my records for the benefit of any other doctor treating it. She refused, because “antibiotics are overprescribed.” I’m trying to think of a good reason I haven’t ditched her already…

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    If you have any kind of Chicago connection, you may want to consider trying to see it there instead once it opens in September. It will also probably sell out months in advance, but it’s a “sit down” production, so it’s going to be there for as long as the theater owners want it to run. Original chorus (cast) members have already started leaving the Broadway production, so I wouldn’t hold out to see the original cast. I think it’s a strong enough show that it will be good with any talented cast.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jeffro:

    I suspect that “The Farmer Refuted” works better in performance since it’s overlapping (and occasionally harmonizing) arguments, but the insults in it crack me up. “My dog speaks more eloquently than thee.”

  37. 37.

    Unknown known (formerly known as Ecks, former formerly completely unknown)

    Gaad bless Sam Bee (who, it turns out, went to a high school just a few miles from mine in Toronto. Who knew)

  38. 38.

    JMG

    We in my family have August tickets. That was the best I could do when buying them as a Christmas present — in November.

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    @gogol’s wife:

    We listened to it on a road trip to Santa Barbara and I think I scared someone in the car next to us because I was crying so openly. (I should note that I was the passenger, not the driver, so safety was not compromised.)

  41. 41.

    Emma

    @Mnemosyne: I still can’t handle It’s Quiet Uptown without bawling. Did you see the interview where he was asked if he had wanted to put something in but couldn’t? He mentions the story of Washington and Hamilton going to confront Benedict Arnold? It’s hilarious!

  42. 42.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Raven: cost and age of the housing stock. Anything in our range is either in the planned communities, with horrible mass transit, or older, more marginal neighborhoods closer in.

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    @gogol’s wife:

    I love the stylistic distinction of “What’d I Miss,” and his singing is so fabulous!

    I also like the sly narrative humor here. In most treatments of the Founders, Jefferson (and Franklin) are the Big Geniuses. So, here we have Jefferson rolling back into town, with that Declaration of Independence awe hanging on him, asking, “Did you little revolutionaries keep things warm for me while I was out of town dazzling the French with my tremendous intellect,”

    This is a great introduction to a new antagonist. And the Cab Calloway cum Jerry Lee Lewis performance style fits because its swagger suits this Jefferson. And I was also smiling in anticipation of Jefferson’s reaction as he runs smack dab into this new Genius who ain’t backing down for the Sage of Monticello and will match his swagger.

    But this also made me realize that by the end of Act I, I no longer saw Burr as just an adversary, but a sad man with a hard background of tragedy very similar to Hamilton’s, and with a woman he loved just as strongly. And at the end of Act I Hamilton and Jefferson are not only friends, but Hamilton has urged Burr to go after the woman he loves.

    So it hits me even harder that the musical choices are not a gimmick, but they beautifully fit the characters and the story that Miranda is telling.

  47. 47.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Emma: Only apartments in our range there. That’s an expensive zip code.

    Hoping to find a long term rental, while we save for our own place. Unfortunately, both our work keeps us in fairly affluent areas.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    Standard (or not-so-standard) disclaimer: I have neither read nor seen Sophie’s Choice.

    That being said: wasn’t her choice that she had to choose which of her children would be killed by the Nazis? And that, of course, making her choose was/is a VERY BAD THING, because her children were innocents, and she loved both of them?

    I guess I just don’t see the problem, vis-a-vis the GOP, if you catch my drift.

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    And before someone else beats me to Wesley Morris’s words in the New York Times magazine:

    To know someone who has (the Hamilton cast album) is to know someone who needs a restraining order.

    (And note that he’s including himself in that number.)

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    That comes across in Burr’s lament at the end of the second-to-last number: “He may have been the first one to die, but I’m the one who paid for it. I survived, but I paid for it.”

    If you visit Monticello, you will see the bust of Hamilton that Jefferson kept there. He considered him a worthy foe.

    Totally outside of the show’s scope, but I sometimes wonder if some of Burr’s resentment of Hamilton was that Burr lost all but one of his children as infants, while all 8 of Hamilton’s children survived to adulthood (his oldest died in a duel, after all). But it’s probably the show that put that idea into my head.

  52. 52.

    St. A

    @Arm The Homeless: A few years ago, at least, there were some nice apartments in downtown Fort Myers–they seemed to accompany revitalization in the city center. There was an art scene and some decent restaurants–including a place to get decent baguettes and croissants. I haven’t been back in a while, so I’m not sure that trend continued. If I were moving to Fort Myers, that’s where I’d check first (if your SO’s commute would permit).

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    If you have any kind of Chicago connection, you may want to consider trying to see it there instead once it opens in September

    This is a good idea and might work out. I also saw something about a Boston opening, but seeing it there would be much tougher.

    Original chorus (cast) members have already started leaving the Broadway production, so I wouldn’t hold out to see the original cast. I think it’s a strong enough show that it will be good with any talented cast.

    One of the interesting things about the NPR piece is that they pointed out how strong the understudies were. And I would bet that the new casts will be as strong. In an ideal world, I would be able to see the original cast, but now seeing any version of the show live would be great.

    ETA: I am heartened to see high school groups get knocked out by the show.

  54. 54.

    geg6

    I’ve managed to avoid the Brussels hysteria all day, but John insists on watching CBS evening news and, sad as it is, I don’t get why everyone is freaking out. This is how the world is now and many countries have been dealing with terror attacks for decades (Israel, just for the most obvious). Maybe I’m nuts, but I am not afraid of terrorists at all. Just like any possible death I may face, it will come when it comes. I’m more afraid of the loons around here, all hopped on Trump and the NRA and who have massive arsenals that, knowing them as I do, are not well secured or are in the hands of people who don’t handle them safely. Meanwhile, Michael Morrell is practically pissing his pants on tv and almost screaming that ISIS has not been degraded at all and are super villains who are everywhere and can’t even be stopped with kryptonite.

    My sympathies to Belgium, but the whole thing bores me after almost fifteen years of these assholes drumming up panic.

  55. 55.

    Betty Cracker

    Am I the only Juicer who is left cold by “Hamilton”? I gave it a trial listen because of the rapturous reviews here — even though I am totally not a hip-hop fan — and…meh. Honestly, I’d rather sit thru some boring-ass old tripe like “Jersey Boys” again than attend a live performance. Oh well. More tickets for y’all!

    @Arm The Homeless: I’d shoot for close to downtown if I had to live there. At least you’d be near the Key West ferry!

  58. 58.

    NotMax

    @Betty Cracker

    You’re not alone.

    I’ve tried – honestly, I’ve tried – 4 or 5 times to listen.

    Hip-hop in any form (also most rap) triggers my gag reflex and I can’t get very far into the score before approaching becoming physically ill.

    To those who, like it, to those who love it, to those who worship it, more power to ya.

    (I’m such a stick-in-the-mud that still remain uneasy with rock music in B’way shows.)

    Sometimes put on one of the Broadway audio streams available through the Roku (AccuRadio channel) for background entertainment. When anything Hamilton comes around, have to rush for the remote to hit “skip.”

  60. 60.

    Scott Alloway

    @MomSense: So sorry. It sucks. My mother found out around Labor Day last year and died Oct. 6, the day before my father’s birthday. He is stoic but I know it hurts. They had 68 years together.

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    If you visit Monticello, you will see the bust of Hamilton that Jefferson kept there. He considered him a worthy foe.

    Never visited Monticello, but knew about Hamilton and Jefferson (and Jefferson and Adams, who also had a volatile relationship).

    And I have always thought that, especially as a political economist, Hamilton was Jefferson’s superior. Both Madison and Jefferson were out of their depth when they opposed Hamilton’s plans for taking on the federal debt. Still their talents overlapped and it is amazing that Washington could find a way to direct the energies of two titanic egos.

    OTOH, I never bothered learning much about Burr and had him in a bag with Benedict Arnold as Official Revolutionary Bad Guys. I had even mentally downplayed the fact that Jonathan Edwards was his grandfather, even though I had studied the theologian (and had friends who lived in Yale’s Jonathan Edwards residential college).

    Totally outside of the show’s scope, but I sometimes wonder if some of Burr’s resentment of Hamilton was that Burr lost all but one of his children as infants, while all 8 of Hamilton’s children survived to adulthood (his oldest died in a duel, after all). But it’s probably the show that put that idea into my head.

    I don’t think this works because I don’t think that either man (or anyone) has this level of perspective on their own life as they are living it.

    When Hamilton died, Burr’s beloved daughter was still alive. Burr had hope that his family would endure and be happy.

  65. 65.

    A Humble Lurker

    @geg6: I never understand this logic. If you don’t like something you don’t like something, but judge a thing by its merits, not by the people who like it.

  67. 67.

    gogol's wife

    @NotMax:

    I’ve never seen it, but I adore it. I listen to that in the car too! A Real Slow Drag is fantastic!

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    Am I the only Juicer who is left cold by “Hamilton”? I gave it a trial listen because of the rapturous reviews here — even though I am totally not a hip-hop fan

    But it’s not just hip hop.

    I initially had put it aside precisely because I am not a fan of hip hop. But when I finally listened, I was knocked over by the musical wit.

    You’ll be Back, the King George song, is British pop with a nod to the Monkees Daydream believer, and the Herod song in Jesus Christ, Superstar.

    Wait for it has a Cuban Calypso lilt

    Helpless is just infectious pop.

    What Did I Miss is a barrel house piano romp.

    And of course there are nods to traditional Broadway theater, Sondheim, and even a nod to Gilbert and Sullivan here and there.

    But obviously, each to his or her own taste. I was honestly surprised at how much I like the damn thing. Especially because I am not big on musicals. Not at all. But then again, I was also drawn in because I am a bit of a history nerd. And I am also seriously digging the depth of nods to black and Latino music, not just hip hop, woven into the production.

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    I disagree on Burr — I think it’s very human to resent that someone else has what you don’t have. His wife died in 1794, well before things went south in his relationship with Hamilton.

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    @redshirt: By the way, are you seeing Batman v Superman?

    Also, the dumbest crap I’ve seen recently is this from Zack Snyder on the Flash.

    Zack Snyder tells the New York Daily News that the television incarnation of the Flash, played by Grant Gustin, was never considered for the film, due to the show’s much lighter tone:

    “I just don’t think [Gustin] was a good fit. I’m very strict with this universe and I just don’t see a version where… that (tone is) not our world.”

    Just dumbass.

  74. 74.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    I disagree on Burr — I think it’s very human to resent that someone else has what you don’t have. His wife died in 1794, well before things went south in his relationship with Hamilton.

    But the resentment could not have been built on the fates of their children, which you originally alluded to.

  75. 75.

    redshirt

    @Brachiator: I’m contractually obligated to go see B v S, but I don’t have high expectations. DC is all gridmark serious and while it will sell plenty of tickets, I predict Civil War will outgross B v S by at least 25% worldwide.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @gogol’s wife:

    Even the whole “you married an Icarus” is taken from one of Angelica’s letters. There’s some rearranging of the timeline (Phillip’s duel was after the election of 1800, not before), but it’s amazingly accurate for a play.

    (I saw someone online say something like, “If someone told me my cheating husband was an Icarus, I would punch them in the damn face.”)

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    Sure it could — the Burrs had 4 children, but only the oldest (Theodosia) survived. The other 3 died in infancy or early childhood. This was happening while the Hamiltons were having their brood. They both had young families at the same time, but one of them was more successful at it.

  81. 81.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Betty Cracker: She will be working in Estero. So within 20min of downtown.

    Fun fact: There were so many infractions with the whole of Monroe County (Key West), that FEMA had inspections of their development every 6 months for years straight. Poor FEMA guys…

  83. 83.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Brachiator:

    On my list. I didn’t know much of Saoirse Ronan’s work, but thought that she was wonderful in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

    Agreed. She was also excellent in the first (and, so far, only other) thing I’ve seen her in, Atonement.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    DVR Alert!

    Some good Kurosawa movies on TCM tomorrow—mostly “modern,” wrapped around Seven Samurai (1954) at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

    No Regrets for Our Youth (1946), 6:15 a.m. EDT. Political/domestic drama spanning the years before and during World War II.

    Stray Dog (1949), 8:15 a.m. EDT. My pick for the day. Toshiro Mifune as a cop looking for his stolen gun. The gritty location visuals of postwar Tokyo are stunning.

    The Bad Sleep Well (1960), 2:15 p.m. EDT. Corporate corruption.

    High and Low (1963), 5:15 p.m. EDT. Business tycoon involved in a kidnapping gone wrong.

    The last two are wide-screen, so watch on TCM-HD if you get that channel.

  87. 87.

    gogol's wife

    @Steeplejack:

    Did you watch The Two Mrs. Carrolls last night? I didn’t know Bogart and Stanwyck ever made a film together. It’s a truly terrible film and I loved every minute of it. Bogie was doing a mashup of Rick and Queeg (avant la lettre in the latter case).

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack

    @gogol’s wife:

    No, I missed it. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it. I had a pleasant drive up to BWI to pick up my brother, his partner and their baby girl after a trip to visit the matriarch and our RWNJ brother in Las Vegas. Nice to get out for a road trip.

    I’ve been a bit off TCM lately. Seems like I’ve seen everything too many times and/or have no desire to watch. Will definitely try to catch Stray Dog tomorrow. And I’m looking forward to Gay Purr-ee at 2:00 p.m. EDT on Friday. A great little animated movie with Judy Garland and Robert Goulet.

  91. 91.

    Brachiator

    @Steeplejack: I’ve seen all the Kurosawa films. A great selection, and gives a good idea of his range. Stray Dog and High and Low are particular favorites, but all are worth a look.

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